This month, the Houston Symphony will begin its 2013 series of concerts with an exciting weekend of performances featuring American themed music. “The concert program is really a commentary on Hans Graf’s time here in the United States,” stated Aurelie Desmarais, the Houston Symphony’s senior director of Artistic Planning. “He is an Austrian trained conductor … Continued
What is it about Handel’s Messiah that makes it such an amazing masterpiece year after year? At first blush, performing the same piece each season could become repetitive and less interesting, but it doesn’t. How can a piece of music feel different each time you perform it, even though nothing on the page has changed … Continued
In just over a week’s time on November 28th, the Houston Symphony will have the exciting opportunity to perform once more with one of the world’s most inspiring operatic legends: Andrea Bocelli. Bocelli was last in Houston in December of 2010, and is returning by popular demand. The Tuscany native, who suffered the loss of … Continued
November is Subscriber Appreciation Month! It is subscriber appreciation month at the Houston Symphony. All month, we are celebrating the loyalty and contributions of our many dedicated subscribers by recognizing you with inserts in our November magazine at each concert. Please know how much we value the trust you place in us to provide you … Continued
Congratulations- you’ve got tickets to the Houston Symphony! But whether you’re a multi-year subscriber or a first time single ticket buyer, you may still be unaware of all of the things the Houston Symphony has to offer in addition to your tickets, often at little to no additional charge. Check the Symphony Secrets category of … Continued
Congratulations- you’ve got tickets to the Houston Symphony! But whether you’re a multi-year subscriber or a first time single ticket buyer, you may still be unaware of all of the things the Houston Symphony has to offer in addition to your tickets, often at little to no additional charge. Check the Symphony Secrets category of … Continued
Congratulations- you’ve got tickets to the Houston Symphony! But whether you’re a multi-year subscriber or a first time single ticket buyer, you may still be unaware of all of the things the Houston Symphony has to offer in addition to your tickets, often at little to no additional charge. Check the Symphony Secrets category of … Continued
The Houston Symphony’s 12-13 POPS season is off to a great start this fall! After a wonderful season opener with the Midtown Men, we’re excited to welcome our next special guests Alli Mauzey and Nicole Parker to perform some Broadway favorites in our October POPS concert, Wicked Divas. I recently had the chance to interview … Continued
Perhaps you’ve heard some of the buzz about The Midtown Men. You’ve seen a few photos of them looking as sharp and snazzy as Frankie Valli. You may have even seen one of their fantastic and entertaining YouTube videos. But the question remains: who are these Midtown Men and what makes their show so great? … Continued
JOHN GOBERMAN, producer of our upcoming performance of The Wizard of Oz- Film with Live Orchestra, is probably best known as the creator of LIVE FROM LINCOLN CENTER. Now in its 35th season, this award-winning series of television specials has brought the finest of the performing arts to American audiences. To produce the series, Mr. … Continued
When I first heard that we might be presenting The Legend of Zelda: Symphony of the Goddesses, I think I leapt out of my chair and proclaimed that we HAD to do it! You see, I’ve loved video games for a very long time and the Zelda series is one of my all time favorites. … Continued
We were lucky to have the chance to catch up with Three Dog Night’s long time producing and engineering team, Richard Podolor (producer) and Bill Cooper (engineer). Below, they share a few thoughts on why the band has been able to maintain such a high level of relevance, and how their orchestrations for symphony came … Continued
The anticipation is palpable here at the Houston Symphony. Everyone is buzzing about this weekend’s upcoming performances of The Legend of Zelda: Symphony of the Goddesses. Check out a preview of what’s in store here: Balcony seats are now available for Friday and Saturday nights! But hurry, tickets are going quickly!
Here at the Houston Symphony, we know the powerful impact the arts can have on a community. Our partnership with organizations like Extra Life Houston is one of example of the ways the Symphony seeks to serve Houston. We are proud to promote this fantastic organization, which hosts annual gaming competitions to raise funds for … Continued
Conducting the “Sounds Like Fun!” concerts is really fun for me. As a person who is relatively new to Houston, the concerts have given me the opportunity to get to know the city, and more important, lots of great people throughout the metro area. One of the things that makes these concerts special to me … Continued
While in Moscow, our musicians had a little bit of time to explore the city before their performances on Friday and Saturday nights. Below, violist Daniel Strba offers an interesting perspective of how Moscow has progressed since his last visit there, over 20 years ago. Impressions of Contemporary Moscow By: Daniel Strba I was excited … Continued
Here at the Houston Symphony, we are fortunate to have wonderful musicians who are also wonderful writers, willing to share insights from their personal experiences and performers. Below is the third and final blog post submitted by Mark Hughes, Principal Trumpet. It was written shortly after the orchestra finished its second and final performance as … Continued
One of the downsides to touring is the lack of time the musicians have to adjust to different time zones. Anyone who has traveled abroad is familiar with the intense fatigue that is a fact of life during one’s first few days in another part of the world. It was this sleepiness that lead some … Continued
One of the downsides to touring is the lack of time the musicians have to adjust to different time zones. Anyone who has traveled abroad is familiar with the intense fatigue that is a fact of life during one’s first few days in another part of the world. It was this sleepiness that lead some … Continued
Often, when we see a performance by an ensemble from abroad, we think of how far the musicians have traveled to be there, and what that must be like. But sometimes we don’t realize just how big of an undertaking it is to transport an entire orchestra -and their instruments- to another continent. Below, Violinist … Continued