Axiom Quartet

On Friday, April 10, Axiom Quartet releases “Open Source,” a 32-minute work for string quartet and baritone voice that tells the origin story of First Congregational Church of Houston. “Open Source” is a collaboration between Axiom Quartet, composer Karl Blench, librettist Jacqui Sutton, and baritone Timothy Jones.

Timothy Jones is one of the leading baritones of his generation, praised for his commanding vocal presence, intelligent musicianship, and rare ability to connect deeply with audiences. Throughout “Open Source,” Jones inhabits the mindscapes of wandering and sitting still, of the humorous and the somber, of the lost and the found.

“There’s a moment at the very end where Jones sings the words ‘pure love,’” says Blench. “When I first heard that, I almost started crying. When the music comes across that well, it makes the journey worth it.”

On Friday, April 10, Axiom Quartet releases “Open Source,” a 32-minute work for string quartet and baritone voice that tells the origin story of First Congregational Church of Houston. “Open Source” is a collaboration between Axiom Quartet, composer Karl Blench, librettist Jacqui Sutton, and baritone Timothy Jones.

Throughout the score, Blench draws inspiration from his small-town upbringing in western Massachusetts and the spirit of composer and fellow New Englander Charles Ives, and like Ives, Blench masterfully interweaves traditional and original musical materials. For the conclusion of “Open Source,” Blench quotes “Wherever I May Wander,” a children’s song in the FCC’s church hymnal, with new lyrics by Sutton that include the words:

“What we’ve made is
an incubator of love.
Inspired from above.
Of love.
From above.”