Kinetic Ensemble presents a moving program curated in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month that draws on themes of collective grief and the power of community. Takashi Yoshimatsu’s poetic elegy, And Birds Are Still…, opens the program with other-worldly string textures inspired by an image of gathered birds around a fallen comrade. At the heart of this program is the world premiere of Nicky Sohn’s Cynthia for viola and string orchestra, featuring violist, Tonya Burton. Cynthia was written in the memory of Burton’s aunt, who passed away from metastatic breast cancer in 2023. Conversations between Sohn, Burton, and members of Cynthia’s patient support group inspired the composition, resulting in an intimate and profoundly moving work. In an exciting display of virtuosity, Valerie Coleman’s Tracing Visions closes the program with a powerful message: we are one people. The final movement, “Amandla!”, which means “power!” in Zulu, is an energetic and groovy Juba that celebrates the unity of all people.

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This commission of Cynthia is generously funded in part by the City of Houston by the Houston Arts Alliance. Please click here for tickets and click here for Houston's Cultural Events Calendar.