Symphony Skydiving

A classical music feud: Competing for $25,000 pushes young artists to their limits

Imagine then exact moment when a skydiver is about to jump out of a plane. You look down into the abyss — there's no going back.

The massive adrenaline rush is how violinist Elizabeth Fayette — she prefers Libby — describes her experience waiting on the wings, treading on stage and preparing to sound the first notes of her solo showpiece as an entrant in the 38th Annual Houston Symphony Ima Hogg Competition, hosted by the Houston Symphony League. Fayette was one of 137 applicants that submitted audio recordings in hopes of being invited to audition in person, one of 10 musicians who performed at the semifinals on Thursday at Rice University's Shepherd School of Music and one of four who will move on to the final round, set for 8 p.m. Saturday at Stude Concert Hall at Rice.

Fayette, who just completed her masters degree in violin performance from The Juilliard School, chose two contrasting staples of the solo repertoire: Sibelius' Violin Concerto in D minor and Mozart's Violin Concerto No. 5 in A major. The virtuoso scores allowed her to explore diverse aesthetic characters of her fiddle — a dash of comedy and plenty of seriousness.

"Now that it's all over, I'm ready for a nap," she laughs.

Also advancing from the day-long semifinals are Ukrainian-born, Russian pianist Vladimir Khomyakov, Israeli clarinetist Moran Katz and South Korean pianist Min Jung Kim, who opted for Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 20 in D minor and Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 5 in E-flat major.

"Some could say that the Mozart is a weak piece for a competition of this caliber," Kim explains. "But I think the tender qualities can move people to tears. I believe in the power of Mozart's music."

Wind players are often at a disadvantage when competing against pianists and string players. The repertoire is more limited and can sometimes lack the luster of big romantic violin and keyboard concerti. In training to take on Mozart's Clarinet Concerto in A major and Nielsen's Clarinet Concert, Katz spent equal time preparing technically and psychologically. Visualization is a powerful tool, but it sometimes can play mind games with a performer.

"Maybe we don't agree with the opinion or viewpoint. But when they are so convincing, because it's such a part of who they are, in the end, that's what artistry is about."

"I'm dying, I'm dying — these are the words that are going through my mind before I play," Katz, who graduated from Juilliard in 2010, jokes. "It's like being on a really bad flight during really bad turbulence.

"But as soon as I play the first note, and it works, I know I can do this. The first note is a big deal — it sets the tone for how the rest of the performance will go."

You could've cut the tension with a knife as the semifinalists waited for more than one hour for the verdict from the panel of judges. The deciders included James Feddeck, assistant conductor of the Cleveland Orchestra and recent recipient of the Sir Georg Solti Conducting Award; Monica Felkel, director of artist management at Young Concert Artists; and Charles Ward, former music critic of the Houston Chronicle.

"All three of us heard very similar things, but had different ways of describing them," Feddeck explains. "We are hearing these individuals in one performance, just today and what we will hear on Saturday evening. It's not a very complete view."

But within each performance snapshot, what the trio of judges focused on was identifying the markers of a complete artist.

"Someone who has an opinion about what they are doing, someone who can communicate that in a complete and wholehearted way, someone who can connect to the audience that part of their personality," he continues. "Maybe we don't agree with the opinion or viewpoint. But when they are so convincing, because it's such a part of who they are, in the end, that's what artistry is about."

It isn't about being right or wrong, he says. It's about being persuasive in offering a clear and fully dimensional interpretation that's contagious.

The stakes were higher than ever before for this classical music feud. The first prize was increased from $5,000 to $25,000 thanks to a gift from Tracy and John Dennis in honor of his grandmother, who was close friends with Houston philanthropist Ima Hogg, and the efforts of 2013 competition chairman April Lykos.

The Gold Medal winner will be offered a solo opportunity with the Houston Symphony at the Houston Chronicle Concert on July 13, while the Silver Medal winner will perform with the Houston Symphony at a Miller Outdoor Theatre concert, set for June 29.

Pianist Min Jung Kim, left, clarinetist Moran Katz, violinist Elizabeth Fayette and pianist Vladimir Khomyakov, finalists of Houston Symphony's Ima Hogg Competition.

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World premieres and a modern Hamlet headline Houston's 12 best new theater shows

Photo by Lynn Lane

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May is set to thrill Houston audiences, as some theater companies end their 2024-25 seasons with their biggest shows of the season. Look for new spins on classics, plus some dramatic and lavish world premieres. From danced dystopias to Jack the Ripper, the hottest romances to convenient comedy, cake and coffee with friends to tiki bar mai tais with friends, we’ve got the most delicious shows to savior this spring.

Panopticon from Open Dance Project (May 2-10)
For their 10th anniversary season, Houston’s source for truly innovative immersive dance is revisiting some of their most provocative shows that invite audiences to walk through danced worlds. First up, Panopticon sets audiences into a futuristic dystopian society where everything is regimented and monitored, even joy and sexual attraction. The audience takes on the role of visitors from the outside “Savage” lands, a place that still offers moments of privacy and spontaneous human emotions. During our tour of Panopticon, we walk amidst the moderated, regulated citizens to view their daily lives. Perhaps we’ll discover two would-be lovers struggling with their desire for physical and emotional intimacy in a world where deep, human connection is forbidden. Open Dance Project once again offers dance storytelling at its most intimate.

