Ballroom Marfa Art Fund

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Support Pancho Villa From a Safe Distance on Kickstarter

18 Jul 2016

Pancho Villa Kickstarter-2 Ballroom Marfa is excited to announce the launch of our Kickstarter campaign for Graham Reynolds’ experimental chamber opera, Pancho Villa From a Safe Distance,

the third and final installment of The Marfa Triptych. Join us in supporting this extraordinarily ambitious collaboration through Kickstarter today! Click here to visit the campaign page and find out more about the project and the unique rewards available to all Pancho Villa backers.

R. Michael Berrier on “The Desert”

21 Oct 2014

Graham Reynolds,   October 4,  2014.   Photo by Jennifer Boomer.

We recently received this poem from artist R. Michael Berrier about Graham Reynolds’ performance of The Marfa Triptych: The Desert.
It’s a lovely tribute: many thanks to Berrier for sending it to us.

For more photos of the performance, head here, and stay tuned for part three of the Marfa Triptych, an opera about Pancho Villa, in 2015/2016.

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West Texas towns peter out.
The blacktop turns to caliche.
In the end, one last house.
The garden fence.
And then the vast emptiness.
Of West Texas,
Of Mimms Ranch.
Of the desert.

And so we meet at that edge of reality.
Gather with strangers,
And ride in yellow school buses.
Along the ranch road until we stop,
And look up to the ridge.
Something happening there on the Marfa Plateau.

And we walk.
The light is fading, not fast.
We see,
The perfectly round architecture of concrete.
A smooth bench, an alien circle.
And inside, Graham stands among the instruments,
From which he will pull a cacophony,
Edging to serenity,

Noel Waggener’s Marfa Triptych Poster Unveiled

29 Oct 2013

Noel Waggener's poster for The Country and Big Band Suite

Just received Noel Waggener‘s commemorative poster for the first installment of Graham Reynolds’ Marfa Triptych, The Country and Western Big Band Suite, premiering at the Crowley Theater in Marfa on November 16.

Described by Reynolds as “classic instrumental country meets Western soundtrack meets power jazz rhythm section,” the program features 14 players, including Redd Volkaert, Ruby Jane and other legendary country music players. You can see photos from last week’s preview at the Long Center in Austin, Texas, and hear demo versions of two pieces in the show, “Nightime in Marfa” and “Marfa Stampede.”

Tickets available here. Half-price tickets available in the gallery for all residents of Brewster, Jeff Davis and Presidio counties.

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Photos from Graham Reynolds at the Long Center

25 Oct 2013

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On Wednesday, October 23, at the Long Center in Austin, Graham Reynolds gave an intimate preview of his Marfa Triptych and, judging by these photos, it was a fantastic experience. But take heart if you missed out! Reynolds will soon be premiering the full Part One of the Triptych entitled The Country and Western Big Band Suite on November 16 in Marfa. For additional information and to buy tickets, visit the event page.

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Graham Reynolds’ Marfa Triptych: First Listen!

18 Sep 2013

Preview the first installment in Graham Reynolds The Marfa Triptych with these preliminary sketches of Part One: The Country and Western Big Band Suite. Click here to see the first installment of Reynolds’ documentation of this extraordinary project.

Tickets for the world premiere on November 16th here in Marfa at the Crowley Theater are now available online. Click here to reserve your seat! Half-price tickets are available in the gallery for all residents of Brewster, Jeff Davis and Presidio counties.

Graham Reynolds’ Marfa Triptych: Research and Composition

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My research and composition center in Marfa.

The Marfa Triptych is three portraits of West Texas as envisioned by Austin-based composer Graham Reynolds. The first installment, The Country and Western Big Band Suite, is set to premiere at the Crowley Theater in Marfa, Texas on November 16 at 8pm. Tickets are available online in the Ballroom Marfa store.

Half-price tickets are available in the gallery and at the door for all residents of Brewster, Jeff Davis and Presidio counties.

The multimedia, genre-hopping trilogy of performances is inspired by Reynolds’ interest in the intermingled populations of the Texas-Mexico border regions, from ejido to ranch to the visual arts community.

The Marfa Triptych Part One: Country and Western Big Band Suite, is an instrumental suite for 13 players, described by Reynolds as “classic instrumental country meets Western soundtrack meets power jazz rhythm section.” This performance includes contributions from country music veteran Redd Volkaert, along with other members of Reynold’s far-reaching group of collaborators.

This project is inspired by Reynolds’ trips from his base in Austin, Texas to the high desert grasslands of Far West Texas that Ballroom Marfa calls home. His approach combines local musical traditions — from cowboy songs and Southern jazz to the norteño music of Northern Mexico — with a personal perspective that comes from years of scoring film, theater and modern dance performances.

As the project springs from the culture of Far West Texas, Reynolds is currently in the process of working with Ballroom Marfa to coordinate research trips throughout the region in order to experience its culture and history firsthand. Through his own connections and via sources recommended by Ballroom, Reynolds has been keeping an itinerary that includes visits with musicians, historians, storytellers, artists and local legends from Terlingua, Alpine, Presidio, Shafter, Fort Davis, Valentine, Marfa and other far-flung locales in the Big Bend region.

This is the first installment in Reynold’s documentation of his progress, with more to come.

Click here to take a listen to demo versions of two songs from the Country and Western Big Band suite.

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Research excursions to Pile of Rocks and Fort Davis in search of inspiration and subjects.

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The double rainbow seemed like a good sign for this project.

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My interview with Adam Bork led me to watch the sunset from a bench on the west edge of town.