Music

Texas New Music Ensemble Focuses on Lone Star Composers

Texas composers have a champion in Chad Robinson, founder and artistic director of Texas New…

June 9, 2017

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Defining Home: Da Camera’s 30th Season

Da Camera has flourished because of the entrepreneurial spirit and open-mindedness of its hometown of…

Year of the Woman: Ars Lyrica’s Upcoming Season Celebrates Artful Women

May 31, 2017

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Year of the Woman: Ars Lyrica’s Upcoming Season Celebrates Artful Women

It's the first time Matthew Dirst, Founder and Artistic Director of Houston's leading early music…

From punk rockers to presidents: The rebels at ROCO announce new season

May 31, 2017

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From punk rockers to presidents: The rebels at ROCO announce new season

The conductor nearly chickened out. Planning the concert that will open the River Oaks Chamber…

May 16, 2017

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Film

Jazz on/in/and Film at the MFAH

In a year, a very small number of “jazz films” can or will be released…

On Key and Offbeat: Austin’s Lone-Star Station KMFA Turns 50

May 11, 2017

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Austin

On Key and Offbeat: Austin’s Lone-Star Station KMFA Turns 50

When it comes to Austin’s 50-year-old radio station, KMFA Classical 89.5, it’s almost better defined…

May 11, 2017

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Victoria Bach Festival: A New Era

For one week each June, the picturesque South Texas city of Victoria, population 65,000, rolls…

Texas Early Music Project Bridges Past and Present

April 26, 2017

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Austin

Texas Early Music Project Bridges Past and Present

Iberian monophony, Notre Dame polyphony, Medieval mystery plays, Renaissance madrigals, Baroque operas, French virelai, Spanish…

Soli Chamber Ensemble Concludes Season Under the Ligurian Sun

April 24, 2017

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Soli Chamber Ensemble Concludes Season Under the Ligurian Sun

The shift may not have been conscious, violinist Ertan Torgul says, but he sees it…

Fire & Water: HGO Triumphs with <em>Götterdämmerung</em>

April 24, 2017

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Fire & Water: HGO Triumphs with Götterdämmerung

Houston Grand Opera has done it! The realization of Richard Wagner's epic Ring Cycle, the…

Houston Welcomes New Music Ensemble Loop38

April 14, 2017

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Houston Welcomes New Music Ensemble Loop38

Traditional tunes, rhythms and harmonies played no role. Instead, the chamber ensemble offered up an…

Nameless Sound Brings Amina Claudine Myers to Houston

April 11, 2017

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Nameless Sound Brings Amina Claudine Myers to Houston

Usually, when we introduce an artist in a piece of writing, we write “singer” or…

Pop Culture Invasion: ROCOmoji for the Win

April 6, 2017

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Pop Culture Invasion: ROCOmoji for the Win

Savvy concert goers can count on ROCO (River Oaks Chamber Orchestra) to keep up with…

Sing Me Another: Gabriel Kahane at Aperio

April 3, 2017

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Sing Me Another: Gabriel Kahane at Aperio

Gabriel Kahane has a lot to say.

Color into Sound: Loop38 at Turrell Skyspace

March 27, 2017

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Art

Color into Sound: Loop38 at Turrell Skyspace

When soft twilight yields to clear night, the Turrell Skyspace at Rice University is illuminated…

Small But Mighty: Fort Worth Opera Moves Forward With World Premiere

March 24, 2017

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Small But Mighty: Fort Worth Opera Moves Forward With World Premiere

Belt-tightening is all too familiar in the arts, but it doesn’t mean a group’s vision…

Haunted Melodies: <em>Turn of the Screw</em> at The Dallas Opera

March 24, 2017

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Haunted Melodies: Turn of the Screw at The Dallas Opera

Benjamin Britten’s opera Turn of the Screw, which first premiered in 1954, is not simply…

Hiding in Plain Sites: CounterCurrent Artists Reveal Stories throughout Houston

March 20, 2017

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Art

Hiding in Plain Sites: CounterCurrent Artists Reveal Stories throughout Houston

In 2014, the University of Houston Cynthia Woods Mitchell Center for the Arts blazed a…

Young & Outstanding: Houston’s WindSync & Kinetic Team Up

March 19, 2017

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Young & Outstanding: Houston’s WindSync & Kinetic Team Up

WindSync seems plenty youthful when you look at a photo, but let’s take another vantage…

Borders, Ritual and Awesomeness: Five Days of Fusebox

March 19, 2017

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Art

Borders, Ritual and Awesomeness: Five Days of Fusebox

Fusebox, Austin’s contemporary, cross-disciplinary visual and performing arts festival, and all round benevolent force in…

Opera That Soars: <em>Madame Butterfly</em> at The Dallas Opera

March 13, 2017

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Opera That Soars: Madame Butterfly at The Dallas Opera

