SYMPHONY OPERA BALLET THEATRE MUSEUMS
HOUSTON 2014
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HOUSTON 2014
Ambassador to the Arts
I am honored to be this season’s Ambassador to the Arts for Guide for the Arts, and to continue to work with Houstonians, serving this great city and beyond. Every day Houston grows as a cultural hub through internationally recognized performing- and finearts institutions. The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston— located in the heart of the Houston Museum District—traces its roots back to 1900. We welcome guests of all ages to explore the Museum’s 14-acre campus, dynamic roster of exhibitions and programs, and a collection that spans 6,000 years of human creativity. It is our hope that all visitors, from Houston and around the world, will experience the Museum as a place of wonder and inspiration, and that for our local community, they will find in the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, a place to enjoy art while connecting with friends and family. We hope to see you soon.
Gary Tinterow Director The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
www.GuidefortheArts.com
Contents
Ambassador’s Note
6
Sponsors
8
Publisher’s Note
10
Alley Theatre
16
Contemporary Arts Museum Houston
20
Da Camera
24
Houston Ballet
30
Houston Grand Opera
36
Houston Museum of Natural Science
42
Houston Symphony
54
Museum of Fine Arts Houston
64
Theatre Under the Stars
98
Contact Information
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guide for the arts
An Instep Communications, LLC Publication Founder & Group Publisher Kevin T. Wood Art Director Robert Arndt Proofreading/Copy Editor Fiona Stewart Advertising Instep Communications, LLC Lin Carlson - National Account Executive
guide for the arts features cultural event schedules for the
Opera, Symphony, Ballet, Museums, and Performing Arts groups in Houston. The guide for the arts is produced to service the fine arts & musical communities in the Houston area and includes event schedules and important phone numbers. We wish to thank all of our advertising sponsors and patrons, a select group that values the arts in their communities. Their support contributes greatly to the success of this 2014 edition of the guide for the arts.
We appreciate the cooperation of the participating art groups for their invaluable assistance with event schedules and information that helps us share the guide for the arts. with their major donors, corporate sponsors, and valued members. To showcase your company, advertise in the next edition of the guide for the arts.
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A Thank You to Our Patrons Welcome to the Houston edition of the Guide for the Arts.
The arts in Houston continue to flourish, thanks to your patronage. Without your help, the Houston area arts landscape would not be the vibrant and inspiring community that you have come to know and expect. Because of people like you, Houstonians and visitors alike are able to enjoy a great variety of performing and visual arts. It is your generosity that has helped to build a metropolitan arts scene that is a source of civic pride envied throughout America. Guide for the Arts has put together a unique and informative guide to the Houston arts community, and we encourage you to patronize the advertisers who have helped to make this year’s guide possible. Be sure to visit www.GuidefortheArts.com to find in-depth coverage and behind-the-scenes arts information, and to utilize our digital guides.
We hope that you enjoy this year’s Guide for the Arts Thank you again, and we look forward to seeing you in the coming season. Enjoy the show!
Kevin T. Wood Group Publisher
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Alley Theatre
The Alley Theatre, one of Alley Theatre front facade from America’s leading not-for-profit Texas Avenue theatres, is a nationally recognized performing arts company that is focused on collaborating with resident actors, visiting artists, directors, designers, dramaturgs, and authors to cultivate the new voices, new work, and new artists of the American theatre. As a recipient of the Special Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre, the Alley creates a wide-ranging repertoire and innovative productions of classics, neglected modern plays, and premieres, as well as new works that will become classics for the future, developed through the Alley’s New Play Initiative. The Alley’s productions are built and rehearsed in the Alley Theatre Center for Theatre Production – a 75,000-square-foot facility adjacent to the theatres themselves and are performed on the 824-seat Hubbard Stage and the 310seat Neuhaus Stage. The Alley continues to pave the way for Houston audiences to experience thought-provoking, diverse, and transformative theatre produced and performed by its professional company year round.
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Alley Theatre
NOVEMBER 15 – DECEMBER 26, 2013 Hubbard Stage A CHRISTMAS CAROL - A GHOST STORY OF CHRISTMAS By CHARLES DICKENS Adapted and Originally Directed by MICHAEL WILSON Directed by JAMES BLACK Houston’s seasonal favorite the Houston Press described as having “Spectacular London sets ... the inimitable Dickens’ tale - spiced with the usual fog and an unusual twist on the ghosts past, present and future.” A Christmas Carol - A Ghost Story of Christmas follows Ebenezer Scrooge’s journey with the three ghostly spirits that visit him on Christmas Eve. A Christmas Carol instills a powerful message about redemption and the spirit of the holiday season. NOVEMBER 29 – DECEMBER 31, 2013 Neuhaus Stage THE SANTALAND DIARIES By DAVID SEDARIS Adapted for the Stage by JOE MANTELLO Directed by DAVID CROMER Back by popular demand, Todd Waite reprises his role as Houston’s favorite holiday elf. A compact, one-character comedy, The Santaland Diaries is a hilarious cult classic featuring comic encounters during the height of the holiday crunch. NPR humorist and best-selling author of Me Talk Pretty One Day and Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim, David Sedaris has become one of America’s pre-eminent humor writers. JANUARY 10 – FEBRUARY 2, 2014 Hubbard Stage OTHER DESERT CITIES Written By JON ROBIN BAITZ A riveting new play by Pulitzer Prize nominee and creator of TV’s hit drama Brothers & Sisters, Jon Robin Baitz’s Other Desert Cities was named the Outstanding Play by the Outer Critics Circle and called “the best new play on Broadway” by The New York
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Alley Theatre
Times. After a six-year absence, Brooke Wyeth returns home to Palm Springs to celebrate Christmas with her parents, brother, and aunt. The warm desert air turns chilly when news of her upcoming memoir threatens to revive the most painful chapter of the family’s history. The New York Daily News calls this dysfunctional family drama “a winner … funny and fierce, invigorating and intelligent.” JANUARY 24 – FEBRUARY 23, 2014 Neuhaus Stage FREUD’S LAST SESSION Written By MARK ST. GERMAIN Freud’s Last Session centers on legendary psychoanalyst Dr. Sigmund Freud, who invites a little-known professor C.S. Lewis, who later wrote the children’s classic The Chronicles of Narnia, to his home in London. Lewis, expecting to be called on the carpet for satirizing Freud in a recent book, soon realizes Freud has a much more significant agenda. On the day England enters World War II, Freud and Lewis clash on the existence of God, love, sex, and the meaning of life. “The humor is plentiful” (The New York Times) in this “thrilling” (Variety) tête-à-tête. FEBRUARY 21 – MARCH 16, 2014 Hubbard Stage (World Premiere) FOOL Written By THERESA REBECK In Rebeck’s new comedy, two kings get together and place a wager on their fools – a jester competition, and the funniest one gets to keep his head. Two evil minions have a lot to say about this, but not as much as the kitchen wench. And what’s the queen been up to all night? A dramatic comical farcical tragic play about power, love, laughter, and death set in a medieval kitchen. APRIL 4 – 27, 2014 Hubbard Stage COMMUNICATING DOORS Written By ALAN AYCKBOURN Award-winning playwright Alan Ayckbourn (House & Garden, 2002) returns to the Alley in this ingenious comic tour de www.GuidefortheArts.com
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Alley Theatre
force where Back to the Future meets Hitchcock. In 2024 Phoebe, a “private personal services consultant,” finds herself with an elderly client in a posh hotel room – she opens the wrong door and finds herself running for her life. Soon she is confronting her own past by way of a woman named Ruella, and the two join forces to prevent a murder, while Phoebe’s gradual friendship with that remarkable woman changes the future for both of them. MAY 23 – JUNE 15, 2014 Hubbard Stage VANYA AND SONIA AND MASHA AND SPIKE Written By CHRISTOPHER DURANG Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, the irresistible new comedy by Christopher Durang, won both the 2013 Tony Award for Best Play and the Drama Desk Award, and is currently a smashhit on Broadway. Vanya and his sister Sonia live a quiet life in the farmhouse where they grew up. But their sister Masha escaped many years ago and became a famous movie star! When Masha returns unannounced with her 20-something boy toy, Spike, so begins an unforgettable weekend of rivalry, regret, and generally hilarious racket. By the end of their impromptu family reunion, this lovable bunch won’t ever be the same. MAY 30 – JUNE 29, 2014 Neuhaus Stage GOOD PEOPLE Written By DAVID LINDSAY-ABAIRE Nominated for a 2011 Tony Award for Best Play, Good People is a funny, tough, and tender story about the insurmountable class divide. When Margie Walsh loses her job at a South Boston dollar store, she reaches out to old flame Mike, a neighborhood boy who escaped and became a successful doctor. Margie’s attempt to hit Mike up for a job takes on a surprising twist when she realizes the power a secret from Mike’s past holds. From Pulitzer Prize winner David Lindsay-Abaire, Good People looks at the extraordinary consequences of choosing to hold on to the past or leave it behind. “Thoroughly absorbing ... Good People is good stuff” (Variety) and one of the finest new American plays.
