Troy Gifford

Best of OCCO: Echoes & Encores: July 18 @ Blue Bamboo

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Best of OCCO: Echoes & Encores

Event Details

  • Date: Saturday, July 18, 2026
  • Time: 8:00 P.M.
  • Venue: Blue Bamboo Center for the Performing Arts
  • Address: 460 E. New England Ave., Winter Park, FL

Presented by the Orlando Contemporary Chamber Orchestra (OCCO) Conducted by Todd Craven

About OCCO

Since 2017, OCCO has been dedicated to engaging, captivating, and uplifting audiences with new music performed by local, professional musicians and innovative collaborations with composers, poets, comic book artists, and more. As the only orchestral organization focused on local composers, musicians, and audiences, we aim to contribute to the cultural fabric of Orlando and Central Florida.

About Echoes & Encores

Join OCCO for a memorable evening of contemporary chamber music at the Blue Bamboo Center for the Performing Arts. Best of OCCO: Echoes & Encores brings together a vibrant, carefully curated selection of pieces by living composers, ranging from delicate representations of stillness to works of visceral, kinetic intensity.

This special program highlights favorite works by some of Central Florida’s finest compositional voices – including a new commissioned overture by OCCO’s founder, Jamie Wehr – alongside competition-winning works that have muscled their way to Orlando from national and international stages.

Program Guide

Act I

  • Jamie Wehr – Prelude to a Dream
    • The Piece: This work is a personal reflection on aspiration and longing, focused on the quiet resolve required to follow a beautiful, distant dream even when the path forward remains uncertain.
    • The Composer: Wehr founded the Orlando Contemporary Chamber Orchestra in 2017, laying the groundwork for its ongoing mission to champion new music in Central Florida.
  • Matthew Browne – Writer’s Room (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qGBa9kjNlW8)
    • The Piece: This chaotic composition aims to evoke the frantic atmosphere of a television writers’ room, constantly introducing and abandoning wild ideas as a deadline rapidly approaches.
    • The Composer: Based in Colorado, Dr. Browne earned his DMA from the University of Michigan and is an award-winning composer whose witty works strive to astonishingly blend humor and relentless rhythmic energy.
  • ChanJi Kim – Dear Umma
    • The Piece: This deeply personal composition explores distance and maternal connection by weaving an expressive Korean folk tune through lyrical lines and gentle dissonance.
    • The Composer: Dr. Kim is a native of Korea who holds a Ph.D. from the University of Florida and serves as a Professor of Music and Chair of the Performing and Visual Arts Department at Eastern Florida State College.
  • Troy Gifford – Milonga Abandonada
    • The Piece: Serving as a heartfelt homage to the traditional music of Argentina, this piece synthesizes elements of Latin and classical styles into an expressive interpretation of the dance form.
    • The Composer: Dr. Gifford is an award-winning guitarist and composer who earned his doctorate from the University of Miami and currently serves as the chair of the music department at Valencia College.
  • Jeremy Umlauf – Hero of Time
    • The Piece: This narratively driven work is an abstract medley for a hypothetical Legend of Zelda video game, using original music to convey overarching themes of adventure and courage.
    • The Composer: An eclectic Orlando-area creator who received his Master of Arts in Music from the University of Central Florida, Umlauf frequently draws creative inspiration from spending time in Florida’s rich fisheries.

Act II

  • Billy Waldman – Villanelle (https://youtu.be/UzFHnegpocM)
    • The Piece: Drawing on traditional French traditions, this light, dance-like sextet shifts smoothly between a pastoral elegance and lively, syncopated movement.
    • The Composer: Born in 2006, Waldman is a Los Angeles-based pianist and composer currently studying at the University of Southern California who won the 2024 National Young Composers Challenge at Steinmetz Hall.
  • Alex Burtzos – RAGE (https://youtu.be/FWn5_Zk9Xj8)
    • The Piece: This intense chamber work acts as an expression of generational discontent, borrowing heavily from the heavy metrical language of metal music and incorporating a historical 1789 letter by Thomas Jefferson.
    • The Composer: Dr. Burtzos is a New York and Orlando-based composer, the founder of the ICEBERG New Music collective, and currently serves as the Endowed Chair of Composition Studies at the University of Central Florida.
  • Charlie Griffin – Looking up at Perfect Silence at the Stars
    • The Piece: Inspired by a Walt Whitman poem, this expansive work captures the wide range of emotions and moods that arise when contemplating the beauty of the night sky and our connection to the cosmos.
    • The Composer: Holding a Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota, Dr. Griffin is an experienced educator who founded the Central Florida Composers Forum in 2011 to actively support local music creators.
  • Robin Haigh – FILTH (https://youtu.be/2mj3kH6TZT8)
    • The Piece: Originally commissioned for a high-energy German concert project, this amplified, gritty piece uses abrasive timbres and extreme dynamics to capture an unconventional EDM-inspired vibe.
    • The Composer: Haigh is an internationally recognized Irish/British creator whose unique, multi-stylistic music has earned prestigious accolades, including an Ivor Novello Award.

By Charlie Griffin, ago

Songs of the Hispanic Diaspora II

Sunday, August 24, 2025 | 7:30 PMTimucua Arts Foundation

Join us for an evening of rich language, expressive music, and vibrant cross-cultural collaboration, where poetry and composition meet in a shared celebration of the Hispanic diaspora.

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The Central Florida Composers Forum (CF2) and Open Scene Orlando return to Timucua Arts Foundation for Songs of the Hispanic Diaspora II: a powerful continuation of last season’s collaborative celebration of Latin American poetry and contemporary music, in collaboration with musicians from the Orlando Contemporary Chamber Orchestra (OCCO) and VoxO, and presented by Timucua Arts Foundation and Performing Arts Matter.

