Apollo Chamber Players Named Chamber Music America’s Ensemble of the Year

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 
Contact: Katy Salomon | Primo Artists | VP, Public Relations 
katy@primoartists.com | 646.801.9406 

Apollo Chamber Players Honored As
Chamber Music America’s Ensemble of the Year

Selected for “Artistry, Musicality and Groundbreaking Impact,” 
Houston-based String Quartet is Recognized for Powerful Programming
Including 2023-24 Silenced Voices and 2024-25 We the People Series

Award to be Presented at CMA National Conference,
Showcasing Apollo in Multiple Performances
and Founder and Director Matthew J. Detrick as a Featured Speaker

February 15, 2025 at 1:00pm CT | Intercontinental Hotel – Houston, TX

“a 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

www.apollochamberplayers.org
 

Houston, TX (November 26, 2024) – Chamber Music America (CMA) announced today that Houston-based Apollo Chamber Players will receive the 2025 Ensemble of the Year Award as part of its CMA Awards program. The honors will be formally awarded at an Awards Luncheon during CMA’s 2025 National Conference on Saturday, February 15, 2025 at 1:00pm CT at the Intercontinental Hotel in Houston.

The Ensemble of the Year award celebrates an ensemble or ensemble project that has demonstrated “exceptional artistry, musicality and groundbreaking impact on the chamber music landscape.” Known for its incisive thematic programming, Apollo was selected for the award based chiefly on its 2023-2024 theme of Silenced Voices, a concert series crafted to shed light on censorship and oppression, whether through racial prejudice, authoritarian government or other forces. Each of the series’ four programs – BANNED, CANCELED, REVISED and MUTED – was carefully curated to illuminate a facet of historical or ongoing suppression of speech and expression, incorporating newly commissioned works by Allison Loggins-Hull, Mark Buller, DJ Spooky, Jasmine Barnes and Joey Roukens. Apollo continues its topically-themed programming in 2024-2025 with its We the People series, shining light on American democracy through the ideals of LIBERTY, OPPORTUNITY, DIVERSITY and FREEDOM. Apollo’s season opener featured a meaningful collaboration with actor and activist George Takei, who recounted his experiences in Japanese-American internment camps and subsequent activism. 

On selecting Apollo as Ensemble of the Year, CMA praised the quartet for its “curation of timely and groundbreaking programs that fearlessly tackle controversial yet critical issues.”

Apollo Founder, Director and violinist Matthew J. Detrick commented: “Advocating through the arts is essential, and we are honored to be recognized for our bold programming and MoonShot vision to create cultural harmony through musical exploration. This award is a gift to be shared by many, from our artist and composer collaborators to our board of directors and devoted patrons. Most importantly, we recognize our inspiring city of Houston – a community representing the spirit of innovation, invention and global connection.”

Apollo’s selection as Ensemble of the Year coincides with CMA’s decision, announced in April 2024, to move its National Conference from New York to Houston, citing the city’s vibrant cultural landscape and the chance to embrace a broader geographic swathe of the country. The Shepherd School of Music at Rice University serves as sponsoring partner and host of multiple performances held during the event, scheduled for February 13 to 16, 2025. With the conference in its home city, Apollo will play a prominent role in the four-day gathering, appearing for two performance showcases on Friday, February 14, 2025. Performances will feature Apollo-commissioned works including Jerod Tate’s MoonStrike, Jennifer Higdon’s In the Shadow of the Mountain and Wang Jie’s The Night When You See Again – a work for string quartet and organ to be performed by Apollo alongside Daryl Robinson, an internationally acclaimed organist based in Houston. Detrick will also be a featured speaker at the conference.

Among the other Houston-based ensembles to play key roles in the CMA National Conference will be the chamber orchestra ROCO and new music ensemble Aperio, dedicated to performing the music of North and South America. Houston-based Musiqa, a chamber ensemble known for its innovative collaborations and work across artistic mediums, will be honored with the award for Interdisciplinary Project of the Year.

In another recent honor, Apollo was recognized as Best Chamber Ensemble in the Houston Press “Best of Houston” awards, announced in October 2024. Detrick will also be a featured speaker at the upcoming SphinxConnect conference in Detroit MI, January 23-25, 2025.

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.

Photo Credits: Apollo Chamber Players and Matthew J. Detrick by Lynn Lane.

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