Apollo Chamber Players celebrates libraries and Black history
Public libraries and chamber music may seem like an odd pairing, but Apollo Chamber Players violinist Matthew Detrick insists that’s not the case. In fact, the ensemble counts the Harris County Public Library system, in particular, as a trusted partner.
“People think of it as just offering literary elements and books to the public,” says Detrick, also Apollo’s artistic and executive director, “but I think what the library can offer encompasses so much more than that, and it can include learning through music and different art forms as well.”
HCPL’s branches have hosted more than a dozen Apollo concerts in the past couple of years alone, Detrick reports. Since the pandemic began, the group has gathered in the studio at the library’s main branch for several more virtual performances. Its next one, “Centennial Jubilee,” celebrates both the history of the library system itself, which turns 100 years old this year, and Black History Month.
The program, which premieres at 7 p.m. Feb. 28, features world-premiere commissions from former Houston Grand Opera composer-in-residence Damien Sneed and Houston native Paul Cornish, as well as digital artwork from onetime city of Houston artist-in-residence Phillip Pyle.
“One of the most beautiful aspects of libraries is the fact that there are no limitations to what we can offer because everything is connected to information,” says Edward Melton, HCPL executive director. “It’s wonderful to see artists like
Damien, Paul and Philip joining our efforts and bringing their talents to Harris County and the world.”
Tying the event to Black History Month “just made sense,” Detrick says. Indeed, Apollo was already planning a concert in honor of Black History Month when someone from HCPL suggested
also tying it to the library’s centennial. Though Harris County would remain segregated for decades, the library began serving its Black community in 1923 — two years after HCPL’s founding — when a branch opened inside a private residence in the Independence Gardens neighborhood. Shortly
after, its Bookmobile program helped African Americans in the county’s more rural corners gain access to reading material.
“The social justice movement and increased attention to diversifying classical music has really affected and inspired the way we program,” Detrick says. “Our global/multicultural mission and vision also encompass efforts to help create cultural harmony — very much needed these days.
“As we move forward, we will strive to partner with artists and ensembles of color in the community and (the) U.S. more frequently and meaningfully,” he adds.
Sneed’s piece is called “Moment.” According to the composer’s program notes, “the work gives homage to the importance of arts and literature. It encapsulates the work of creatives. Institutions like the Harris County Public Library work to ensure the stories, message, and voices of those creatives are preserved moment by moment for the generations to come.”
“I think that’s just a really beautiful way of describing why public libraries are so important to the advancement of knowledge and culture and humanity,” Detrick says.
Cornish’s piece, “Momentous,”
has a much more personal connection to HCPL. While he was growing up, he and his mother would often close down the library’s Texas Medical Center Branch as she studied for a degree.
“It’s always kind of just been there,” says the HSPVA and USC grad, who recently completed his master’s degree at the University of California, Los Angeles. “I didn’t even really think about how much it had been kind of part of the fabric of my upbringing in Houston until this opportunity, so it’s been really cool to have that connection.”
Cornish, who says he hopes to go into film composing, wrote “Momentous” in two parts. Part 1, for string quartet alone, expresses the anticipation that increases as a big event such as the centennial draws nearer, starting slowly and building in excitement.
Part 2 features Houston Ebony Opera Guild singers Crystal White and Kenneth Gayle as well as Cornish himself, who will be injecting laptop samples of a conversation in which activist Angela Davis and late author/ poet Toni Morrison discuss the crucial role libraries and literacy have played in the struggle for civil rights.
Cornish wants the music to reflect the gratitude he feels for Frederick Douglass and other historical figures who made his own library access possible, “but also the amazing ability that a place like a library and books have to be able to liberate and to take you on a journey beyond where you are at the moment,” he says.