Organizers say the festival at Radio/East this weekend is designed to make adventurous music feel approachable rather than intimidating. Each act will perform a 15-minute sets.
“It’s like a festival for all the musicians that don’t really fit on any other festival. ” Percussionist Christopher Demetriou speaks with humor and a sense of connection while describing the attraction for the more than two dozen vocal and instrumental groups on the roster forOver two days, the festival brings together “indie classical” performers working across contemporary composition, electronic soundscapes, prog-rock percussion, chamber music and other harder-to-categorize sounds.
Now in its fourth year, the festival has quietly become a kind of on-ramp to explore Austin’s experimental music scene. , serves as a good example of the festival’s anything-goes sensibility. Founded as a more traditional percussion ensemble, the four-piece gradually evolved into a pileup of modern classical music, prog rock, math rock and electronics.
Demetriou, a high school percussion teacher in Dripping Springs, performs on an electric vibraphone routed through guitar pedals and looping effects, creating dense, synth-like textures on top of more conventional percussion instruments.
“What we’re most interested in is how we incorporate these percussion instruments that are a little more associated with the orchestra and bring that to more of a big, loud, fun prog-rock setting,” he said. Here Be Monsters festival founders Chris Prosser and Michael Zapruder say they want to expose audiences to a wide range of music. Organizers say the festival is designed to make adventurous music feel approachable rather than intimidating.
Co-organizer Michael Zapruder describes the movement as an array of composers and performers using classical music structures and traditions while borrowing from rock, electronic, improvisation and avant-garde performance. Some groups perform from written scores while others lean more heavily into technology, amplification and distortion, or unorthodox instrumentation. Zapruder said the festival is intended to let the audience discover new favorites, with each act performing 15-minute sets.
“As an audience member, you can come and hear a good cross-section of things that are happening in Austin and get a big picture of it,” he said. “Maybe there are two or three groups where you say, ‘I love that group. I want to go to their concerts. ’ And if you don’t like something, you can walk away.
” “There’s going to be some really accessible stuff, and there’s going to be some things that challenge listeners. We’re OK with that. ”and one of the festival’s founders, said the broad mix of styles and approaches is intentional. This year’s event features 27 Austin-based groups employing a range of instruments, with several artists premiering works written specifically for the festival.
Prosser said organizers try to give audiences a wide snapshot of Austin’s avant-garde scene, as a way to broaden their appreciation of indie classical music.
“There’s going to be some really accessible stuff, and there’s going to be some things that challenge listeners,” he said. “We’re OK with that. ” The festival itself grew out of the realization that Austin has a large network of boundary-pushing musicians, many of whom rarely share stages or audiences. Prosser said Tetractys New Music originally launched in 2015 as a presenting organization for contemporary classical performances, staging performances in private homes, breweries and museums alongside more traditional venues.
While those performances often attracted loyal but modest crowds, Prosser said Here Be Monsters looked to turn dozens of smaller scenes into one regular community gathering. That collaborative structure has helped Here Be Monsters serve as a gathering place for musicians who otherwise might remain scattered across the scene. Many of the artists regularly perform in smaller settings, including KMFA’s Draylen Mason Music Studio, with only a handful of music venues such as dadaLab regularly featuring experimental composers and performers.
This year’s festival received support through the city’s Elevate cultural arts grant program. Organizers said the funding helped expand the event while easing some of the financial pressure that comes with producing independent arts programming. Organizers say the festival is designed to make adventurous music feel approachable rather than intimidating. Each act performs 15-minute sets allowing the audience to discover new music.
Demetriou described the festival as a “big party with all these creative composers in town. ” That’s a far cry from the rigid composer-focused showcase he expected the first year.
“It always kind of feels like a family reunion in a way,” he said. “You get to see what all these really unique musicians are doing and kind of just see what everyone’s been up to. ” Alongside the electronics and genre-hopping instrumentation, Demetriou said the music often grows out of deeply personal ideas. One of the pieces Kraken Quartet plans to premiere this year was inspired by the difficulty and importance of reconnecting with people who have drifted apart.
“ a very difficult thing to do, but a very powerful thing … something that we can actually actively do to create something positive,” he said. Zapruder said Austin audiences tend to embrace discovery and participation in ways that make events like Here Be Monsters possible.
“Austin’s a place where people actually are good at having fun,” he said. “People know how to go somewhere and enjoy themselves and have a rich experience. ” Even with performances that may challenge audiences, the minds behind Here Be Monsters said the festival is most concerned with creating a space for exploration and shared experience.
“People who make this music know that music is enough on its own,” Zapruder said. “We’re devout about music. We’re not fanatical, and we’re not zealots. We simply know that music matters.
” Here Be Monsters, a two-day indie classical and experimental music festival, will take place Saturday, May 23, and Sunday, May 24, at Radio/East. Find weekend, single-day and student
TX Here Be Monsters Kraken Quartet Tetractys New Music Classical Music Festival Contemporary Music Experimental Music Indie Classical Music Festival
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