{"id":151866,"date":"2026-02-05T08:31:29","date_gmt":"2026-02-05T08:31:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/151866\/"},"modified":"2026-02-05T08:31:29","modified_gmt":"2026-02-05T08:31:29","slug":"new-kmfa-presentation-highlights-real-time-creative-collaboration-the-austin-chronicle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/151866\/","title":{"rendered":"New KMFA Presentation Highlights Real-Time Creative Collaboration \u2022 The Austin Chronicle"},"content":{"rendered":"

Austin Unconducted<\/a> has already been on a mission to prove classical music isn\u2019t just for squares or the elite. It\u2019s for everyone. Their latest collaboration with Andrea Ariel Dance Theatre<\/a> boosts that excitement to an entirely new level.<\/p>\n

Just as the name suggests, Austin Unconducted is a cooperative orchestra with no conductor. Their music relies on the musicians \u2013 usually an 18-member ensemble \u2013 working together and listening closely to create magical musical moments. Co-founder and bassist Andrea Beyer says they try to \u201cbring people into the orchestra world who might not have thought it was a place for them before, and just make it fun, and really fresh, and feel a lot more relevant.\u201d In the past their concerts have involved special guests from Hyde Park Storytelling or members of Craft Beer Austin. These curators often \u201cbring in different viewpoints from outside the classical music world, and [we] work with them to tell a story,\u201d says Beyer.<\/p>\n

Which led to their KMFA Offbeat partnership with Andrea Ariel \u2013 artistic director of Andrea Ariel Dance Theatre \u2013 who is a natural musical storyteller. She also happens to practice \u201cSoundpainting,\u201d an improvisational method first utilized by the Walter Thompson Orchestra<\/a> of developing art built around a series of gestures the soundpainter \u2013 also called the composer \u2013 delivers as a single figurehead guiding performers through movements. With over 1,200 gestures, there are plenty of cues for the artists to develop an exciting live spectacle. They\u2019re all grounded by the composer, who delivers signs dictating the who, what, when, and occasionally the how of each new creation.<\/p>\n

Soundpainting is completely improvisational. You could go to multiple nights of shows and never hear or see quite the same thing. Sometimes the soundpainters can develop \u201cpalettes,\u201d or touchpoints to preexisting material or pre-developed runs of gestures. But those are merely quick anchors in a rush of spontaneous creativity. Picture it like this: The performance itself is an exhilarating river, whirlpools, and rapids guaranteed to make your heart race, but those palettes are branches of safety in the ride, still pools where you can catch your breath before getting caught up again.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a method that doesn\u2019t apply to music alone. Ariel has worked with visual artists, singers, and, of course, dancers. She\u2019s been involved with the practice for over 30 years, ever since her first foray with local choreographer Margery Segal. \u201cIt was so incredible as a performer to experience this,\u201d says Ariel. \u201c[You\u2019re] sitting there in perfect presence, waiting for the sign, and when the sign goes you launch into improvisation and create right there in the moment.\u201d She\u2019s continued the tradition while working with her dance troupe and other Soundpainting companies on pieces spotlighting artists like David Bowie or Frederico7. However, this is Ariel\u2019s first experience Soundpainting solely with an ensemble of classically trained musicians.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Working with Austin Unconducted has been a perfect fit. Soundpainting requires a level of intuition, of keying in to the composer and the other players to create something new. \u201cIt\u2019s a real conversation between the soundpainters and the performers,\u201d says Ariel. Austin Unconducted was already prepared for that, as Ariel noticed \u201cthey already worked collectively. They were very connected.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

That connection now gets to expand as nine ensemble members join Ariel for these Soundpainting performances. For Beyer, who doesn\u2019t consider herself an improviser, it\u2019s been a \u201cnurturing space to try things out \u2026 to make loud sounds and then adapt.\u201d For the audience, it will be an equally exhilarating exploration into musical possibilities. You might hear some palettes based on classical compositions or classic rock. But overall, it\u2019s a journey into the unknown for viewers and performers alike.<\/p>\n

KMFA Offbeat: Austin Unconducted & Andrea Ariel \u2013 A Soundpainting Collaboration<\/p>\n

Friday 6 \u2013 Saturday 7, KMFA Draylen Mason Music Studio<\/p>\n

soundpainting.planningpod.com<\/a><\/p>\n

This article appears in February 6 \u2022 2026<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A note to readers:\u00a0Bold and uncensored,\u00a0The Austin Chronicle\u00a0has been Austin\u2019s independent news source for over 40 years, expressing the community\u2019s political and environmental concerns and supporting its active cultural scene. Now more than ever, we need your support to continue supplying Austin with independent, free press. If real news is important to you, please consider making a donation of $5, $10 or whatever you can afford, to help keep our journalism on stands. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Austin Unconducted has already been on a mission to prove classical music isn\u2019t just for squares or the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":151867,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[62929,132,134,133,22942,22944],"class_list":{"0":"post-151866","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-austin","8":"tag-andrea-ariel-dance-theatre","9":"tag-austin","10":"tag-austin-headlines","11":"tag-austin-news","12":"tag-austin-unconducted","13":"tag-kmfa"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151866","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=151866"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151866\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/151867"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=151866"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=151866"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=151866"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}