Alecia Lawyer, the River Oaks Chamber Orchestra’s artistic director, introduced the idea discreetly last fall: She and two other musicians devoted a program on the group’s Unchambered series entirely to works by female composers. This season, Lawyer and ROCO are going big with the theme.
The inspiring songs of the ‘Nightingale’ at ROCO | Houston Chronicle
In Kevin Lau’s work, the smallest details are examined with microscopic precision. The Canadian pianist delicately shapes each musical phrase, each moment of harmonic color, while dedicating equal attention to establishing a cohesive sound that ties the piece into a whole.
River Oaks Chamber Orchestra serves up a wild and engaging musical feast | Texas Classical Review
A Houston punk rock legend front and center at a classical concert, a virtuoso concertmaster, a stellar bass-baritone singing nursery rhymes and tombstone epitaphs, and three world premieres. Throw in a couple of Dvořák’s Legends and the rarely heard Wood Notes by William Grant Still, and we have a strange brew of a program that surprised and engaged.
‘Love’ is unleashed in conductorless concert | Houston Chronicle
Like a ringmaster leads a circus, conductors direct classical music concerts, presenting various acts or compositions while serving as an intermediary between the audience and the performers.
But the show must go on, with or without, and River Oaks Chamber Orchestra is here to prove it’s possible to have a concert without a conductor, with the return of its annual conductorless concert this weekend at the Church of St. John the Divine.
The Hates’ Christian Kidd Honored in ROCO Commission Legendary Love | HoustonPress
Chicago-based composer Dan Visconti laughs at the idea that some might think that, because of his training and profession, he only listens to classical music. You know, when he’s not locked away in some ivory tower decked out in a white wig, quill pen scribbling away with frenzied genius.
This is the story of The Hates. And it’s a love story. | Houston Chronicle
The band’s most pronounced impression was made in Houston, but fans of ’70s punk reveled in the regional variety the form offered.
One such fan is Dan Visconti, a classical composer who recently composed “Legendary Love,” a piece of music inspired by Christian and The Hates that the River Oaks Chamber Orchestra will premiere later this month.
Shaping the Future: ROCO Connects Through Commissioning | Arts + Culture TX
The numbers are in: 76 world premieres (33 for the full chamber orchestra and 43 for its flexible chamber ensembles), 36 composers commissioned—these are astounding numbers from the Houston-based River Oaks Chamber Orchestra (ROCO), now in its perpetually forward-looking 13th season.
‘Peter and the Wolf’ Ventures into the Houston Zoo | Houstonia
“For a generation of a certain age, this is the first classical music piece any of them heard,” says Alecia Lawyer, the artistic director for the River Oaks Chamber Orchestra (ROCO) about Sergei Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf. It’s a familiar and beloved symphonic fairy tale, often used to introduce children to the instruments in the orchestra.
Beers and Brass, yes, please | Houston Chronicle
Houston’s River Oaks Chamber Orchestra, called ROCO, is known for pushing the limits of the expected, bringing classical music into the mainstream by playing in unlikely spaces and collaborating with unlikely partners.
CLASSICAL MUSIC FOR PUNKS | Local Houston Magazine
Catch this one while you can, because chances are, a show like this doesn’t come around too often. On February 10 at The Church of St. John the Divine, River Oaks Chamber Orchestra (ROCO) premieres Legendary Love, taking its title from a groundbreaking, genre-crossing world-premiere commission by Dan Visconti, which honors local Houston punk rock legend Christian Kidd, lead singer of The Hates…the band that’s gone unsigned by a major label since 1978, but wildly popular nonetheless.
Exploring the Sound of Taste | Houston Chronicle
Composer Maxime Goulet had a delicious idea – to write a musical suite about chocolate, seguing the sounds through signatures that correspond with various types of chocolate.
Then he had an even better idea – to let audiences eat those chocolates while listening to the music.
Houston Music Highlight – Anthem of Hope: Houston Strong | Houston Public Media
In the days immediately following Harvey and its devastating floods, Houston chamber orchestra, ROCO, commissioned two works to help celebrate the resilient spirit of the city and to help people heal.