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Alley Theatre
Tickets & Contact Alley Theatre 615 Texas Avenue Houston, TX 77002 (713) 228-9341 (Administration) (713) 220-5700 (Box Office) www.alleytheatre.org
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Contemporary Arts Museum Houston
The Contemporary Arts Entrance way to the Museum Houston was founded Contemporary Arts Museum in 1948 by a group of seven Houston citizens to present new art and to document its role in modern life through exhibitions, lectures, and other activities. The Contemporary Arts Museum Houston is a non-collecting institution dedicated to presenting the best and most exciting international, national, and regional art. Through dynamic exhibitions accompanied by scholarly publications and accessible educational programs, the Museum reaches out to local, regional, national, and international audiences of various ages. OUTSIDE THE LINES OCTOBER 13, 2013 – MARCH 23, 2014 Presented on the occasion of the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston’s 65th anniversary, Outside the Lines is a six-part exhibition series conceived as an evolving dialogue on contemporary abstraction. From recent paintings embracing more traditional definitions of abstraction to multimedia works that challenge such notions, these exhibitions showcase the Museum’s commitment to chronicling shifts in contemporary art practices by presenting some of the most compelling work being made today and revisiting the historical foundations to which they speak.
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Contemporary Arts Museum Houston
CAMH’s director Bill Arning and full curatorial staff—Valerie Cassel Oliver and Dean Daderko—will each organize two exhibitions; these six complete visions will be mounted in two rounds. Outside the Lines will be installed in both the Brown Foundation and the Zilkha galleries, uniting the whole museum in one thematic exhibition for the first time. Constructed as a dynamic, diverse, and innovative curatorial project, Outside the Lines offers a variety of vibrant visual experiences and perspectives on abstraction in the present moment. ART ON THE LAWN: JOSEPH HAVEL JULY 19, 2013 – APRIL 30, 2014 The Contemporary Arts Museum Houston is pleased to present a new site-specific work by Houston-based sculptor Joseph Havel. For the third installation in CAMH’s Art on the Lawn series, Havel has created an “endless column” of books. Endless (2013), made from books cast in bronze and resin, emerges from the centerpiece of the Museum’s lawn, the Ballard Fountain. The column of books, cast from a stack of Sotheby’s auction catalogues among others, stands almost 20 feet high and gradually transitions from bronze to translucent resin. MELANIE SMITH MARCH 22 – JUNE 15, 2014 Melanie Smith’s exhibition focuses on three video-based installation works: Xilitla: Dismantled 1; Bulto: Fragments; and Elevator (2010, 2011, and 2012, respectively). Working in cinematic installations since the late 1990s, Smith, as an Englishborn artist living in Mexico, initially took an almost ethnographic approach to the eccentricities of the sprawling, chaotic mass of her adopted home city, considering as worthy of critical examination the markets full of plastic and the shear physical expanse of the massive metropolis. Since 2010 her works have grown less analytical and increasingly poetic, sensual, and surreal.
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Contemporary Arts Museum Houston
TRENTON DOYLE HANCOCK: SKIN & BONES, 20 YEARS OF DRAWING APRIL 26 – JULY 20, 2014 For almost two decades, Trenton Doyle Hancock has developed an epic narrative surrounding the “Mounds” and a cast of colorful—and often not so colorful—characters who populate a wildly fantastic, invented landscape. The artist’s use of vivid imagery and mythology has not only earned him national and international recognition, but has also revealed a fascination with the foundation of his practice. What emerges upon further examination is a wide—range of influences including comics, graphic novels, cartoons, music, and film. While Hancock’s paintings have become the focal point for investigation, his drawings—both discrete and monumental—have not been explored in depth before now. Tickets & Contact Contempoary Arts Museum Houston 5216 Montrose Boulevard Houston, TX 77006 (713) 284-8250 www.camh.org
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DA Camera Houston
Da Camera of Houston, Cullen Theater at Wortham founded in 1987, was created with the intention to produce a series of thematically programmed concerts designed to attract new listeners to the concert hall. By bringing together leading American and international musicians, specifically selected for each program, Da Camera concerts offer a broad range of repertoire and musical styles while ensuring a product of outstanding musical excellence. Members of the Houston Symphony and faculty of Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music, University of Houston’s Moores School, and others are often included in Da Camera programs, expanding the opportunities for locally based musicians of national acclaim and enriching our community by enhancing the musical life of artists who choose to live here. Under the artistic leadership of Sarah Rothenberg since 1994, Da Camera maintains its commitment to this high caliber of musicianship brought together to perform in its Houston-based subscription series at the Wortham Theater Center and The Menil Collection; its extensive education and outreach activities; and its regional, national and international touring initiatives.
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DA Camera Houston
DECEMBER 7, 2013, 8:00 PM Cullen Theater, Wortham Theater Center GERALD CLAYTON TRIO JANUARY 24, 2014, 8:00 P.M. Cullen Theater, Wortham Theater Center PAQUITO D’RIVERA WITH THE BRASIL GUITAR DUO FEBRUARY 7, 2014, 8:00 P.M. Cullen Theater, Wortham Theater Center THE COOKERS FEBRUARY 15, 2014, 8:00 P.M. Zilkha Hall, Hobby Center for the Performing Arts BRENTANO STRING QUARTET VIJAY IYER, Piano FEBRUARY 25, 2014, 7:30 P.M. The Menil Collection SIMONE DINNERSTEIN, Piano MARCH 1, 2014, 8:00 P.M. Cullen Theater, Wortham Theater Center MANUEL VALERA NEW CUBAN EXPRESS MARCH 8, 2014, 8:00 P.M. Zilkha Hall, Hobby Center for the Performing Arts SCENES OF CHILDHOOD MARCH 24, 2014, 7:30 P.M. Rothko Chapel JERUSALEM STRING QUARTET Shostakovich, The Last Quartets APRIL 4, 2014, 8:00 P.M. Cullen Theater, Wortham Theater Center WAYNE SHORTER QUARTET
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DA Camera Houston
APRIL 8, 2014, 7:30 P.M. The Menil Collection YOUNG TRAILBLAZERS/LATE STYLE: LOADBANG MAY 2, 2014, 8:00 P.M. Cullen Theater, Wortham Theater Center LATE STYLE NOW: ADAMS, ANDRIESSEN, REICH Tickets & Contact Da Camera of Houston 1427 Branard Street Houston, TX 77006 (713) 524-7601 (General) (713) 524-5050 (Box Office) www.dacamera.com
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Houston Ballet
In 1955, the founding Ballet: Petite Mort Choreographer: Jirí Kylián members of Houston Ballet Dancer(s): Ian Casady and Artists Foundation had a vision for of Houston Ballet Photo: Amitava Sarkar dance in Houston: to create a Image provided courtesy of resident ballet company and to Houston Ballet start a school that would train its dancers. In 1969, the professional company was founded, under the direction of Nina Popova, a former dancer with the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo and American Ballet Theatre. Houston Ballet Foundation has seen the fulfillment of its goals: an internationally acclaimed ballet company that is now America’s fourth largest and an academy that supplies over 40 percent of the company’s dancers. The New York Times has hailed Houston Ballet as “one of the nation’s best ballet companies.” The company is comprised of 52 dancers, including artists who have won medals at major international ballet competitions. The mission of the Houston Ballet is to inspire a lasting love and appreciation for dance through artistic excellence, exhilarating performances, innovative choreography, and superb educational programs.
