ABOUT

The Memorias Project is an immersive archival recital and installation dedicated to the history of Mexican and Mexican Americans in Austin, free and open to the public, with two performances at Dadalab June 20-21, 2026. This project is funded by the City of Austin and directed by Claudia E. Zapata.

WHAT

The audience will hear a concert of original compositions performed by several musicians, including a cellist, an opera singer, pianist, a chorus, and a DJ. While the musicians perform, digital animations will serve as a backdrop. These musical compositions, animations, and projections will draw on documentary footage and archival research grounded in local collections, such as the Austin History Center, Preservation Austin, and Mexic-Arte Museum, as well as on unique digital art. The compositions and animations will follow a chronological framework guided by three movements.

Movement one will discuss the cultural diaspora of immigrants from Mexico to Austin and the eventual removal of Black and Mexican communities per Austin’s 1928 City Plan. Themes of disruption, sadness, and longing will guide the sonic and visual. Movement two will highlight the creation of the Mexican East Side community, celebration, joy, and cultural pride. Movement three will frame resistance, protest, and historical strikes. As part of the interactive theatre, all audience members will receive an informational zine and a flower at their seats, which they will offer to performers at the event’s final bows.

WHEN

JUNE 20, 2026 at 7PM

JUNE 21, 2026 at 1PM

Click here for event tickets.

WHERE

Dadalab:

2008 Alexander Ave, Austin, TX 7872

WHO

Claudia Zapata (Lead artist)

Claudia E. Zapata (they/them) earned their Ph.D. in art history at Southern Methodist University’s RASC/a: Rhetorics of Art, Space, and Culture program. They received their BA and MA in art history from the University of Texas at Austin, with a specialization in Maya art of the Classic period (250-900 CE). Zapata was the curator of exhibitions and programs at the Mexic-Arte Museum in Austin. From 2018-2022, Claudia was the curatorial assistant of Latinx art at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, working on the award-winning exhibition, *¡Printing the Revolution! The Rise and Impact of Chicano Graphics, 1965-Now (2020)* and curating *Radical Histories: Chicanx Prints from the Smithsonian American Art Museum.*

Claudia Chapa
(Opera Soloist)

Claudia Chapa (she/her) is an award-winning performer, curator, and Latine cultural advocate. She is the Associate Director of Artistic Administration and the Curator of Hispanic and Latinx Programming at Austin Opera. As a mezzo-soprano, she performed with Dallas Opera, Virginia Opera, San Diego Opera, St. Petersburg Opera, among many other houses. Recent highlights include recording Handel’s Messiah with the Royal Philharmonic at the famed Abbey Roads Studios. In 2017, Chapa made her Carnegie Hall debut as the mezzo soloist in Verdi’s Requiem with Distinguished Concert International New York (DCINY). She received the prestigious Silverman Award, the Monica & Roger McNeill Award and is a grant recipient from the Olga Forrai Foundation. In 2015, she participated in the Young Artist Program at The Glimmerglass Festival and studied vocal performance at the Butler School of Music at The University of Texas at Austin. In 2022, Austin Opera appointed her as their inaugural Curator of Hispanic and Latinx programming. In this role, she spearheads programming in Spanish and develops initiatives to increase Latine communities’ access to opera. Her dedication to cultural representation in opera continues as the founder of the Latine Opera Alliance, a diverse group of Latine-identifying opera singers, creatives, and administrators striving to uplift and advocate for equity and representation in opera.

Cory Blais (Cellist)

Austin-based cellist Cory Blais has earned a reputation as a versatile and expressive collaborator, performing and recording with artists across a wide range of genres, including concerts with Laufey, Sigur Rós, and Burna Boy, as well as work on an Austin City Limits taping with Queens Of The Stone Age. A core performer in Austin’s Candlelight Concerts, he has also appeared in the city’s newest concert series, Concert Dome. A sought-after chamber musician, Cory has performed for organizations including the Austin Chamber Music Center, Austin’s Beerthoven Concert Series, Austin Unconducted, and Absolute Music Chamber Series in Lansing. He is also a founding member of Austin Camerata, a chamber music organization known for its innovative programming and dynamic artistic partnerships.

Cory has performed with the cello sections of the Houston Symphony, Austin Symphony, Waco Symphony, and Central Texas Philharmonic, and previously served as principal cellist of the Temple Symphony Orchestra. A dedicated educator, he maintains a private teaching studio, works regularly as a clinician with school orchestra cello sections throughout the greater Austin area, and coaches chamber music ensembles through the Austin Chamber Music Center.