Apollo Chamber Players on ‘musical-social activism’ in an age of censorship and conflict

Apollo Chamber Players is known for its globally-inspired music, particularly our multicultural new music commissioning and programming. In the context of our current Silenced Voices season, however, our moonshot vision to create cultural harmony through musical exploration has become even more reflective of our work, as we’ve tried to illuminate the important and timely topic of censorship. This season we’ve explored the banning of books and music; cancelation of science and thought; revisionism as a form of Black censorship; and the muted ‘self-silencing’ that can come from mental illness.

A program that affected me deeply was REVISED, which was held in the powerful Holocaust Museum Houston. The censorship thread of this concert explored revisionism not as ‘making corrections or improvements’ but as a form of cultural and historical violence – harm that has been endured by minorities of all stripes. Specifically, our new commission Revise? by Emmy-winning composer Jasmine Barnes and spoken word poet Deborah D.E.E.P. Mouton explored the silencing of Black identity, history, and culture. As eloquently penned by the commission creators: ‘We are in a current state of crisis as it pertains to erasure of African Americans in history books, literature, origins of art forms and so many other spaces, which poses the question; “How long until there’s nothing left to quiet?”’

Personally, I became interested in exploring Revisionism as a specific form of censorship as it has become very much a part of the national discourse and a source of controversy – from school boards and state governments revising textbooks and curriculum about subjects like Black history and slavery, and the genocide of Indigenous peoples, to the presidential candidate of a leading political party revising the true cause of the Civil War.

A second season program that was close to my heart was CANCELED with DJ Spooky as a special guest. In the spirit of science and exploration, we presented this program in the planetarium of the Houston Museum of Natural Science. I’ve aspired to be an astronaut since I was a young child and even attended space camp as a teenager. While I have not yet achieved my life goal of playing the violin in space, I’ve felt privileged to create and lead a performing arts ensemble honoring the Apollo space program and the bold ideas birthed in Space City Houston.

As far as we know, Apollo is the only performing arts ensemble in the nation whose season is specifically centered around censorship. This provided an opportunity to set us apart from our peers, but not without some risk and artistic vulnerability. In particular, wading into the Israel-Gaza conflict did garner some push-back in the form of online vitriol, especially following our NPR feature. However, the vast majority of comments were positive and affirming, and this has inspired us to push the boundaries even more boldly with our future programming. 

Most importantly, our ‘musical-social activism’ work is rooted in a deep and patriotic love of this country and the ideals upon which it was founded. Particularly, the freedoms of speech and expression, the ability for America to improve and to aspire to become that ‘shining city on the hill’ in this challenging yet incredibly vibrant multicultural democracy.

 - Matthew J. Detrick, founder, director and violinist

Music has the power to provoke thought, inspire change and foster empathy, which is at the heart of our mission at Apollo. We choose not only to curate programs of historically significant composers and their works, but to actively engage the vibrant and varied music of the present. As society and indeed ‘classical’ music continue to grapple with legacies of exclusion and marginalization we at Apollo find ourselves in a unique position to explore and celebrate the many voices of the historically disenfranchised.

This season’s theme has spotlighted the forces that continue to threaten freedom of speech and expression through revisionism, book banning and censorship. Reflecting on the tragedies of the past as well as the events of our present moment ensures that we recognize the potential for malevolence in all of us and confront it with empathy and compassion. 

Ireizo – The Book of Names, a new work by Texas composer Marty Regan that we premiered on our REVISED season concert in February of this year reflects on the targeted mass incarceration of Japanese Americans during the Second World War. The music is poignant and sweeping but comes to a jarring halt. In the silence the performers are asked to read from the book of names, the record of the 125,181 persons who were incarcerated, as the complete list slowly scrolls in projection behind the ensemble. It’s a powerful work that poignantly leads the listener to reflect on these events and one of the many examples of what makes our musical explorations so compelling at Apollo. 

 - Matthew Dudzik, cellist

One of the standout moments of our season for me was our commission and collaboration with Allison Loggins-Hull on her piece Ban for flute, piccolo, digital stomp box, and string quartet. Allison created this work to reflect the current unfortunate reality of the increasing number of books being banned in the United States. As noted in Allison’s program notes, many of the books, or voices, that are being silenced are stories by or about people of colour and LGBTQ+ individuals. Her composition represents this in many innovative and effective ways, including the use of a digital stomp box, which implements the sounds of the slamming of books.

This piece resonated with me for multiple reasons, one being that my mother is a librarian. Growing up, I developed a deep love for reading and an appreciation for the wealth of knowledge that books offer. And not only that, but just as music connects us through its universal language, books are another medium of exploring the human experience. The banning of books is to silence real voices and stories, but I believe that these voices won’t be silenced or forgotten so easily.

 - Aria Cheregosha, violist

For myself, one significant aspect of this season was the importance of music in historic events and how they remain relevant in our own very day and age. Music has always provided a communication outlet when voices are silenced. All tragedies, wars, and conflicts have generated incredible works of art when these cannot be written or expressed in the media.

Important composers such as Beethoven and Smetana fought diseases while composing with unimaginable expression. Shostakovich rebelled against the Soviet regime through his music without ever being discovered, and Schumann battled severe mental illness. Today we hope to help lift up those who are in need through musical creativity by creating engaging commissions and programs to the expansive and diverse audiences in our city and country.

 - Anabel Detrick Ramirez, violinist