Video Library Tag: By Concert

The extraordinary was experienced as ROCO’s milestone 20th season opened with “REMARKABLE” – featuring the full 40-piece chamber orchestra in three world premieres plus a new twist on an out-of-this-world classic, presented at Miller Outdoor Theatre on September 27th, hosted by guest emcee Fred Child of American Public Media’s Performance Today.

Under the dynamic direction of Artistic Partner Mei-Ann Chen, the concert featured the ROCO-commissioned world premiere of John Wineglass‘s Cityscapes in a new version for chamber orchestra, enhanced with immersive, panoramic video of Houston, shot by Houston First and edited by BEND Productions. Then, we headed to the stars with the world premiere ROCO commission Constellations by Viet Cuong, ROCO’s Season 20 Composer in Residence, spotlighting “constellations” of ROCO musicians as soloists in each movement. Gustav Holst‘s vivid tour of our solar system, The Planets, completed the galactic journey – featured in a new rescoring by Jim Stephenson, with stunning original animation by James Templeton.

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 Alecia Lawyer and Spring Hill, joined by Erin Tsai, oboe.

Recorded live at Nancy Littlejohn Fine Art, Houston, Texas, October 17, 2020

Videography by Blueprint Film Co.

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.

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 featured and was curated by returning ROCO favorite, Timothy Jones, bass-baritone, and Howard Watkins on piano.

Recorded at Rienzi, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, February 4, 2021, by Blueprint Film Co.

ROCO welcomed back conductor JoAnn Falletta, as the full 40-piece chamber orchestra shined in works of luminous orchestral color and creativity, including three premieres! Glimpse a vision of paradise in the third and final movement of Composer-In-Residence Richard Danielpour’s Symphony in Three Movements After the Divine Comedy of Dante Alighieri, then experience the bold sounds of Conni Ellisor’s consortium-commissioned A Woman Without Apology, and dance to Astor Piazzolla’s Tangazo—an edgy tango, then delight in the Texas premiere of Richard Strauss’ Ariadne auf Naxos Symphony-Suite, a chamber arrangement of his comic 1912 “opera-within-an-opera”.