Date(s): SATURDAY, FEB 7th, 2026
Type of Show: Opera
Showtime(s): 7:30 pm (SEATED SHOW)
Tickets: $30.00 adv / $35.00 DOS
ARTEMIS opera
Composed by Pauchi Sasaki
ARTEMIS is a multi-platform and multi-year opera (2020 – 2027) that focuses on the relationship between the female body, metal, technology, future and power. This project is inspired by NASA’s program Artemis, a space mission that will bring the first woman to the moon’s surface in 2026, 56 years later than the first man moon landing. The opera represents an archetype of the promise of technological gender equality in the 21st century, as the first woman on the moon would be an act of empowerment, a symbolic validation of the spaces and disciplines in which women can thrive. This opera aims to celebrate and bring light to this milestone in women’s history in our pursuit of knowledge and new discoveries. ARTEMIS Opera is envisioned as a transcultural coven, a rite of passage where the voices of women from all cultures and times resonate and get amplified.
In this project participates: Pauchi Sasaki (violin and electronics), Jennifer Curtis (violin), Grace Lin Anderson (cello), Brent Shields (doublebass), Omar Lavalle (video artist and tech supervisor) and Jack Lo (production). This concert was made possible with the additional support of the Peruvian Ministry of Culture and the Ibermusicas Fund “Ayuda a la circulación de profesionales de la música”.
Repertoire:
*1st section: 35 minutes:
- ARTEMIS: Fountain
- Mayu
- ARTEMIS: Ouverture
- ARTEMIS: Tattoo
- kuKu
Performers:
Pauchi Sasaki: Violin & Electronics
Jennifer Curtis: Violin
Grace Lin Anderson: Cello
Brent Shields: Doublebass
Omar Lavalle: Video Artist
Pauchi Sasaki
Violin & Electronics
Her interdisciplinary approach integrates musical composition with the creation of multimedia performances, the application of new technologies, and the development of self-designed instruments such as the Speaker Dress. In 2016, she became Philip Glass’ protégé as part of The Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative. She also received the Ibermúsicas grant for sound composition with new technologies at CMMAS in Mexico, the Goethe-Institute’s artist residency in Brazil and Berlin, Civitella Ranieri Foundation Fellowship, Columbia University’s Institute for Ideas and Imagination Fellowship, and the Prince Claus Fund.
Commissions include ACO/Carnegie Hall, Silkroad Ensemble, Pan American Games Opening Ceremony Lima 2019, City of London Sinfonia, the Rolex Arts Festival, HELLERAU – European Center for the Arts, among others. An activefilm scorer, “Pauchi Sasaki’s effective scores” [Variety 2015] are featured in more than 30 feature and short films, having received four “Best Original Score” international awards. Her work has been presented at international venues and festivals as the Tokyo Experimental Festival, Venice Biennale, Carnegie Hall, Cannes Film Festival, Walt Disney Hall, MET, The Kitchen, Gran Teatro Nacional del Perú, Festival Cervantino, the Art Basel Miami week, Lincoln Center, and John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
Website: pauchi.com
Instagram: @pauchisasaki
Jennifer Curtis
Violin
Composer/performer Jennifer Curtis has been described as a “multi genre maverick” by the San Diego union tribune. Her second solo concert in Carnegie Hall was described by the New York Times as “one of the gutsiest and most individual recital programs,” and she was celebrated as “an artist of keen intelligence and taste, well worth watching out for.”
As a violinist Jennifer has won the milka-astral grand prize for violin, Juilliard concerto competitions and competed in Austria at the international Brahms competition. She has appeared as a soloist with the Simon Bolivar Orchestra in Venezuela, performed her own mini concerto with the Knights Chamber Orchestra, been presented as a soloist at Carnegie’s Weil Hall, Philadelphia‘a Kimmel center and Academy of music, given world premieres at the Mostly Mozart Festival at Lincoln Center; collaborated with composer John Adams at the Library of Congress; appeared at Giverny international festival de musique de chamber, Spoleto Festival, El Festival de las Artes Esénias in Peru, and many other festivals worldwide.
An improviser, composer, and multi-instrumentalist, Jennifer was a member of the acclaimed new music group; International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE) for 14 years. She appears on many recordings such as Invisible Ritual with Tyshawn Sorey, for which pitchfork magazine wrote that “Curtis’s range as a soloist is a revelation.” Other recordings such as Routes of Evanescence with Ariana Kim, include her compositions.
