By Concert

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Concertmaster Scott St. John led from the chair during ROCO’s Season 13 conductorless concert, “Legendary Love” - taking its title from this world premiere commission by composer Dan Visconti, honoring Christian Kidd, lead singer of the Houston-based ’70s punk rock band, The Hates. The performance also featured two new commissions by Houston-based composer, Mark Buller – “Nursery Rhymes” and “Tombstone Songs”. Two movements from Antonin Dvorák’s “Legends” paired with

ROCO Connections: A Dust in Time

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ROCO’s Connections series continued on November 19, 2021, presenting Huang Ruo’s A Dust in Time: Passacaglia for Strings at Asia Society Texas Center, and also livestreamed at ROCO.org, Facebook, and YouTube. Structured similarly to a Tibetan sand mandala, the 60-minute uninterrupted musical meditation is slowly created live from the central essence point, expanding outward into colored fullness, then to be subtracted back to its origination. The cycle fulfills the spiritual jou

ROCO Connections: Celebration of Margaret Bonds

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ROCO's Season 16 Connections series continued via livestream in February, with an intimate concert featuring the music of Margaret Bonds—one of the most prolific Black composers of the 1900s—plus works by composers who influenced or were influenced by her, including Florence Price, Ned Rorem, and Robert Owens. A rare, previously unknown recording of Margaret Bonds in performance was discovered in the Mastersons’ collection at Rienzi. Produced in collaboration with Rienzi, the concert fe

ROCO Connections: Journey to America

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ROCO's Connections series continued March 11 with "Journey to America", livestreamed in partnership with Holocaust Museum Houston, and opening with Tim Hinck’s “Fanfare for Rosa”—a 2018 work commissioned by the Chattanooga Symphony & Opera, written based on interviews the composer conducted with migrant children, recalling their experiences of entering the United States from South and Central America for the first time. Featuring musicians Alecia Lawyer, oboe; Maureen Nelson, vio

ROCO Connections: We Were the Music

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ROCO was honored to partner with the Holocaust Museum Houston marking the recent reopening of their expanded new building, for “We Were the Music” – a chamber concert featuring the world premieres of two ROCO commissions by Bruce Adolphe, part of his season triptych in tribute to women musicians of the Holocaust. Dedicated to Holocaust survivors Anita Lasker-Wallfisch and Alice Herz-Sommer, "We Were the Music" and "Music Is a Dream" by Bruce Adolphe were joined on the program by the mus

ROCO In Concert: A Stitch in Time

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On November 13, ROCO’s In Concert series marched on with “A Stitch in Time” at The Church of St. John the Divine and also livestreamed at ROCO.org, Facebook, and YouTube. Conductor Jeri Lynne Johnson made her ROCO debut, leading the Texas premiere of Mark Adamo’s Last Year for cello and orchestra, featuring ROCO Principal Cellist Richard Belcher, with each movement representing one of the four seasons. Winding up the program are Hilary Purrington’s FIFteen Project commission Thresho

ROCO In Concert: Beauty is in the Eye

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ROCO’s In Concert series continued with “Beauty is in the Eye” on February 8, 2020. The performance, led by conductor Christopher Rountree in his ROCO debut, featured the next three new works in ROCO's FIFteen Project, including "Fanfarria de Feria" by Alejandro Basulto, the premiere of "Between the Earth and Forever" by Kevin Lau, a concerto for the erhu, plus music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, William Grant Still, and Jean-Féry Rebel. Recorded live February 8, 2020, at The Church of S

ROCO In Concert: Bursting at the Seams

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ROCO’s In Concert series, showcasing the full 40-piece orchestra, opened on September 25 with “Bursting at the Seams” at The Church of St. John the Divine, and livestreamed at ROCO.org, Facebook, and YouTube. Conducted by ROCO’s Artistic Partner Mei-Ann Chen, the concert featured the world premiere of the first movement of Maxime Goulet’s Ice Storm Symphony, Turmoil, telling the story of Canada’s historic, devastating 1998 ice storm, and also featured the world premiere of Marcus Mar

ROCO In Concert: Canvasing the Earth

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ROCO’s 17th season In Concert series continued February 26, 2022 at 5:00 pm Central with “Canvasing the Earth” at The Church of St. John the Divine and also livestreamed at ROCO.org, Facebook, YouTube, and A440. Conductor Sarah Hicks led the orchestra in her ROCO debut, featuring three world premieres, including "Earth" by Aaron Jay Kernis, featuring tenor Nicholas Phan, reflecting upon the fundamental environmental crisis of our time. Honoring survivors of human trafficking, Leanna

ROCO In Concert: Courageous Catalysts

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Continuing its 13th season, ROCO presented “Courageous Catalysts”, featuring Bruce Adolphe’s I Will Not Remain Silent, a violin concerto inspired by the life of German-American rabbi and civil rights leader, Joachim Prinz. Throughout the concerto, the violin, played by ROCO concertmaster and featured soloist, Scott St. John, represented the voice of Prinz, while the orchestra represents opposing forces – Nazi Germany in the first movement and America during the Civil Rights era in the se

ROCO In Concert: Double Trouble

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ROCO's Season 12 “In Concert” series came to a close with “Double Trouble”. The concert was led by conductor Steven Jarvi, with Scott St. John returning as concertmaster. The orchestra premiered another newly commissioned work on this concert - Alexander Miller’s ROCOmoji, which explores emotion through sound 😃. ROCO flutist, Brook Ferguson, was also featured in this concert, performing Saverio Mercadante’s Concerto for Flute in E-minor. Recorded April 1, 2017, at The Church of

