Invoke Presented by the Moss Arts Center Performing Original Music
Photo by Marshall Tidrick. Available in hi-resolution at: www.jensenartists.com/artists-profiles/invoke
Invoke Presented by the Moss Arts Center Performing Original Music
Plus Enigma for the Night by Jocelyn C. Chambers and Tenebrae by Osvaldo Golijov
Thursday, November 16, 2023 at 7:30pm
Anne and Ellen Fife Theatre in the Street and Davis Performance Hall
190 Alumni Mall | Blacksburg, VA
Tickets and more information:
(Tickets $20-$55; $10 students with ID and youth 18 and under)
www.artscenter.vt.edu/performances/invoke.html
“The special thing about Invoke is…how its lively spirit and playfulness are essential to the way they approach every piece of music.”
– Austin Chronicle
Blacksburg, VA – On Thursday, November 16, 2023, Austin-based, multi-instrumental quartet Invoke (Nick Montopoli, violin/banjo/vocals; Zach Matteson, violin/vocals; Karl Mitze, viola/mandolin/vocals; Geoff Manyin, cello/vocals) – a group the Austin Chronicle says “infuse[s] their performances with such a down-home joyfulness” – will make their Blacksburg, VA debut in a concert presented by the Moss Arts Center at the Anne and Ellen Fife Theatre at Street and Davis Performance Hall (190 Alumni Mall). Invoke will perform a program featuring selections of their original music, including several from their new album Evolve & Travel, plus Jocelyn C. Chambers’ Enigma for the Night and Tenebrae by Osvaldo Golijov.
Of Invoke making its Blacksburg debut at the Moss Arts Center and performing Osvaldo Golijov’s Tenebrae, violinist Zach Matteson says,
“We’re very excited to be visiting Blacksburg for the very first time! This will be our debut on the Moss Arts Center stage. We’re excited to share Golijov’s tremendous spiritual work with you and with the added massive sound that incorporates Geoff [Manyin’s] 6-string cello beautifully.”
Driven by a passion for storytelling, Invoke’s performances feature original works composed by and for the group, which form a unique contemporary repertoire inspired by many different musical styles –– from minimalism, to jazz, to American fiddle tunes, and bluegrass. This appreciation for different genres and collaborations can be seen through Invoke’s performance history, which includes sharing stages with some of the most acclaimed chamber groups in the country: the Westerlies, Miró and Ensō Quartets, and the U.S. Army Field Band, as well as chamber rock group San Fermin, indie group Never Shout Never, and DC beatboxer/rapper/spoons virtuoso Christylez Bacon. Iconic spaces where Invoke has performed include Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and the Green Music Center, among others.
Invoke recently marked their tenth anniversary together with Evolve & Travel, their first album on the Sono Luminus label, which was released on October 27, 2023. This new record features seven original works by the group. Each song reflects Invoke’s growth as people, composers, and as friends with a rich history of shared creative experiences and personal memories.
Evolve & Travel was born out of Invoke's experience of and evolution during the pandemic and of being back on the road, traveling again. After a strenuous touring schedule from 2018 to 2020, like all other musicians in spring 2020, the members of Invoke found themselves without an agenda.
Violinist Zach Matteson summarizes the experience: "The unexpected bright side of the pandemic lockdown was an excess of time and a newfound drive to be creating music that connected with people in a virtual space on a regular basis. We dug deep to create new work at a faster pace than ever before and Evolve & Travel is a direct result of that. A lot of the new tunes have individual inspirations, but certainly you can say they express an aspect of what we were interested in during our time in lockdown -- from books that we were reading and other periods of history that we were looking back on, to a need for hope and optimism in the face of great doubt. Coming out in our tenth year together as a group, Evolve & Travel is a culmination of lessons we have learned along the way. From the straight-ahead sound of the string quartet to a blend of voice, mandolin, banjo, and strings, this album showcases the entire scope of our growth as musicians, composers, and collaborators."
With Evolve & Travel, Invoke demonstrates their well-honed ability to write and perform works that weave together threads of classical technique, folk improvisation, and musical camaraderie.
