ABOUT

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

The Artist in Residence (AIR) program embeds local artists within City departments to use art as a tool for community connection, cultural storytelling, and engagement around the I-35 corridor. Created jointly by ACME and Austin Transportation & Public Works (ATPW) as part of the Our Future 35 initiative, the program integrates East Austin’s cultural history into mobility planning and fosters collaboration between artists, City staff, and the communities they serve.

PICA 11695, Protests, led by Austin’s Chicano community, against the boat races during Aqua Fest, 1970s.

WHAT

The event is an immersive concert of original compositions and pre-recorded music performed by several musicians, including Claudia Chapa (opera), Corey Blais (cello), Joseph Choi (piano), and Pinche Juan (DJ). While the musicians perform, digital and generative art animations co-developed by creative technologist David Sydiongco and Claudia E. Zapata serve as a backdrop. These musical compositions, animations, and projections draw on documentary footage and archival research grounded in East Austin community spaces and local collections, such as the Austin History Center, Preservation Austin, and Mexic-Arte Museum. The compositions and animations follow a chronological framework guided by three movements.

Movement one discusses 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 highlights the creation of Mexican East Side communities, including spaces like the Oswaldo A.B. Cantu/Pan American Recreation Center. This sound will include nostalgia, celebration, joy, and cultural pride. Movement three frames resistance, protest, and historical strikes. Historical moments like the Aqua Fest Boat Races protest will be central to this representation. As part of the interactive theatre, all audience members receive interactive elements and an informational zine to learn more about Austin history referenced in the experience.

Claudia Chapa, Carnegie Hall, New York City, 2025.

Construction of I-35 near 6th St, August 24, 1960. Texas Freeway Archives.

FEATURED ARCHIVES (EXCERPT)

Austin-1935 [Redlining] Home Owners' Loan Corporation. Residential Security Map (National Archives, Record Group 145, Austin Texas Folder)

PICA 35906, Alfonso Ramos Band plays for a wedding reception at the San Jose Community Center, 1970. Photography by Joan Penzenstadler.

WHO

Claudia Zapata (Lead artist)

**Claudia E. Zapata** (they/them) is a curator, writer, and interdisciplinary artist. They 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*. In 2023, the Blanton Museum of Art in Austin, Texas, selected Zapata as its inaugural Associate Curator of Latino Art. In 2026, their play “Altares” was selected for the Austin Latinx New Play Festival, presented by Teatro Vivo.

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.

DJ Pinche Juan
(Featured DJ)

Originating from Monterrey, Mexico, and calling Austin home, **Pinche Juan** curates diverse, wide ranging sounds on vinyl. Her selections explore nostalgia, atmosphere, and joyful sonic remedies.

Kevin Arratia-Diaz (Chorus)

Mexican American tenor Kevin Arratia-Diaz is a talented and skilled musician who has performed for wedding venues, country clubs, fashion artists, opera workshops, artist programs in Europe, and organizations such as Westlake Storytellers & Indie Classical Music Festival, Here Be Monsters year ‘25 and ’26, and with mariachi groups. Also, Arratia-Diaz has performed with companies such as OPERA San Antonio, Austin Opera, LOLA, One Ounce Opera, Gilbert & Sullivan-Austin, ATX Musical Theatre Collective, and was an official backup tenor for Houston Grand Opera for their ‘24-’25 season. With extensive experience performing a diverse repertoire ranging from early baroque to modern popular, he has also excelled across genres, showcasing remarkable versatility that captivates audiences. Kevin has had the pleasure of performing the roles: Guillermo (Buford Highway Dreams), Santi (No Mans Land), The Butterfly (The Butterfly), The Obsessed Photographer (Glory Gone), TV Announcer (The Manchurian Candidate), Oronte (Alcina), Leonard (The Yeomen of the Guard), Gherardo (Gianni Schicchi), Monsieur Vogelsang (Der Schauspieldirektor) and Frederic (The Pirates of Penzance). Kevin has also performed with Un/Heard Voices, a T/B chamber ensemble that advocates for the LGBTQIA+ community and premieres brand-new works, including mini operas by local composers. He has also recorded demos for singer, producer, guitarist, and author John Beland on Beland's song “Monterey Rain,” available on SoundCloud. From classical to pop, Kevin brings both technical skill and emotional depth to every performance. His dedication to the craft and ability to adapt across different musical styles make him a standout performer and inspiring individual. More Information on this artist can be found at www.kevinarratiadiaz.com.

Steve Olivares (Chorus)

**Steve Olivares** is an accomplished chorister, soloist, and stage performer, having performed with American Handel Festival, Animas Music Festival, Ars Longa, Austin Opera, Austin Cantorum, Bernstein100Austin, Conspirare, La Follia, San Antonio Chamber Choir, San Jose Symphony, Santa Fe Desert Chorale, Santa Fe Pro Musica, Seraphic Fire, Spire Chamber Ensemble, State Theater, Texas Early Music Project, Tinsel Singers, Victoria Bach Festival, Vox Humana. He holds a Master of Music degree from the University of Texas at Austin.

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.