Currently, Jennifer is finishing up an album of rarely heard repertoire by violinist/composer George Enescu. She has given American premieres of his solo violin works and performed many times in Romania in his honor.
As a composer, Jennifer has been in residence at Cornell, composed in India for classical dance and been presented at Spoleto Festival Italy and Verbier, where she joined the Curtis Orchestra during their residency. She has been part of multiple residencies at the Baryshnikov arts center in New York City as composer/performer and improviser.
An educator with a focus on music as humanitarian aid, Jennifer has also collaborated with musical shamen of the Andes, improvised for live radio from the interior of the Amazon jungle, and taught and collaborated with Kurdish refugees in Turkey. She has given her masterclass on the Art of Interpretation through improvisation and applied music theory at Oberlin Conservatory, San Francisco Conservatory, Cornell and more.
Jennifer teaches violin at Duke University, performs regularly with the North Carolina Symphony and plays on a 1777 Vincenzo Panormo violin. Her formidable teachers were Robert Mann, Itzhak Perlman and Don Weilerstein.
Website: jennifercurtisviolin.com
Instagram: @kelsobongo
Grace Lin Anderson
Cello
Grace Lin Anderson is a soloist and chamber musician whose international performances have spanned the Americas and Europe. Recent highlights include summer 2025 solo appearances with the Arequipa Symphony Orchestra performing Dvorak’s Cello Concerto and with the Symphony Orchestra of the National University San Agustín performing Tchaikovsky’s Rococo Variations, plus solo Bach recitals at Köthen Castle and St. Thomas Church in Leipzig.
Her upcoming 2025-26 season features performances throughout North Carolina, including cello soloist with the Winston Salem Choral Artists at Wake Forest University. She has performed at Duke University, UNC School of the Arts, UNC Chapel Hill, and Wake Forest University’s Secrest Artist Series.
Career highlights include performances at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Kennedy Center, and international festivals including Caramoor and Aspen, with performances in France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and Canada.
Critics have praised Anderson for her “rapier definition and boundless energy” (New York Concert Review) and “elegant style and unerring facility” (Classical Voice of North Carolina). Her Peru appearances were lauded for “dazzling with refined technique” (El Pueblo).
Anderson holds degrees from Harvard University and The Juilliard School, earned her doctorate from UNC Greensboro, and has received awards from Concert Artists International, the National Federation of Music Clubs, and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Website: gracelinanderson.com
Instagram: @graceandersoncello
Brent Shields
Doublebass
Brent Shields is a versatile bassist who plays with many groups across multiple genres in the Triangle. Originally from Savannah, GA, Brent studied with jazz legend Ben Tucker as a high schooler before earning a bachelor’s in Computer Science from Brown University. He came up through the Atlanta jazz scene in the early 2000s, performing with the likes of Philip Harper, Russell Gunn, and Terreon Gully before moving to Berlin, Germany later that decade. In Berlin, Brent worked as a lead engineer on Ableton Live, fusing his lifelong passions for music and technology, while performing with musicians such as Rieko Okuda, Takeshi Nishimoto, and Axel Fischbacher.
Omar Lavalle
Video Artist & Tech supervisor
Omar Lavalle is a visual and sound artist specializing in digital media. He currently directs “Brazo Mecánico”, a cultural agency dedicated to developing initiatives in art and technology, and also works as a cultural manager and independent curator. Between 2010 and 2025, he led the Digital Knowledge and Culture program at “Fundación Telefónica in Peru”, where he promoted various initiatives related to contemporary creation, digital culture, and experimentation with new media through exhibitions, festivals, public programs, and interdisciplinary projects.
His artistic practice explores generative art processes, digital error, repetition, and abstraction. He has participated in various international platforms such as the International Image Festival (Colombia), Transitio_MX (Mexico), Ensemble Vortex (Switzerland), MUTEK (Canada), “Escuchar” (Argentina), Neo Shibuya (Japan), Currents New Media (United States), Project 22 (Dubai), among others.
Website: omarlavalle.com
Instagram: @omar_lavalle_
The ArtsCenter Theater shows are (almost always) seated. This is a seated show, though we’ll leave some room for those who may wish to get up a shake a leg. We have a nice bar with wine, beer, cider, soft drinks, snacks and always free water. If you need special assistance, please do contact us at boxoffice@artscenterlive.org or 919.929.2787 and we’ll be sure to accommodate you as best as we can.