houston ballet

The Houston Chamber Choir’s annual showcase of high school choirs was mere days away, and artistic director Robert Simpson was making the rounds of the featured schools to touch base.

Jake Heggie visited the Smithsonian Institution a few years ago for a performance of his Iconic Legacies, a song cycle evoking four U.S. first ladies.

Houston Grand Opera’s 2023-24 season is nothing short of epic. “We are producing some of the grandest and most mature artistic works in the repertoire all in one season,” says Khori Dastoor, HGO General Director and CEO. “Verdi’s last opera, Wagner’s last opera, late Mozart—these pieces are Mount Everest, each one of them.”

The Houston Symphony’s new music director, Juraj Valčuha, acknowledged that opening the season with a requiem may strike some as “a strange idea.” But Giuseppe Verdi’s Requiem is no ordinary setting of the mass for the dead.

Houston is home to numerous chamber music ensembles that have thrived alongside each other, carving out their own niches with unique visions of how to present music and connect with audiences.