Houston Symphony Celebrates Mardi Gras With CARNIVAL OF THE ANIMALS, Today

The Houston Symphony will celebrate Mardi Gras family-style with performances of MARDI GRAS MENAGERIE! at 10 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. on Saturday, Feb. 18, at Jones Hall. The jazzy, fun-filled celebration will be led by Associate Conductor Robert Franz.

The program will include Saint-Saëns' CARNIVAL OF THE ANIMALS, including elephants, kangaroos and feathery friends vividly brought to life by the orchestra and duo pianists Scott Holshouser and Steven Dong. Holshouser, the Symphony's principal keyboardist, has been a member of the orchestra since 1980. Dong was the winner of the 2016 Houston Symphony League Concerto Competition. The concert will also include music from "Happy Feet," featuring Franz's penguin pal, Mumble.

David Rainey, a resident artist at the Alley Theatre, will narrate the CARNIVAL OF THE ANIMALS with poetry that was written (based on each movement) by second-grade students at Patterson Dual Language Literature Magnet School in Houston ISD. Audiences are encouraged to attend dressed as a favorite animal for the concert.

All programs and artists are subject to change.

The MARDI GRAS MENAGERIE! concert performances are 10 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. on Saturday, Feb. 18, 2017 at Jones Hall for the Performing Arts, 615 Louisiana Street. For more information, please call 713-224-7575 or visit houstonsymphony.org. Tickets start at $25.