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The KPAC Blog features classical music news, reviews, and analysis from South Texas and around the world.

Neo Camerata Goes Underground For Performance

Unusual music in an unusual place on Saturday. TPR's Arts and Culture Reporter Jack Morgan spoke to the group's leader.

Mark Landson says what makes Neo Camerata unusual is that it's classical, but with a twist.

"It brings it into a language that is more updated for today. A lot of times we hear pop harmonies. We hear various types of rhythms, rhythmic patterns that they didn't have available, back in the 19th century when those guys were writing."

"It's sort of like a melding of popular music of today with classical craft."

As to the unusual place, on Saturday night they're planning on getting down. Way down. Like a 100 feet under the ground.

"That's right, exactly! Cave Without a Name--this place, if you haven't been there is such an amazing place to take in a concert. It is definitely a one-of-a-kind experience."

If you've not experienced music performed in a living cave, it's like seeing it nowhere else.

"You've got a very large concert room in this cave. I know that they've had about 200 people in there. The natural beauty of the cave is incredible."

The Dallas based group got some of its first attention in an atypical place.

"We would go out to just a rock club. And we would play rock club open mics...with classical music. And there would be like 10 people in the bar when we would start playing the string quartet, and by the end of 20 minutes there would be like 75 people in the bar."

Saturday's cave performance features violin, viola, cello and piano.

Find more about Cave Without a Name here.

Find more on Neo Camerata here.

Jack Morgan can be reached at jack@tpr.org and on Twitter at @JackMorganii