On December 3, the Houston Symphony presents Home Alone—Film with Live Orchestra. Our Grammy® Award-winning Recording Engineer and resident film music buff Brad Sayles explores how John Williams masterfully scored this holiday classic. Imagine being asked to score a Christmas film. A few well-known carols will appear throughout, but the true soundtrack must define the … Continued
On November 20–22, Principal POPS Conductor Steven Reineke returns to Jones Hall for the next Bank of America POPS Series concert American Strings: From Folk to Film, a celebration of American music performed by the Houston Symphony strings section. The program boasts music as unique and varied as our nation—and here are just a few of … Continued
On November 7, 8, 9, and 10, the Houston Symphony continues to explore John Williams’s iconic music with performances of the score to Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back live to picture. Many Houston Symphony musicians are also big Star Wars fans, including Phillip Freeman, the Houston Symphony’s bass trombonist. Here, Freeman shares … Continued
Christian Schubert has been the second clarinetist of the Houston Symphony since 1996 when he was appointed by Music Director Christoph Eschenbach. A native of Burbank, CA, he studied at Northwestern University in Evanston, IL, where he received both his undergraduate and graduate degrees in music performance. His principal teachers have been Kalman Bloch, Robert Marcellus … Continued
Above: From left to right, Matthew Strauss (percussion), Mark Griffith (percussion), Marian Beauchamp, Gary Beauchamp and Brian Del Signore (principal percussion) pose with the new low E bell that will be played during this weekend’s concerts. At this weekend’s performances of Richard Strauss’s Also sprach Zarathustra, a new sound will ring out through Jones Hall. … Continued
Houston audiences may know Brad Sayles best as the Houston Symphony’s Grammy Award-winning audio engineer, but he is also an active composer of film and concert music. He has also hosted Music from the Movies, a radio show that explored both new and classic film scores. In advance of our The Best of John Williams … Continued
On Sunday morning, the Houston Symphony announced its upcoming 2011-12 season of Classical, Pops and Family concerts. In line with the Symphony’s mission, enriching concerts fill each weekend with inspiration and bring innovative, first-class performances to the extensive cultural scene in Houston. Dynamic guest artists, Music Director Hans Graf and Principal Pops Conductor Michael Krajewski … Continued
Assistant Conductor Brett Mitchell took the time to share a little about one of the musical loves of his life, Wagner’s “The Ring Without Words,” ahead of next week’s concert! We knew of the comparisons to the Lord of the Ring, but Star Wars? Learn more about it by reading below. It should come as … Continued