•  orchestra's  h i s t o r y      
In 1980, a group of professional musicians in Austin, Texas, seeking an ensemble for performing original jazz and improvisational music, founded the Creative Opportunity Orchestra (CO2). Although these musicians were regularly performing in small ensembles, most felt restricted by the pressures of commercial nightclub performance and wanted to explore composition and improvisation possibilities in a large-group format. From an original ensemble of 20 players, the CO2 has expanded its player list to more than 100 musicians, although 8-15 comprise the ensemble for any single performance. To date, the CO2 remains the only ensemble of its type in the Southwest. Since its founding, the CO2 has established a year-round schedule of performance including:

  • A statewide and national touring program

  • The release of an LP (Benediction, 1988) and two cassettes (Benediction, 1988; RADIOactive, 1990) on the daagnim label; one independent double cassette collection Transformation I & II, 1992); The Heaven Line (CD, on CreOp Muse, 1994); WORLDWIDE (CD, on CreOp Muse, 1998)

  • A live video and audio taping by KLRU-TV, Austin, Texas, of a concert at Studio 6A, broadcast on a rotating basis

  • Annual concert performances of new music at the Austin Opera House, the Performing Arts Complex, Laguna Gloria Art Museum, and more venues.

  • Young People's concerts and composer informances for the Austin Independent School District through the TCA, Community School Programs and more.

  • Collaborative performances with the Sharir Dance Company, the Austin Visual Arts Association, and Austin Children's Museum, Women & Their Work, Laguna Gloria Art Museum.

  • Free park concerts sponsored by the Musicians Performance Trust Fund including the Zilker Jazz Festival

  • Live recording sessions in cooperation with the Performing Arts Complex, University of Texas at Austin

  • Outreach to young persons at Becker Elementary School
The Orchestra in Concert. Bates Recital Hall
The statewide touring program, begun in 1986 and expanded in 1987 with support from the TCA, has enlarged the CO2's capacity to reach musicians and audience throughout Texas. The CO2 has performed at the Houston Festival, the Houston Jazz Festival, the Third Coast New Music Festival in San Antonio, Carruth Auditorium in Dallas, and at the Carver Cultural Center. In addition they were selected to headline the Arts Festival of Atlanta in September 1991, and appeared subsequently in Birmingham and Tuscalosa, Alabama, as well as the prestigious Caravan of Dreams in Fort Worth, Texas. They were recipients of the Gilbey's/National Jazz Service Organization Community Jazz Program in 1991, enabling them to complete editing of the video documentary made during a concert at KLRU-TV studios. In 1992 the CO2 headlined at the Carver Cultural Center in San Antonio, for the M-AAA Jazz Showcase in Houston, and at the Brazos Nights Festival in Waco. Also in 1992, the CO2 was added to the M-AAA Touring Roster, and was a selected recipient of the Reader's Digest/Meet the Composer Jazz Commissioning Consortium Grant for 1993-95 for composers Tina Marsh, with the Walter Thompson Orchestra of New York and Douglas Ewart and INVENTIONS of Chicago. In addition to travelling with the CO4 to San Angelo, Albuquerque, Atlanta, Chattanooga, Tuscaloosa, and Eugene, Oregon, Tina Marsh has been guest composer and performer at Oregon State University with CO2 compositions in 1993, 1994, and 1996, as well as with the Creative Music Works in Denver, Colorado for an evening of her compositions (for CO2) in April, 1995. Tina Marsh and CO2 were presented by the OUTPOST in Albuquerque, New Mexico in May of 1996 as part of the Lila Wallace/National Jazz Network Touring Program. The spring of 1998 saw the manifestation of DREAMKEEPERS, a multi-dimensional project for the entire community which included year-long workshops in literature, music, dance, and culture for 450 children at Becker Elementary School. The performance featured a performing group of over 80, including the CO2, enhanced rhythm section, children dancing, and a community choir featuring children, amateurs, and professional singers. At the core of this project was The Dreamkeeper Suite, music by Carla Bley and text by Langston Hughes originally made for Charlie Haden's Liberation Music Orchestra. Fall of 1998 was most notable for the release of WORLDWIDE, the second CD offering from CreOP Muse, and a tour to support it with the 13 member CO2 travelling to Portland, Oregon, Seattle and Spokane, Washington, Helena, Montana, Berkeley, California, and Corpus Christi. Summer of 1999, the annual concert at Laguna Gloria Amphitheatre yielded a program of new music from member composers.

