VAMP is thrilled to be performing with 14 other ensembles as part of HERE BE MONSTERS, an Austin new music collective. These performances include 11 world premieres by Austin composers, one of whom is our very own Laura Mercado-Wright. It will be an amazing evening; you don’t want to miss it!

VAMP is excited to be the guest performers on this LOLA Austin event with soprano Maureen Broy Papovich!

Join us May 19th & 20th, 2023, for The ERA Project - a new set of songs for soprano and piano composed by Rain Nox with texts by Maureen Broy Papovich. This concert presentation features Maureen Broy Popovich, soprano, and Jeanne Sasaki, a pianist, with performances by special guests and all-female vocal ensemble, VAMP.

Ms. Papovich was inspired to write about the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) by her grandmother, Cecil Norton Broy (1890-1977) who worked beside Alice Paul as the Political Chair Person of the National Women’s Party for 25 years. This set of six songs explores the history of the ERA, the National Women’s Party, and the contributions of Ms. Papovich’s grandmother, and provides reflections on the women’s movement today. Along with the music, Ms. Papovich will present a short lecture and slideshow about the subject. Ms. Papovich and Ms. Nox hope to bring attention to this important and ongoing fight for equality in the Constitution through the ERA. The ERA Project combines beautiful music with inspiring and thought-provoking content.

VAMP is excited to be the guest performers on this LOLA Austin event with soprano Maureen Broy Papovich!

Join us May 19th & 20th, 2023, for The ERA Project - a new set of songs for soprano and piano composed by Rain Nox with texts by Maureen Broy Papovich. This concert presentation features Maureen Broy Popovich, soprano, and Jeanne Sasaki, a pianist, with performances by special guests and all-female vocal ensemble, VAMP.

Ms. Papovich was inspired to write about the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) by her grandmother, Cecil Norton Broy (1890-1977) who worked beside Alice Paul as the Political Chair Person of the National Women’s Party for 25 years. This set of six songs explores the history of the ERA, the National Women’s Party, and the contributions of Ms. Papovich’s grandmother, and provides reflections on the women’s movement today. Along with the music, Ms. Papovich will present a short lecture and slideshow about the subject. Ms. Papovich and Ms. Nox hope to bring attention to this important and ongoing fight for equality in the Constitution through the ERA. The ERA Project combines beautiful music with inspiring and thought-provoking content.

VAMP’s very own Page Stephens talks about why she thinks including new music in vocal training today is so important. Also, hear exceptional music by Matthew Lyons, James Maverick, and not one, but TWO world premieres by Laura Mercado-Wright and Russell Podgorsek.

FREE ADMISSION

It’s VAMP’s first unofficial SXSW gig along with some of our favorite contemporary classical friends! We perform at 4:48pm.

FREE ADMISSION

Conceived pre-pandemic and born in March 2020, VAMP is a vocal quintet of formidable female artists touting a motley songbook and a bold red lip. After two years of rehearsing in parking garages and performing virtually, VAMP proudly presents their inaugural public concert featuring vocal music ranging from the renaissance to pop and everything in between.

Deeply committed to amplifying music by living, female-identifying composers, they thrive on diving into new sonic worlds and stretching musical boundaries. VAMP's members have premiered scores by some of the country’s most exciting composers, including Gabriela Ortiz, Julia Wolfe, Caroline Shaw, Reena Esmail, Dana Lyn, Adrienne Inglis, Adeliia (Adele) Faizullina, and their very own Laura Mercado-Wright.

Members of VAMP include Mary Elizabeth Ashton, soprano; Adrienne Pedrotti Bingamon, soprano; Katrina Saporsantos, soprano; Page Stephens, mezzo soprano; and Laura Mercado-Wright, mezzo soprano.