Aquava New Music Studio was founded in 1996 as Aguavá New Music Studio, a new music ensemble led by conductor Carmen Helena Téllez and composer Cary Boyce, and later joined by flutist and events producer Alain Barker. Projects included appearances at the International Festival Cervantino in Mexico, the International Tempus Fugit Music Festival in Israel, and tours to Mexico and Colombia. Aguavá collaborated with such ensembles as eighth blackbird, the Contemporary Chamber Players of Chicago/ Contempo, and the Pocket Opera Players of New York and Chicago; and worked closely with composers such as Ralph Shapey, Stephen Hartke, John Eaton, Shulamit Ran, Yehuda Yannay, Eric Richards, Gerardo Dirié, and many others in the presentation of their music. Aguavá New Music Studio produced and performed the soundtracks for film scores as well as television. We were featured in the syndicated programs Center Stage from Wolftrap and Harmonia. During this first stage, Aguavá new Music Studio produced two well-received CD recordings of new music and three co-productions.
After 2006, Aguavá New Music Studio took a hiatus to allow its directors to fulfill demanding alternative projects in academia and public radio. Throughout this time Carmen, Cary and Alain continued to develop projects at Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music, Latin American Music Center and WFIU Public Radio; as well as with the Bloomington Early Music Festival and Spokane’s KPBX Public Radio.
These projects provided a depth of experience and imagination. We have decided to return to working together, with a new iteration of our artistic venture under our new name, AQUAVA, to continue to produce new recording projects. Our first CD recording is John Eaton: The Sor Juana Project, commissioned by the John Eaton Foundation, and issued in March 2019 to excellent reviews.
For more about AQUAVA NEW MUSIC STUDIO, please visit HERE.
Carmen-Helena Téllez 