Drumming up New Work: Austin’s line upon line Focuses on Commissioning
From woodwind trios to massive orchestras, most musical groups can prepare for a concert in a fairly straightforward way.
Steven Brown
Vocal Heroics: Clifton Forbis Returns To Dallas Opera
The opera world never has enough heroic tenors.
Van Cliburn Winner Yekwon Sunwoo Returns to Texas
The first time Yekwon Sunwoo vied in the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, the judges eliminated him after the opening round. Looking back, the South Korea native made no excuses. “I just wasn’t ready,” he recalled.
Celestial Music: Houston Symphony’s Composer in Residence Jimmy López Premieres New Work
Jimmy López got hooked on classical music when he was 12, thanks to J.S. Bach’s counterpoint.
Defining Home: Da Camera’s 30th Season
Da Camera has flourished because of the entrepreneurial spirit and open-mindedness of its hometown of Houston, as general director Sarah Rothenberg will readily tell you.
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 Orchestra’s 2017-18 season, Vladimir Yampolsky suggested a rarity: the Symphony No. 2 by Kurt Weill of Threepenny Opera fame. Then he wavered.
Soli Chamber Ensemble Concludes Season Under the Ligurian Sun
The shift may not have been conscious, violinist Ertan Torgul says, but he sees it clearly. After 20-plus years of performing new music, San Antonio's Soli Chamber Ensemble is gravitating toward composers who bridge genres —mixing the classical tradition with jazz, rock or whatever else resonates with them. To them, music is music.
Houston Welcomes New Music Ensemble Loop38
Traditional tunes, rhythms and harmonies played no role. Instead, the chamber ensemble offered up an ever-shifting soundscape of shimmers, glimmers, rustlings and wisps —Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho’s salute to the Northern Lights.
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 has to fade away.
Young & Outstanding: Houston’s WindSync & Kinetic Team Up
WindSync seems plenty youthful when you look at a photo, but let’s take another vantage point. The Houston quintet spends about 120 days a year on the road -- hardly the mark of a fledgling group.
Houston Symphony’s Fidelio & a New Season
The heroics of Beethoven’s Fifth. The exuberance of his Ode to Joy. The humor of his First Symphony. The drama of his Eroica. The Houston Symphony and Andrés Orozco-Estrada have embraced all that and more since they launched their Beethoven symphony cycle in 2015.
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, a dramatic chorus-and-orchestra work from 1750, has become a go-to piece for Dallas’ Orchestra of New Spain.