Texas Lens: Art Pilgrims
Sometimes, I forget about how Texas learns about itself from these pages.
Music
Defying Categorization: Jamie Barton Returns to HGO
“I say this with absolute ultimate pride: I introduced Christine Goerke to Dubsmash at Mai’s in Houston. It was one of my proudest moments as a friend and as a colleague,” declares Jamie Barton
Imaginary Concerts & Charged Objects: Marfa Myths/Hyperobjects at Ballroom Marfa
Sitting at a red light in Houston, behind a Range Rover with an “I [red cube] Marfa” (like I [heart] NY) bumper sticker, I’d say Marfa’s myth is at peak mythology.
Listening Rituals: Hans Tutschku at the Moody Center
In the liner notes for an upcoming CD on GRM, Paris, composer Hans Tutschku - Professor of Music at Harvard University - defines the listening ritual as, “listening […] without doing anything else – just diving into the sound world and letting all inner images and imaginations flow.”
Up to the Challenge: New leadership helps Fort Worth Opera revamp
When the Fort Worth Opera Festival unveiled its plans for this year’s edition, the repertoire included a milestone: the company’s first staging of Das Rheingold, the opening of Richard Wagner’s four-part The Ring of the Nibelung.
Rising Talent & Veterans: Next Season at Chamber Music Houston
When the Rolston String Quartet first flashed onto Chamber Music Houston’s radar screen, the young ensemble was quartet-in-residence at Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music.
Texas String Divas
For classically-trained string players, the traditional route to making a living as a professional musician is fairly narrow: win a job in a major orchestra, find a full-time teaching position, or gig like there is no tomorrow.
Film Fusion: ‘Sunken Garden’ at Dallas Opera
A war has been waging for centuries: words versus music…which is more important in opera?
KINETIC: Painting an English Landscape
Thoughtful, incisive programming has been KINETIC's strong suit since its inception in 2015.
Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen: A Countertenor to Encounter
The Ivy Leaguer tore up his career plan. For his first two years at Princeton University, Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen had majored in public policy, figuring he’d go to law school and work in public affairs. Then a summer project stirred his love for singing, which went all the way back to his childhood.
Shaping the Future: ROCO Connects Through Commissioning
The numbers are in: 76 world premieres (33 for the full chamber orchestra and 43 for its flexible chamber ensembles), 36 composers commissioned—these are astounding numbers from the Houston-based River Oaks Chamber Orchestra (ROCO), now in its perpetually forward-looking 13th season.
Da Camera’s Beethoven For All: All for Beethoven
In 1988, for the first time in Houston, the entire cycle of Beethoven string quartets was presented by the renowned Julliard String Quartet to launch Da Camera's inaugural season, six concerts at the one-year-old Wortham Center Cullen Theater.