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Apollo Chamber Players Announces 18th Season, American Story
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
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Apollo Chamber Players Announces 18th Season, American Story
Four-part Concert Series Celebrates Intertwining Narratives of the
American Experience as the Nation Approaches its 250th Anniversary
World Premiere by Daniel Bernard Roumain Spotlights the
Legacies of Frederick Douglass and Booker T. Washington
Houston Poets Laureate Explore the Nation’s Founding
American Indian Heritage Reflected Through Indigenous Storytelling
and Governmental Influence
Finale Program Returns to Houston Roots with Reimagining of Apollo 13 Spaceflight
“a young, dynamic ensemble...creating programs in response to current events.” – NPR
“superb and out of this world” – Gramophone
“recasting music for a diverse and multi-ethnic generation” – Strings Magazine
Houston, TX (May 28, 2025) – The Houston-based Apollo Chamber Players, celebrated for their “passion for new music and impressive virtuosity” (The Whole Note), announce their upcoming 18th season, American Story, a series of four themed programs tracing the many threads of the nation’s identity as it approaches the 250th anniversary of its founding. In a thought-provoking journey through music, history, and storytelling, American Story reflects on the narratives that connect us, honoring the many voices that shape our history while looking ahead with hope toward a more inclusive and inspired future through the power of music. Four original programs – DECLARE, ENLIGHTEN, EMPOWER, and VENTURE – will bring together the Apollo artists with a multitude of special guests on Houston stages throughout the season. Within these programs, Apollo features world premiere commissions from Daniel Bernard Roumain, Lembit Beecher, John Cornelius, and Mark Buller. In addition, Apollo presents three Free Community Concerts, beginning in August 2025 with Apollo’s multidisciplinary program With Malice Toward None. In October 2025, Apollo presents its ninth annual Czech Heritage Month Concert in partnership with the Czech Center Museum Houston. In December 2025, the quartet performs its annual Holiday Voyage program to benefit Healthcare for the Homeless-Houston.
In their nearly two decades as a quartet, the Apollo Chamber Players have championed music as a force for unity and reflection, commissioning more than 60 multicultural works that transcend borders and inspire connection. Through this mission rooted in community, storytelling, and artistic excellence, the quartet approaches each American Story program as an opportunity to reclaim and reimagine the founding ideals of the nation. “We are so excited to announce our 18th season, telling the fullness of the American story as we celebrate our nation’s 250th anniversary,” said Apollo founder and Artistic Director Matthew J. Detrick. “This season honors our collective story—not only as it was, but as it might yet become.”
The series’ first program, DECLARE, will be held on Saturday, October 4, 2025, at Houston’s Hobby Center for the Performing Arts. In DECLARE, Apollo illuminates the story of America’s founding through the voices of Houston Poets Laureate including Reyes Ramirez, the current holder of the post, along with past Poets Laureate Aris Kian Brown, Outspoken Bean, Leslie Contreras Schwartz, Robin Davidson, and Deborah D.E.E.P Mouton, the program’s lead poet and co-artistic curator. Taking inspiration from the philosophical pillars of the U.S. Declaration of Independence, this multidisciplinary program explores how the aspirations in America’s beginnings are reflected in its present and its future prospects, with a focus on civic identity, historical truths, and underrepresented narratives. Additional contributors will include Gen Z composers Emma Wine, Jaylin Vinson, and Jaylen Baker; vibraphonist Drew Johnson; and spoken word artist Marlo Saucedo.
On Saturday, February 7, 2026 at 7:30pm at MATCH - Midtown Arts and Theater Center, Apollo presents EMPOWER, highlighting a new work by the eminent Haitian-American composer Daniel Bernard Roumain. Composed in collaboration with Kenneth B. Morris, a descendant of both Frederick Douglass and Booker T. Washington, the work honors the legacies of both African-American luminaries, tracing their lasting imprint on history, education, and racial justice. Alongside live narration by Morris, the program features the Apollo Chamber Players with members of the Houston Chamber Choir – soprano Melanie Piché Miller, alto Natalie Broussard, tenor Wayne Ashley, and baritone Timothy Jones – in Roumain’s composition for string quartet and vocal quartet.