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Your Ultimate
GUIDE
for the Parks
Houston Ballet
FEBRUARY 20, 2014, 7:30 P.M. FEBRUARY 22, 2014, 2:00 P.M. & 7:30 P.M. FEBRUARY 23, 2014, 2:00 P.M. FEBRUARY 28, 2014, 7:30 P.M. MARCH 1, 2014, 7:30 P.M. MARCH 2, 2014, 2:00 P.M. ALADDIN American Premiere Music by CARL DAVIS Choreography by DAVID BINTLEY Houston Ballet presents the American premiere of the celebrated English choreographer David Bintley’s full-length Aladdin, a magical tale of love, trickery, and triumph. A run-in with palace guards leads young tearaway Aladdin into a whirlwind of adventure and romance, involving unbelievable riches, love at first sight, treachery, and a magical lamp. Originally created for the New National Ballet of Japan in Tokyo in 2008, the production features spectacular scenery by the celebrated English designer Dick Bird and an original score by Carl Davis. MARCH 6, 2014, 7:30 P.M. MARCH 8, 2014, 7:30 P.M. MARCH 9, 2014, 2:00 P.M. MARCH 14, 2014, 7:30 P.M. MARCH 15, 2014, 7:30 P.M. MARCH 16, 2014, 2:00 P.M. THE YOUNG PERSON’S GUIDE TO THE ORCHESTRA Choreography by STANTON WELCH
The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra (World Premiere) Music by BENJAMIN BRITTEN Of Blessed Memory (Houston Ballet Premiere) Music by JOSEPH CANTELOUBE (Chants d'Auvergne)
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Houston Ballet
Maninyas Music by ROSS EDWARDS Houston Ballet celebrates the tenth anniversary of Stanton Welch as artistic director with a mixed repertory program featuring three works by Mr. Welch, including a world premiere set to Benjamin Britten’s The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra designed to showcase the company’s orchestra and dancers. Benjamin Britten created his The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra in 1946, and it has helped to introduce generations of children to the world of classical music. The evening will also feature the company premiere of Of Blessed Memory, a work Mr. Welch created for The Australian Ballet in 1991 to honor his mother, the celebrated Australian ballerina Marilyn Jones, O.B.E. The program also includes a revival of Maninyas, a sensual work for five couples created in 1996 that showcases the speed and physicality of Houston Ballet’s dancers. APRIL 25, 2014, 7:00 P.M. APRIL 26, 2014, 1:30 P.M. SPRING SHOWCASE Houston Ballet Academy Spring Performance The gifted young artists of Houston Ballet Academy cap their studies with two performances of a program featuring works tailormade to show them at their best. MAY 22, 2014, 7:30 P.M. MAY 24, 2014, 7:30 P.M. MAY 25, 2014, 2:00 P.M. MAY 30, 2014, 7:30 P.M. MAY 31, 2014, 7:30 P.M. JUNE 1, 2014, 2:00 P.M. MODERN MASTERS
The Four Temperaments Music by PAUL HINDEMITH Choreography by GEORGE BALANCHINE
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Houston Ballet
In The Middle, Somewhat Elevated Music by THOM WILLEMS Choreography by WILLIAM FORSYTHE Petite Mort Music by W.A. MOZART Choreography by JIRÍ KYLIÁN Sechs Tanze (Six Dances) Music by W.A. MOZART Choreography by JIRÍ KYLIÁN Modern Masters will showcase the work of three of the most influential choreographers of the twentieth century. One of George Balanchine’s masterworks The Four Temperaments is an expression in dance and music of the ancient notion that the human organism is made up of four different humors, from which are derived the personality types: Melancholic, Sanguinic, Phlegmatic, and Choleric. In the middle, somewhat elevated, American choreographer William Forsythe pushes thrillingly past the boundaries of classical ballet in a work full of explosive energy, high attitude, and cool sexuality. Set to the slow movements of two of Mozart’s most beautiful and popular piano concertos, Petite Morte (which literally means ‘small death’, serves as a paraphrase for orgasm in French and Arabic) features six women and six men in a work created by Czech master Jirí Kylián in 1991 to honor Mozart on the second centenary of his death. Highlighting the program will be the company premiere of Kylián’s delightfully comic short work Sechs Tanze (Six Dances) JUNE 5, 2014, 7:30 P.M. JUNE 6, 2014, 7:30 P.M. JUNE 7, 2014, 1:30 P.M. & 7:30 P.M. JUNE 8, 2014, 2:00 P.M. JUNE 13, 2014, 7:30 P.M. JUNE 14, 2014, 7:30 P.M. JUNE 15, 2014, 2:00 P.M. SWAN LAKE Music by P.I. TCHAIKOVSKY
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Houston Ballet
Choreography by STANTON WELCH, after MARIUS PETIPA AND LEV IVANOV Houston Ballet caps its 201314 season with a revival of Stanton Welch’s spectacular staging of the beloved classic, Swan Lake, created for the company in 2006 and featuring sumptuous scenery and costumes by Kristian Fredrikson. Ballet: Swan Lake Choreographer: Stanton Welch One of the great love stories of Dancer(s): Connor Walsh and classical ballet, Swan Lake tells Sara Webb Photo: Amitava Sarkar the story of Odette—a beautiful Image provided courtesy of maiden transformed into a swan Houston Ballet by an evil knight—and the Prince who swears his eternal love for her. In his staging, Mr. Welch imbues the main characters with greater psychological complexity, and gives the work a twenty-first century pace. Tickets & Contact Houston Ballet Wortham Theater Center 501 Texas Avenue Houston, TX 77002 (713) 227-2787 www.houstonballet.org
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Houston Grand Opera
Since its inception in 1955, Carmen Houston Grand Opera has grown Courtesy of Houston Grand Opera from a small regional organization into an internationally renowned opera company. HGO enjoys a reputation for commissioning and producing new works, including forty-seven world premieres and six American premieres since 1973. In addition to producing and performing world-class opera, HGO contributes to the cultural enrichment of Houston and the nation through a diverse and innovative program of performances, community events, and education projects that reaches the widest possible public. HGO has toured extensively, including trips to Europe and Asia, and it is the only opera company to have won a Tony, two Grammy awards, and two Emmy awards.
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Houston Grand Opera
JANUARY 18, 2014, 7:30 P.M. JANUARY 22, 2014, 7:30 P.M. JANUARY 25, 2014, 7:30 P.M. JANUARY 31, 2014, 7:30 P.M. FEBRUARY 2, 2014, 2:00 P.M. THE PASSENGER North American Premiere Music by MIECZYSLAW WEINBERG Libretto by ALEXANDER MEDVEDEV Directed by DAVID POUNTNEY Conducted by PATRICK SUMMERS Featuring MICHELLE BREEDT, JOSEPH KAISER, MELODY MOORE, MORGAN SMITH, AND KELLY KADUCE The horrors of the Second World War, still raw today, were fresh in 1959 when Auschwitz survivor Zofia Posmysz wrote a play titled The Passenger from Cabin 45 for Polish radio. The play became the basis of the opera by Mieczyslaw Weinberg in 1967. En route to a new post with her husband, a German diplomat, Lisa is unnerved by the sight of a woman, another passenger, who eerily resembles The Passenger Photo by Karl Forster Martha, one of the inmates Lisa tormented when she was an SS overseer at Auschwitz. The action of the drama takes us from the stylish gentility of a luxury liner’s deck to the squalor of a death camp where cruelty, despair, and unspeakable courage are evident in equal measure. This American premiere will be one of the most important musical events of the year.
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Houston Grand Opera
JANUARY 24, 2014, 7:30 P.M. JANUARY 26, 2014, 2:00 P.M. JANUARY 29, 2014, 7:30 P.M. FEBRUARY 1, 2014, 7:30 P.M. FEBRUARY 7, 2014, 7:30 P.M. FEBRUARY 9, 2014, 2:00 P.M. RIGOLETTO Music by GIUSEPPE VERDI Libretto by FRANCESCO MARIA PIAVE Conducted by PATRICK SUMMERS Featuring RYAN MCKINNY, STEPHEN COSTELLO, ELIZABETH ZHAROFF, ROBERT POMAKOV, AND DMITRY BELOSSELSKIY Rigoletto, jester to the Duke of Mantua, is both reviled and respected for his razor-sharp, bitter wit. His only joy is his daughter, Gilda, whom he has hidden from his amoral employer’s court. But Rigoletto Rigoletto cannot protect her Photo by Felix Sanchez from falling in love. When the Duke poses as a young student and adds Gilda to his long list of conquests, the jester swears revenge. Passion drives him to plot the Duke’s murder, but, naïve and blinded by love, Gilda spoils her father’s scheme with heartwrenching results. MARCH 7, 2014, 8:00 P.M. MARCH 9, 2014, 2:30 P.M. MARCH 13, 2014, 8:00 P.M. MARCH 15, 2014, 8:00 P.M. MARCH 18, 2014, 8:00 P.M. MARCH 19, 2014, 8:00 P.M. MARCH 20, 2014, 8:00 P.M. MARCH 22, 2014, 8:00 P.M.