This second installment features all newly penned works by local composers setting iconic poems by remarkable poets from Nicaragua, Cuba, Argentina, Peru, and Chile. Featuring texts by Rubén Darío, Gertrudis Gómez de Avellaneda, José Martí, Alfonsina Storni, César Vallejo, Gabriela Mistral, and Vicente Huidobro, the concert pairs expressive new music with readings and cultural commentary, creating a rich, bilingual artistic experience.

Composers:
Troy Gifford · James Hall · Eric Heumann · Gerald Law II · Keith Lay · Mark Piszczek · Paul Austin Sanders · Bob Walker, Jr.

Performers from OCCO, VoxO, and CF2:
Keri Lee Pierson (soprano)
Emily Heumann (mezzo-soprano)
Julia Gessinger (violin)
Kristine Griffin (piano)
Troy Gifford (guitar)

Poems will be recited in both Spanish and English by Charlie Griffin (OCCO/CF2) and Thamara Bejarano, with cultural context provided by Bejarano (Open Scene Orlando).

The evening’s program brings to life the words of celebrated Latin American poets, each reimagined in new musical settings by composers from Central Florida. These vivid, contemporary interpretations, featuring combinations of voice, piano, guitar, and violin, create an intimate and expressive tapestry of sound and verse.

NICARAGUA
Rubén Darío’s Sonatina, set by Gerald Law II for mezzo-soprano and guitar, opens the program with a dreamlike portrait of a young princess longing for a life beyond her royal surroundings.

CUBA
Al partir by Gertrudis Gómez de Avellaneda is a poignant farewell to Cuba, filled with longing and sorrow, and is set by James Hall for soprano and piano. Orlando maverick composer Keith Lay offers a bold setting for soprano and piano of José Martí’s iconic Yo soy un hombre sincero, a powerful declaration of honesty, openness, and personal resolve.

ARGENTINA
Alfonsina Storni’s Dulce tortura is a stirring depiction of conflicted desire and emotional complexity. Eric Heumann sets this poem for mezzo-soprano and piano, revealing both its sensuality and its quiet anguish.

PERÚ
In Los Heraldos Negros, César Vallejo gives voice to deep spiritual and existential pain. Paul Austin Sanders’s setting for mezzo-soprano and piano draws out the poem’s dark gravity and unanswered questions of suffering.

CHILE
Gabriela Mistral’s Hallazgo, a lyrical discovery of love, is set by Bob Walker Jr. for soprano, mezzo, and guitar, striving to capture the poem’s brief, luminous intimacy. Two works by Vicente Huidobro close the program: Días y noches te he buscado…, a symbolic search for truth and selfhood, set by Mark Piszczek for mezzo-soprano and piano; and Altazor, Canto I (fragment), an excerpt from Huidobro’s avant-garde masterpiece, set by Troy Gifford for soprano and guitar, evoking themes of flight, dislocation, and transcendence.

CF2 champions the creation and performance of new music by Central Florida composers, while Open Scene fosters artistic exchange across cultures and disciplines, amplifying the voices of Latin America. This shared vision makes Songs of the Hispanic Diaspora II a resonant and meaningful artistic gathering.

By Charlie Griffin, ago

Between Islands: New Music for Chamber Orchestra and Voices – Saturday, July 19, 2025

Blue Bamboo Center for the Arts – Winter Park, FL

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WINTER PARK, FL – The Orlando Contemporary Chamber Orchestra (OCCO), led by Music Director Todd Craven, joins forces with Claire Hodge and the vocal ensemble VoxO for Between Islands, a compelling evening of new music for chamber orchestra and voices. The concert will be held on Saturday, July 19, 2025, at 8:00 PM at the Blue Bamboo Center for the Arts in Winter Park, Florida.

This performance marks one of the first concerts in the newly opened Blue Bamboo venue and features works by nine living composers, including several based in Central Florida. The program centers on themes of loss, renewal, community, and connection.

Ethan Soledad’s Legacy Songs of Unity is the centerpiece—a sweeping, lyrical choral work written in 2024 that celebrates resilience, community, and the power of music to unite and heal.

Central Florida Composers Forum members offer deeply personal contributions:

  • Charles Griffin’s Between Islands (2025) reimagines his 2016 trumpet‑and‑audio work with meditative winds and ritualistic percussion, tracing grief’s transformation into memory and peace.
  • Troy Gifford’s The Night is based on the poem The Night Has a Thousand Eyes by Francis William Bourdillon.
  • Alan Gerber’s sensitive setting of the traditional Irish blessing May the Road Rise to Meet You.

This program also includes:

  • Erich Barganier – Speaking in Tongues: Inspired by glossolalia and spiritual ecstasy, this piece explores fluid vocal expression and layered ensemble textures.
  • Saman Shahi – I HEARD A FLY BUZZ: A poignant SATB setting of Emily Dickinson’s poem emphasizing the fly’s “buzz” motif, silence, and stillness in death.
  • Maciej Bałenkowski – Comets: An early work (age 18) focused on expression, melody, and emotion, reflecting the composer’s fascination with the universe.
  • Robert Cohen – Connecticut Autumn: A choral‑orchestral setting of Hyam Plutzik’s poem, using autumnal imagery to explore aging, mortality, and passage of time.
  • Gerson de Sousa Batista – Babalon: A tribute to life, nature, and birth, inspired by the mother figure and celebrating creative origins.

These works span cosmic wonder, mystical ritual, personal reflection, and communal affirmation, offering a profoundly moving and varied evening of contemporary music.

Tickets are $30 and include an intermission.
Location: Blue Bamboo Center for the Arts, 460 E. New England Ave., Winter Park, FL
More Information: occo.music | voxomusic.org

By Charlie Griffin, ago