Members of the Orchestra compose all of the music the ensemble performs with the exception of pieces the Orchestra commissions from its annual guest artists. Guest artists range from exciting emerging composer-artists such as Dennis Gonzalez, Vinny Golia, Will Taylor, Dan Del Santo, and James Polk, to internationally renowned composers and players such as Roscoe Mitchell, Carla Bley, Steve Swallow, Billy Hart, and Kenny Wheeler, with guest ensembles the Either/Orchestra, Willem Breuker Kollektief, and the ROVA Saxophone Quartet. These artists expose Texas musicians and audiences to artistry otherwise unavailable in the state.

CO2 repertoire currently includes over 120 original compositions reflecting the diverse ethnic and music backgrounds of its members and the Orchestra's primary commitment to the varied traditions and continued evolution of jazz music. To broaden the repertoire and further develop the audience, CO2 has, over the past four seasons, commissioned a major adaption of selections from Porgy & Bess, featuring Tina Marsh with CO2 and string quartet. In addition, 1991/92 closed with a tribute to Duke Ellington and special CO2 member arrangements of 8 Ellington pieces. Also in the repertoire isa bolero arrangment of the Donezetti aria Una Furtiva Lagrima. The Creative Opportunity Orchestra has had great success with multi-disciplinary collaborations, including choreographer/conceptual artist Sally Jacques (River of Voice, River of Light), Jose Luis Bustamante (Reveries and FLIGHT), dancer/choreographer Jimmy Turner (Milky Way Dreaming), sculptor John Christensen. With assistance from the Texas Composers Forum, the CO2 produced their first album for distribution. Entitled BENEDICTION, Tina Marsh/Creative Opportunity Orchestra is produced on the daagnim label. Their 1990 release RADIOactive is also on the daagnim label. In addition, with assistance from KLRU-TV, CO2 produced a one hour video documenting the process of composing, rehearsing, and performing new jazz music. A grant from Gilbey's/National Jazz Service Organization supported post-production. A June 1992 release of the January 1992 session is entitled, TRANSFORMATION, which resulted in an independent 2 cassette preview collection on the CreOp Muse label. In 1994, the CO2 released its first CD, THE HEAVEN LINE, on CreOp Muse to rave international press. Subsequently, CreOpMuse has released a CD, titled La Brisa Del Sur, from member composer Randy Zimmerman and his salsa group Jazz PR. 1999 saw the release of the second CO2 CD entitled WORLDWIDE, also receiving excellent international notices. OUT OF TIME, featuring Tina Marsh along with the Bob Rodriguez Trio was released in 2000, as was a multi-cultural holiday CD produced by Tina Marsh, called CIRCLE OF LIGHT.

The CO2 has received praise from critical sources as varied as the international music magazine Downbeat, The Wire, Cadence, JAZZTIMES, OPTION Magazine, Vanishing Point, IMPROJAZZ, from composer/conductor Gunther Schuller, The Houston Chronicle, The Austin American-Statesman, and The Austin Chronicle. The organization is supported by a community-based Board of Directors and Advisory Board. In 1987, the CO2 secured its state non-profit charter and in 1988, received its tax-exempt status from the IRS. The CO2 has received funding from the City of Austin, the Texas Commission on the Arts, the Mid-America Arts Alliance, the Texas Composers Forum, the National Endowment for the Arts, IBM Foundation, Southwestern Bell Foundation, Gilbey's/NJSO Community Jazz Program, Reader's Digest/Meet the Composer, Still Water Foundation and numerous individual and corporate sponsors.