Helping Houston heal from Harvey, ROCO commissioned Emmy Award-winning composer, Anthony DiLorenzo, to write Anthem of Hope: Houston Strong as a tribute to the city’s resilience. The two-minute fanfare honors the strength, caring, and courage our community showed the world, both during initial rescue efforts, and now in recovery. The new work received its world premiere performance at ROCO’s season opening concerts September 22 at Miller Outdoor Theatre, and September 23rd at The Church of St. John the Divine.
ROCO’s founder, artistic director, and principal oboist, Alecia Lawyer, said of the premiere: “I wanted to find a way to reach across Houston’s vibrant arts community and collectively embrace our wonderful city,” and ROCO managing director, Amy Gibbs, added: “Our hope is for these pieces to illustrate how Houston is strengthened by our diversity and ability to build relationships to support one another.”
In keeping with ROCO‘s passion for collaboration, more than 20 other performing arts groups are committed to performing this piece throughout their 2017-18 seasons. These groups span the range of music, dance, and theater ensembles across the city, and include Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music, Opera in the Heights, Mercury, Musiqa, Houston Youth Symphony, Wind Sync, Queensbury Theatre, MetDance, Frame Dance, and Silambam Houston, among others.
As a way to help Houston heal from the storm’s devastation, ROCO would like to share this piece with the performing arts community to create a thread of music tying our city together. ROCO welcomes all arts organizations of various disciplines (not limited to music performance organizations) in the greater Houston region to incorporate Anthem of Hope: Houston Strong into any of its performances or programs during the 2017 – 2018 season. There are no time limits or restrictions on how or when you can use the piece. We encourage organizations to adapt and use it in a way that best fits their programs, mission, and style.
If you are interested in performing Anthem of Hope: Houston Strong, please submit a request form below. The work is available for full orchestra, brass quintet, or string quartet, and there is no fee to perform. A professional recording of ROCO performing the work is also available for use.
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