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Houston Grand Opera
MARCH 23, 2014, 2:30 P.M. A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC Music and Libretto by STEPHEN SONDHEIM Produced by ISAAC MIZRAHI Conducted by ERIC MELEAR Featuring ELIZABETH FUTRAL, CHAD SHELTON, MARK DIAMOND, JOYCE CASTLE, AND ALICIA GIANNI “Send in the Clowns” and elegant waltzes drive this bittersweet story—the winner of six Tony awards including best musical, book, and score. Old flames are rekindled and new affairs ignite in this farce about famous actress Desiree Armfeldt and her weekend guests: an ex-lover Fredrik, his much-younger bride, and his son, a divinity student. When Desiree’s current paramour arrives unannounced, the stage is set for grown-up comedy. MARCH 14, 2014, 8:00 P.M. MARCH 16, 2014, 2:30 P.M. MARCH 21, 2014, 8:00 P.M. A COFFIN IN EGYPT World Premiere Music by RICKY IAN GORDON Directed by and Libretto by LEONARD FOGLIA Conducted by TIMOTHY MYERS Featuring FREDERICA VON STADE An intimate afternoon conversation triggers a searing examination of the past in this tour-de-force written for superstar Frederica von Stade. The story is rich with regional imagery by Horton Foote, the legendary Texas playwright and author. APRIL 11, 2014, 7:30 P.M. APRIL 13, 2014, 2:00 P.M. APRIL 17, 2014, 7:30 P.M. APRIL 23, 2014, 7:30 P.M. APRIL 26, 2014, 7:30 P.M. DAS RHEINGOLD Music and Libretto by RICHARD WAGNER Directed by CARLUS PADRISSA Conducted by PATRICK SUMMERS
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Houston Grand Opera
Featuring CHRISTOPHER PURVES, RODELL ROSEL, JAMIE BARTON, MEREDITH ARWADY, KRISTINN SIGMUNDSSON, AND ANDREA SILVESTRELLI Deep beneath the surface of the Rhine, Alberich, a wily and treacherous dwarf, lusts after the Rhinemaidens’ treasure: a cache of gold. Whoever owns the gold and forges it into a ring will have power over the world. Unable to catch one of the beautiful maidens, Alberich steals the gold. APRIL 25, 2014, 7:30 P.M. APRIL 27, 2014, 2:00 P.M. APRIL 30, 2014, 7:30 P.M. MAY 2, 2014, 7:30 P.M. MAY 4, 2014, 2:00 P.M. MAY 10, 2014, 7:30 P.M. CARMEN Music by GEORGES BIZET Libretto by HENRI MEILHAC AND LUDOVIC HALÉVY Directed by ROB ASHFORD Conducted by RORY MACDONALD Featuring ANA MARÍA MARTÍNEZ, BRANDON JOVANOVICH, AND RYAN MCKINNY The femme fatale is ubiquitous in literature, from the biblical Delilah to Shakespeare’s Cleopatra to the smoky, dangerous beauties of the film noir era. But none embody this character like the gypsy Carmen, a sexual bird of prey whose charms lead Don José into a fatalistic chain of events, uncontrollable passion, jealousy, and bloodshed. Tickets & Contact Houston Grand Opera Customer Care 510 Preston Street Houston, TX 77002 (713) 546-0200 (General) Wortham Theater Center 500 Texas Avenue Houston, TX 77002 (713) 228-6737 (Box Office) www.houstongrandopera.org
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Houston Museum of Natural Science
Founded in 1909, the purpose Exterior view of Houston Museum of Natural Science of the Houston Museum of Natural Science has always been to enhance in individuals the knowledge and delight in natural science and related subjects. To this very day, this purpose is carried out in every project, program, and exhibition associated with the museum. As one of the most heavily attended museums in the United States, and one of the most attended venues in Houston, the Museum houses the Burke Baker Planetarium, Wortham GIANT Screen Theatre, Cockrell Butterfly Center, and a fascinating variety of permanent exhibit areas that examine astronomy, space science, Native American culture, paleontology, energy, chemistry, gems and minerals, seashells, Texas wildlife, and much more. In addition, the museum frequently presents traveling exhibitions on a variety of topics.
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Houston Museum of Natural Science
SCENES FROM THE STONE AGE: THE CAVE PAINTINGS OF LASCAUX OCTOBER 18, 2013 – MARCH 23, 2014 On September 12, 1940 in Dordogne, France, in the commune of Montignac, four boys— Marcel Ravidat, Jacques Marsal, Simon Coencas, and Georges Agniel— Detail of the Lascaux Cave and their dog stumbled upon a long forgotten cave, a jewel of prehistoric art and a major archaeological revelation. The cave was named Lascaux. The Lascaux cave, now a World Heritage site, has been dubbed the “Sistine Chapel of Prehistory.” Also known as the Lascaux bestiary, its frescos represent many animals, including horses, bulls, deer, ibex, cats, a rhinoceros, and even the legendary unicorn. These pictures are accompanied by enigmatic signs and some human representations (such as a man facing a charging bison), which raise new questions about the perception of our prehistoric ancestors. This international exhibition brings together state-of-the-art digital technologies, in order to make the visit interactive and unforgettable—simulators of human presence, virtual trips using the most advanced 3D projections, and interactive terminals, as well as multimedia and a model of the cave. You will be able to travel throughout the whole cave in a virtual tour before admiring the life-size recreations of the Nave and the Well. You will then come
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Houston Museum of Natural Science
face to face in a unique and unforgettable meeting with a CroMagnon family and observe the artists of Lascaux preparing their tools, and then painting and engraving the walls of the cave. MAGNA CARTA FEBRUARY 14, 2014 – AUGUST 17, 2014 An original edition of the Magna Carta, and the only known example of the King’s Writ—a letter from King John to the Sheriff of Gloucester announcing the signing of the Magna Carta—is headed to Houston from its home in Hereford Cathedral. The Magna Carta is considered to be Great Britain’s most valuable export to the world and is a model upon which the United States Constitution was based. The Magna Carta continues to serve as the definitive document modeling basic civil liberties, and is the source of many of the most fundamental concepts of law. In King’s Writ. more than 100 decisions, the Image courtesy of The Chapter of United States Supreme Court has Hereford Cathedral. traced dependence on the Magna Carta for an understanding of due process, trial by jury, the importance of a speedy and unbiased trial, and protection against excessive bail or fines, or cruel and unusual punishment.
