Dear Houston Symphony family member, On behalf of the Board, musicians and staff of the Houston Symphony, please know that we are thinking of you all during the process of recovering and rebuilding after Hurricane Harvey. The last two weeks have brought unprecedented challenges to Houston, but they have also seen our incredible community rally … Continued
For three years, Mahler had composed almost nothing. His first three gargantuan symphonies had only met with sporadic success, if they were performed at all, and he was consumed with the Herculean task of his new job: running Vienna’s Imperial Opera. Mahler was determined to transform the declining institution into a musical and theatrical experience … Continued
In 1891, Mrs. Jeannette Thurber, an energetic American philanthropist and music lover, had a great triumph: she convinced the world-renowned Czech composer Antonin Dvořák to be the new director of her National Conservatory of Music in New York City. For his arrival the following year, she commissioned him to write a piece for the 400th anniversary … Continued
Imagine a classroom full of 6-year-olds moving around with big smiles on their faces, waving colorful scarves to music. Sounds like child’s play, right? What we can’t see when we observe this seemingly simple scene, however, is that some real and important learning is happening alongside all the fun. These children are developing key literacy … Continued
On September 29 and October 1 & 2, 2016, the Houston Symphony performs Haydn’s masterpiece, The Creation. Learn more about the concert here. When it comes to grand choral works from the classical era, most symphony fans will immediately think of Mozart’s Requiem. Full of darkness, terror and passages of transcendent beauty, this is one … Continued
What does the Houston Symphony have to do with the Final Four? More than you might think. A few weeks ago, Houston Symphony Chorus Manager Anna Diemer got a call from the Rice University Athletics Department. As co-sponsors of the Final Four, Rice University and the University of Houston are responsible for every detail of … Continued