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Welcome to Montopolis Music, the online home of composer Justin Sherburn.  Justin has several groups. They are:

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Highway Lights - an ambient classical duo that features cellist Sara Nelson

Radar Rips - a psych rock band

Montopolis - a modern chamber ensemble that produces multimedia events 

The Ascots - a traditional piano jazz trio  

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Justin loves to collaborate on creative projects.  You can email him here.

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The Highway Lights new album, A Space of Partial Illumination, is now available now on all streaming services.  Listen on Spotify here. You can purchase the album directly from us here. Find our performance dates here.

                    


 

The Montopolis live score to L'Inferno (1911) tours this August on the west coast and this October on the east coast. New tour dates coming soon.  

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Listen to the new EP here.

                  


 

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   L’Inferno (1911) is the first feature length horror film ever released.  An adaptation of Dante’s classic journey through hell, this masterpiece of silent film employs elaborate costumes, special effects, and set design to create an awe-inspiring and ethereal world.  The original Montopolis score brings new life to this horror classic with a mix of psych rock, dark wave and terrifying sound effects performed live.            
 

"a night of beautiful chamber music, but with electric guitar and the twang of pedal steel giving a Texas kick to the keys and strings." -Texas Monthly

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"a multimedia love letter to the Texas coast, with voices and images from the Gulf set to an original score" - NPR, Texas Standard

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"The group can create forceful sounding songs that have a bit of rock ‘n roll snarl, but it is also capable of mournful classical sounding pieces ... the group’s range of expression is striking." 
-The Houston Chronicle

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" A Prairie Home Companion with a Texas twist, this program from Indie classical group Montopolis tells the stories and myths of our rugged state." - Houstonia

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Dr. Ben Hodges joins the Living Coast


University of Texas professor, Dr. Ben Hodges, will be performing with Montopolis in 2022.  We are thrilled to have this esteemed scientist travel with the group and share his insights with our audiences.

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Highway Lights is pleased that "All Things Considered" took an interest in our recent album, "Texas Workforce Commission Hold Music".  We are even more pleased that the TWC chose our music as their official hold music!  Listen to the NPR story HERE.

This project is generously funded by Mid-America Arts Alliance, The National Endowment for the Arts, and the state arts agencies of Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Texas. 

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