It’s Friday night at Jones Hall and the crowd is filing out into the lobby following the orchestra’s performance of Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring led by Music Director Juraj Valčuha. The energy is vibrant—regular concertgoers and subscription ticketholders are buzzing about their favorite moments from the show, but it’s impossible to ignore the presence and excited chatter of the hundreds of music students in attendance. “That was so awesome!” one young concertgoer exclaims. “Yeah, I didn’t know you could play the horn that fast!” another chimes in. These young music-lovers are just a few of the 1,200 high school students who attended the second weekend of concerts for the Riots and Scandals music festival in January as part of the Houston Symphony’s High School Nights, a new Education and Community Engagement initiative.
Created during the 2022-23 Season, High School Nights provide students from various high schools across the city with the opportunity to come together and experience the magic of live orchestral music. The High School Nights initiative welcomes high school students who participate in their school’s orchestra and band programs to concerts at Jones Hall. High School Nights evolved from another successful Symphony education initiative, the Student Concert Series.
High School Nights shares the goal of the Upper Elementary and Middle School Concerts that are part of the Student Concert Series—to inspire students to play or continue playing their instruments. However, rather than having the students attend hour-long concerts during the school day like those in the Student Concerts Series, High School Nights brings students into a dynamic classical concert with other students and other regular audience members. “High school students feel comfortable around others their age,” says Allison Conlan, Director of Community Engagement for the Houston Symphony. “It’s so much more special for them to look around and see other teens their age that are experiencing the concert together.”
It's not just attending Symphony concerts that makes High School Nights so special—it is the students’ connection to the music. Before the concert, students and their music directors were given an excerpt from The Rite of Spring to learn and practice with their orchestra and band. Learning to play an excerpt and then hearing the same piece performed by professional musicians helps connect the students to what they are hearing and inspires them to continue their musical pursuits. “My students were thrilled by the performance,” says North Shore Senior High School band director Shane Goforth. “The variety of styles and historical time periods represented by the program not only kept them engaged in the performance, but also provided motivation to learn about and play in the styles represented.”
Following the success of our inaugural High School Nights, the Houston Symphony plans to continue and hopefully expand the initiative. We’re excited to see how this grows in the future. —Lauren Buchanan
