A creation myth walks into a jazz club. A soldier makes a deal with the Devil. Music is never the same again.

EVOLVE brings two theatrical works together in one intimate concert of story, rhythm, and transformation. In Darius Milhaud’s La Création du Monde, The Creation of the World, the beginning of the world unfolds through the pulse of 1920s jazz. Written after Milhaud’s encounters with Harlem jazz, the work turns myth into motion, blending ballet, chamber orchestra, and syncopated color into a world that seems to form right in front of you. The piece is a jazz-influenced ballet, with Milhaud writing it after visiting Harlem jazz clubs.

Then comes Stravinsky’s L'Histoire du soldat, The Soldier’s Tale, a compact theatrical fable for narrator and chamber ensemble. A soldier trades his violin, a symbol of his heart and soul, to the Devil in exchange for wealth. At first, it looks like a bargain. Then the cost begins to show. The work tells a story of greed, regret, and the hard truth of moving forward instead of trying to hold the past and future at the same time. Its story of a soldier trading his violin to the Devil for promises of wealth.

With Aaron Lamb, Producing Artistic Director of Harlequin Productions, joining as narrator, EVOLVE brings theater and orchestra into close conversation. Lamb leads Harlequin Productions in Olympia and has directed more than thirty productions.

Part myth, part fable, part jazz-age dream, EVOLVE asks what changes when old stories learn new languages.