Join the Sedona Posse Grounds Hub on Thursday, Feb. 1, at 7 p.m. for an out of the box “Wdya’Got?” Once a month musicians and storytellers gather at the Hub to share new — or rarely heard — material in an informal setting where the focus is on the performer in an intimate personal space, followed by the Zenprov Comedy team creating a long-form improv based on what just happened.
Setting the stage for the 2018 series is married couple Chris Huelsbeck and Tracy Sheppard. They will be weaving their different forms together into one 40-minute performance, creating together in this way for the first time. They arrived in Sedona last July from the North San Francisco Bay/Sonoma County and have been traveling in an RV for almost two years, documenting their journey as The Cruisin’ Crew online.
Huelsbeck, born and raised in Germany, is a veteran video game composer with more than 32 years in the business, creating electronic and orchestral scores. His best-known works include the “Turrican” series, the “Giana Sisters”
series, the “Star Wars: Rogue Squadron” series, “X-Out,” “Apidya,” “War of the Worlds” and “Doctor Who: Legacy.”
In 2011, he received a lifetime achievement award from the Game Audio Network Guild. He created four successful Kickstarter campaigns for special soundtrack albums of some of his projects, of which a few were recorded with full symphonic orchestras. While building his catalog of more than 35 albums to date, Huelsbeck is also creating new electronic music on his Patreon site. His latest album, “Turrican – Orchestral Selection,” is available on many digital platforms and will be available on CD and vinyl this spring.
Born in New York City, Sheppard has lived in Pittsburgh, Penn., Greensboro, N.C. and the San Francisco Bay Area. She also lived in Sedona in 1991 and 2005. She has a Master of Arts in special education from San Francisco State University, and she was an orientation and mobility instructor for a time working with blind and visually impaired clients.
Now an astrologer and intuitive life guide, she continues to be an artist in many media, including writing poems, songs, short stories, children’s stories and screenplays; painting and drumming, and has performed in an all-female djembe spoken word and drum ensemble called Sisters Rising. She’s also a facilitator of women’s circles and a certified archery instructor.
Huelsbeck will play a selection of his music on keyboard and iPad, featuring electronic melodies and visual projections from areas they’ve visited while traveling. Expect to be transported on a musical journey through time and space. His music can be melodic, hypnotic and inspiring.
Sheppard will perform a drum and spoken word piece called “Life’s Waltz,” as well as a performance piece, “Venus Speaks.” Her pieces bring to the forefront ideas and emotions that cultivate positive change in the audience’s perceptions.
This performance will challenge and inspire Zenprov to new heights of imagination and creativity, as they jump in to connect notable bits of story and musical themes into a one-of-kind, long-form improvised theatrical performance.
Zenprov has been making Sedona laugh and creating on the spur of the moment for years. The “Wdya’Got?” collaborators each week are the creative group-mind talents of Derek Dujardin, Shaeri Richards, Shaunn Cochran, Mary Carder, Betty Testa, Chris Redish, Linda Roemer and Tom Shoemaker.
Join the fun and share the energy as a series of creative, inventive and courageous performers share new work, new collaborations and ultimately new takes with the audience. Ask the question, “Wdya’Got?” and then see what it is.
The performance will be from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at the Hub, 525B Posse Ground Road. Doors open at 6:45 p.m. Suggested donation is $5 to $10. More information is available at sedonahub.org.