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Houston Museum of Natural Science
CRYSTALS TRANSFORMED THROUGH VISION & SKILL ONGOING For more than 35 years, Harold Van Pelt has quietly been perfecting the art of carving quartz, rock crystal and agate gemstones. Hundreds of hours go into each multi-faceted, fluted, and textured vase, hollow container, sculpture, and vessel, many of which are accented with gold and semi-precious stones. Working the stone down to paper-thin walls brings out the gorgeous natural quality and colors of the agate and gives quartz the transparency of glass. Transformed by one man’s vision and skill from a solid stone to an incredibly delicate work of art, the gemstone carvings of Harold Van Pelt have to be seen to be believed. FABERGÉ: A BRILLIANT VISION ONGOING Simply hearing the name Fabergé evokes the splendor and extravagance of late 19th and early 20th century Imperial Russia. The House of Fabergé designed the renowned Imperial Easter Eggs for the Romanov family, as well as an array of objets d’art, luxurious gifts, and practical items for the wealthy patrons of Europe. Visitors can glimpse this grandeur in a special exhibition of Fabergé from the McFerrin Collection. Featuring more than 350 Imperial Diamond Trellis Egg by Fabergé, workmaster August objects, highlights include Holmstrom, St. Petersburg, 1891. This two Fabergé eggs recently Egg was a gift of Tsar Alexander III to added to the collection—the Tsarina Maria Feodorovna on Easter, 1892. breathtaking Diamond Trellis Image courtesy of the Houston Museum of Imperial Egg and one of Natural Science the celebrated Kelch Eggs. The exhibition includes past favorites such as the
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famed Nobel Ice Egg, the dazzling Empress Josephine Tiara, and the ornate Fire Screen Frame—a gift from Tsar Nicholas II to his mother, Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna. New additions to the collection include several important Imperial presentation boxes and other objets de luxe. Tickets & Contact Houston Museum of Natural Science 5555 Hermann Park Drive Houston, TX 77030 (713) 639-4629 www.hmns.org
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Houston Symphony
Founded in 1913, the Jones Hall exterior Houston Symphony is one of Photo: Leah Polkowske America’s oldest performing arts organizations with a distinguished musical history. Over the years, the orchestra has grown and matured under the direction of distinguished leaders such as Ernst Hoffmann (1936-47), Efrem Kurtz (1948-54), Ferenc Fricsay (1954), Leopold Stokowski (1955-61), Sir John Barbirolli (196167), Andre Previn (1967-69), Lawrence Foster (1971-78), Sergiu Comissiona (1979-88), and Christoph Eschenbach (1988-99). Maestro Hans Graf, who took the podium in September 2001, is the Houston Symphony’s fifteenth music director. Today, the Houston Symphony is widely acclaimed as one of the top orchestras in the world. DECEMBER 5, 2013, 7:30 P.M. JOHN WILLIAMS JOINS YO-YO MA JOHN WILLIAMS, Conductor YO-YO MA, Cello Two musical superstars and longtime friends join the Houston Symphony for an evening of music John Williams composed for the concert hall and for some of Hollywood’s most beloved films. Williams and the legendary cellist Yo-Yo Ma perform
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the composer’s lush and virtuosic Cello Concerto, followed by thrilling selections from some of his most popular film scores. DECEMBER 13, 2013, 8:00 P.M. DECEMBER 14, 2013, 8:00 P.M. DECEMBER 15, 2013, 2:30 P.M. & 7:30 P.M. VERY MERRY POPS MICHAEL KRAJEWSKI, Conductor HOUSTON SYMPHONY CHORUS CHARLES HAUSMANN, Director A Houston Symphony tradition, Very Merry Pops returns this Centennial Season with all the holiday music you love. Plus, experience a special piece, “Glad Tidings,” featuring spiritual leaders from the Houston community as guest narrators. Commissioned by the Houston Symphony in 2003, this musical journey through the story of the first Christmas will warm your heart and help you remember the true meaning of Christmas. Get in the holiday spirit with other favorites like “I’m Dreaming of a White Christmas,” “Deck the Halls,” and “Jingle Bell Rock.” DECEMBER 14, 2013, 10:00 A.M. DECEMBER 14, 2013, 11:30 A.M. HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS ROBERT FRANZ, Conductor Music will tell the beloved Dr. Seuss tale of the grouchy creature with a heart “two sizes too small,” his loyal dog Max, and their encounters with the merry and warm hearted Whos. A guest vocalist from the Houston Grand Opera Studio will join a local high school chorus and the musicians of the Houston Symphony to take you into the world of Whoville. DECEMBER 19, 2013, 8:00 P.M. DECEMBER 20, 2013, 8:00 P.M. DECEMBER 21, 2013, 8:00 P.M. DECEMBER 22, 2013, 2:30 P.M. HANDEL’S MESSIAH NICHOLAS MCGEGAN, Conductor DOMINIQUE LABELLE, Soprano
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Houston Symphony
CHRISTOPHER AINSLIE, Countertenor THOMAS COOLEY, Tenor DOUGLAS WILLIAMS, Baritone HOUSTON SYMPHONY CHORUS CHARLES HAUSMANN, Director Handel, Messiah Delight in Houston’s premiere performance of Handel’s transcendent and revered masterpiece, Messiah, performed by the Houston Symphony, Chorus, and star soloists led by Nicholas McGegan. Experience the powerful words and music of beloved choruses and arias like “Ev’ry Valley Shall Be Exalted,” “O Thou That Tellest Good Tidings to Zion,” “Rejoice Greatly,” and the timeless “Hallelujah” chorus. JANUARY 3, 2014, 8:00 P.M. JANUARY 4, 2014, 8:00 P.M. JANUARY 5, 2014, 2:30 P.M. MOZART’S JUPITER SYMPHONY ANDRÉS OROZCO-ESTRADA, Conductor ERIC HALEN, Violin JENNIFER OWEN, Violin Haydn, Symphony No. 59, “Fire” Schnittke, Moz-Art á la Haydn – for two violins and chamber ensemble Mozart, Symphony No. 41, “Jupiter” Celebrate the New Year with two of classical music’s great superstars. First, Mozart, who’s brilliance shines through in his sublime final symphony. In the Jupiter, drama, joy and energy are presented with the composer’s trademark elegance. The program opens by turning up the heat with the equally exciting Fire Symphony by Haydn. JANUARY 9, 2014, 8:00 P.M. JANUARY 11, 2014, 8:00 P.M. JANUARY 12, 2014, 2:30 P.M. THE PLANETS AND THE EARTH – AN HD ODYSSEY ANDRÉS OROZCO ESTRADA, Conductor
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WOMEN OF THE HOUSTON SYMPHONY CHORUS CHARLES HAUSMANN, Director THE EARTH – AN HD ODYSSEY Adams, Short Ride in a Fast Machine R. Strauss, Also sprach Zarathustra THE PLANETS - AN HD ODYSSEY Holst, The Planets In this unprecedented multimedia event, the Houston Symphony will perform a back-to-back lineup of the first two installments in the HD Odyssey Series —The Planets and The Earth. See striking images shown on a giant screen above the orchestra, taken from NASA’s missions to Earth’s orbit, accompanied by Strauss’ epic tone poem Also sprach Zarathustra. Then, watch in awe as images of NASA’s exploration of the solar system are brought to life in vivid form with the orchestra’s performance of Holst’s The Planets. JANUARY 24, 2014, 8:00 P.M. JANUARY 25, 2014, 8:00 P.M. JANUARY 26, 2014, 7:30 P.M. THE SOUNDTRACK OF OUR LIVES WITH TONY DESARE MICHAEL KRAJEWSKI, Conductor TONY DESARE, Voice and Piano Described by the New York Times as “two parts young Sinatra to one part Billy Joel, meshed seamlessly,” singer/pianist Tony DeSare premieres a new orchestra program with the Houston Symphony featuring Tony’s fresh and honest approach to today’s standards, including “How Deep Is Your Love,” “Kiss,” “I Feel the Earth Move,” “Takin’ It To the Streets,” “Faithfully,” “You Give Love A Bad Name,” and other cherished hits by James Taylor, Carole King, and Stevie Wonder. JANUARY 25, 2014, 10:00AM JANUARY 25, 2014, 11:30AM WILD, WILD WEST! ROBERT FRANZ, Conductor
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Houston Symphony
Join us for a program that explores the sights and the sounds of the wild West! Head out to the range with music from Hoedown and Billy the Kid. Dive into what makes Texas, Texas, when a rodeo cowboy and performers from Theater Under the Stars help us explore our western heritage through song. JANUARY 31, 2014, 8:00 P.M. FEBRUARY 1, 2014, 8:00 P.M. FEBRUARY 2, 2014, 2:30 P.M. ADAMS CONDUCTS ADAMS JOHN ADAMS, Conductor GIL SHAHAM, Violin TIMOTHY MCALLISTER, Saxophone Copland, El Salón Mexico Korngold, Violin Concerto Adams, City Noir America’s foremost composer John Adams will take you on a musical adventure through shadowy urban streets and blazing hot nightclubs in his own City Noir. The incomparable Gil Shaham will then join for a performance of Korngold’s Violin Concerto, which features musical quotations from the composer’s own Hollywood film scores of the 1930s. FEBRUARY 13, 2014, 8:00 P.M. FEBRUARY 15, 2014, 8:00 P.M. FEBRUARY 16, 2014, 2:30 P.M. EMANUEL AX PLAYS BACH HANNU LINTU, Conductor EMANUEL AX, Piano Ravel, Noble and Sentimental Waltzes Bach, Piano Concerto in D Minor R. Strauss, Burleske for Piano and Orchestra R. Strauss, Suite from Der Rosenkavalier Marvel at the genius of J.S. Bach as beloved pianist Emanual Ax illuminates the Piano Concerto in D Minor with his keen intelligence and musical poetry. On the second half of this program, hear the most delightful romp in Richard Strauss’s Suite from Der Rosenkavalier.
