Dancing on a Lake and Other Pandemic Miracles
If 2020 into 2021 was the ultimate annus horribilis, the year really became the worst of times for that most ephemeral and impermanent of arts, live performance.
Music
Straight to the Top: AT&T Performing Arts Center’s Elevator Project returns
Now in its 7th season, AT&T Performing Arts Center’s Elevator Project is still an excellent launch-pad for the unique.
Reflecting the Community: Fort Worth Opera’s Diamond Anniversary Season
In time, a diamond is created. Incidentally, as Fort Worth Opera steps into its 75th season in the wake of a pandemic, the Diamond Anniversary designation is perhaps more appropriate than ever imagined.
Agarita Brings an Immersive Vibe to San Antonio
Bushman and three other San Antonio musicians—pianist Daniel Anastasio, cellist Ignacio Gallego and violinist Sarah Silver Manzke—joined forces in 2018. To symbolize their group’s roots in the city, they dubbed it Agarita, taking the name from a shrub that’s native to San Antonio and the Hill Country.
New Season, Then New Director for Houston Symphony
The Houston Symphony had even more on its mind this past season than scrambling to adapt to covid-19.
A Cartography of Broadway Shows Across Texas
We’re still holding our breath, knocking on a forest full of wood and sacrificing chicken-shaped tofu to Dionysius, but it looks like in-person, inside-an-actual-theater, theater will finally take the stage this fall.
Classics, Blockbusters and a Salute to the ’80s: TUTS Returns to the Hobby
“There’s a powerful thing with nostalgia and remembrance,” TUTS executive director Dan Knechtges says. “There’s great comfort in it after we’ve been through this plague—this pandemic.”
Stepping Out: DACAMERA Launches SUMMERJAZZ
DACAMERA will launch its season Aug. 20-22 with SUMMERJAZZ, a one-weekend festival at the Wortham Theater Center. Long focused mainly on individual concert programs scattered throughout the season, the group is taking its first stab at filling a weekend with music.
Back to the Earth: A climate-focused new season at ROCO
A historic ice storm. The four seasons. Industrial sites colliding with the natural world. A farmer’s life and its links to the land. A glacier that melted away.
SPA Welcomes Audiences Back with a New Season
Over the years, I’ve realized something as an arts writer and audience member: There’s a fine art to programing performing arts.
Small Ensembles, Expansive Vistas Part Three: Axiom, Houston Brass Quintet and Texas New Music Ensemble
I caught up with musicians from nine distinctive ensembles in Houston to reflect on the past year and look to the future. In Part Three, I visited with the Axiom Quartet, Houston Brass Quintet and Texas New Music Ensemble.
Small Ensembles, Expansive Vistas Part Two: Loop38, Apollo Chamber Players, Carya String Quartet
In Part Two, I visited with Loop38, Apollo Chamber Players, and Carya String Quartet.