The series concludes with VENTURE at Hobby Center for the Performing Arts, performed at both 3:00pm and 7:00pm on Saturday, May 23, 2026. In this final program, the Apollo Chamber Players return to their foundational source of inspiration – the American space program and the Apollo Project – for a musical reimagining of the troubled Apollo 13 spaceflight. Houston-based composers John Cornelius and Mark Buller contribute original works and serve as co-producers of the program. Through their vision, VENTURE captures the arc of this harrowing emergency turned heroic all-hands survival story, focusing on untold contributions and heroes of the ingenious rescue effort. Among them is Miguel Hernandez, who escaped Cuba just before Fidel Castro’s rise and later played a vital role in the Apollo program as a Mission Specialist at NASA. Hernandez was in Mission Control when the Apollo 13 crew sent the now-legendary message: “Houston, we have a problem.”
The American Story series follows on the heels of Apollo’s We the People series presented in the 2024-2025 season as a reflection on American democracy: its triumphs, its shortcomings, and the imperative of preserving its ideals for future generations. In the series’ first program, LIBERTY, the legendary actor, author, and activist George Takei gave a powerful live account of his family’s time in an internment camp for Japanese-Americans during World War II – giving voice to one of the nation’s most profound failures to secure its promised rights for all of its citizens. Detrick later expressed his own hopes and fears for the nation’s future in an op/ed published in The Strad, titled, “When Diversity Became Dangerous.”
In the first of its free community concerts for the 2025-2026 season, Apollo presents With Malice Toward None on Friday, August 22, 2025 at 8:00pm at Houston’s Miller Outdoor Theatre. Curated around the themes of shared humanity and the power of art to inspire unity and progress in a fractured world, the program highlights multiple recent Apollo commissions: The title work, With Malice Toward None by Vietnam veteran composer J. Kimo Williams, is featured alongside Revise? by Jasmine Barnes and poet Deborah D.E.E.P. Mouton, as well as Firewall by Mark Buller and The Book of Names by Marty Regan, featuring recorded narration by cultural icon George Takei. New arrangements of works by Beethoven are integrated among the contemporary selections, underscoring the enduring power of musical expression to drive change. Special guests include Tracy Silverman, the “greatest living exponent of the electric violin” (BBC Radio); Deborah D.E.E.P. Mouton, spoken word poet; and members of Houston Ebony Opera Guild, Phillip Hall Singers, and Houston Chamber Choir.
On Wednesday, October 29, 2025 at 7:00pm, Apollo performs its ninth annual Czech Heritage Month Concert at Czech Center Museum Houston, a co-presenter of the program. Sponsored by Rev. Paul Chovanec, the program honors the enduring legacy of Czech-American exchange through powerful, folk-infused works reflecting the intersection of these cultures. Built around Dvorák’s iconic American String Quartet, inspired by Native American and Black spiritual music during the composer’s time in the U.S., this program also features works by Smetana and Janácek—who were likewise known for weaving folk influences and national pride into their music.
Apollo’s Holiday Voyage concert follows on Saturday, December 13 at 7:30pm at the First Congregational Church Houston. In this annual holiday celebration, Apollo celebrates religious pluralism as a means of fostering compassion and cultural harmony. All proceeds benefit Healthcare for the Homeless-Houston.
