Wham, bam — thank you ma'am

A big bang season finale: River Oaks Chamber Orchestra delivers a concert with plenty of 'tude

By Joel Luks

04.22.13 | 10:21 am

Clunk! Bonk! Kapow! Thwach! Vronk! Zap! Wham, bam — thank you ma'am. With the exception of the "thank you" part, one would think that these onomatopoeic words come straight ...

Big Bang Theory

A musical box of chocolates: Big Bang concert from River Oaks Chamber Orchestra aims to be a journey

By Joel Luks

04.20.13 | 7:02 am

Here's a sure way to confuse anyone: Tell them you are a percussionist. It isn't like mastering the violin, piano or some obscure cousin of the oboe in which a musician focuses on one p ...

Word Play

What If questions that haunt relationships: Who you ended up with becomes a Musiqa Sphinx

By Joel Luks

04.06.13 | 6:01 am

Oh, if cars could talk . . . Think about the teenage shenanigans. Think about the road trips. And think about the many personal conversations. Because whatever happens inside the car, stays in ...

Selkie, a sea tale

On the record: Inside Misha Penton's new chamber music work — and her tryst with film

By Joel Luks

03.29.13 | 9:30 am

Soprano Misha Penton, the enterprising Houston-based theatrical diva with a reputation of skipping along to her own tune, was faced with a difficult decision after she fulfilled her dream of openin ...

Houston Grand Opera presents The Memory Stone

Hermann Park

04.12.13 - 04.13.13

As part of HGOco's Song of Houston: East + West initiative, Houston Grand Opera presents The Memory Stone, composed by Marty Regan to a libretto by Kenny Fries. chamber opera takes place after

Houston Grand Opera presents The Memory Stone

Asia Society Texas Center

04.09.13 - 04.11.13

As part of HGOco's Song of Houston: East + West initiative, Houston Grand Opera presents The Memory Stone, composed by Marty Regan to a libretto by Kenny Fries. chamber opera takes place after

A Big Deal

Houstonians line up to see Philip Glass put on a piano show for The Menil's 25th anniversary

By Joel Luks

12.03.12 | 1:19 pm

Listening to and performing the works of Philip Glass are two exceptionally different experiences. It's relatively dangerous to dismiss the notes on the staff as repetitive, technically facile ...

Let them listen to Bach

Connecting the notes: Da Camera's 25th anniversary show brings creative music and cake together

By Joel Luks

09.28.12 | 11:17 am

Over that past 25 years, Da Camera of Houston's artistic director and founder Sarah Rothenberg has conceived a je ne sais quoi approach to programming music that's akin to a brilliant ...

A Special Night

Jeremy Choate — the tragically killed lighting artist — honored in a holistic Musiqa concert

By Joel Luks

09.27.12 | 9:34 pm

Museum curators know what most classical music presenting groups do not: That when works of art are organized and displayed in an organized, pragmatic manner, one that offers context as viewers str ...

A song for Houston

Stargazing through music: Musiqa's Deep-Sky Objects soars beyond the heavens

By Joel Luks

09.21.12 | 5:10 pm

Can something exist without being perceived? Christian writer and novelist Pamela Jackson posed this question, an allusion to 18th-century philosopher George Berkeley, whose subjective idealism ...