About This Event
Roots in the Sky Performance of Baptism (Re)imagined: The Sea Came Up and Drowned
Saturday, August 22
Doors open at 7pm. Performance begins at 7:30.
Located in Chris Fraser's Asterisms space at Tinworks Art
REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED.
Jill Pelto - Landscape of Change
Description:
Roots in the Sky, Montana's premier chamber choir, and Tinworks Art join forces to present Baptism (Re)imagined, a concert exploring land ownership, resource extraction, and climate upheaval, featuring the regional premiere of Nicholas Cline's The Sea Came Up and Drowned and three pieces written as part of our 2026 Choral Composition Program. This performance will feature composer fellows Courage Barda, Matthew Tirona, and Shane Scott Cook.
About the Composer Fellows:
Courage Barda (b. 2003) is a composer, countertenor, and media artist from Indiana. He composes music for the voice and creates interdisciplinary performance works that integrate movement, theater, text, and video. Playfulness and critical theory are central to his creative practice. His research focuses on intermedia counterpoint and the aesthetics of abjection and camp. After surviving a severe neurological event, he began to center his work on his disabled body, using it as compositional material and a conceptual framework.
His work has been performed by ensembles such the Fourth Choir, the Young New Yorkers’ Chorus, the Phoenix Boys Choir, the Capital Hearings, the International Brazilian Opera Company, Hub New Music, the Choral Arts Initiative, and NOTUS, Indiana University’s contemporary vocal ensemble.
He is completing bachelor’s degrees in Composition and Historical Performance (Voice) at the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University. His composition mentors include Gabriel Jenks, John Gibson, Aaron Travers, Don Freund, and David Dzubay. He studies voice with Thomas Cooley. He will begin pursuing a Master of Music in Composition at the Thornton School of Music at the University of Southern California in the fall of 2026.
Matthew Tirona (b. 2005) is a composer and musician based in Boston. His compositions are textural and contemplative, taking inspiration from landscapes, seascapes, climate change, technological progress, loss, mourning, nostalgia, American popular music culture, and the color blue.
Collaborators include the Gonzaga University Wind Ensemble, Unison Chamber Music Collective, Garden State Singers, NEC Philharmonia, and NEC Wind Ensemble, among many others. His music has been featured at the Belvedere Chamber Music Festival (1st prize winner), Midwest Graduate Music Consortium New Music Concert (Call for Scores winner), Trio Tyche: NEC Honors Ensemble Recital (NEC Honors Ensemble Composition Competition winner), Rivers School Conservatory Seminar on Contemporary Music for the Young (commissioned composer), and in venues such as Jordan Hall, Tufts Distler Performance Hall, Voxman Recital Hall, and 102 Franklin St Art Loft.
An accomplished choral singer, Matthew currently sings in the NEC Chamber Singers and the First Baptist Church of Boston choir. He has sung the major choral works of Handel, Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms, Duruflé, Poulenc, and more, under conductors such as Erica Washburn, James Burton, Hugh Wolff, David Loebel, Bill Drury, Holly Druckman, and Amelia LeClair.
Matthew is pursuing his Bachelor of Music in Composition at the New England Conservatory of Music, studying with Michael Gandolfi. As a musician of Filipino descent, Matthew hopes to be an advocate for diversity and representation in composition and classical music. Matthew is affiliated with the performance-rights organization American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP).
Shane Scott Cook (b. 1994) is a composer, performer, and songwriter whose work explores themes of community, connection, nature, and the queer experience. His music is shaped by an eclectic background as a classical percussionist, jazz singer, folk enthusiast, and musical theater aficionado, and has been commissioned and performed by Del Sol Quartet, Akropolis Reed Quintet, Salastina, Stare at the Sun, Young New Yorkers’ Chorus, Duo Cortona, and Hindustani vocalist Saili Oak.
From 2023–25, Shane served as Teaching Artist-in-Residence at the Gabriela Lena Frank Creative Academy of Music, where he taught piano, guitar, percussion, and music theory to public school students in rural Northern California. Recent appointments include Composer-in-Residence for Del Sol Quartet’s 2025 ChamberFest, Composer Fellow for the 2025 Akropolis Chamber Music Festival, and 2024 Sounds Promising Young Composer Fellow with Salastina.
In 2025, his premieres included bloom for Quintet Attacca and mezzo-soprano Quinn Middleman (EarTaxi Festival); song-cycle Namesake (Boston Singers’ Resource and Catalyst New Music); speak, winner of The Capital Hearings’ Young Composers’ Competition; and chamber works call it what it is (OLEA Ensemble) and Neon Landscape (Moody Center at Rice University). That same year, his choral works received awards or recognition from Stare at the Sun, Young New Yorkers’ Chorus, Choral Arts Initiative, and the EcoVoice Project. Additional recent highlights include the 2025 Dragon Prize in Choral Music, and first prize at Fourth
Coast Ensemble’s 2024 Chicago SongSlam.