Apollo Chamber Players Season 18: American Story
Info: www.apollochamberplayers.org/american-story-2526.html
Subscriptions: checkout.square.site/merchant/XDJQSXZKN9SZW/checkout/UTGOURC4DTMO6YCKMRUHERAX
Concert 1: DECLARE
Saturday, October 4, 2025 at 7:00pm
Zilkha Hall, Hobby Center for the Performing Arts | Houston, TX
Houston Poets Laureate
Robin Davidson (2015-17)
Deborah D.E.E.P. Mouton (2017-19)
Leslie Contreras Schwartz (2019-21)
Outspoken Bean (2021-23)
Aris Kian Brown (2023-25)
Reyes Ramirez (2025-27)
COMPOSERS
Jaylin Vinson
Jalen Baker
Emma Wine
VISUAL ARTIST
Marlo Saucedo
Concert 2: ENLIGHTEN
Saturday, November 15, 2025 at 3:00pm and 6:00pm
Live Oak Meeting House | Houston, TX
Guest Artists:
?Lembit Beecher, composer
Amelia Rico, actor and narrator
Concert 3: EMPOWER
Saturday, February 7, 2026 at 7:30pm
MATCH in Midtown | Houston, TX
Guest Artists:
Daniel Bernard Roumain, composer
Kenneth Morris, narrator
?Members of Houston Chamber Choir
Melanie Piché Miller, soprano
Natalie Broussard, alto
Wayne Ashley, tenor
Timothy Jones, baritone
Concert 4: VENTURE
Saturday, May 23, 2026 at 3:00pm and 7:00pm
Zilkha Hall, Hobby Center for the Performing Arts | Houston, TX
Guest Artists:
Mark Buller, composer and co-creator
John Cornelius, composer and co-creator
2025-2026 Free Community Concerts
Friday, August 22, 2025 at 8:00pm
With Malice Toward None
Miller Outdoor Theatre | Houston, TX
Link: apollocp.org/WMTNMiller2025
Wednesday, October 29, 2025 at 7:00pm
Czech Heritage Month Concert
Czech Center Museum Houston | Houston, TX
Link: www.czechcenter.org/
Saturday, December 13, 2025 at 7:30pm
Holiday Voyage
First Congregational Church Houston | Houston, TX
About Apollo Chamber Players
Houston-based Apollo Chamber Players “performs with rhythmic flair and virtuosity” (The Strad) and “recasts music for a diverse and multi-ethnic generation” (Strings Magazine) through globally inspired programming and multicultural new music commissions. A recipient of Chamber Music America’s prestigious Residency Partnership award, the ensemble has performed for sold-out audiences at Carnegie Hall and The Kennedy Center, and is featured frequently on American Public Media’s nationally-syndicated program Performance Today.
In March 2024, Apollo’s censorship-inspired programming rose to national prominence as the featured story on NPR’s Weekend Edition, in which cultural reporter Neda Ulaby lauded Apollo as a “young, dynamic ensemble...creating programs in response to current events.”
Released on the GRAMMY®-winning label Azica Records, Apollo's With Malice Toward None album reached No. 1 on Amazon’s Hot New Release chart, and the ensemble’s catalog of records has been featured on hundreds of radio and media stations worldwide. The organization’s debut feature film, MoonShot: The Remarkable Journey of Apollo Chamber Players, won international accolades, including Best Documentary and Best Documentary Soundtrack at the Seattle, Vancouver, Houston and Screen ATX International film festivals. It is now available on Amazon Prime and Tubi.
A passionate advocate of contemporary music, underrepresented composers, and art reflecting the times in which we live, Apollo counts an expanding catalog of more than 50 commissioned works. As part of this endeavor, the ensemble concluded a bold initiative to commission 20 new multicultural works by the end of the last decade. 20x2020 features a diverse roster of the world’s leading composers and instrumentalists including Jennifer Higdon, Libby Larsen, Pamela Z, Leo Brouwer, Jerod Impichchaachaaha' Tate, Vanessa Võ, and Tracy Silverman.
Apollo’s community partners include schools and universities, at-risk youth centers, refugee and veterans’ service organizations, and public libraries. The ensemble’s vanguard Library Voyage project, an initiative to perform in all Harris County/Houston Public Libraries, is the first of its kind in the nation. Apollo was founded in 2008 by violinist and music entrepreneur Matthew J. Detrick and violinist Timothy Peters.
Download Apollo Chamber Players’ Press Images
Photo credits: Kenneth Morris by Celeste Sloman, Daniel Bernard Roumain by Christine Turner, Amelia Rico by Art Ornelas, Lembit Beecher by Ebru Yildiz, Anna-Liisa Eller by Harri Rospu, Apollo Chamber Players by Lynn Lane.
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