THE CEDAR COMMISSIONS Night Two: Theo Langason, Sophia Deutsch, Cydi Yang

The Cedar Presents

The Cedar Commissions Night Two ft. Theo Langason, Sophia Deutsch, and Cydi Yang

Saturday, February 18, 2023 / Doors: 6:30 PM CT / Show: 7:30 PM CT

All Ages

Seated

$15 General Admission, $25 Two-Show Pass

This is a seated show with general admission, first-come-first-served seating. The Cedar is happy to reserve seats for patrons who require special seating accommodations. To request seating or other access accommodations, please go to our .

General Admission tickets are available online.

Two-Show Pass admits you to both Friday, February 17th and Saturday, February 18th, 2023 Cedar Commissions concerts at The Cedar at a discount! You can find those, .

ABOUT THIS SHOW

The Cedar Cultural Center presents the twelfth annual Cedar Commissions, on February 17th and 18th, 2023, featuring new works by Aram Kavoossi, Cydi Yang, Emily Boyajian, Fawzi, Sophia Deutsch, and Theo Langason.

Each night, three lead artists will debut their brand new works on The Cedar stage: Friday, February 17th features Aram Kavoossi, Fawzi, and Emily Boyajian, and Saturday, February 18th features Theo Langason, Sophia Deutsch, and Cydi Yang.

The Cedar Commissions is a flagship program for local emerging artists made possible with a grant from the Jerome Foundation. Since the program began in 2011, the Commissions have showcased new work by over 60 Minnesotan emerging composers and musicians, including Dessa, Aby Wolf, Adam Levy, Maria Isa, Joe Horton, Joey Van Phillips, Gao Hong, Dameun Strange, Vie Boheme, and many more.

“It’s a true honor to continue supporting rising artists as they create new work and push themselves to explore new possibilities they haven’t before,” says Robert Lehmann, Community and Grant-Funded Programs Manager and program lead for The Cedar Commissions. “As a nonprofit music venue, one of The Cedar’s key commitments is support for emerging artists. Thanks to the Jerome Foundation, we’re able to amplify these six artist’s important voices and perspectives, and it’s an honor to support this group as they bring their visions to life. You may not know what to expect – but I’m confident you’ll find something to love about each of these incredible artists.”

The 2022-23 round of artists was selected by a diverse committee of Minnesota-based musicians, music industry professionals, and one Cedar staff. The 6 commissioned artists, each receive $5,000 plus $500 for performance costs to compose at least 30 minutes of new musical work to debut at The Cedar in February 2023. To date, the Commissions have supported the creation of new music by more than 60 local artists across genres. In the event that gathering restrictions are in place due to COVID-19 during the grant period, we will work with artists to make adaptations to the performance platform as needed.

Photo courtesy to Uche Iroegbu

THEO LANGASON | "SONGS FOR MAKING SENSE OF IT ALL"

“songs for making sense of it all” will be an attempt to use music/songwriting to make sense of the wreckage, rubble, and detritus left by the pandemic, uprisings, and every-day-american-life over the last three, 400, too-many-to-count years. How do we make it through? How do I make it through? This project will be part research and part audience engagement attempting to answer the questions: “How do you use art/music to make sense of the perpetual heartbreak and chaos of the world?” With sounds and lyrics and each other as the tools we have at our disposal, how can we take best care of our ever-breaking hearts?

Theo Langason is a multidisciplinary theatre artist, teaching artist, and musician based in Minneapolis. A graduate of Rutgers University–Camden with a degree in Theatre Arts, Theo has been working nationally and internationally as an actor, director, musician, composer, improviser, poet, and teaching artist for over a decade. Theo is a co-artistic director of Red Eye Theater, a member of Sandbox Theatre, and a member of Blackout Improv. As a teaching artist, Theo has worked with Guthrie Theater, Penumbra Theatre, and Upstream Arts. Theo has also worked with Ten Thousand Things, Park Square Theatre, Pillsbury House + Theater, and Stages Theatre, among others.

Photo courtesy to Uche Iroegbu

SOPHIA DEUTSCH | "VIS VITAE"

n., vis vitae: vital force

We live in a time that doesn’t cease to provide reasons for grief. Vis Vitae aims to create pause to soothe internal dissonance and dysphoria in the way that nature knows to do so well. Inspired by theories of vitalism, the piece draws upon the visceral affects and fundamental vibrations of the natural world— that universal language of beauty and harmony which pulses and aligns. Sophia’s translation of these healing frequencies is a series of movements (meditations, ‘floatations’) written for chamber group, using elements of experimental composition and graphic scoring. “[She] who feels what [she] sees will find no more beautiful example of development in all that book which, alas, musicians read but too little— the book of Nature…” (C. Debussy, 1903)

Photo courtesy to Uche Iroegbu

CYDI YANG | "SOUL CALL"

In Hmong tradition, a soul calling ceremony occurs when the soul of a person leaves their body and becomes lost due to a traumatic experience, leaving the person to be sick, depressed, or overall unwell. "Soul Call" is about reclaiming myself–healing through art in connection to my roots, fused with the influences of my modern world. This set of songs are words with my younger/past selves as I navigated difficult/traumatic times in my life which altered the way I moved in the world. It is to call me back–to reclaim the pieces of me I lost during those life experiences. In utilizing all art forms I've come to love - dancing, acting, poetry, music (rapping and singing) I want to tell a story about my journey in healing and me returning back to who I was always meant to be.

The Cedar Commissions is made possible in part by a grant from the Jerome Foundation.

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