Installment 7: The Sound, er, Vision of Music By: Lauren Moore, Houston Symphony Intern Have you ever wondered what goes through a musician’s head when he performs, or even just sits down practice? Sure, some musicians are strictly business, carefully calculating the numerous technical details they’ve so diligently practiced over and over. Others simply let … Continued
Installment 6: Tomorrow, Houston’s very own Mercedes Smith, principal flutist of the Houston Grand Opera will be competing alongside San Francisco Bay Area native and pianist, Stephanie Ng, along with eight other musicians for the chance of a life time for a young musician – the opportunity to perform a complete concerto with the Houston … Continued
Installment 5: From New York City, 26 year old violinist Clara Lyon, who is currently a D.M.A. student at the State University of New York at Stony Brook and a Juilliard alumna, will be putting her interests in classic rock, electronic music and rap aside to compete as a semi-finalist in the Ima Hogg Competition. … Continued
Installment 4: Two Russian pianists were selected as semi-finalists and will be joining us in Houston to compete in the Ima Hogg Competition. 29 year old Anna Keiserman attended The Moscow State Gnessius Academy and is currently a student at the University of Minnesota. Anna mentioned that she thought her English was pretty good until … Continued
Installment 3: Meet our two youngest Ima Hogg Competition contestants: Laura and Alan. 18 year old violinist Laura Park, from Des Plaines, IL, has been studying at the Music Institute of Chicago Academy and will be attending The Curtis Institute of Music in the fall. As the youngest participant in the competition, Laura is planning … Continued
Installment 2: 28 year old harpist, Megan Levin – Shepherd School of Music graduate, native Texan originally from Austin, and current resident of Brooklyn, NY – is thrilled to be returning to Houston to compete in the Ima Hogg Competition, and especially to indulge in Houston’s great culture and food during her stay. Similarly, 27 … Continued
Installment 1: Being selected as a semi-finalist in the internationally recognized Ima Hogg Competition is no small feat. Ten semi-finalists were selected from an applicant pool of 106 young musicians, ages 13-30, representing all of the orchestral instruments and piano, and hailing from 18 different countries. This competition is unique, as it is the most … Continued
Julie Thayer, French Horn, Houston Symphony, shares her personal thoughts and photographs from her time in New York. The Houston Symphony recently played Carnegie Hall to open the 2012 Spring for Music Festival. New York City, musically speaking, is like a Saharan Desert watering hole. It draws life and vitality to it with magnetic force … Continued
Meet Rian Craypo, Houston Symphony Principal Bassoon. In this video, Rian discusses the bassoon reed making process and key things to listen for in Mozart’s Bassoon Concerto in B-flat major, K. 191. Buy tickets for the concerts on May 11, 12, 13, 2012 here: http://bit.ly/K2jFYO
To learn more about this weekend’s concert, titled Petrouchka & Beethoven, with guest conductor Pablo Heras-Casado, CLICK HERE.
For more information about this weekend’s upcoming Petrouchka and Beethoven concerts, visit /calendar/view.aspx?id=3692
Violin virtuosa Hilary Hahn joins the Houston Symphony March 29-April 1. For more information or to purchase tickets click here.
Today’s post comes from this weekend’s guest soloist, percussionist Colin Currie. Read on to learn about his surprise gift from Finnish composer Einojuhani Rautavaara – this gift of his own concerto! It is a great honor to make my debut with the Houston Symphony this season, especially as we will celebrate together “Incantations” by Einojuhani … Continued
There is always something special about bringing the music of my own country abroad. It is wonderful to meet musicians and music lovers who are sincerely interested in the traditions of distant countries. For me, the United States is indeed an extraordinary case. There is nothing really foreign to America, because all nations and cultures … Continued
The third and final week of “RachFest” is filling me with excitement for the upcoming performances of Rachmaninoff’s second concerto. I’m also feeling a hint of nostalgia as this project comes to a close. It has been wonderful and challenging to be immersed uninterruptedly in Rachmaninoff’s concertos. Performing all of them with the musicians of … Continued
Our “RachFest” continues this week with a pairing of Rachmaninoff’s 1st and 4th piano concertos. These two wonderful pieces are sometimes undeservedly overshadowed by their more famous cousins. I am glad to have the chance to present them to the Houston audience, and playing them together in one program makes a lot of sense. Even … Continued
Today’s post was written by artist-in-residence Kirill Gerstein ahead of this month’s RachFest. During RachFest, Gerstein will perform all four of Sergei Rachmaninoff’s knuckle-busting piano concertos. Stay tuned for more posts from Kirill in the coming weeks! I am excited to start our joint Rachmaninoff adventure with the Houston Symphony … Continued
On Friday, Nov. 18, we’re embarking on a brand new concert adventure! While our regular Houston Symphony audiences can probably differentiate between Berlioz and Brahms at the drop of a hat, many people just don’t quite get what classical music is all about. Codas and concertos and cadenzas … what? We decided that enough was … Continued
We sat down with this weekend’s guest violinist James Ehnes to discuss Brahms’ Violin Concerto, his favorite things about Houston and much more! How long does it typically take for you to prepare for a concerto? (The Brahms Concerto) is one of the ones that comes around most often. I’ve performed it I’d say … Continued
Principal Flute Aralee Dorough will be featured during this weekend’s Scheherazade concert when she performs Mozart’s Flute Concerto No. 2 with the Orchestra. She also has a unique connection to this performance. She wrote in on Wednesday to tell us about it, so read on to learn more and hear her for yourself April 8-10! … Continued