Bastrop, Tx–The depth and diversity of Bastrop’s artistic community has been highlighted recently with the announcement of nominations for signal statewide awards and opportunities.
Composer Dan Welcher, documentary filmmaker Jessica Gardner and jazz trumpeter Hanibal Lokumbe are among those in line for new honors.
This week the Houston Press Club said Gardner, along with interviewer Emily Lowe, is a finalist for a Lone Star award for the Bastrop Community Access Television documentary “New Orleans New Year” about Bastrop’s pre-New Year cultural arts festival featuring the Treme Band from New Orleans.
Welcher, a Bastrop resident for the past decade, is professor of composition and holder of an endowed chair at the University of Texas school of music. His Symphony No. 5 was commissioned by a coalition of classical music organizations in Austin and had its opening performances May 1-2 by the Austin Symphony Orchestra. The work was named as a finalist for the top artistic achievement of the year award by a group of Austin arts critics.
Loukumbe, another Bastrop resident, will join the renowned Austin choral group Conspirare, directed by Craig Hella Johnson, in a June 6-7 concert called “Rock My Soul” which is focused on hymns and spiritual music from the African-American community. The trumpeter and Conspirare will also be joined by the Lost Pines Community Choir which he organized in Bastrop.