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Lincoln Center
Houston Symphony
FEBRUARY 14, 2014, 7:30 P.M. LINDA EDER’S VALENTINE LINDA EDER, Vocalist Houston favorite and acclaimed vocalist Linda Eder will return to the Symphony for a special Valentine’s Day performance featuring her best-known hits and favorite love songs. Eder, whose repertoire ranges from show tunes and classic jazz standards to popular song, is the golden-voiced singer who made her Broadway debut as Lucy in Jekyll and Hyde, winning a prestigious Drama Desk nomination. You and your loved ones will be charmed by the sweet tones of Eder’s voice, together with the sweeping sounds of the Houston Symphony. FEBRUARY 21, 2014, 8:00PM FEBRUARY 22, 2014, 8:00PM FEBRUARY 23, 2014, 7:30PM MUSIC OF THE MAD MEN ERA STEVEN REINEKE, Conductor RYAN SILVERMAN, Vocalist Snap your fingers and tap your toes to the cool, swinging tunes of the 50s and 60s, a time when Bossa Nova was new, the lounges of Las Vegas were hip, and catchy dance music spun on every hi- fi. Hear Ryan Silverman sing tunes such as “It’s Not Unusual,” “Bésame Mucho,” “Don’t Get Around Much Anymore,” “I (Who Have Nothing),” and other flashy tunes from this retro era that has recently made a resurgence in every facet of pop culture. FEBRUARY 28, 2014, 7:30 P.M. MARCH 1, 2014, 8:00 P.M. MARCH 2, 2014, 2:30 P.M. RACHMANINOFF’S RHAPSODY JAMES GAFFIGAN, Conductor DANIIL TRIFONOV, Piano Picker, Old and Lost Rivers Rachmaninoff, Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini Shostakovich, Symphony No. 5
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Houston Symphony
Young Tchaikovsky Piano Competition winner Daniil Trifonov recreates the fiery flourishes, intriguing romance, and devilish finale of Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody. The excitement will continue when conductor James Gaffigan leads the orchestra in the Symphony that earned Shostakovich a 40-minute ovation at its premiere. Its final relentless crescendo will have you on your feet with its pounding timpani and majestic final chords. MARCH 6, 2014, 8:00PM MARCH 8, 2014, 8:00PM MARCH 9, 2014, 2:30PM TCHAIKOVSKY’S SERENADE FOR STRINGS FRANK HUANG, Leader and Violin soloist Haydn, Symphony No. 39 Piazzolla, Cuatro estaciones porteñas (Four Seasons of Buenos Aires) Tchaikovsky, Serenade for Strings In this Centennial Season concert, the superb musicians of the Houston Symphony take center stage. Concertmaster Frank Huang, playing a double role as both leader and soloist, will balance the delicacy of Tchaikovsky with the fierce solo tango lines of Piazzolla’s Cuatro estaciones porteñas. Its hints of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons only serve to heighten Piazzolla’s sultry melodies. The heat in this music will sweep you into the South American climate and lively atmosphere of Buenos Aires. MARCH 13, 2014, 7:30 P.M. STEVE TYRELL & FRIENDS With a little help from his friends, Grammy award winning vocalist and Houston hero Steve Tyrell returns to the Jones Hall stage. Legendary friends will cameo with Steve Tyrell and the Houston Symphony for a night filled with once in a lifetime performances of American standards. Hear favorites like “The Way You Look Tonight”,“The Simple Life,” and “Crush on You.” MARCH 14, 2014, 8:00 P.M. VIVALDI’S FOUR SEASONS FEATURING FRANK HUANG
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Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Houston Symphony MARCH 21, 2014, 8:00 P.M. MARCH 22, 2014, 8:00 P.M. MARCH 23, 2014, 2:30 P.M. BEETHOVEN’S MASS IN C RAFAEL FRÜHBECK DE BURGOS, Conductor HOUSTON SYMPHONY CHORUS CHARLES HAUSMANN, Director Stravinsky, Pulcinella (complete) Beethoven, Mass in C Major In this program of extraordinary contrasts and similarities, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos conducts works of two great composers – Beethoven and Stravinsky. Beethoven continues a revered tradition from the 18th century in his soaring and peaceful Mass in C. Stravinsky, by contrast, takes inspiration from the 18th century for his ballet Pulcinella, but spices up the music with scattered, piquant harmonies and an infectious sense of humor. MARCH 28, 2014, 8:00 P.M. MARCH 29, 2014, 8:00 P.M. MARCH 30, 2014, 2:30 P.M. 100 YEARS OF BROADWAY MICHAEL KRAJEWSKI, Conductor CHRISTIANE NOLL, Vocalist RACHEL YORK, Vocalist CHRISTOPHER JOHNSTONE, Vocalist HOUSTON SYMPHONY CHORUS CHARLES HAUSMANN, Director
Michael Krejewski
In honor of the Houston Symphony’s Centennial, Michael Krajewski has assembled a night that encompasses American musical theater’s absolute greatest hits. Utilizing three Broadway stars and the Houston Symphony Chorus, you’ll hear songs like “Music of the Night” from Phantom of the Opera, “Circle of Life” from The Lion King, and “Summertime” from Porgy and
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Houston Symphony
Bess. We’ll also celebrate the most popular hits of composers Cole Porter, Rodgers and Hammerstein, Leonard Bernstein, Frank Loesser, Irving Berlin, and Stephen Sondheim. APRIL 10, 2014, 8:00 P.M. APRIL 12, 2014, 8:00 P.M. APRIL 13, 2014, 2:30 P.M. TCHAIKOVSKY’S ROMEO AND JULIET HANS GRAF, Conductor JOHANNES MOSER, Cello Tchaikovsky, Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture Tchaikovsky, Pezzo capriccioso for Cello and Orchestra Tchaikovsky, Rococo Variations for Cello and Orchestra Prokofiev, Symphony No. 3 Conductor Laureate Hans Graf leads the Symphony in a powerful all-Russian program. First, hear the ripening love and impending tragedy in Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet. Then, hear rising-star cellist Johannes Moser perform Tchaikovsky’s Rococo Johannes Moser Variations, a piece that earned him a special prize in addition to the top prize in the 2002 Tchaikovsky Competition. Finally, thrill to the frenzied passages and crazed sliding melodies of Prokofiev’s Symphony No. 3. APRIL 17, 2014, 8:00 P.M. APRIL 18, 2014, 7:30 P.M. APRIL 19, 2014, 8:00 P.M. BRONFMAN PLAYS BEETHOVEN 4 ANDRÉS OROZCO-ESTRADA, Conductor YEFIM BRONFMAN, Piano Smetana, Overture to The Bartered Bride
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Houston Symphony
Beethoven, Piano Concerto No. 4 DvoRák, Symphony No. 8 The Los Angeles Times speaks of Grammy Winner pianist Yefim Bronfman’s “technical prowess and unforced showmanship.” The virtuoso returns to Houston to lend both depth and brilliance to Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4. Music Director Designate Andrés Orozco-Estrada then brings out the exuberant woodwind melodies and carefree waltzes of Dvorák’s Symphony No. 8. APRIL 25, 2014, 8:00 P.M. APRIL 26, 2014, 8:00 P.M. APRIL 27, 2014, 8:00 P.M. CHRIS BOTTI CHRIS BOTTI, Trumpet With his uniquely expressive sound and soaring musical imagination, superstar Chris Botti is heading back to Houston to perform some of his favorite tunes along with music from his newest CD Impressions. Since the release of his 2004 CD When I Fall in Love, Botti has become the largest selling American jazz instrumental artist, having appeared in countless PBS specials, and earned four #1 Jazz Chris Botti Albums and multiple Grammy Awards throughout his career. Don’t miss this incredible trumpet talent performing together with your Houston Symphony. APRIL 26, 2014, 10:00 A.M. & 11:30 A.M. BELLE OF THE BALL ROBERT FRANZ, Conductor HSPVA CHORALE Featuring music from Disney’s Beauty and the Beast and more. Even today, nothing is more magical than getting dressed up and going to a ball! Graceful ballet dancers will partner with the www.GuidefortheArts.com
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Symphony, together with the High School for Performing and Visual Arts Chorale, to create the atmosphere of a royal ball. MAY 1, 2014, 8:00 P.M. MAY 3, 2014, 8:00 P.M. MAY 4, 2014, 2:30 P.M. BEETHOVEN’S TRIPLE CONCERTO THOMAS DAUSGAARD, Conductor FRANK HUANG, Violin BRINTON AVERIL SMITH, Cello JOYCE YANG, Piano Bax, Tintagel Beethoven, Concerto for Violin, Cello and Piano, “Triple Concerto” Sibelius, Symphony No. 5 The Houston Symphony’s Concertmaster Frank Huang and Principal Cellist Brinton Averil Smith join pianist Joyce Yang for a moving performance of Beethoven’s Triple Concerto. After intermission, take in the brooding mystery of Sibelius’s Symphony No. 5. In the last movement of this work, hear a glorious horn theme paint a picture of the summer sun coming through the parting clouds. MAY 9, 2014, 7:30 P.M. MAY 10, 2014, 7:30 P.M. CHRISTOPH ESCHENBACH CONDUCTS MAHLER’S SYMPHONY OF A THOUSAND CHRISTOPH ESCHENBACH, Conductor HOUSTON SYMPHONY CHORUS CHARLES HAUSMANN, Director Mahler, Symphony No. 8, “Symphony of a Thousand” Former Music Director Christoph Eschenbach (1988-99) returns to conduct two spectacular evenings of music from one of his favorite composers. Mahler’s Eighth Symphony is commonly referred to as the “Symphony of a Thousand” due to the huge number of performers required on stage. Watch in awe as more than 250 musicians, chorus members, and vocal soloists join together for a once-in-a-lifetime, powerful experience of music.
