crescendo
By Alex Martin & Max HoffmanCrescendo represents the heartbeat of Austin and the Red River Cultural District—music.
Generations of artists have come here to create and perform at the venues along Waller Creek, each one adding a unique layer to our city’s rich musical heritage. We celebrate this musical diversity with a show of our own, where the humble sheet music stand becomes the performer.
Experience a synergy of light and sound featuring music by local Austin artists.
Featured Music:
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Party City
by Sir Woman
From their self-titled album SIR WOMAN
To say that Sir Woman has taken the crowded Austin music scene by storm this past year, would be a massive understatement. With the release of their full-length self-titled debut, the band has quickly skyrocketed to headliner status at Austin’s most venerable clubs, and garnered Artist Of The Year at the 2023 Austin Music Awards.
The rolling funk/soul ensemble began as a solo vehicle for Wild Child/Glorietta vocalist Kelsey Wilson a mere two years ago. Their dynamic and joyful stage show led to quick buzz, with their recorded catalog quickly catching up to the acclaim (over 30m plays on Spotify alone).
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That Brief Moment When Everything Seems to Click
by Marco Antonio Santos
From the album About: Silence
"About: Silence" by Marco Antonio Santos is a conceptual album about different philosophical and poetic meanings of silence. “That Brief Moment When Everything Seems to Click” is the sixth track of this work and reflects the feeling of ease when sharing silence with another person does not bring discomfort. A kind of intimate silence.” Marco Antonio Santos is a guitarist, composer, arranger and educator from Brazil based in Austin TX.
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Infloressence
by Limalo
From the album Follow Plants
Follow Plants is the third record by Limalo, the psychedelic beat music duo based in Austin, Texas composed of long-time friends Jesse Darling and Jordan Valdes.
“Follow Plants is our dedication to the magic of plants, their beauty and their chemistry. We met at a nature-centric school, we’ve been working together in plant nurseries since we were 20, we’ve built greenhouses together and taken trips across the country in search of flora, plants have always been central to our growth as people and our relationship to each other, they’re our muse. So in that way, the words ‘Follow Plants’ are a prescription as well as a dedication. It’s the advice we’ve always followed.” said Jordan of the record.
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Crescendo
By Max Hoffman with Cal Hanson of Cherry Sucker
The title track Crescendo was written and recorded for this installation by crescendo designer Max Hoffman with help from Cal Hanson of local band Cherry Sucker. In a psychedelic round of parts, this song represents how music makes a method out of madness, somehow forming an array of pitches and tones into melody, harmony, and an expression of emotion. The inspiration for the composition comes from bass players like Laura Lee (Khuangbin) and Jaco Pastorius who redefine the bass as a lead line rather than just sticking to roots and rhythm.
“We are great friends, but we haven’t made music together before. Working on this was such a blast since we have very different musical backgrounds and abilities which formed into a unique sound. It’s all closed by a thematic crescendo to embody the concept of the installation.”