Of her piece Enigma for the Night, written when she was just 16 years old, Jocelyn Chambers explains, “It's really vulnerable and breathy and reminds me [of] car rides home with granddaddy after music school let out for the day. [It’s] one of my more personal pieces.“
Osvaldo Golijov explains the contrasting ways in which one can hear and interpret Tenebrae: “I wrote Tenebrae as a consequence of witnessing two contrasting realities in a short period of time in September 2000. I was in Israel at the start of the new wave of violence that is still continuing today, and a week later I took my son to the new planetarium in New York, where we could see the Earth as a beautiful blue dot in space. I wanted to write a piece that could be listened to from different perspectives. That is, if one chooses to listen to it “from afar", the music would probably offer a "beautiful" surface but, from a metaphorically closer distance, one could hear that, beneath that surface, the music is full of pain.”
More about Invoke: Invoke was selected to be the Young Professional String Quartet in Residence at the University of Texas at Austin from 2016-2018. The group also participated in the Emerging String Quartet Program at Stanford, and was selected as an Artist in Residence at Strathmore, the Emerging Young Artist Quartet at Interlochen, and the Fellowship String Quartet at Wintergreen Performing Arts. In 2018, Invoke was named a winner of the Concert Artists Guild Victor Elmaleh Competition in New York, NY, received First Prize at the M-Prize International Chamber Arts competition in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and received First Prize in the Coltman Competition in Austin, Texas.
Invoke’s discography includes their debut album, Souls in the Mud (2015), featuring works by composer Danny Clay as well as original works composed by the group; Furious Creek (2018), featuring original compositions and arrangements; and Fantastic Planet (2021), an original soundtrack composed by the group inspired by the 1973 French animated feature. Fantastic Planet is a companion album to their summer 2019 commission by the Austin Chamber Music Festival. The album features Invoke’s standard instrumentation as well as the addition of the electric cello and the igil, a horsehead fiddle from Tuva, Siberia.
Invoke has performed and recorded numerous world performers, including works by Joseph C. Phillips Jr., Armando Bayolo, and Geoff Sheil. The group’s recording credits appear on bassist/composer Ethan Foote’s solo album Fields Burning, singer/songwriter Marian McLaughlin’s Spirit House, jazz/soul singer Rochelle Rice’s EP Wonder, and many more.
About the Moss Arts Center: Located at the crossroads of Virginia Tech and downtown Blacksburg, Virginia, on the corner of Main Street and Alumni Mall, the Moss Arts Center is a thriving community where the arts are a catalyst for engagement, inspiration, and discovery. The center operates as both a presenting organization and as a 147,000-square-foot, top-caliber arts center. Since opening in 2013, the center has brought innovative, significant, and diverse programming to the campus and the region. The Moss Arts Center is named in tribute to artist and philanthropist Patricia Buckley Moss, who committed $10 million toward construction of the facility on the campus of Virginia Tech.
For Calendar Editors:
Description: Austin-based, multi-instrumental quartet Invoke – which the Austin Chronicle says “infuse[s] their performances with such a down-home joyfulness” – will give a performance at the Anne and Ellen Fife Theatre at Street and Davis Performance Hall (190 Alumni Mall), presented by the Moss Arts Center. Invoke’s music weaves together threads of classical technique, folk improvisation, and musical camaraderie. In addition to performing many original works – including selections from their Sono Luminus debut album Evolve & Travel – Invoke will perform Enigma for the Night by Jocelyn C. Chambers and Tenebrae by Osvaldo Golijov.
Short description: Invoke – whose music weaves together threads of classical technique, folk improvisation, and musical camaraderie – brings a “down-home joyfulness” (Austin Chronicle) to their Blacksburg, VA debut at the Moss Arts Center. Invoke will perform original music, including works from their new album Evolve & Travel, plus Enigma for the Night by Jocelyn C. Chambers, in addition to Tenebrae by Osvaldo Golijov.
Concert details:
Who: Invoke
Presented by Moss Arts Center
What: Original Music by Invoke Plus Enigma for the Night by Jocelyn C. Chambers and Tenebrae by Osvaldo Golijov
When: Thursday, November 16, 2023 at 7:30pm
Where: Anne and Ellen Fife Theatre at Street and Davis Performance Hall 190 Alumni Mall | Blacksburg, VA 24061
Tickets and information: www.tickets.luther.edu/Online/default.asp