Kilgore native brings ‘new music’ home with June 12 fundraiser at Texan Theater
‘Classical’ music doesn’t have to be dated, and ‘new music’ need not be radio pop to entertain audiences.
Come Friday, the scores will be hot off the presses courtesy of Texas composers gathered to Kilgore by East Texas native musician Jace Mankins.
Wrapping up years of study, he’s spent the past several years in Fort Worth, teaching, composing and, most recently, finishing a doctorate at Texas Christian University. Now, Mankins is bringing the work back home, joined by friends, colleagues and a slew of musicians from all over the Lone Star State for the East Texas New Music Concert & Opera Fundraiser.
It’s set for 6:30 p.m. Friday, June 12, at the historic Texan Theater in downtown Kilgore. Co-hosted with REEL East Texas, the concert will feature a broad range of contemporary ‘classical’ music and composers along with an excerpt Mankins’ new East Texas-based opera, “Where No Man Pursueth,” based on the novel by another local, Rusk County District Attorney Micheal Jimerson.
Tickets for Friday’s music premiere are $20 each. Support the broader effort via gofund.me/966ae27e6.
Per Mankins, “Part of the concert’s purpose is to fundraise for a workshop production of ‘Where No Man Pursueth.’ Donations will entirely go to performers and staff for the workshop and will remain active in the coming months.”
For the KHS alum, the fundraiser’s an ideal opportunity to inject even more energy into Kilgore culture and introduce local audience members to established and rising composers and musicians.
The “new music” moniker is key – it’s not pop, country or new arrangements of old pieces. Rather, the lineup features pieces being written now by composers who are still working, teaching, performing and listening.
“I’d like to start a whole culture of doing concerts like this, free ones down the road,” Mankins said. “I think people would be interested in it.”
Hopefully, the effort will also help to demystify an entire genre: “I think it would help destigmatize classical music. A lot of people think it’s a powdered-wig type of thing. It’s not Mozart. It doesn’t sound like that.”
Friday’s concert is built around the work of living composers with local roots. The concert’s roster spans generations, from professors and working musicians to students still developing their voices.
The program includes music by East Texans like Dr. Jim Taylor, David Luna, Dr. Jim Simmons, Blayden Gardner and Mankins alongside visitors Kyle Cornelison and Joey Tullis. Featured performers include Shane Almendarez, Telvin Culberson, Miguel Pesce, Richard Leppert, Sherry Paetznick Wilkins as well as Shannon Roberts and musicians from The Studio Kilgore. The Longview Civic Chorus will make an appearance under Taylor’s direction, accompanied by Cherisa York on piano.
In addition to food and drinks, the evening also includes a book signing with Jimerson autographing copies of his debut novel and the source for the forthcoming opera.
Because of the wealth of content in the novel, Mankins had to narrow the focus for practical purposes to bring the story for the stage. His adaptation primarily follows the false accusation of murder against Doc Baxter (with Culberson voicing the role this week) and Ray Elliott (Pesce) in his effort to help the man.
“There are so many great things in that novel,” Mankins said, lamenting that he couldn’t bring the whole story into the finished opera. “Novels and stageplays aren’t the same thing; you have to leave a bunch of stuff out.”
This week’s sample is an early step toward a fuller production.
“Right now I’m just focused on keeping it small, step by step,” he said, beginning the fundraising effort for the opera he just finished writing. Mankins didn’t want that to be Friday’s end-goal, though: “It felt a little self-serving to make this only about my project.
“I want to make an opportunity to do more new music in East Texas. I want it to be a community project.”
