Tetractys New Music<\/a> and one of the festival\u2019s founders, said the broad mix of styles and approaches is intentional. This year\u2019s event features 27 Austin-based groups employing a range of instruments, with several artists premiering works written specifically for the festival.<\/p>\nProsser said organizers try to give audiences a wide snapshot of Austin\u2019s avant-garde scene, as a way to broaden their appreciation of indie classical music.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s going to be some really accessible stuff, and there\u2019s going to be some things that challenge listeners,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re OK with that.\u201d<\/p>\n
The festival itself grew out of the realization that Austin has a large network of boundary-pushing musicians, many of whom rarely share stages or audiences. Prosser said Tetractys New Music originally launched in 2015 as a presenting organization for contemporary classical performances, staging performances in private homes, breweries and museums alongside more traditional venues.<\/p>\n
While those performances often attracted loyal but modest crowds, Prosser said Here Be Monsters looked to turn dozens of smaller scenes into one regular community gathering.<\/p>\n
That collaborative structure has helped Here Be Monsters serve as a gathering place for musicians who otherwise might remain scattered across the scene. Many of the artists regularly perform in smaller settings, including KMFA\u2019s Draylen Mason Music Studio, with only a handful of music venues such as dadaLab regularly featuring experimental composers and performers.<\/p>\n
This year\u2019s festival received support through the city\u2019s Elevate cultural arts grant program. Organizers said the funding helped expand the event while easing some of the financial pressure that comes with producing independent arts programming.<\/p>\n
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Organizers say the festival is designed to make adventurous music feel approachable rather than intimidating. Each act performs 15-minute sets allowing the audience to discover new music. <\/p>\n
Demetriou described the festival as a \u201cbig party with all these creative composers in town.\u201d That\u2019s a far cry from the rigid composer-focused showcase he expected the first year.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt always kind of feels like a family reunion in a way,\u201d he said. \u201cYou get to see what all these really unique musicians are doing and kind of just see what everyone\u2019s been up to.\u201d<\/p>\n
Alongside the electronics and genre-hopping instrumentation, Demetriou said the music often grows out of deeply personal ideas. One of the pieces Kraken Quartet plans to premiere this year was inspired by the difficulty and importance of reconnecting with people who have drifted apart.<\/p>\n
\u201c[Reconnecting is] a very difficult thing to do, but a very powerful thing \u2026 something that we can actually actively do to create something positive,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Zapruder said Austin audiences tend to embrace discovery and participation in ways that make events like Here Be Monsters possible.<\/p>\n
\u201cAustin\u2019s a place where people actually are good at having fun,\u201d he said. \u201cPeople know how to go somewhere and enjoy themselves and have a rich experience.\u201d<\/p>\n
Even with performances that may challenge audiences, the minds behind Here Be Monsters said the festival is most concerned with creating a space for exploration and shared experience.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople who make this music know that music is enough on its own,\u201d Zapruder said. \u201cWe\u2019re devout about music. We\u2019re not fanatical, and we\u2019re not zealots. We simply know that music matters.\u201d<\/p>\n
Here Be Monsters, a two-day indie classical and experimental music festival, will take place Saturday, May 23, and Sunday, May 24, at Radio\/East. Find weekend, single-day and student tickets here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cIt\u2019s like a festival for all the musicians that don\u2019t really fit on any other festival.\u201d Percussionist Christopher…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":656370,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[53],"tags":[6778,282985,282986,88,282987,101093,282988,282983,216,28530,282984,4652],"class_list":["post-656369","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-austin","tag-classical-music-festival","tag-contemporary-music","tag-entertainment","tag-experimental-music","tag-here-be-monsters","tag-indie-classical","tag-kraken-quartet","tag-music","tag-music-festival","tag-tetractys-new-music","tag-tx"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/656369","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=656369"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/656369\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/656370"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=656369"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=656369"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=656369"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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