Artistic Partners, New Works, and Historic Musical Moments: Houston’s ROCO at 15
Don’t hold your breath waiting for Houston’s River Oaks Chamber Orchestra (ROCO) to anoint a conductor as its music director. Being player-driven is in ROCO’s DNA.
Texas Studio: Kristen Cochran
Cast your brain on the ocean of pop culture references for “perpetual worker” and you may come up with workaholic TV dads, the Energizer Bunny, or even Sisyphus, doomed to an eternity of useless boulder-pushing.
Directing in Texas: Brandon Weinbrenner and Mitchell Greco
Five years ago, Arts and Culture Texas profiled a group of millennial theater artists striving to find creative roles for themselves offstage and to bring an innovative and fresh perspective onto Texas stages. Since then, two of those “Next Gen Leaders,” Brandon Weinbrenner, artistic associate at the Alley Theatre, and Mitchell Greco, artistic associate at Stages Repertory Theatre, have not only steadily risen to directorial prominence in Houston, they’ve also managed to carve out a personal life and marry each other.
Shifting Landscapes: Learning from the Land at Texas Tech
In 2016, Claudia Vásquez Gómez, an artist from Chile, was especially struck by the way border police attached tires to the backs of their vehicles, dragging them across the desert.
Printmaking Matters: PrintHouston 2019 Celebrates and Shares the Art Form
“Printmaking is one of the art forms that gets lost in the shuffle,” says Ken General, executive director of PrintMatters.
Texas Studio: Annette Lawrence
Annette Lawrence reads me something she’s written about her work: “I’m tuned in to things that go unannounced and remain steady, continuous, and unremarkable on the surface, but hold magic over time.”
Texas Lens: American Made, American Maker
Both of my grandmothers were factory workers. Paw Paw, my Chinese grandmother, watched her family oppose the Communist party in China and lose everything. They left mainland China for British-controlled Hong Kong before arriving to the United States as refugees.
Artful Summer Travels: Santa Fe Opera & Crested Butte Arts Festival
Once Texas’ summer torpor hits, escaping the heat may be priority No. 1. If you’re looking for a reason to flee to a higher, cooler altitude, Santa Fe Opera (June 28-Aug. 24) offers a world premiere, the company’s first staging of a 20th-century classic, and new productions of two perennial favorites.
Dallas Black Dance Theatre Looks Ahead with New Artistic Director at the Helm
The wall next to Melissa Young’s desk is covered in neatly arranged Post-it notes. It’s how the artistic director of Dallas Black Dance Theatre keeps track of her future plans for the company.
Corporeal Narratives: Queering Contemporary Dance in San Antonio Towards Voices of Color
San Antonio may be overlooked as it is browner than other major cities in Texas, and although people of color are the numerical majority in the city, there is little ethnic or racial diversity in the field of contemporary dance.
Forward Facing Art: SPA’s Meg Booth Starts a New Chapter in Houston
“I do passionately believe that the arts are avenues of hope.” So says Meg Booth, the new CEO at Houston’s Society for the Performing Arts.