Pancho Villa From a Safe Distance


Graham Reynolds creates, performs and records music for film, theater, dance, rock clubs and concert halls.

Artist Bio

Pancho Villa From A Safe Distance is a bilingual cross-border chamber opera about the enigmatic general, legendary bandit, and hero of the Mexican Revolution. Through a non-linear collage of scenes from or inspired by the life of the complex, contradictory, and controversial leader, the piece provides a timely lens into the relationships and overlaps between the communities of Mexico, the United States, and the borderlands. The project brings together an impressive array of artistic collaborators from both sides of the Rio Grande: Austin, Texas based composer Graham Reynolds, librettists Lagartijas Tiradas al Sol of Mexico City, director Shawn Sides of Rude Mechs, and an exceptional ensemble of two vocalists and six instrumentalists built around Grammy-winning producer-guitarist Adrian Quesada.


Award Year
2016
Status

Completed


Graham Reynolds performs at the 2016 Creative Capital Retreat

GrahamReynolds4_CreditBillMcCullough

Graham Reynolds

Austin, TX

Called “the quintessential modern composer” by the London Independent, Austin-based composer-bandleader Graham Reynolds creates, performs and records music for film, theater, dance, rock clubs and concert halls with collaborators ranging from Richard Linklater and Jack Black to DJ Spooky and Ballet Austin. Heard throughout the world in films, on TV, on stage, and on radio, from HBO to Showtime, Cannes Film Festival to the Kennedy Center, and BBC to NPR, he recently scored Before Midnight with Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy, Bernie featuring Jack Black, and the Hulu TV series Up To Speed. With Golden Arm Trio, Reynolds has toured the country and released four critically acclaimed albums. His current work-in-progress is a three part commission from Ballroom Marfa titled The Marfa Triptych, a portrait of West Texas that Vogue Magazine described as “beautiful and raucous.”

Photo credit: Bill McCullough