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.
Steven Brown
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.
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 than 25 years. Vincenzo Bellini’s Norma, a Druid priestess, sacrifices herself on a pyre to atone for her secret marriage to a Roman. Richard Strauss’ Elektra descends into madness as despair and rage over her father’s slaying consume her.
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 impact. He’s a divisive figure, with ideas that could revolutionize the world order. Cameras track his plane’s arrival, and when he steps out, legions of television viewers are watching him. He knows that, and he has every intention of capitalizing on it.
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 in his arms, he circulates through the classroom as jazz icon Ella Fitzgerald cuts loose onscreen in It Don’t Mean a Thing if It Ain’t Got That Swing.
Hand, Heart & Passion: Jim Dine’s Designs for Salomé at the McNay & More
A hand, a conch shell, a pair of lips, a valentine heart: Rendered in pastels and lined up along the gallery wall, they possess an eerie mix of starkness and sensuality.
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 delivered a double whammy: Not only did the San Antonio Symphony and Chorus lay into Orff’s lusty themes and booming sonorities with gusto, but the live-wire acoustics in the orchestra's home turned all that into a visceral experience.
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
The Miró Quartet loves to expose an audience to the panorama of a single composer’s works.
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 was getting the boot over it that very day. But in the atrium near William P. Hobby Airport’s departure gates, nobody looked stressed.