Robert Simpson News

The Houston Chamber Choir presents three performances in and around the Houston area of Love Me Do! Love Songs of the '60s, - the 1860s & 1960s, that is! The Houston Chamber Choir's 18th season comes to a classic close with Brahms's popular Liebeslieder Waltzes and The Beatles's chart-toppers in brilliant settings by famed arranger Yumiko Matsuoka. Leonard Bernstein quipped, 'Three bars of 'A day in the life' still sustain me, rejuvenate me and inflame my senses and sensibilities.'

Perhaps the greatest disservice ever done to English music was its dismissal by the modernist composer Elizabeth Lutyens as 'cowpat music'. That statement was a hangover of a common perception from the late nineteenth and early twentieth century that, despite the country's power and reputation, it wasn't actually very good at producing interesting music. But World War One marked the beginning of a new explosion of creative energy, one that saw exciting modern composers pour into England's concert halls, reaching across the sea to America, even to Hollywood. 'This England' from Leon Botstein and the American Symphony Orchestra brings this England to Carnegie Hall.

A concert by the ASO led by Leon Botstein that will debunk the myth that England's musical culture in the first part of the twentieth century was drab and unoriginal. World War One in fact marked the beginning of a new explosion of creative energy and this concert reveals it by highlighting works by some of the first modern British composers, including Arthur Bliss' suite from a film of H.G. Wells' apocalyptic predictions, Robert Simpson's volcanic eruption of a brass band, Frank Bridge's showpiece for piano and orchestra and a masterwork by William Walton, whose music came to embody the fortitude of the 20th century British character.

Perhaps the greatest disservice ever done to English music was its dismissal by the modernist composer Elizabeth Lutyens as "cowpat music". That statement was a hangover of a common perception from the late nineteenth and early twentieth century that, despite the country's power and reputation, it wasn't actually very good at producing interesting music. But World War One marked the beginning of a new explosion of creative energy, one that saw exciting modern composers pour into England's concert halls, reaching across the sea to America, even to Hollywood. "This England" from Leon Botstein and the American Symphony Orchestra brings this England to Carnegie Hall.

American Symphony Orchestra bring an English "creative explosion" (and a musical volcano) to Carnegie Hall. Leon Botstein leads "This England" - four works that helped to change the game for English music, and for the rest of us, on January 31 at 8pm.

The Houston Chamber Choir presents a second concert that has become a community tradition for the holidays -- Christmas at the Villa, featuring GRAMMY-nominated guitarist and lutenist Richard Savino, is set for today, December 14 and tomorrow, December 15 at 3:30 and 7:30 pm at the Chapel of the Villa de Matel (6510 Lawndale Ave.).

The Houston Chamber Choir presents two concerts that have become community traditions for the holidays; Messiah, featuring the River Oaks Chamber Orchestra, tonight, December 7, at 7:30 pm at The Church of St. John the Divine (2450 River Oaks Blvd.); and Christmas at the Villa, featuring GRAMMY -nominated guitarist and lutenist Richard Savino, Saturday, December 14 and Sunday, December 15 at 3:30 and 7:30 pm at the Chapel of the Villa de Matel (6510 Lawndale Ave.).

The Houston Chamber Choir presents two concerts that have become community traditions for the holidays; Messiah, featuring the River Oaks Chamber Orchestra, Saturday, December 7, at 7:30 pm at The Church of St. John the Divine (2450 River Oaks Blvd.); and Christmas at the Villa, featuring GRAMMY -nominated guitarist and lutenist Richard Savino, Saturday, December 14 and Sunday, December 15 at 3:30 and 7:30 pm at the Chapel of the Villa de Matel (6510 Lawndale Ave.).

AfroSolo has announced it will join others in paying tribute to the lives, spirit, accomplishments and contributions Black men make in our society. Whether in the arts, science, business, education, law, religion, politics, the arts, or any other mountain, Black men have been tried and tested, yet triumphantly kept their 'Eyes on the Prize.'

AfroSolo has announced it will join others in paying tribute to the lives, spirit, accomplishments and contributions Black men make in our society. Whether in the arts, science, business, education, law, religion, politics, the arts, or any other mountain, Black men have been tried and tested, yet triumphantly kept their 'Eyes on the Prize.'

