Apollo Chamber Players to Present BOLD SERENITY for 19th Season
The season includes collaborations with Houston poets laureate, Houston Ballet dancers, and Rothko Chapel.
Houston-based Apollo Chamber Players has announced its 19th season, Bold Serenity, a four-program concert series featuring world premiere commissions, multidisciplinary collaborations and free community performances throughout the 2026-27 season.
As the ensemble approaches its 20th anniversary as a string quartet, Bold Serenity will explore what it means to live a meaningful and centered life amid the distractions of the 21st century. The season's four programs — TRANQUILITY, FLOW, VOICE and REFLECTION — will combine music with poetry, dance, neuroscience and contemplative practice.
Newly commissioned works will come from Cuban composer Leo Brouwer, Rice University composer Anthony Brandt, Indian Classical and Carnatic artist Chitravina Ravikiran, Chinese-American composer Tian Qin and Houston jazz composer Jalen Baker.
“In an era of constant interruption, endless information, and increasing division, how do we live thoughtfully?” said Apollo founder, violinist and Executive Director Matthew J. Detrick. “At its core, serenity is not withdrawal from the world, but the ability to engage with it fully and presently.”
The season will open October 3 at Zilkha Hall at the Hobby Center for the Performing Arts with TRANQUILITY, featuring the world premiere of Brandt's Resting States and Ravikiran's new commission Illusion to Resolution, alongside Arvo Pärt's Fratres. The program will explore the search for calm amid contemporary overstimulation through Western contemporary music, Carnatic tradition, neuroscience and spirituality.
FLOW follows November 22 at the James Turrell Live Oak Quaker Meeting House. The program will premiere a new Tian Qin work inspired by Buddhist meditation practices and feature music by Paul Wiancko, Joey Roukens, Marty Regan, Debussy and Philip Glass. Leila-Scott Price, cofounder and Director of Houston's Center for Healing Arts & Sciences, will also lead a participatory conversation titled “What Creates Flow?”
On February 4, Apollo will join the Rothko Chapel to present VOICE: Living Democracy. The program will feature the world premiere of a new work by Jalen Baker for string quartet and two vibraphones, inspired by Barnett Newman's Broken Obelisk. Houston Poets Laureate including Reyes Ramirez will participate, with Rothko Chapel CEO Abdullah Antepli leading a post-concert conversation.
The season concludes May 28 at MATCH with REFLECTION, centered on a world premiere commission by Leo Brouwer featuring multiple Grammy-winning performers João Luiz Rezende Lopes and Anabel Gil Díaz. Houston Ballet dancers Monica Gomez and Gian Carlo Perez will join dancers from Houston Ballet Academy for new original choreography accompanying the work. The program will also include Homayoun Sakhi's Tolo (Sunrise) and Beethoven's String Quartet No. 16 in F major, Op. 135.
Apollo will additionally continue its Satellite Series of free community concerts, including its 10th Annual Czech Heritage Month Concert, an Interfaith Program, Holiday Voyage, a celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday and the new My First Orchestral Concert for children and families.
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Company Pasadena Little Theatre (8/14-8/30) |
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HisStory by Hilary Bluestein-Lyons Theatre Suburbia (1/08-2/06) |
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Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In by Ed Friendly & George Schlatter Theatre Suburbia (4/16-5/15) |
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Marjorie Prime Alley Theatre (5/07-5/30) |
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One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest Baytown Little Theater (10/09-10/18) |
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How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying The Owen Theater (8/14-8/30) |
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Mrs. Doubtfire The Musical Theatre Under The Stars (10/13-10/25) |
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Gloria: A Life Cypress Stage (10/02-10/18) PHOTOS |
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Come From Away BASTROP OPERA HOUSE (1/22-2/14) |
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Rocky Horror Picture Show House of Blues Houston (10/23-10/23) |