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MAY 23, 2014, 8:00 P.M. MAY 24, 2014, 8:00 P.M. MAY 25, 2014, 7:30 P.M. SYMPHONIC SPECTACULAR! SEE THE MUSIC SIGOURNEY WEAVER, Host MICHAEL KRAJEWSKI, Conductor With host Sigourney Weaver as your guide, the Houston Symphony closes the Centennial Season with a special spotlight on the orchestra. Visually explore the world’s most beloved symphonic music including “Waltz of the Flowers,” “1812 Overture” and “Flight of the Bumblebee,” paired with stunning high definition video, stills, and animation ranging from nature to outer space, and everything in between. Enhanced by stunning lighting and theatrical effects, this spectacle of imagery and music provides an experience that is stirring, poignant, hilarious, and inspiring. Tickets & Contact Houston Symphony 615 Louisiana Street, Suite 102 Houston, TX 77002 (713) 224-4240 (Administration) Jones Hall 615 Louisiana Street Houston, TX 77002 (713) 224-7575 (Guest Services) www.houstonsymphony.org
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Museum of Fine Arts Houston
Located in the heart of Exterior Museum of Fine Arts Houston’s Museum District, Houston Houston the MFAH is a dynamic cultural complex comprising two gallery buildings, a sculpture garden, visitors center, library, movie theater, gift shop, café, two art schools, and two house museums. AMERICAN ADVERSARIES: WEST AND COPLEY IN A TRANSATLANTIC WORLD OCTOBER 6, 2013 – JANUARY 20, 2014 American Adversaries charts the rise and spectacular success of contemporary history painting in the 18th century through the lives and experiences of two colonial American innovators: Benjamin West (1738–1820) and John Singleton Copley (1738–1815). This major exhibition is the first to offer a revealing look at their ambitious, competitive, and highly successful lives. West and Copley—initially friends but eventually bitter rivals—created theatrical paintings that romanticized current events and captured the imaginations of the public. At the core of the exhibition are two works that catapulted these artists to international fame: West’s The Death of General Wolfe and Copley’s Watson and the Shark. These paintings have not been presented together in more than 60 years and never before in this context.
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Museum of Fine Arts Houston
ARTS OF ISLAMIC LANDS: SELECTIONS FROM THE AL-SABAH COLLECTION, KUWAIT JANUARY 26, 2013 – JANUARY 26, 2014 Islamic masterworks from Kuwait’s renowned al-Sabah Collection come to the MFAH as part of a long-term collaboration with the cultural institution Dar al-Athar al-Islamiyyah (DAI). The privately held al-Sabah Collection is one of the greatest collections of Islamic art in the world, and the partnership initiates a historic exchange of objects, staff, and expertise. Among the highlights showcased in this display are spectacular Mughal jewelry, illuminated manuscripts, exquisite ceramics, and intricately decorated ceiling panels. More than 60 examples from the 8th to 18th centuries are on view, made in the Iberian Peninsula, North Africa, the Middle East, and Central Asia. The collection also includes carpets, glass and metalwork, paintings, architectural fragments, scientific instruments, and works on paper. ANTONIO BERNI: JUANITO AND RAMONA NOVEMBER 10, 2013 – JANUARY 26, 2014 Argentinean artist Antonio Berni (1905–1981) was widely recognized early in his career as a leading painter and promoter of his own brand of “New Realism” in Latin America. But in the mid-1950s, motivated by the social distress and poverty he witnessed in Argentina amid social unrest and the country’s industrialization, Berni abandoned painting for assemblage. He devoted much of the rest of his life to chronicling the tales of Juanito Laguna and Ramona Montiel, fictional characters that he constructed out of trash, machine parts, and other discards from everyday life. Their experiences exposed the undercurrents of Argentinean society. Within his own lifetime, Berni witnessed his creations—Juanito, a boy of the shantytowns, and Ramona, a working-class woman forced into prostitution—become popular legends and folk heroes. A collaboration between the MFAH and Malba – Fundación Costantini in Buenos Aires, Antonio Berni: Juanito and Ramona is the first exhibition to focus on this iconic series and Berni’s related series of monumental “Monsters,” as well as the first Berni exhibition organized by a U.S. museum in nearly 50 years.
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Museum of Fine Arts Houston
PATTERN REPEAT: WALLPAPER THEN AND NOW NOVEMBER 17, 2013 – MARCH 30, 2014 Wallpaper elicits strong, almost visceral, emotions for many people, as evidenced by the reported last words of the great 19th-century Irish wit Oscar Wilde: “My wallpaper and I are fighting a duel to the death. One or the other of us has to go.” At some point in the 20th century, this struggle with pattern gave way to the neutral walls within which so many people now live and work. However, wallpaper is seeing a resurgence in contemporary interiors and has become part of the design conversation Piet Hein Eek, Scrapwood Wallpaper, again. Pattern Repeat: 2011, printed wallpaper, manufactured Wallpaper Then and by NLXL, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. Museum purchase funded by Now presents, for the first Michael Dale. time, masterly examples © Scrapwood Wallpaper by Piet Hein Eek for NLXL of 19th- and early-20thcentury wallpaper design from the MFAH collection. The exhibition includes French scenic paper, rare pieces of Japanese “leather” wallpaper, and English Arts and Crafts designs by William Morris. Pattern Repeat pairs these historic examples with pieces by contemporary designers, such as artist Dan Funderburgh and design studio Timorous Beasties, who are looking to the past and reinterpreting the meaning of pattern in the 21st century using beauty, sly wit, and pointed social commentary.
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ROADS OF ARABIA: ARCHAEOLOGY AND HISTORY OF THE KINGDOM OF SAUDI ARABIA DECEMBER 19, 2013 – MARCH 9, 2014 Roads of Arabia: Archaeology and History of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia examines the impact of ancient trade routes that traversed the Arabian Peninsula, carrying precious frankincense and myrrh to Mesopotamia and the Greco-Roman world and allowing for a vibrant exchange of both objects and ideas. With the later rise of Islam, pilgrimage roads converged on Mecca and gradually replaced the well-traveled incense roads. This unparalleled exhibition features objects excavated from more than 10 archaeological sites throughout the peninsula. Among the works on view are alabaster bowls and fragile glassware, heavy gold earrings, and monumental statues. These objects testify to the lively mercantile and cultural exchange between the Arabs and their neighbors, including the Egyptians, Syrians, Babylonians, and Greco-Romans. The surprising discoveries on display in Roads of Arabia open a new window onto the culture and economy of this ancient civilization. THE AGE OF IMPRESSIONISM: GREAT FRENCH PAINTINGS FROM THE STERLING AND FRANCINE CLARK ART INSTITUTE DECEMBER 22, 2013 – MARCH 23, 2014 The acclaimed international tour of The Age of Impressionism: Great French Paintings from the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute concludes in Houston at the MFAH. Showcasing the Clark’s renowned holdings of French Impressionist James Tissot, Chrysanthemums, painting, this exhibition c. 1874–76, oil on canvas, Sterling features 73 works of art by and Francine Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, Massachusetts. a stellar lineup that includes Image © Sterling and Francine Edgar Degas, Édouard Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, Manet, Claude Monet, Berthe Massachusetts
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Morisot, Camille Pissarro, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, and Alfred Sisley. Also represented are Pierre Bonnard, William-Adolphe Bouguereau, Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, Jean-Léon Gérôme, Jean-François Millet, and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. The Clark launched the collection tour in 2011 at the Palazzo Reale in Milan, coinciding with a three-year expansion of the Clark’s Williamstown, Massachusetts, facility. The MFAH is only the second, and the final, U.S. museum to host the exhibition. This spectacular presentation tells not only the story of Sterling and Francine Clark’s devotion and passion for collecting but also of painting in 19thcentury France, from the Orientalist works of Gérôme; to the Barbizon paintings of Corot and Théodore Rousseau; to the Impressionist masterpieces of Degas, Manet, Monet, Pissarro, Renoir, and Sisley; and concluding with the Early Modern output of Bonnard and Lautrec. Portraits, landscapes, marines, still lifes, and scenes of everyday life by 25 artists, spanning 70 years, are all on view. MADE FOR MAGAZINES: ICONIC 20TH-CENTURY PHOTOGRAPHS FEBRUARY 2 – APRIL 27, 2014 The first halftone photograph was published on December 2, 1873, in the New York Daily Graphic— an image of Steinway Hall in Manhattan. Until then, photographs had been engraved onto metal plates or cut into wooden blocks for printed reproductions, often changed by the engraver in the process. Magazines grew quickly in number and specialty, to a heyday
Anton Bruehl, Untitled, 1930s–40s, color carbro print, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, gift of Anton and Karen Bruehl. © Estate of Anton Bruehl
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reached between 1920 and the 1980s. The MFAH photography collection is exceptionally rich in holdings of images made for the printed page, and the exhibition Made for Magazines, drawn from the collection, explores this richly historic era through some 60 works by photographers including Edward Steichen, Richard Avedon, Irving Penn, Gordon Parks, and Annie Leibovitz, originally published by magazines such as Life, Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, and Texas Monthly. Pulitzer Prize-winning photographs, first published in newspapers and later published in magazines, are also included. GEORGES BRAQUE: A RETROSPECTIVE FEBRUARY 16 – MAY 11, 2014 Georges Braque (1882– 1963) has been characterized as the most celebrated and least understood artist of the 20th century. Although Braque’s late paintings and Georges Braque, Grand intérieur á la palette (Large Interior with Cubist compositions have come Palette), 1942, oil and sand on under fresh scholarly scrutiny canvas, the Menil Collection, in recent years, Georges Houston. Photographer: HickeyRobertson, Houston. Braque: A Retrospective is the © 2013 Artists Rights Society (ARS), first museum exhibition since New York / ADAGP, Paris 1988 to present the full arc of the artist’s career, from his first Fauve paintings of 1906 to 1907, to his final monumental canvases of the 1960s. The exhibition also reunites more than 25 of the artist’s greatest Cubist paintings and collages created during his years of intense dialogue with Pablo Picasso. Georges Braque: A Retrospective debuts at the Grand Palais, Paris, in September 2013. The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, is the second and final venue, and the only opportunity to see this superb exhibition in the United States.
