The Tosca Tango Orchestra is a joint effort between various

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the county seat, seat and largest city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and Williamson County, Texas, Williamson co ...

-based musicians founded by Glover Gill, in collaboration with The Tosca String Quartet, Luis Guerra, and Jeanine Attaway in 1997. The group performs original compositions in the

nuevo tango Nuevo tango is both a form of music in which new elements are incorporated into traditional tango music, and an evolution of tango dance that began to develop in the 1980s. Dance Origins Prior to the 1990s, Argentine tango was taught with a didact ...

style and has released six albums. Among these is the soundtrack to

Richard Linklater Richard Stuart Linklater (; born July 30, 1960) is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. He is known for films that revolve mainly around suburban culture and the effects of the passage of time. His films include the comedies '' ...

's film ''

Waking Life ''Waking Life'' is a 2001 American experimental adult animated film written and directed by Richard Linklater. The film explores a wide range of philosophical issues, including the nature of reality, dreams and lucid dreams, consciousness, th ...

'', which led to the group's international following.

''Waking Life'' OST

The soundtrack was performed and written by Glover Gill and the Tosca Tango Orchestra, except for two pieces written by

Frédéric Chopin Frédéric François Chopin (born Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin; 1 March 181017 October 1849) was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist of the Romantic period, who wrote primarily for solo piano. He has maintained worldwide renown as a leadin ...

and second by Julián Plaza, and was relatively successful. Featuring the nuevo tango style, it bills itself "the 21st Century Tango". The group also appeared onscreen, in animated form, in two scenes in the film.

Awards and appearances

A trip to

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the Capital city, capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata ...

in 2000 brought them critical acclaim when they were featured artists at the 5th World Tango Summit and in 2003, the Tosca Tango Orchestra performed and recorded the

Ballet Austin Ballet Austin is the 12th largest classical ballet company in the US, and also operates the largest combined training facility associated with a professional ballet company in the United States. Each year the Ballet Austin company performs ball ...

premiere of

choreographer Choreography is the art or practice of designing sequences of movements of physical bodies (or their depictions) in which motion or form or both are specified. ''Choreography'' may also refer to the design itself. A choreographer is one who cr ...

Stephen Mills Stephen Mills (born August 18, 1960 in Morganfield, Kentucky) is an American dancer and choreographer and is currently the Artistic Director/Choreographer at Ballet Austin. Under his tenure, Ballet Austin has been invited on four occasions to pe ...

’ ''Touch''. In September 2012, the group reunited for live performances in Austin, Texas to commemorate the 15th anniversary of their founding. Appearances included a VIP concert at the Church House Studio, a live performance on KUT radio's Eklektikos show, and a large public concert at the Scottish Rite Theater.

Discography

The Tosca Tango Orchestra has released six albums so far.

Studio albums

*''

La Furia Del Tango LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second largest city in the United States. La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * La (musical note), or A, the sixth note * "L.A.", a song by Elliott Smith on ''Figure ...

'' (1998) *''

Tia Pamelita TIA or Tia may refer to: Aviation * Tampa International Airport, US, IATA code TPA * Texas International Airlines, US, ICAO code * Tirana International Airport Nënë Tereza, Albania, IATA code * Trans International Airlines, former U.S. a ...

'' (1998) *'' Amado'' (1999) *''

La Ciudad del Tango LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second largest city in the United States. La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * La (musical note), or A, the sixth note * "L.A.", a song by Elliott Smith on ''Figure ...

'' (2000) *''

Waking Life OST ''Waking Life'' is the soundtrack album from the 2001 film '' Waking Life''. All but two of the tracks were composed by Glover Gill and performed by the Tosca Tango Orchestra. "Nocturne in E-Flat Major, Op. 9, No. 2" was originally composed by Fr� ...

'' (2001) *''

Touch In physiology, the somatosensory system is the network of neural structures in the brain and body that produce the perception of touch ( haptic perception), as well as temperature ( thermoception), body position ( proprioception), and pain. It ...

'' (2003) *''

UNO Tango Suite Uno or UNO may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Television * "Uno" (''Better Call Saul''), premiere episode of the American TV series ''Better Call Saul'' * ''Uno'' (film), a 2004 Norwegian drama film * Rai Uno, an Italian TV channel **' ...

'' (2008)

External links

Tosca String Quartet
Musical groups from Austin, Texas Musical groups established in 1997 1997 establishments in Texas {{US-orchestra-stub