Composer, Nathan Felix, is set to release a new live classical music recording of his 3rd symphony, Santa-Almada. The choral symphony featuring Inversion Ensemble was recorded live for its premiere in Austin at KMFA’s Draylen Mason Music Studio on May 14th 2022 by Grammy winning engineer Erik Wofford. Santa-Almada will be released and available to stream and download worldwide on all digital platforms on Friday December 9th.

Santa-Almada is based on a true story sparked by a quest for answers about Felix’s absent father and Mexican ancestry, revealing the existence of two half brothers and a sister, also having been abandoned by their mutual father. Eager for answers, Felix reached out to his father after 27 years and an ensuing one hour phone call led to closure and sparked the beginnings of movement one, Fathers & Sons, in which Felix vulnerably releases his fear that he too will abandon his duties as a father to his son. Fathers & Sons turned out to be the beginning of this choral symphony that Felix wrote over the course of five years while traveling through Eastern Europe and Scandinavia. Santa-Almada is written in six movements with themes of personal exploration, discovery, loss, and deep reflection. It was important to Felix to have the world premiere of the work in Austin where it could be shared with his family and closest friends.

Austin based choral group, Inversion Ensemble, led by conductor Trevor Shaw premiered the symphony this past May along with violinist Olivia Bloom, violist Jason Elinoff, cellist Randall Holt, percussionist Kurt Lammers and pianist Benjamin Dia. Felix first collaborated with Inversion Ensemble at the beginning of the pandemic for the recording of his chamber opera, Öcalan, about Kurdish Political Activist, Abdullah Öcalan. The recording received international critical acclaim and sparked talks of future collaborations between both parties that lead us to the partnership for Santa-Almada.

For more information or to schedule an interview, please contact Nathan Felix.

Who: Nathan Felix
What: Live recording of Nathan Felix’s choral symphony, Santa-Almada, featuring Inversion Ensemble
When: Friday December 9th 2022
Where: World Wide on all digital platforms (i.e. Spotify, iTunes, etc)

About Nathan Felix:
Nathan Felix (born 1981) is a Mexican-American composer known for his immersive operas and experimental films. Felix’s music has premiered in Bulgaria, Portugal, Spain, Japan, China, Sweden, Denmark, Mongolia and the United States and has been featured on the BBC, MTV, NPR, TPR & PBS. Felix, a non-award winning composer, often focuses on telling Latinx themed and minority stories that highlight border issues, underserved communities and his Hispanic heritage.