The American Symphony Orchestra's upcoming season, full of discoveries and revolution begins with New York Avant-Garde on October 3, 2013. In partnership with the New-York Historical Society's new exhibition and catalog, the ASO recreates the fall-out in music of the famous New York Armory visual arts show of a century ago, in 1913.

Robert Simpson, Founder and Artistic Director of the Houston Chamber Choir announces the Choir's 18th season, Where Class Meets Cool. The 2013-2014 season includes masterpieces by Brahms, Handel, Palestrina, and Durufle, along with works by today's leading composers including a newly commissioned piece by Jocelyn Hagen, recent winner of the McKnight award.

Houston Chamber Choir closes its 17th season with Mozart's Great Mass in C minor, Saturday, May 18, 7:30pm at The Church of St. John the Divine (2450 River Oaks Blvd., Houston, TX).

Houston Chamber Choir presents What Sweeter Music with special guest, noted English conductor Simon Carrington, tonight, March 2, 7:30pm at The Church of St. John the Divine (2450 River Oaks Blvd., Houston, TX) and Sunday, March 3 at 4:00 pm at the Imperial Arts, Center for the Arts (823 3rd Street, Rosenberg, TX). The Chamber Choir and Simon Carrington offer a sampling of British a cappella music that includes works by Benjamin Britten, Bob Chilcott, James MacMillan and Pete Townshend of The Who.

Houston Chamber Choir presents What Sweeter Music with special guest, noted English conductor Simon Carrington, Saturday, March 2, 7:30pm at The Church of St. John the Divine (2450 River Oaks Blvd., Houston, TX) and Sunday, March 3 at 4:00 pm at the Imperial Arts, Center for the Arts (823 3rd Street, Rosenberg, TX). The Chamber Choir and Simon Carrington offer a sampling of British a cappella music that includes works by Benjamin Britten, Bob Chilcott, James MacMillan and Pete Townshend of The Who.

Houston Chamber Choir will release the world premiere recording of Psalmi ad Vesperas (1694) by Italian composer Giovanni Paolo Colonna. The work received its first modern day performance when the Chamber Choir presented it October 29, 2011 in Houston. The recording will be available on the MSR Classics label today, September 18, the same day as the Chamber Choir's season opening concert, at the Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart (1111 St. Joseph Parkway, Houston, Texas). CDs will be available for purchase for $15 at the concert.

The Houston Chamber Choir opens its 17th season with Soul Music of Tchaikovsky, Tavener and Gorecki, tonight, September 18, 7:30 pm at the Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart (1111 St. Joseph Parkway, Houston, TX 77002.) The Chamber Choir presents an evening of music of the Russian Orthodox Church with Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky's Liturgy of St. John Chyrsostom at the centerpiece -- a work seldom, if ever, heard in Houston.

Houston Chamber Choir will release the world premiere recording of Psalmi ad Vesperas (1694) by Italian composer Giovanni Paolo Colonna. The work received its first modern day performance when the Chamber Choir presented it October 29, 2011 in Houston. The recording will be available on the MSR Classics label September 18, the same day as the Chamber Choir's season opening concert, at the Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart (1111 St. Joseph Parkway, Houston, Texas). CDs will be available for purchase for $15 at the concert.

The Houston Chamber Choir opens its 17th season with Soul Music of Tchaikovsky, Tavener and Gorecki, Tuesday, September 18, 7:30 pm at the Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart (1111 St. Joseph Parkway, Houston, TX 77002.) The Chamber Choir presents an evening of music of the Russian Orthodox Church with Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky's Liturgy of St. John Chyrsostom at the centerpiece -- a work seldom, if ever, heard in Houston.

San Francisco's award-winning AfroSolo Theatre Company presents the 17th annual AfroSolo Arts Festival, celebrating African American artists giving voice to the Black experience. This year's theme, UNITED IN PEACE: Artists, Clergy, Legislators, and Community, promotes the power of peace through live performances, the visual arts, and other events to envision and celebrate peace.