collaborations with
ballet austin

Led by artistic director and choreographer Stephen Mills, Ballet Austin is Austin’s most adventurous and nationally-recognized classical performing arts institution. Reynolds and Mills have a decade-long history of collaborations, all ensuing after an initial meeting at a party. The first was 2008’s Cult of Color, a collaboration between Mills, visual artist Trenton Doyle Hancock, and Reynolds. It remains one of Graham’s all-time favorite projects. Bounce followed a year and a half later, choreographed to original music inspired by Bach but inclusive of a xylophone instead of a harpsichord, premiering in Austin and later touring through China. Though the Earth Gives Way, in 2011, was written for amplified and effected cello and violin and premiered alongside Once Belonging as part of The Graham Reynolds Project. In 2015, Belle Redux, a dark retelling of the centuries old Beauty & The Beast, sold out its three day run in a 2,300 seat venue, and followed that up with an equally sold out remount. For the opening chapter of Mills most personal work, Exit Wounds, Graham composed the music for Chapter 1: Fields. An album featuring the original music as well as remixes from Mexico City based composers Felipe Pérez Santiago and Dario G. Valderrama was released in tandem with the premiere, in the spring of 2018. Their collaboration on Grimm Tales, inspired by the visual art of Natalie Frank and the underbelly of the classic fairy tales, will premiere in 2019.