The Dallas Opera’s 2017 centerpiece production of the Puccini classic Madame Butterfly opened Friday night…

Breaking Boundaries: Apollo Chamber Players in Cuba

March 2, 2017

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Breaking Boundaries: Apollo Chamber Players in Cuba

Amid the hearty shouts of “Cuba Libre” punctuating the final exuberant moments of Arthur Gottschalk's…

Houston Symphony’s <em>Fidelio</em> & a New Season

February 13, 2017

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Houston Symphony’s Fidelio & a New Season

The heroics of Beethoven’s Fifth. The exuberance of his Ode to Joy. The humor of…

Mass Effect: Orchestra of New Spain Revisits Classic Courcelle Composition

January 31, 2017

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Mass Effect: Orchestra of New Spain Revisits Classic Courcelle Composition

Francisco Courcelle may not rank as a big-name composer. But his Misa Ave Maris Stella,…

Sonic Expansions: Austin’s Experimental Music Scene

January 20, 2017

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Austin

Sonic Expansions: Austin’s Experimental Music Scene

This year I unintentionally celebrated National Bird Day (Jan. 5) at an avant-garde jazz show.…

Electrifying Heroines and Cherished Classics: HGO’s New Season

January 18, 2017

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Electrifying Heroines and Cherished Classics: HGO’s New Season

They rank among opera’s most electrifying heroines, yet Houston hasn’t felt their wallop for more…

It Happened in Texas: <em>Nixon In China</em> Returns to HGO

January 14, 2017

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It Happened in Texas: Nixon In China Returns to HGO

The U.S. presidential election looms, and the politician has planned his trip for maximum media…

A Full Life in Music: Ran Blake at Live Oak Friends Meeting House

December 28, 2016

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A Full Life in Music: Ran Blake at Live Oak Friends Meeting House

Nameless Sound presents Ran Blake in a free concert on Jan. 7, 2017 at 5pm…

Musical Evangelists: Houston Symphony’s Embedded Musicians Engage the Community

November 16, 2016

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Musical Evangelists: Houston Symphony’s Embedded Musicians Engage the Community

David Connor lets his double bass rest on the floor. Cradling an iPad and speaker…

Victory at Sea: <em>Moby-Dick</em> at The Dallas Opera

November 14, 2016

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Victory at Sea: Moby-Dick at The Dallas Opera

“Melville put the whole universe into Moby-Dick,” my companion said before the curtain rose on…

Wonder & A Whale: Jake Heggie and Gene Scheer Transform American Classics into Opera

October 24, 2016

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Wonder & A Whale: Jake Heggie and Gene Scheer Transform American Classics into Opera

This November, Moby-Dick journeys safely back to its home port, as the Dallas Opera once…

San Antonio Symphony Shines in a “Real” Hall at The Tobin Center

October 11, 2016

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San Antonio Symphony Shines in a “Real” Hall at The Tobin Center

Carmina Burana always packs a wallop. This time, Carl Orff’s paean to frolic and fate…

September 27, 2016

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Opera in Israel with Dallas Connections

Hannah Munitz's face lit up when I asked her about the Israeli Opera’s production of…

Juicy roles bring Stephen Costello back to Dallas Opera

September 22, 2016

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Juicy roles bring Stephen Costello back to Dallas Opera

Stephen Costello thinks back to when he agreed to perform in a then-unfinished opera.

Home and Away: The Miró Quartet’s Fall Texas Season

August 3, 2016

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Home and Away: The Miró Quartet’s Fall Texas Season

The Miró Quartet loves to expose an audience to the panorama of a single composer’s…

The Varieties of Experimental Experience: Soundings on Marfa Sounding

July 24, 2016

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The Varieties of Experimental Experience: Soundings on Marfa Sounding

The thing about writing about “experimental music” is that the phrase “experimental music,” if it…

Travel Music: Harmony in the Air Delights Houston’s Airport Passengers

June 13, 2016

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Travel Music: Harmony in the Air Delights Houston’s Airport Passengers

Air travelers nationwide were grumbling about lengthening lines at security checks. A federal transportation official…

June 7, 2016

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Summer Premieres at Lone Star Lyric

When Kelli Estes planned her first season for Houston’s Lone Star Lyric Theater, the company…

Bringing Music to the People: ROCO’s New Season

June 7, 2016

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Bringing Music to the People: ROCO’s New Season

The River Oaks Chamber Orchestra isn’t planning a Fourth of July concert, but maybe it…

A Season of Firsts: Hans Graf at Texas Music Festival

May 31, 2016

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A Season of Firsts: Hans Graf at Texas Music Festival

For nearly three decades, the Emmanuel and Helen Olshan Texas Music Festival (TMF) has courted…