A brief survey of experimental music in Houston
This article is a patch, some spackling, experimental music duct tape on the rickety machinery of music web content.
Music
Brahms at the Bar: Dallas’s Open Classical Re-frames Music Experience
It’s a Tuesday night at Buzzbrews Kitchen in Dallas’ Uptown neighborhood, where tattooed waitresses with Bettie Page-inspired hairstyles are ferrying plates of hot pancakes and bacon to their tables.
Youth, Talent & Energy: KINETIC concludes its season at the MATCH
KINETIC, the conductorless ensemble directed by Natalie Lin, closes its third season with Musical Madness on May 6 at the MATCH with a program that includes works by Mozart, Carlo Gesualdo, Erkki-Sven Tuur, Osvaldo Golijov, Beethoven and the ensemble’s own Giancarlo Latta. Lin visited with A + C editor Nancy Wozny on all things KINETIC and this season’s big accomplishments.
Music Fit for a Queen or Two—Ars Lyrica’s Regal Offering
Matthew Dirst, artistic director of Ars Lyrica Houston, has an unerring ability to put together programs that are musically rich and varied, framed in fascinating historical context, and vividly brought to life by the finest guest soloists and musicians.
Mystery Sonatas and a Celebratory 50th Anniversary Season Ahead for Houston Early Music
What makes Heinrich's Biber's Mystery Sonatas so strikingly unique?
Texas Lens: Art Pilgrims
Sometimes, I forget about how Texas learns about itself from these pages.
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.