APOLLO CHAMBER PLAYERS BLASTS INTO DIGITAL SPACE
“SUNDAYS WITH APOLLO” EXEMPLIFIES THE APOLLO CHAMBER PLAYERS’ OUTREACH EFFORTS.
The novel coronavirus has, beyond a shadow of a doubt, given rise to unforeseen challenges for those within the arts; adapting to the current virtual landscape, well, that has brought about others.
Matthew Detrick, founder and artistic director of Apollo Chamber Players, and his wife, fellow violinist Anabel Ramirez Detrick, understand this all too well. As their personal and professional lives become more deeply intertwined, they face a familiar complication, one every parent can relate to but one that doesn’t typically have an audience — bedtime.
At the end of March, the organization launched “Sundays With Apollo.” The weekly live broadcast, which starts at 7 p.m., features over an hour’s worth of curated footage, mostly from previous concerts, interspersed with commentary by the husband-and-wife duo and the remaining members of the quartet — violist Whitney Bullock and cellist Matthew Dudzik, who join remotely with the help of videographer Ben Doyle.
The online series also includes guests, and though the majority of these appearances are directly related to the musical works being presented, that’s not always the case. At the start of the second episode, Detrick welcomed viewers alongside the family’s 11-yearold Sheltie, and later on, his lookalike toddler made his grand debut, sporting pajama pants and practicing the art of bedtime stalling.
The interruption, although unplanned, illustrates a positive benefit that stems from such virtual programming. While maintaining some semblance of normalcy, artists are given the rare opportunity to share personal glimpses into their offstage lives and relate to patrons in a new way.
Even musically, Apollo Chamber Players is more than a quartet, coordinating educational outreach efforts and pioneering multimedia collaborations that champion greater community engagement.
“Now that we’re going back and exploring our past programming and curating these broadcasts, it’s just even more important and more vital that we’ve done things not only as a quartet but as a larger ensemble with guests,” Detrick said.
For the past six years, a large part of Apollo’s focus was centered on 20x2020, an initiative to present 20 new multicultural works by the end of the decade. This spring was supposed to mark the culmination of the innovative project with concerts showcasing the final two commissions by Eve Beglarian and Jennifer Higdon — which have been rescheduled to premiere in a combined program in October at the Hobby Center — followed by a 2-month celebratory festival featuring free performances of all of the works at venues across the city.
With diverse content already in its archive, Apollo has had the potential to identify with various cultures, but these broadcasts have truly allowed the organization to expand globally. For instance, the Easter special, which explored creation stories, included Christopher Walczak’s “Four Dreams,” a three-movement piece based on the Aboriginal Dreamtime concept, and thanks to social-media marketing tools, it drew viewers from Australia, Detrick explained.
In continuing its distinctive, thematic programming, the group presented its fourth episode in honor of the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 13 mission, featuring a discussion with Emmy Awardwinning composer Jerod Impichchaachaaha’ Tate and Chickasaw astronaut John Herrington. Furthermore, its fifth program, which aired April 26, celebrates movement, highlighting various performances that showcase artists from Houston Ballet, Silambam Houston and the disbanded METdance with special guest Marlana Doyle — founder of the new Houston Contemporary Dance Company and Institute of Contemporary Dance Houston.
“Of course, nothing will take the place of live performance, but,” Detrick said somberly, hesitating.
“But we cannot do live performances,” Anabel Ramirez Detrick instinctively chimed in. “It’s important for this series to provide an outlet for people to be able to just relax and enjoy music that is unencumbered by all the problems going on. Music will always present a way for people to connect with each other, no matter where they are.”