“THE BLADERUNNER 2030 CYBERPUNK BAND”
The Tech Folk Orchestra in Concert
Tuesday March 25 8pm
Hemmle Recital Hall
About this Program
Listening tunes and songs from Blowzabella, Kathryn Tickell, Faustus, and Richard Thompson; also Brittany, France, and Bassanda, with social dances. Featuring as special guests the Caprock English Bagpipe Consort, the design and costume assistance of TCVPA Theatre & Dance students (Professor Beau Hamilton), and the choreography of Kris Olson.
Unable to attend in person? Message christopher.smith@ttu.edu on the concert date for access to the live stream!
The Tech Folk Orchestra
Dr Christopher Smith, director; Elisia Arrieta (dance, voice, flute); Corban Beauchamp (saxophone [baritone]); Asher Blu Fullingim (trombone); Dexter Cedano (fiddle); Caitlyn Cooper (flute); Peyton Culp (dance, voice); Gabrielle De La Cruz (embedded journalist); Natalie DeChaine (clarinet [bass]); Ethan Do (clarinet); Roger Dominguez (saxophone [soprano; section leader); Arabella Dunlap (fiddle); Hailey Engebretson (flute); Tara Findley (dance, voice); James Fludd (saxophone [tenor]); Cassidy Forehand (fiddle [section leader]); Edith Frank (flute [co-section leader]); Brendan Funk (trumpet); CJ Goodyear (fiddle); Beck Haynes (horn [co-section leader]); Amber Hitchcock (clarinet); Libby Holman (viola); Angela Huaman (flute); Joseph Hudak (dance, voice); Amy Jackson (bass guitar); Django Jones (mandolin, mandola); Abby Keesee (horn); Kelly Kuhn (cello); Jhansi Lakshmi Kaligineedi (dance, voice); Ryan Lam (flute); Bryant Le (oboe); EB Leighton (dance, voice, embedded Bassandan); Raven Matthews (clarinet); Porter McClellan (saxophone [alto]); Robert McElya (tuba); Xavier McGarrell (drums, percussion); Aloysius Migadde (guitar); Margaret Ogea (dance, voice); Connor Oliver (horn); Rafi Quilpas (horn); Radman Rasti (fiddle); Danitza Rojas (dance, voice, embedded Bassandan); Allison Sessom (flute [co-section leader]); Jared Sherman (euphonium); Ricky Soliz (trumpet); Steve Stallings (guitar [section leader]); Simran Sunil (dance, voice); Kaity Swecker (dance, voice [dance captain]); Callie Trankel (horn [co-section leader]); Erick Valle (fiddle); Katharine Vann (flute); Oscar Villareal (horn); Michelle Waida (horn, dance); Zach Wilkinson (trombone [bass]); Thea Willner (mandolin)
website: www.eternalstalwartsorchestra.org
The Caprock English Bagpipe Consort
Dr Roger Landes (director), Dr Justin Glosson, Jordan Langehennig, Dr Patrick McLaurin, Dr Brian Sutton
With thanks to our Bassandan sisters Kris Olson and Anne Wharton, and to the students of Beau Hamilton
About Bassanda and the Eternal Stalwarts Orchestra: Symphonic Folk from a Lost World
Major inspiration for the Eternal Stalwarts Orchestra, the alter ego of the Tech Folk Orchestra, comes from the fictional country of “Bassanda”; a creation of VMC partners Chipper Thompson (chipperthompson.com) and Roger Landes (rogerlandes.com). We imagined the fictional “Eternal Stalwarts Orchestra”; in which, as part of an “alternate-history” frame, it’s alleged that a Soviet satellite’s official state folkloric ensemble (the “Bassanda National Radio Orchestra”) mutates, after the fall of Communism, into a free-lance ensemble engaged in a Never-Ending Tour. Performing “Symphonic Folk from a Lost World,” the BNRO/ESO has thus been heard in many permutations, including the “Classic 1952 Band”; the “1962 ‘Beatnik’ Band”; the “1965 Newport Folk Festival Band”; the “1885 Victorian “Steampunk” Band”; the post-apocalyptic “Great Southwestern ‘Sand Pirates’ Band”; the “1912 New Orleans Creole “Voodoo” Band”; the “1928 ‘Carnivale Incognito’ Band”; the “1934 Intergalactic Pandemic Popular Front Band”; the “1936 International Brigade Libertarias Band,” the “1942 ‘Casablanca’ Band,” the “1948 Berlin Airlift Band,” the c1950 “Babylon Berlin Ragamuffin Band,” and now,
the “Bladerunner 2030 Cyberpunk Band.”
“Resisting tyranny and Allies to all.”
For those interested in all things Bassanda: related correspondence, personal biographies, timelines, galleries & archival commentary can be found at http://www.eternalstalwartsorchestra.org; likewise search Facebook for “Eternal Stalwarts Orchestra.”
Can I participate?
Yes! If you are interested to participate in one of the VMC’s community-facing ensembles or partners (Historical Performance Music Ensemble, Balkan Ensemble, Eternal Stalwarts, and/or Caprock English Bagpipe Consort), feel free to contact their respective directors. Auditions typically occur in the first weeks of each academic semester.
Upcoming VMC events:
Historical Performance Ensemble, Wednesday March 26, Hemmle
Prof. Amy Faris’s Songwriters Showcase, Tuesday April 1, Blue Light, 5:30pm
Balkan Ensemble, with special guests, Wednesday April 9, Hemmle
An evening with the VMC, with TFO, HPE, BE, Caprock English Bagpipe Consort, LHUCA, Saturday May 3
Coming in Fall 2025:
The VMC-hosted Night Watch Project: Re-Sounding the Early Modern from Brugel to Rembrandt
VMC Staff
Dr Christopher J Smith, Dr Roger Landes, Dr Angela Mariani
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Radio Broadcast & Television Recording
We are recording live today, and we appreciate your participation and your patience! However, because of this, we ask you to power-down (e.g., completely shut-off) electronic devices including cell phones, and to avoid any extraneous noise during the performance. Please refrain from use of flash photography during this concert. Such use represents a safety hazard for performers.
The Vernacular Music Center at the TTU School of Music
The mission of the Vernacular Music Center is to provide a hub for in-depth and comparative research, study, teaching and advocacy on behalf of the world's vernacular musics and dance—their construction, history, and role in defining cultural life in human communities—in all cultures and historical periods. As a research Center officially recognized by the TTU Office of the Vice President for Research & Innovation, the VMC is dedicated to the study of the process by which music is taught and passed on within a community, as well as assisting in the ongoing cultivation of arts on the South Plains.
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