The CultureMap Interview

Going naked for Bach: Hot violinist Jennifer Koh reveals her intimate, private musical journey

By Joel Luks

02.12.13 | 1:22 pm

Most people would say that violinist Jennifer Koh took a big risk when she decided against a traditional solo career. Koh had all the makings or a classical music mega star: Her debut with ...

The CultureMap Interview

An adventurous life: Itzhak Perlman recounts bullets flying above his crib and the challenges of playing Beethoven

By Joel Luks

02.06.13 | 12:12 pm

I don't remember learning about Itzhak Perlman. The man and his music were a much a part of my family's life as knowing that eggs were for breakfast, milk was good for your bones and b ...

Da Camera presents "Jennifer Koh: Bach for Solo Violin"

The Menil Collection

02.12.13

Following her mesmerizing performance last season of Bach's three Partitas, Jennifer Koh returns by popular demand to complete the cycle of Bach's magnificent works for solo violin with a r

Out with Bartok

Sandy wreaks havoc on a Houston Symphony concert, but a violinist swoops in to save the day

By Joel Luks

10.31.12 | 12:26 pm

Houstonians haven't been affected much by Hurricane Sandy's wrath. Other than disrupting travel plans and having to bear nonstop news coverage of the massive weather system, our city has, f ...

Houston Symphony presents "Tchaikovsky's Fifth"

Jones Hall

11.01.12 - 11.04.12

You'll feel the power of fate in both life and death as you get caught up in the music's sweep of emotion, complete with gorgeous violin melodies and blazing brass. The concert also inc

Society for the Performing Arts presents violinist Itzhak Perlman

Jones Hall

02.07.13

Undeniably the reigning virtuoso of the violin, Itzhak Perlman returns to Houston for a recital concert alongside pianist Rohan DeSilva. Perlman enjoys superstar status rarely afforded by a classic

Harpsichord Inaugural Recital: Matthew Dirst with Violinist Kurt Johnson

07.27.12

This recital inaugurates St. Philip's new Flemish-style harpsichord made by John Phillips from Berkeley, Calif. with Matthew Dirst and violinist Kurt Johnson.

The Review Is In

Tchaikovsky Controversy: Violinist Itamar Zorman is a young badass who's not afraid of anything

By Joel Luks

03.19.12 | 1:32 pm

How could one note repeated four times show such demonstrative power to render a simple folk tune visceral? When violinist Itamar Zorman performed Josef Achron's Hebrew Melody, I couldn't b ...

CultureMap Interview

The traveling virtuoso: Joshua Bell discusses his Houston concert and his $8 million violin

By Joel Luks

01.16.12 | 10:13 am

Like Niccolò Paganini, whose virtuosic abilities were rumored to have been attributed to being possessed by the devil, pianist Franz Liszt and young Mozart, the tradition of the traveli ...

Art and About

The father of classical music: "Encyclopedia Bach-tanica" hits H-Town with Goldberg Variations

By Joel Luks

10.07.11 | 4:39 pm

Getting to know Johann Sebastian Bach's Goldberg Variations is like having a profound yet chummy rendezvous with the baroque composer from beyond the grave. He may be long departed (he died in ...