ROCO In Concert: Flamenco

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ROCO's 16th season concluded with flair on April 24, 2021 in “Flamenco”, featuring the world premiere of "The History of Red", a co-commission by Reena Esmail based on a text by Chickasaw poet Linda Hogan, with soprano Kathryn Mueller as soloist, led by conductor Brett Mitchell. The program also included the world premiere of Quinn Mason’s Princesa de la Luna for harp and strings, Samuel Barber’s Knoxville: Summer of 1915, Errollyn Wallen’s Photography, and Carlos Surinach’s flam

ROCO In Concert: Oceans

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ROCO's livestreamed In Concert series continued Saturday, November 14, 2020 from The Church of St. John the Divine with “Oceans”, a nature-inspired program featuring the orchestra—conductorless! Celebrating Beethoven’s 250th birthday, the concert featured the U.S. premiere of composer Anna Clyne’s newest work, STRIDE, for string orchestra—a ROCO co-commission, with the Australian Chamber Orchestra, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, and Lausanne Chamber Orchestra. In writing this piec

ROCO In Concert: Shadows

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ROCO's Season 16 In Concert series continued with "Shadows", exploring the musical interplay of light and dark. The program was built around a commission by Alyssa Morris, Tlapalli Tlahuilli—inspired by an Aztec myth detailing how the world received its sound and color—featuring ROCO’s principal winds as soloists, preceded by narration of the book “Musicians of the Sun” by Gerald McDermott, by members of the Calmecac Indigenous Arts Organization. Led by conductor Ward Stare in hi

ROCO In Concert: Starburst

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ROCO’s 16th season In Concert series kicked off Sept. 26, 2020 with “Starburst”, a program of musical light and energy, conducted by ROCO Artistic Partner Mei-Ann Chen. The all-virtual concert featured Richard Scofano as composer and soloist on the bandoneon (a Latin-American bellowed instrument), in the world premiere of his new work La Tierra Sin Mal (The Land Without Evil), and additional works included Jessie Montgomery’s brilliant Starburst; Fauré’s Masques et bergamasques; De

ROCO In Concert: Tying Up Loose Ends

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ROCO’s 17th season Albert & Margaret Alkek Foundation In Concert Series closed on April 23 with “Tying Up Loose Ends”, live at The Church of St. John the Divine. Conducted by Rei Hotoda in her ROCO debut, the program centered around the world premiere of "Plumes" for large chamber orchestra by Composer-In-Residence Derek Bermel based on J. Henry Fair’s photography collection “Industrial Scars”—capturing the beauty and destruction of industrial and human impacts on our planet

ROCO Unchambered: Force of Nature

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ROCO’s principal flute, Brook Ferguson, featured as soloist and curator on “Force of Nature”, joined by pianist Susan Grace, on December 8, 2018, at MATCH (Midtown Arts and Theater Center Houston). Showcasing nature-themed music for flute, oboe, cello, and piano, the program included Michael Gandolfi’s Geppetto’s Workshop, and a new ROCO commission by Stephanie Ann Boyd – Sapien. Videography by Blueprint Film Co.

ROCO Unchambered: Kaleidoscope

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"Konza Parable", a ROCO commission, is inspired by the Konza Prairie's lifecycle of burning and rebirth. ROCO's 16th season continued with “Kaleidoscope,” the second performance of ROCO’s musician-curated Unchambered series—streamed live in partnership with and from The Alta Arts, an organization celebrating cultural arts and architecture in southwest Houston. Featuring ROCO’s principal winds, the nature-inspired program presented two world premieres by ROCO’s composer-in-resid

ROCO Unchambered: Love Notes

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ROCO's Season 16 Unchambered series opened with “Love Notes,” a nature-inspired program of beauty, respite, and reflection, featuring flutist Rebecca Powell Garfield, oboist Spring Hill, and harpist Laurie Meister, broadcast from the galleries of Nancy Littlejohn Fine Art. Featured artwork is by artist Christina Nicodema, from the exhibit "Mayfly". Opening the concert was the world premiere of a ROCO commission by Karim Al-Zand, "Dance Interlude for Two Oboes and English Horn", featuring

ROCO Unchambered: Morsels

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ROCO's Unchambered series featured a musical tasting menu of string quartets, curated by ROCO concertmaster Scott St John, in "Morsels", from November 2, 2019. Joined by ROCO violinist Min-Jeong Koh, co-principal violist Matthew Dane, and principal cellist Richard Belcher, Scott took the audience through a program telling his own coming-of-age story as a musician, with featured works ranging from the Baroque up to the brand-new. Pieces by Mozart, Dvořák, Hindemith, Webern, Busch, and a worl

ROCO Unchambered: Spinning Tales

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ROCO’s Season 17 Unchambered series wrapped up April 2 with “Spinning Tales”, highlighting the percussion family, live from MATCH and also livestreamed at ROCO.org, Facebook, YouTube, and A440.live. Featuring and curated by ROCO percussionists Matthew McClung, Christina Carroll, and Craig Hauschildt, the program presented music by composers such as Quinn Mason, Thomas Rex Beverly, Christopher Deane, Keiko Abe, and more, taking the audience on a journey through a wide variety of percussi

Performance Archive