Conceived by performer, composer, and American Modern Opera Company (AMOC*) member Keir GoGwilt, Zarabanda Variations brings together a group of visionary composers, improvisers, and performers, inspired by musical histories of sixteenth- and seventeenth-century New Spain, or present-day Mexico and the United States. Over the course of the performance, the familiar tonalities and harmonies of early Baroque music are warped into contemporary and futuristic soundscapes.

The zarabanda is a dance with possibly Spanish, pre-Columbian American, and Arab origins, a plausible etymology from the Bantu nsala-banda, which eventually transformed into a courtly European Baroque dance. This performance sounds the archival gaps of early American music, creating a surprising and vibrant synthesis of European and Latin Baroque, folk, and contemporary musical traditions. 

The team includes:

Jonny Allen (percussion)
Mariana Flores Bucio (singer)
Iva Casian-Lakos (cello)
Carrie Frey (viola)
Keir GoGwilt (violin)
Alec Goldfarb (guitars)
Kyle Motl (bass)
Chris Otto (violin)
Wilfrido Terrazas (flutes)

Compositions by Keir GoGwilt, Vicente Atria, and Wilfrido Terrazas. Poetry and recitations by Edgar Garcia.

The American Modern Opera Company (AMOC*) is one of the most exciting and innovative new music collectives operating today. AMOC*, founded in 2017 by Matthew Aucoin and Zack Winokur, is a group of dancers, singers, musicians, writers, directors, composers, choreographers, and producers united by a core set of values. AMOC* artists pool their resources to create new pathways that connect creators and audiences in surprising and visceral ways.

Tickets $10 ($8 members, $7 students, $5 children 15 and under).