On Saturday, September 28th, 2013, ChamberLab pushed deeper into new territory, turning music into art and then back into music again. Six ChamberLab composers (Chris Black, Benjamin DeGain, Dante Rosano, Marco Rosano, Tony Rosano, and Michael Simmons) prepared new pieces inspired by the work of Tucson artist Joe Pagac.

Mr. Pagac wasn’t be told which of his paintings had inspired the new music, but he created new paintings inspired by the music, live, on stage, while the music was performed. How close were they to the original inspirations? Or how completely different? It is still a mystery!

All of the music was composed for trios (violin and cello, plus ?), featuring violinist Ben Nisbet (Tucson Symphony Orchestra, Tucson Chamber Artists, Kingfisher Quartet, Artifact Dance Project), violinist Samantha Bounkeua (2-Door Hatchback, Rosano Tango), and cellist Michael Simmons (who also composed a piece). Each piece featured the composer on the instrument of his choice.

We were very excited to return to the historic Hotel Congress for this performance.