An Illinois native, Shane is based in Houston, TX and began doctoral studies at Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music in 2025.
Listen and find out more at www.shanescottcook.com.
About the Performers:
With performances described as “the best choral singing we’ve ever heard in Bozeman (or almost anywhere),” Roots in the Sky has established itself as Montana’s premier chamber choir through a commitment to presenting thoughtfully programmed performances of historical and contemporary choral works that ask questions about the world in which we are living.
Sought-after for collaborations, Roots in the Sky has appeared in performance with the GRAMMY Award-winning chamber choir The Crossing, Jitro Czech Children’s Choir, and many of the Gallatin Valley’s finest instrumentalists. Roots in the Sky has performed across the state of Montana at venues including at the Tippet Rise Arts Center as part of the Montana State University Honors College Musicale, in Red Lodge as part of Music from the Beartooths, in the Bozeman Public Library as part of the Montana Chamber Music Society’s Noon Notes series for elementary students, as the chorus of a contemporary chamber opera at the Warren Miller Performing Arts Center in Big Sky, at First Presbyterian Church of Bozeman as part of their Mainly Music season, at mass in the Cathedral of St. Helena, and in concert in Missoula, Kalispell, and Big Sky.
Recent highlights include performances of Scott Ordway’s The End of Rain, a multimedia reflection on the way that climate change and wildfires are affecting our relationship to the landscapes we call home, the region’s first historically informed presentation of Handel’s Messiah with Baroque Music Montana, launching a new Choral Composition Program for early career composers in partnership with Pulitzer Prize finalist Michael Gilbertson and Tinworks Art, and a Wander series performance at the Tippet Rise Arts Center that was a “highlight of the season.” In their 2025-26, Ritual (Re)imagined, Roots in the Sky breathes new life into ancient liturgies and musical forms.
For more information
To learn about our exhibition programming and to stay informed about what's going on at Tinworks Art sign up for our newsletter on our website www.tinworksart.org and follow us on social media.
Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/tinworksartbozeman)
Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/tinworksart/)
Interested in making a donation? Help support our quality programming for all ages this season by visiting https://www.tinworksart.org/give.
About This Event
Roots in the Sky Performance of Baptism (Re)imagined: The Sea Came Up and Drowned
Saturday, August 22
Doors open at 7pm. Performance begins at 7:30.
Located in Chris Fraser's Asterisms space at Tinworks Art
REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED.
Jill Pelto - Landscape of Change
Description:
Roots in the Sky, Montana's premier chamber choir, and Tinworks Art join forces to present Baptism (Re)imagined, a concert exploring land ownership, resource extraction, and climate upheaval, featuring the regional premiere of Nicholas Cline's The Sea Came Up and Drowned and three pieces written as part of our 2026 Choral Composition Program. This performance will feature composer fellows Courage Barda, Matthew Tirona, and Shane Scott Cook.
About the Composer Fellows:
Courage Barda (b. 2003) is a composer, countertenor, and media artist from Indiana. He composes music for the voice and creates interdisciplinary performance works that integrate movement, theater, text, and video. Playfulness and critical theory are central to his creative practice. His research focuses on intermedia counterpoint and the aesthetics of abjection and camp. After surviving a severe neurological event, he began to center his work on his disabled body, using it as compositional material and a conceptual framework.
His work has been performed by ensembles such the Fourth Choir, the Young New Yorkers’ Chorus, the Phoenix Boys Choir, the Capital Hearings, the International Brazilian Opera Company, Hub New Music, the Choral Arts Initiative, and NOTUS, Indiana University’s contemporary vocal ensemble.
He is completing bachelor’s degrees in Composition and Historical Performance (Voice) at the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University. His composition mentors include Gabriel Jenks, John Gibson, Aaron Travers, Don Freund, and David Dzubay. He studies voice with Thomas Cooley. He will begin pursuing a Master of Music in Composition at the Thornton School of Music at the University of Southern California in the fall of 2026.
Matthew Tirona (b. 2005) is a composer and musician based in Boston. His compositions are textural and contemplative, taking inspiration from landscapes, seascapes, climate change, technological progress, loss, mourning, nostalgia, American popular music culture, and the color blue.