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BEYOND CRAFT: DECORATIVE ARTS FROM THE LEATRICE AND MELVIN EAGLE COLLECTION FEBRUARY 23 – MAY 26, 2014
David Gilhooly, The Miracle of Production, 1973, earthenware, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, the Leatrice S. and Melvin B. Eagle Collection, Museum purchase with funds provided by the Caroline Wiess Law Accessions Endowment Fund. © David Gilhooly
Based in Potomac, Maryland, Lee and Mel Eagle have been collecting decorative arts since the 1960s, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, acquired this outstanding collection in 2010. The couple’s early focus was on contemporary ceramics; today, the collection also encompasses fiber art, furniture, glass, jewelry, and works on paper dating from the 1940s to the present. This exhibition looks at the major figures and aesthetic movements in contemporary craft and beyond, from the mid-
1960s to the early 1990s. JOHN SINGER SARGENT WATERCOLORS MARCH 2 – MAY 26, 2014 John Singer Sargent Watercolors explores this bravura painter’s practice of working in watercolor, a medium that has traditionally been viewed as tangential to his art making. Nearly 100 of these works—painted between 1902 and 1911—provide a once-in-a-generation opportunity to view a broad range of the artist’s finest production in the medium. New discoveries, based on scientific study of his pigments, drawing techniques, and paper preparation, are featured in a special section that emphasizes the complex process of Sargent (1856–1925). This landmark
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exhibition brings together the Sargent holdings from the Brooklyn Museum and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. It makes its final stop in Houston, home to the largest collection of Sargents held in private hands outside of Boston. ALEXANDER ARCHIPENKO: THE BERLIN DRAWINGS MAY 18 – AUGUST 18, 2014 Alexander Archipenko John Singer Sargent, In a Medici (1887–1964), one of the most Villa, 1906, translucent watercolor influential sculptors of the and touches of opaque watercolor with graphite underdrawing, 20th century, challenged the Brooklyn Museum, purchased by traditional figurative form and Special Subscription. was central to the emergence of Modernism. The MFAH has acquired an extraordinary suite of 30 drawings that Archipenko produced while living, working, and teaching in Berlin in the early 1920s, shortly before his immigration to the United States in 1923. These drawings depict the female body in dynamic compositions. They refashion the subject in ways that reflect not only Cubism and Futurism, but also Art Deco fashion plates, Baroque sculpture and Russian icons. The exhibition also features important sculptures by the artist from the MFAH collection. MONET AND THE SEINE: IMPRESSIONS OF A RIVER OCTOBER 26, 2014 – JANUARY 29, 2015 The river Seine inspired a vast number of paintings by Claude Monet (1840-1926), surpassing his defining series of water lilies by more than one hundred works. Monet captured every aspect of life on the river and used it from an early point in his career to explore the transformative effects of light and atmosphere that define his oeuvre. The complexity of the subject will be visible in the multiplicity of motifs and decades of artistic development through nearly 60 works.
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Tickets & Contact The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston 1001 Bissonnet Houston, TX 77005 (713) 639-7300 www.mfah.org
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Theatre Under the Stars
Theatre Under The Stars’s Hobby Center for the primary commitment remains the Performing Arts production of musical theatre of the highest excellence for audiences in south Texas and elsewhere. It is equally committed to education in theatre arts, and to providing opportunities for participation by all constituents of the community through its outreach programs. Today, TUTS continues to thrive in Houston and make its artistic impact felt across the country. JANUARY 22 – FEBRUARY 2, 2014 WE WILL ROCK YOU From London’s West End, the worldwide smash hit musical by Queen and Ben Elton comes to Houston for a limited engagement! We Will Rock You features the greatest hits of the legendary British rock group, Queen. Now in its 11th year in London and seen by a staggering 15 million people worldwide, this hilarious, multi-awardwinning and record-breaking phenomenon boasts a fantastic score of killer Queen tunes that you just can’t resist singing along to, such as “Another One Bites The Dust,” “Crazy Little Thing Called Love,” “We Are The Champions,” “Bohemian Rhapsody,” and, of course, “We Will Rock You.” It’s the world champion of musicals and the show that rocks harder than any other; so don’t miss the party!
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MARCH 4 – 16, 2014 THE WIZARD OF OZ “We’re off to see…” the most magical adventure of them all. Andrew Lloyd Webber’s new production of The Wizard of Oz is an enchanting adaptation of the all-time classic. Developed from the ever popular MGM screenplay, this new production contains all the beloved songs from the Oscar-winning movie score, all the favorite characters and iconic moments, plus a few surprises along the way, including new songs by Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber. Click your heels together and join Scarecrow, Tin Man, Lion, Dorothy, and her little dog Toto as they journey through the magical land of Oz to meet the Wizard and obtain their hearts’ desires. Watch out for the Wicked Witch of the West and her winged monkeys as you rediscover the real story of Oz in this fantastic musical treat for all the family. MAY 6 – 18, 2014 EVITA Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Tony Award-winning musical returns at last! Eva Perón used her beauty and charisma to rise meteorically from the slums of Argentina to the presidential mansion as First Lady. Adored by her people as a champion for the poor, she became one of the most powerful women in the world—while her greed, outsized ambition, and fragile health made her one of the most tragic. Evita tells Eva’s passionate and unforgettable true story, and features some of theater’s most beautiful songs, including “Don’t Cry for Me Argentina,” “Another Suitcase in Another Hall,” and “High Flying, Adored.” Don’t miss the stunning new production of Evita. JUNE 13 – 26, 2014 THE LITTLE MERMAID In a magical kingdom fathoms below, we meet Ariel, the little mermaid who is tired of flipping her fins and longs to be part of the fascinating world on dry land. Joining her are Sebastian, Ariel’s crabby sidekick; Ursula, the evil sea witch; Triton, King of the Sea; and the handsome and human Prince Eric. Based on the Disney
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Peabody Essex Museum Theatre Under the Stars animated film and hit Broadway musical, The Little Mermaid is making its Houston debut at Theatre Under The Stars. So dive on in! Life is the bubbles, under the sea! Tickets & Contact Theatre Under the Stars Administrative Offices 800 Bagby, Suite 200 Houston, TX 77002 (713) 558-2600 Hobby Center for the Performing Arts 800 Bagby Houston, TX 77002 (713) 558-8887 (Box Office) www.tuts.com
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Contact Information ALLEY THEATRE: (713) 220-5700 CONTEMPORARY ARTS MUSEUM HOUSTON: (713) 284-8250 DA CAMERA HOUSTON: (713) 524-5050 HOUSTON BALLET: (713) 227-2787 HOUSTON GRAND OPERA: (713) 228-6737 HOUSTON MUSEUM OF NATURAL SCIENCE: (713) 639-4629 HOUSTON SYMPHONY: (713) 224-7575 MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS HOUSTON: (713) 639-7300 THEATRE UNDER THE STARS: (713) 558-8887
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