Commission Maria Sappho

A new work for vibraphone, voices, and electronics exploring ties between Irish and Puerto Rican migrations, Irish assistance and support in the Puerto Rican revolution, and comparing island cultures.

Bahué is a voice and percussion duo that celebrates Latinx artistry through music. We are commissioning a new work by Maria Sappho, and we are looking for more partners to help us introduce local communities to NEW music by Latinx composers.

Maria Sappho is "a Newyorican artist currently working in the UK. Specializing in multi-species collaborative projects at the intersection of human-machine-organic communication." The work we are commissioning is for vibraphone, voices, and electronics exploring ties between Irish and Puerto Rican migrations, Irish assistance and support in the Puerto Rican revolution, and comparing island cultures.

We first connected with Maria through her submission of "Aunque la Gealach" to our Latinx Composer Miniature Challenge, which later inspired this project.

FULL CONCERT

  • World premiere of the new work by Maria Sappho, 

  • Rolling premiere of Cinco Canciones para voz y vibrafono by Julian Rulo Gil Ostapkiewicz, 

  • Repeat Their Names by Jimena Maldonado

  • Canto del pregonero for voice and percussion by Steven Sérpa

TOURING SCHEDULE

  • June 12 & 13, 2025: Haverhill, MA

  • September 12-14, 2025: Holyoke and Springfield, MA

  • April 2026 (Mid-April): Los Angeles, CA

Maria will already be in the States from June 8-14, 2025, which offers us an opportunity to premiere the work sooner and her travel costs will be covered by her University.

FUTURE DATES

  • Currently booking mid-to-late 2026.

COMMUNITY AND RESIDENCY OFFERINGS

FOR COMMUNITIES AND YOUTH

  • STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math)-themed presentation with Maria Sappho highlighting the intersection of art, technology, and coding while encouraging innovative thinking about AI, robotics, and organic systems.

  • Pre-show discussion on the composition of the work with Maria Sappho.

  • Voice and percussion instrument demonstrations for groups of students with Aliana de la Guardia and Ariel Campos.

FOR COMPOSITION STUDENTS

  • Life and Career Coaching Workshop. Explore essential leadership skills, career planning, and self-advocacy, particularly in the arts and creative industries.

  • Writing for voice and percussion. Exploring notation, extended techniques, and more.

  • Workshops and Recording Sessions. Workshop and discuss short pieces written by composition students, culminating in a recording session

INTERACTIVE LECTURES

  • The Joyful Musician. Life pressures, systemic injustices, news, social media, the political landscape, capitalism, and the pressure to excel can suck all the joy out of this wonderful art form for a professional or aspiring musician. In this lecture, we discuss healthy forms of practice, techniques for giving and receiving criticism in the positive, stress responses, techniques for coping with stressors, healthy reflective practices, and five factors you can use to assess your wellness.

  • The ADHD Musician. Explore how ADHD impacts musicians, offering insights into creativity, productivity, and strategies for thriving as a musician with ADHD.

  • The Ability to Enter. Explore how to design an authentic career in music that embraces your experience and strengths, keeps you creative, interested and inspired, and defines “success” in your own way.

  • To Lead or Not to Lead. Exploring ideas of collaborative leadership and how we can embody those in our musical lives.

  • The Artist-Creator. Arts administration isn’t simply checking off tasks on a list. You are an active participant in the creative process on all levels. Explore how to start your own project or group, and learn various ways to fund it!

Want to learn more?

Let’s talk about it! Please reach out - we’d love to connect about this or future collaborative opportunities. 

This project is supported by

Our partners include

How can you help?

We would love to add members to our small and mighty Board of Advisors. If you're interested in having an exploratory conversation, please also reach out by clicking below. Thanks for your consideration. Looking forward to hearing from you soon!