Collaborators include the Gonzaga University Wind Ensemble, Unison Chamber Music Collective, Garden State Singers, NEC Philharmonia, and NEC Wind Ensemble, among many others. His music has been featured at the Belvedere Chamber Music Festival (1st prize winner), Midwest Graduate Music Consortium New Music Concert (Call for Scores winner), Trio Tyche: NEC Honors Ensemble Recital (NEC Honors Ensemble Composition Competition winner), Rivers School Conservatory Seminar on Contemporary Music for the Young (commissioned composer), and in venues such as Jordan Hall, Tufts Distler Performance Hall, Voxman Recital Hall, and 102 Franklin St Art Loft.
An accomplished choral singer, Matthew currently sings in the NEC Chamber Singers and the First Baptist Church of Boston choir. He has sung the major choral works of Handel, Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms, Duruflé, Poulenc, and more, under conductors such as Erica Washburn, James Burton, Hugh Wolff, David Loebel, Bill Drury, Holly Druckman, and Amelia LeClair.
Matthew is pursuing his Bachelor of Music in Composition at the New England Conservatory of Music, studying with Michael Gandolfi. As a musician of Filipino descent, Matthew hopes to be an advocate for diversity and representation in composition and classical music. Matthew is affiliated with the performance-rights organization American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP).
Shane Scott Cook (b. 1994) is a composer, performer, and songwriter whose work explores themes of community, connection, nature, and the queer experience. His music is shaped by an eclectic background as a classical percussionist, jazz singer, folk enthusiast, and musical theater aficionado, and has been commissioned and performed by Del Sol Quartet, Akropolis Reed Quintet, Salastina, Stare at the Sun, Young New Yorkers’ Chorus, Duo Cortona, and Hindustani vocalist Saili Oak.
From 2023–25, Shane served as Teaching Artist-in-Residence at the Gabriela Lena Frank Creative Academy of Music, where he taught piano, guitar, percussion, and music theory to public school students in rural Northern California. Recent appointments include Composer-in-Residence for Del Sol Quartet’s 2025 ChamberFest, Composer Fellow for the 2025 Akropolis Chamber Music Festival, and 2024 Sounds Promising Young Composer Fellow with Salastina.
In 2025, his premieres included bloom for Quintet Attacca and mezzo-soprano Quinn Middleman (EarTaxi Festival); song-cycle Namesake (Boston Singers’ Resource and Catalyst New Music); speak, winner of The Capital Hearings’ Young Composers’ Competition; and chamber works call it what it is (OLEA Ensemble) and Neon Landscape (Moody Center at Rice University). That same year, his choral works received awards or recognition from Stare at the Sun, Young New Yorkers’ Chorus, Choral Arts Initiative, and the EcoVoice Project. Additional recent highlights include the 2025 Dragon Prize in Choral Music, and first prize at Fourth
Coast Ensemble’s 2024 Chicago SongSlam.
An Illinois native, Shane is based in Houston, TX and began doctoral studies at Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music in 2025.
Listen and find out more at www.shanescottcook.com.
About the Performers:
With performances described as “the best choral singing we’ve ever heard in Bozeman (or almost anywhere),” Roots in the Sky has established itself as Montana’s premier chamber choir through a commitment to presenting thoughtfully programmed performances of historical and contemporary choral works that ask questions about the world in which we are living.
Sought-after for collaborations, Roots in the Sky has appeared in performance with the GRAMMY Award-winning chamber choir The Crossing, Jitro Czech Children’s Choir, and many of the Gallatin Valley’s finest instrumentalists. Roots in the Sky has performed across the state of Montana at venues including at the Tippet Rise Arts Center as part of the Montana State University Honors College Musicale, in Red Lodge as part of Music from the Beartooths, in the Bozeman Public Library as part of the Montana Chamber Music Society’s Noon Notes series for elementary students, as the chorus of a contemporary chamber opera at the Warren Miller Performing Arts Center in Big Sky, at First Presbyterian Church of Bozeman as part of their Mainly Music season, at mass in the Cathedral of St. Helena, and in concert in Missoula, Kalispell, and Big Sky.
Recent highlights include performances of Scott Ordway’s The End of Rain, a multimedia reflection on the way that climate change and wildfires are affecting our relationship to the landscapes we call home, the region’s first historically informed presentation of Handel’s Messiah with Baroque Music Montana, launching a new Choral Composition Program for early career composers in partnership with Pulitzer Prize finalist Michael Gilbertson and Tinworks Art, and a Wander series performance at the Tippet Rise Arts Center that was a “highlight of the season.” In their 2025-26, Ritual (Re)imagined, Roots in the Sky breathes new life into ancient liturgies and musical forms.
For more information
To learn about our exhibition programming and to stay informed about what's going on at Tinworks Art sign up for our newsletter on our website www.tinworksart.org and follow us on social media.
Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/tinworksartbozeman)
Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/tinworksart/)
Interested in making a donation? Help support our quality programming for all ages this season by visiting https://www.tinworksart.org/give.