Strange in Other Ways

“Strange in Other Ways” is a work by Travis Weller for large (40+) chorus, three percussionists, and two contrabasses to be premiered at the Blanton Museum of Art in Austin, Texas on February 16th 2017. This will be the composer’s fourth time writing for voice and his third time collaborating with Brent Baldwin (director) and Panoramic Voices (formerly known as Texas Choral Consort). The work of Panoramic Voices, New Music Co-op, Travis Weller, and line upon line percussion, are all staples of the Central Texas new music community. Each have received multiple Austin Critics Table awards and funding from Texas Commission on the Arts and the City of Austin Cultural Arts Division.

The performance space is the beautiful atrium of the Blanton Museum of Art in downtown Austin. The acoustics of the space are fantastic and the open and inviting central hall has been home to countless contemporary performances in the past decade. The audience will be welcome to move about the space and enjoy the music from multiple perspectives. The concert will be free and open to the public.

“Strange in Other Ways” gets its title from an article by Dan Falk about Bohmian mechanics, which is a theory at odds with the orthodox or “standard” interpretation of how sub-atomic particles behave. Neither of these two theories have been proven beyond a doubt. While the standard theory embraces difficult to grasp concepts, such as infinite multiple universes, according to the more deterministic Bohmian model: “the world must be strange in other ways.” The text material of the piece, by poet Dorothy Meiburg Weller, explores the dichotomy of these two theories using conversational dialogue. The nature of the music is also informed by these infinitesimal and mysterious particles moving about, permeating every aspect of our universe.