HOUSTON, TX (Dec. 16, 2020) — The Houston Symphony’s BBVA Family Series kicks off the New Year with the North American premiere, and just the second performance ever of New York Times bestselling author Dan Brown’s Wild Symphony, at 11 a.m. on Saturday, Jan. 23 via livestream.
This performance of Wild Symphony features original orchestral music composed by Dan Brown to accompany his New York Times bestselling children’s book of the same name. Tickets are now available for the family friendly, livestream-only event at houstonsymphony.org/2021Season.
“My hope for Wild Symphony is to provide a fun, fresh opportunity for families, parents, children, and people of all ages to reconnect with the magical experience of classical music both in the concert hall and in the home,” Brown said. “I hope audiences have as much fun listening as I had composing.”
Under the direction of Houston Symphony Associate Conductor Robert Franz, the orchestra brings to life musical pieces from Dan Brown’s playful Wild Symphony that the author composed—with the music connecting directly to his book’s, Wild Symphony, poems. Drawing inspiration from other children’s classical orchestral works like Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf and Saint-Saëns’s The Carnival of Animals, Brown’s Wild Symphony follows musical adventures in the animal kingdom from the rhythmic beats of “Bouncing Kangaroo” to the melodies of “Wondrous Whale” accompanied by illustrations and poetry, as read by conductor Robert Franz.
Ticket holders for the virtual livestream will also receive fun, kid-friendly activities for children to enjoy before or after the performance. The activities will help children and their families hear the relationship between the Wild Symphony music and the corresponding animals’ characteristics to provide an educational and immersive concert experience for kids of all ages.
Livestream tickets are now available for these performances at houstonsymphony.org/2021season. Each livestream performance is available via a private link to ticket holders for $20, and livestream subscribers who purchase a package of tickets receive an additional 25% discount. For tickets and information, please call 713.224.7575 or visit houstonsymphony.org. All programs and artists are subject to change.
The Houston Symphony’s Family Series is sponsored by BBVA, and the livestream of Houston Symphony concerts is made possible by Barbara J. Burger.
WILD SYMPHONY
Saturday, January 23, at 11 a.m. *
Robert Franz, conductor and narrator
*Livestream available for 48 hours following the performance.
About the Houston Symphony
During the 2020–21 Season, the Houston Symphony celebrates its seventh season with Music Director Andrés Orozco-Estrada and continues its second century as one of America’s leading orchestras with a full complement of concert, community, education, touring, and recording activities. The Houston Symphony, one of the oldest performing arts organizations in Texas, held its inaugural performance at The Majestic Theater in downtown on Houston June 21, 1913. Today, with an annual operating budget of $25.8 million, the full-time ensemble of 88 professional musicians presents nearly 170 concerts annually, making it the largest performing arts organization in Houston. Additionally, musicians of the orchestra and the Symphony’s two Community-Embedded Musicians offer over 1,000 community-based performances each year at various schools, community centers, hospitals, and churches reaching more than 200,000 people in Greater Houston annually.
The Grammy Award-winning Houston Symphony has recorded under various prestigious labels, including Koch International Classics, Naxos, RCA Red Seal, Telarc, Virgin Classics, and, most recently, Dutch recording label Pentatone. In 2017, the Houston Symphony was awarded an ECHO Klassik award for the live recording of Alban Berg’s Wozzeck under the direction of former Music Director Hans Graf. The orchestra earned its first Grammy nomination and Grammy Award at the 60th annual ceremony for the same recording in the Best Opera Recording category.
MEDIA CONTACTS:
Eric Skelly: 713.337.8560, eric.skelly@houstonsymphony.org
Mireya Reyna: 713.337.8557, mireya.reyna@houstonsymphony.org