SoundMap

That’s a wrap for our season opener! Thank you Southwestern University for being such great hosts. Stay tuned for our upcoming concerts. Photos by Tzu-Chin Hsu

Amazing photos from our rehearsal today with the one and only Tzu-Chin! Hear works by her as well as others as part of our Opening Concert of Season 4 Sound Has No Borders! Tomorrow at 2:00PM CT at the Davidson Stage at Alma Thomas Theatre as part of their Sarofim Music Series!

CAST is Open to application
SoundMap is open a call for composer interested in create a new project in collaboration with VJ/Video artist.
Application open until September by the link:
https://dadageek.com/cast

Project realized in partnership with Dadalab, and involving also Line Upon Line.

Don't miss it!

CAST — dadageek 2026 Call For Works    CAST (Contemporary Art & Sound Technologies) is a new platform dedicated to supporting experimental creators working at the intersection of sound, music, and visual media. Our mission is to foster bold, interdisciplinary work by connecting emerging and established artists wi...

That’s a wrap on our 3rd season as an ensemble! Thank you to everyone who attended our concerts and supported us in any way. We are looking forward to sharing some recordings soon and all the exciting news for season four!

We have another concert coming up after our one on the 14th! A very special concert in Dada Lab on the 15th in Austin featuring Aida Shirazi, Miles Friday, and SoundMap members Miki Sasaki, Joel Ferst, Annabel MacDonald, and Katie Worsham!!!

We have a very exciting concert coming up in a few weeks! Season 3 finale with works by Tejera, Ibarra, Webern, Sciarirno, and Friday! Stay tuned for another announcement about a special concert in Dada Lab on the 15th as well!

First concert of 2025 is tonight at 7PM CT at KMFA 89.5. Tickets available here! https://www.eventbrite.com/e/1115815146139?aff=oddtdtcreator

Meet our violinist Zach! "A violinist of many origins (Maryland, Siberia, Montana), Zachariah is proud to call Austin, TX home. Zach obtained his Bachelors and Master’s at the University of Maryland under the tutelage of David Salness, Kimberly Fisher, and Irina Muresanu. It was at Maryland that he met the other members of his string quartet+, Invoke, and together they moved to Austin, TX, where they completed the Young Professional String Quartet Program at the University of Texas at Austin working with the Miró Quartet. He also joined the Austin Symphony Orchestra in the Fall of 2023 as a member of the 1st violin section. When he's not making tunes with Invoke or the Symphony, you can find him at a local coffee shop writing down some haikus, slurping down ramen from Ramen Tatsuya, or adding to his crazy collection of shirts from the local goodwill.

Our next member introduction in the newly minter Dr. Ben Kronk! Austin-based violinist Ben Kronk enjoys an active career as a soloist, chamber musician and artistic director. Top prize winner for the American Opera Society of Chicago in 2022, Ben has continued to win the Texas Rising Stars Competition. In the Summer of 2021 he performed as Concertmaster for the National Repertory Orchestra in Breckenridge, Colorado and performed Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No. 2 in G minor with conductor Michael Stern. Recent solo engagements include appearances with the Austin Civic Orchestra performing Walton’s Violin Concerto, and engagements with the Central Texas Medical Orchestra, the Toccoa Symphony, and the Caroga Lake Music Festival. In addition to performing Ben founded and serves as the chief executive officer for the SouthEastern Young Artists Inc. (SEYA), a chamber music festival in Georgia. Hosting more than 20 artists from the United States SEYA programs over 10 concerts a year for rural areas in venues, theaters, churches and private homes. Working with other festivals including the Caroga Arts Collective, he was part of the team which wrote and won the Consolidated Funding Application grant of New York which awarded $82,000 to the collective.

Ben is a member of Artosphere, the Iris Collective and performs with the Austin Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Philharmonic Society, Folks’ Operetta, Wisconsin Philharmonic, and La Crosse Symphony Orchestra. An avid chamber musician and recording artist, he has collaborated with artists Janet Sung, Sandy Yamamoto, Daniel Ching, Matthew Lipman, Stephen Balderston, Rose Ambrust Griffin, and Anna Petrova. In Chicago he performed regularly with the Cloud Gate Quartet and participated in projects including the 2017 GRAMMY-nominated album “American Classics” with the National Orchestra Institute directed by David Allan Miller. He performed on the world premiere recording of Leo Sowerby’s work for the Leo Sowerby Foundation. Previously an Associate Member with the Civic Orchestra of Chicago under Ken-David Masur, he was awarded contracts with the Lincoln Center Stage, and was a regular substitute for Symphoria.

Our next introduction is out trombone player Billy! Billy Pickus is a passionate chamber musician and a devoted advocate for contemporary music. Based in Austin, Texas, he is a founding member of Cover to Cover, a modified wind quintet, and a member of SoundMap Ensemble, an experimental new music collective. He was also an original member of Bevo Bones (2023 International Trombone Association Quartet Finalist) and Verdant Trombones (2019 International Women’s Brass Competition Ginger Turner Finalist).

He received his MM in Trombone Performance with Nathaniel Brickens at The University of Texas and a BM in Trombone Performance with Jeremy Wilson from Vanderbilt University. During his time at UT, Billy served as Teaching Assistant to the Longhorn Band and the Longhorn Pep Band. During the summers, he has been a fellow with the Texas and Round Top Music Festivals as well as the Berlin Opera Academy.