David Sydiongco
(Co-visual artist)

**David Sydiongco** is a Creative Technologist and VJ based in Austin, TX. His work explores the emotional narrative of music through generative visuals and creates immersive experiences through interactive design.
His distinctive style, defined by high-contrast, monochromatic imagery, psychedelic and ethereal landscapes, and an intuitive sensitivity to light and space, transforms live musical performances into immersive visual experiences. Drawing inspiration from the surreal beauty found in both natural and synthetic environments, David crafts visuals that transport you through immense spaces of impossible geometry.
As part of the dadageek collective, David has brought his visual artistry to international stages and beloved local venues alike, from SXSW to Austin's Empire Control Room, Club Eternal, Antone's Nightclub, Beecave Buzzfest, and dadaLab. He has collaborated with a diverse roster of artists including Juan Atkins, Rival Consoles, Machinedrum, Shigeto, D.O.D., Ghostland Observatory, Lealani, Omar Rodríguez-López, Graham Reynolds, Brian Wenner and EMSKI.

Antonio Azpiri (Chorus)

Mexican bass-baritone **Azpiri** holds a Master of Music in Voice Performance from the University of Georgia. He has appeared with companies across Mexico and internationally, including West Bay Opera, Operafabriken (Sweden), and Opera Egypt at the Bibliotheca Alexandrina. His roles include Leporello (*Don Giovanni*), Figaro (*Le nozze di Figaro*), Taddeo (*L’italiana in Algeri*), Count Rodolfo (*La sonnambula*), Don Fernando (*Fidelio*), and Fra Melitone (*La forza del destino*). Recent engagements include Edmund Bertram in Mansfield Park and Peter Vogel in Der Ring des Polykrates with UGA Opera Theatre. Praised for his “deeply rich bass-baritone” and “chameleonic” stage presence (*Theatre Eddys*), Azpiri has been recognized for his versatility, comedic timing, and ability to bring distinct character to each role (*OperaWire*).

Joseph Choi (Pianist)

**Joseph Choi** is a Korean-American pianist celebrated for his sensitive and sincere artistry across solo, chamber, and collaborative performances. He holds a Doctor of Musical Arts and a Bachelor of Music from the University of Texas at Austin, where he studied under Anton Nel, and a Master of Music from The Juilliard School under the tutelage of Jerome Lowenthal and Matti Raekallio.

Joseph has earned numerous awards, including Second Prize at the NTD International Piano Competition and Best Performance of a Baroque Composer at the San Antonio International Piano Competition. He has performed at prestigious venues such as Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and the Aspen Music Festival, and collaborated with ensembles including the Austin Symphony Orchestra and the Aeolus Quartet.

A versatile and community-driven artist, Joseph has served as Assistant Conductor for the Vienna Opera Academy, held faculty appointments at Concordia University, and served on the boards of Panoramic Voices and the Pflugerville Arts Council. He currently works as a Teaching Artist and Pianist for Austin Opera, Pianist for the GRAMMY®-winning choir Conspirare, Staff Accompanist at Huston-Tillotson University, and Organist at St. Michael’s Episcopal Church. He is also Music Director for One Ounce Opera’s Fresh Squeezed Ounce of Opera, an annual showcase of contemporary chamber opera in Austin.

Ezra Bowie Yarborough (Chorus)

Ezra Bowie Yarborough (They/Them) is an Austin-based actor, writer, and singer. They grew up in Austin and went to high school at McCallum Fine Arts. At McCallum, they were a Choral major and represented their Latino heritage through participation in the Baile Folklorico group. Last year, they graduated from the University of Northern Colorado with a BFA in acting. Ezra is thrilled to be a part of The Memorias Project! Recently, you may have caught them in “Altares” by Claudia Zapata, as Señora Rosario. Besides theatre, Ezra loves reading, watching some theatre and PBS, spending time with pets, friends, and family, growing their craft, and traveling to other dimensions.

Erika Santana (Chorus)

**Erika Santana** is an Austin-based singer, actor, and educator with a deep love for storytelling through music and performance. A performer with a warm, expressive sound, Erika brings heart, humor, and emotional honesty to every stage she steps onto. Her work spans theatre, film, cabaret, and community arts. She is passionate about creating performances that feel intimate, soulful, and alive. When she is not performing, Erika works with young artists as a theatre educator, helping students find confidence, creativity, and joy through the arts. She is grateful for the opportunity to share her voice and be part of this evening’s music.

Keiny Cantu (Chorus)

Keiny Cantu is a former mariachi performer and current student at the University of Texas at Austin, where she is pursuing a B.F.A. in Acting and a minor in Arts Management and Administration. Having lived in Mexico for 15 years, she is passionate about storytelling, cultural celebration, and community engagement through the arts. Her performance credits include Unexpected Tenderness, Urinetown, and A Tale for Home, among others. Most recently, she collaborated with Teatro Vivo on the development and play reading of Altares. Keiny is also a Summer 2026 intern at KUTX 98.9 through the College of Fine Arts Administration Fellowship Program, specializing in live music content. She is grateful for opportunities to celebrate her heritage and remains committed to uplifting Hispanic voices through the arts.