Our Story
We are a string quartet (and sometimes octet) that composes and performs all original music together. Based out of Houston, TX, we write the music we feel, and perform in settings ranging from strip clubs and biker bars to concert halls and major performance centers. We love collaborating with other artists, and regularly work with dancers, animators, theatre troupes, and puppeteers. We are trying to raise $7000 to make a studio album out of our Titus Andronicus ballet score. We are proudly label-free and have always paid out of pocket for recordings, but end up focusing so much on paying for studio time, we rush through the recording and mixing process, and don't get to focus solely on the quality of our performance. In fact, Two Star has never spent more than two days total recording any of our past albums.We are incredibly proud of our work on
Titus, and want to record it right, meaning a decent production budget
and plenty of time to focus on the artistic aspects of recording. With
your support, we can complete the album we've wanted to make, and you
can hear it first!
The Impact
"Two Star Symphony got its ballet-scoring career off the runway in
brilliant style last night at Zilkha Hall. The bands dark, thick,
goth-rock-informed approach to classical music matched well with Dominic
Walshs stylish, whimsical, ultra-modern adaptation of Shakespearean
gore-fest Titus Andronicus.
This was the ensembles first foray into ballet scores, and the audience
reacted with a rousing cheer when Walsh signaled toward the orchestra
pit after the final curtain. Two Star's inventive 90-minute score seemed
virtually flawless."
-- Houston Press (10/17/2008)
"The breathtaking discovery -- and star of the show -- is the exceptional original score by Two Star Symphony. Eerie and diverse, minimal and dramatic, it's an eclectic style, to say the least. There's a definite middle-European folk influence -- gypsy and Klesmer -- that's other-worldly and sits easy on the ear. It's the perfect complement to Walsh's spiky post-modern choreography."
--Dance Source Houston (10/2008)
What We Need
We are trying to raise $7000. It breaks down like this:$500 - gearing up (new strings & bow rehairing)$4000 - studio recording time (includes engineer)$500 - mastering$1200 - initial run of 1000 CDs $800 - promotional materials for album release (t-shirts, posters, temporary tattoos, dish towels)Any additional money we raise will be set aside as a emergency fund in case of unexpected production costs. If the fund goes unneeded at the end of the project, we will use it to pay the musicians. Should we not reach our goal, it's OK - every dollar we raise is a dollar less we'll need to cover ourselves.
Other Ways You Can Help
Please share our fund-raising campaign with anyone and everyone! Click the Facebook/Twitter/email links to share online or email this page to your friends, grab a widget for your blog or web site, and use the "comments" tab at the top of the page to post your reason for supporting Two Star Symphony. We love you!
