DACAMERA is internationally recognized as a leading producer and presenter of chamber music and jazz, committed to bringing its audiences transformative musical experiences. Presenting an annual subscription series in Houston’s downtown Theater District and at The Menil Collection, DACAMERA brings the world’s leading artists to Houston, and continually evolves new and meaningful ways of presenting music. As the final production in the 2022-23 season, DACAMERA presented the world premiere of Kendrick Scott’s “Unearthed” on May 12. Additionally, in honor of Juneteenth, DACAMERA made “Unearthed” available to stream.
Case Study: DACAMERA Presents Kendrick Scott’s “Unearthed”
“Unearthed” brings together original music, poetry and visuals to pay tribute to the tragic history behind the recent discovery of the remains of 95 Black people in unmarked graves in Sugar Land, Texas. They were convict laborers, swept back into “slavery by another name” in the post-Civil War era, arrested for petty crimes like vagrancy and forced into back-breaking and often fatal labor in the sugar fields of Texas. To explore this untold story, Houston native and jazz artist Kendrick Scott teamed up with an outstanding Houston-based creative team that included the former Houston poet laureate Deborah D.E.E.P. Mouton as well as the acclaimed Harlem String Quartet and a trio of first-call jazz musicians.
CHALLENGE
Since this was a world premiere for DACAMERA and the final production of the season, it was very important to garner a high volume of media attention in order to ultimately fill the theater.
STRATEGY
After curating a strategic media list, our team created a variety of angles and pitched DACAMERA to hyperlocal, local, regional and statewide outlets, targeting both arts and music reporters AND reporters interested in race, diversity and inclusion, to ensure widespread coverage both for the premiere and the streaming opportunity.
RESULTS
Our media relations efforts led to several high-profile features of the “Unearthed” premiere and streaming opportunity.
Stories appeared in outlets including Fort Bend Star, two Houston Chronicle (including the cover, feature story of the ZEST section) stories and Chron.com, Houston Public Media - Houston Matters, KPRC 2 - Houston NewsMakers, KHOU, CityBook and PaperCity.
Overall, with the help of Like Minds’ media relations efforts, “Unearthed” had an extremely successful premiere night and remained in the news cycle after the premiere. We were thrilled to hear DACAMERA constituents mention seeing “Unearthed” everywhere.
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