Matthew Dirst News

Ars Lyrica Houston, the Grammy-nominated early music ensemble, celebrates the New Year with a glittering evening filled with gorgeous music and flowing glasses of champagne, on Saturday, December 31, at the Hobby Center For The Performing Arts.

Ars Lyrica Houston (ALH) returns to the Hobby Center for the Performing Arts this September with the season opening performance of Les Plaisirs de Versailles, its first event to be live streamed around the world.

Ars Lyrica Houston, the Grammy nominated early music ensemble, announces a 2016/17 season that mixes beloved masterworks of the Baroque with rare gems from the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries. Fables & Follies opens on September 9 with an encore visit to the world of King Louis XIV, with Marc­Antoine Charpentier's comic chamber opera Les Plaisirs de Versailles. Handel's late masterpiece Jephtha will be offered twice, on October 15 and 16, and will feature a stellar cast of soloists plus the award-­winning Moores School Concert Chorale from the University of Houston. On December 31 a festive program rings in the New Year with cantatas J.S. Bach wrote specifically for this holiday. Bachanalia also includes Ars Lyrica's annual holiday gala and silent auction following the program.

First performed in the spring of 1742, this musical masterpiece by George Frideric Handel has become one of the world's most beloved musical works.  Although more traditionally performed during Christmastime, this timeless Baroque masterpiece was intended by Handel as an Easter offering.

Artistic Director Matthew Dirst will lead the highly anticipated program, entitled All in a Garden Green after an English folksong. A menu of delectable tunes mixes items from English, Italian, French, and Spanish musical cultures and includes Vivaldi's Spring, along with songs and cantatas by William Byrd, Thomas Morely, Juan del Encina and others. Love will definitely be in the air at this Valentine's weekend program!

Houston Early Music audience favorite El Mundo returns to celebrate the holidays with a performance of 'Villancicos y Cantatas de Navidad,' a program of 17th- and 18th-century seasonal music from Spain, Italy and Latin America tonight, Dec. 12 at Christ Church Cathedral.

The Grammy-nominated early music ensemble Ars Lyrica Houston presents Bach & Sons: At the Cafe tonight, November 14, 2014 at Zilkha Hall, Hobby Center for the Performing Arts. The first of a two-part tribute to the great Bach dynasty on Ars Lyrica's 2014/15 season, this program includes a rarely performed ode and a concerto by Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, younger brother Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach's cantata Die Amerikanerin, plus patriarch Johann Sebastian Bach's beloved 'Coffee Cantata.'

Houston Early Music audience favorite El Mundo returns to celebrate the holidays with a performance of "Villancicos y Cantatas de Navidad," a program of 17th- and 18th-century seasonal music from Spain, Italy and Latin America on Dec. 12 at Christ Church Cathedral.

The Grammy-nominated early music ensemble Ars Lyrica Houston presents Bach & Sons: At the Cafe on Friday, November 14, 2014 at Zilkha Hall, Hobby Center for the Performing Arts. The first of a two-part tribute to the great Bach dynasty on Ars Lyrica's 2014/15 season, this program includes a rarely performed ode and a concerto by Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, younger brother Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach's cantata Die Amerikanerin, plus patriarch Johann Sebastian Bach's beloved "Coffee Cantata."

Grammy nominated Ars Lyrica Houston has announced its 2014/15 season opener: Flying High on September 7th at 6 pm at the Hobby Center's Zilkha Hall. This program soars and lifts the spirit, with music ranging from nimble Baroque dances to a memorable setting of the legend Icarus, who flew too close to the sun. French and Italian Baroque chamber works animate this program, featuring French-Italian soprano Celine Ricci and viola da gambist Mary Springfels in G. F. Handel's evocative Tra le fiamme.

Ars Lyrica Houston, the Grammy nominated early music ensemble, announces its 2014/15 season, titled The Power of Music, which explores the variety of expression and shows how great music moves us in ways both subtle and profound.

Ars Lyrica Houston, the Grammy nominated early music ensemble, announces its 2014/15 season, titled The Power of Music, which explores the variety of expression and shows how great music moves us in ways both subtle and profound.

The San Francisco Early Music Society, in association with Early Music America, has announced the program for its biennial Berkeley Festival & Exhibition, June 1 - 8, 2014. Since its inauguration in 1990, the Festival has been recognized worldwide as one of the foremost events of its kind, bringing together early music performers, scholars, instrument makers, publishers and enthusiasts for a week of concerts, lectures, conferences and master classes centered in and around First Congregational Church and St. Mark's Episcopal Church in Berkeley.

Ars Lyrica Houston, Bach Society Houston, Houston Early Music and Mercury - The Orchestra Redefined will host the second annual Houston Early Music Festival (HEMF) from February 8-16, 2014 at venues across the city. The festival will feature four main-stage performances, two ancillary performances and four lectures.

Don a tiara and join Houston's Grammy nominated early music ensemble Ars Lyrica for Music for a Princess, a special concert at St. Philip Presbyterian Church on November 16 at 7:30 pm, featuring works from the storied music library of Princess Anna Amalia of Prussia.

The Grammy-nominated early music ensemble Ars Lyrica Houston continues its 10th anniversary Discoveries season with Venetian Carnival on New Year's Eve 2013. This event begins at 9 pm on December 31 with a festive musical program in the Hobby Center's Zilkha Hall; a gala reception follows immediately at 10:30 pm in the Hobby Center's Sarofim Hall Grand Lobby.

The Grammy-nominated early music ensemble Ars Lyrica Houston continues its 10th anniversary Discoveries season with Venetian Carnival on New Year's Eve 2013. This event begins at 9 pm on December 31 with a festive musical program in the Hobby Center's Zilkha Hall; a gala reception follows immediately at 10:30 pm in the Hobby Center's Sarofim Hall Grand Lobby.

Grammy-nominated early music ensemble Ars Lyrica Houston presents a staged version of G.F. Handel's pastoral masterpiece Acis and Galatea tonight, March 10th at The Hobby Center, with additional performances in Austin, and Bryan, Texas.

Grammy-nominated early music ensemble Ars Lyrica Houston presents 'Heart and Soul', a program of devotional works from the German Baroque for voice, strings, and organ tonight, February 3, 2013 at 6 pm at St Philip Presbyterian Church. The concert features renowned British counter-tenor Ryland Angel, Ars Lyrica Artistic Director Matthew Dirst on the newly installed Baroque-style Fritts organ, and a quintet of Ars Lyrica string players.

Grammy-nominated early music ensemble Ars Lyrica Houston presents 'Heart and Soul', a program of devotional works from the German Baroque for voice, strings, and organ on Sunday, February 3, 2013 at 6 pm at St Philip Presbyterian Church. The concert features renowned British counter-tenor Ryland Angel, Ars Lyrica Artistic Director Matthew Dirst on the newly installed Baroque-style Fritts organ, and a quintet of Ars Lyrica string players.