Violist Isaac Fuentes reads music off his iPad as he plays through a new orchestral piece.
“I was definitely just too weird and quirky of a kid to choose the violin, and I couldn’t take the cello home with me on the bus, so that left the viola,” he said on a recent night at his home in Central Austin. “You know, I think everyone's instrument chooses them a little bit, ‘cause I'm definitely a viola player.”
Fuentes is preparing for three Austin Unconducted concerts this week with Hyde Park Storytelling, a long-running live show where everyday Austinites share personal stories on stage.
Each of the 18 musicians in Austin Unconducted shares the role of directing, unlike in a traditional orchestra.
“We all have the responsibility of leading, following and communicating in a totally different way than when there’s one person up there just beating a baton,” Fuentes said.
That spirit of collaboration extends beyond the stage. Now in their fourth season, Austin Unconducted’s mission is to build community through their inclusive, immersive concert experiences.
“We came together because we love orchestral music,” co-founder and bassist Andrea Beyer said, “but we could see that most people think of orchestra as something that isn’t for them. It feels stuffy or it feels elitist. Instead of just playing music and kind of throwing it at the audience and saying, ‘I like this, so I hope you do, too,’ we wanted to bring people in through a story.”
The orchestra collaborates with poets, painters, musicians or community members and builds the musical program in response to the lived experiences of the partner.
“ Every one is super different, and each time we're creating a through line or sharing a theme that we think will really connect with people,” Beyer said. “I've heard from people that they never go to classical music shows and this is something new to them, and they didn't know if they would like it, but they've had a good time.”
Hyde Park Storytelling producer Matt Stoner approached the orchestra after attending some Austin Unconducted events. He was intrigued by the idea of combining orchestral music with live storytelling.
“[They’re] trying to make classical music accessible,” he said, “and our show is really about, how do we make storytelling accessible to people, for both the audience and the performers?”
Stoner started the series 11 years ago in a backyard in Hyde Park, and it has since grown into an outdoor event at Batch Craft Beer & Kolaches.
The upcoming concerts will feature three storytellers, each paired with a musical piece that explores their story’s emotional arc. There’s also an opening selection performed by the full orchestra. The program includes Suite for String Orchestra by Frank Bridge, Plan & Elevation by composer Caroline Shaw, Adagio for Strings by Samuel Barber, and an orchestral arrangement of Imogen Heap’s Hide and Seek.
“ It's really such a natural collaboration,” Beyer said. “Hyde Park Storytelling and Austin Unconducted are both so focused on creating community and they're all just about people and telling stories, just using different ways to do it.”
Without a conductor, the musicians communicate through the way they breathe and the way they move their bodies or instruments.
“Getting small usually means playing quieter,” Fuentes said. “Getting big, opening your chest and expanding usually means playing louder. It is a lot with the face. There's a lot of just full-blown eye contact across the orchestra. It's always the most amazing thing ever when you just look up and someone's looking right at you.”
This concert is especially meaningful for Fuentes. He’s not only playing in the orchestra, but he’s also one of the three storytellers. His story reflects on a difficult turning point in his life.
“November is the one-year anniversary of when my story happened,” he said. “Getting ready for the November concert last year, I was struggling with really bad depression. My story is about going to the mental hospital and coming out just a totally new person and just how helpful, how scary it was for me, but how beautiful of a time I had there.”
Stoner and Beyer are eager to see how audiences respond to the fusion of narrative and music.
“I’m excited to hear how people experience the stories and the music together,” Stoner said.
“We have so many voices coming together,” Beyer added. “I can’t wait to see it all take shape in rehearsal and then share it with Austin.”
Hyde Park Storytelling and Austin Unconducted have ticketed performances Nov. 6 and 7 at KMFA’s Draylen Mason Music Studio and a free outdoor show Nov. 8 at Batch.