Denise Fennell’s Lessons Learned at Stages (May 2-11)
In addition to their fun, eclectic mix of comedy, drama, and musicals, for their 2024-25 season Stages brought in comedy fav Denise Fennell for an add-on season of four Late Nite Catechism shows. Now that she’s dispensed sisterly schooling for summer, Halloween, Christmasm and wedding season, this one-woman-show phenomenon takes off her habit to teach us some real life lessons she’s learned as an artist, performer, and writer. Drawing from personal experiences and observations, Fennell weaves together hilarious tales of everyday life, showcasing her talent for finding humor in the ordinary.

Hamlet from 4th Wall Theatre (May 2-24)
You’ve never seen Shakespeare’s masterpiece done this way before. Using a directorial vision first conceived by the innovative New York theater company Bedlam, this stripped down and raw Hamlet calls for a cast of only four actors. Wesley Whitson tackles the role of the conflicted Prince Hamlet with Christy Watkins, Philip Hays, and 4th Wall co-founder Philip Lehl jumping in and out of around 30 roles between them, including furniture. The other 4th Wall co-founder, Kim Tobin-Lehl, directs this greatest of tragedies.

Primary Trust at Alley Theatre (May 2-25)
This recent Pulitzer Prize-winning show by Eboni Booth is making its Houston debut. The play explores the inner and outer lives of Kenneth, a lonely 38-year-old man who works in a bookstore in a small New York town. His one after-work joy is sipping on mai tais at the local tiki bar with his friend Bert. But after being laid off from his long-time job, he is forced to make changes in his life of comfortable routine. This tender comedy cherishes the intimate moments in any life where every choice matters and every connection holds the power to create change.

Coconut Cake at Ensemble Theatre (May 9-June 1)
Ensemble partners with several prestigious theaters across the U.S. to produce this new play by acclaimed playwright Melda Beaty as a “rolling” world premiere. The show has already won awards for giving authentic voice to a group of retired Black men who meet every week for coffee at a local restaurant. The dramatic and comic play gives audiences a seat at the table to listen in as these men talk about their wives, families, and the latest neighborhood gossip. But when a mystery woman moves into the abandoned house down the street, with her Creole wiles, tempting coconut cake, and medicine cabinet secrets, the men find their daily talks and perhaps quiet, retired lives might change forever.

Bug from Dirt Dogs (May 16-31)
Having treated Houston audiences to a standout production of the Tracy Letts contemporary classic August: Osage County two years ago, Dirt Dogs goes back to the Letts well for this devastating earlier work that explores the darkness in the human mind. Bug's exploration of conspiracy theories and paranoia might seems just as timely today as it did in the late 90s. A lonely waitress and veteran drifter find unexpected love as they meet regularly in a seedy Oklahoma City motel room. But as their affair continues, mysterious bugs begin to take over their space. Are they simple pests or could they be the result of military experiments? The couple’s fears soon over take them and disrupt any attempt at normalcy.

Kim’s Convenience at Main Street Theater (May 17-June 15)
The international hit Canadian television and Netflix comedy began as an Ins Choi play about the Kims, a Korean-Canadian family running a neighborhood convenience store in Toronto. While contending with new luxury buildings going up around the convenience store and a Walmart preparing to move in, the Kims also must manage their traditional expectations for their children. Their daughter and son are very much a product of their modern, Canadian upbringing.

Meanwhile, when Mr. Kim receives an unexpected offer for his property, he has a difficult decision to make. Should he take the money and give in to developers or convince his daughter to follow in his footsteps and run the family business? This Main Street production is the first time Houston will get a chance to see the original stage play that started the Kim’s Convenience streaming sensation and changed some of the rules of situation comedies.

In the Heights from Theatre Under the Stars (May 20-June 1)
With music and lyrics by Hamilton author Lin-Manuel Miranda and book by Quiara Algeria Hudes, In the Heights is set over three days in the Washington Heights neighborhood in NYC. Narrated by bodega owner Usnavi, the show follows the daily struggles and celebrations of the people in Usnavi’s neighborhood, as some of them question what home means to them. During these few days, there’s news of a winning lottery ticket and then an electrical blackout ends up shedding new light on family and romantic relationships. The show touches on issues of immigration, assimilation, gentrification, and even the high price of college education, making Heights just as relevant as when it debuted on Broadway in 2008. Yet, it’s the rich lives and songs of the characters that will bring the TUTS 2024-25 season to close on such a joyful note.

Private Lives at Alley Theatre (May 23-June 15)
Though first staged in 1930, the reason that this Noël Coward classic comedy has withstood the test of time is that the show’s witty, central couple became a model for almost a century of sexy, bickering lovers to appear on stage and screen afterwards. To keep it fresh, the Alley gives Private Lives a tango spin, moving the sophisticated comedy from Europe to South America. When divorced couple Elyot and Amanda accidentally find themselves honeymooning with their new spouses in adjacent rooms, sparks fly and tempers flare in a whirlwind of passion and humor. The Alley brings back acclaimed director KJ Sanchez to add that spicy twist to the relationships, transporting audiences to 1930s Argentina and Uruguay.

Toros at Rec Room (May 24-June 14)
After giving Houston audiences an original and reinvigorated take on the American classic Death of a Salesman last month, Rec Room gets contemporary with this play about a trio of aimless twenty-somethings. Toro is back in Madrid hanging out with his high school friends, Juan and Andrea (and Juan’s dying golden retriever, Tica). They spend their weekends exactly like they used to: chain-smoking pitis in Juan’s garage, listening to Juan’s latest DJ mix, and going out to clubs around Madrid. As sexual tensions emerge and old power dynamics get challenged, these third-culture-kids struggle to grow up, take responsibility, and find a version of reality to believe in. This is a Rec production so look for a surreal twist to all this Gen Z angst, perhaps in the role that veteran Houston actor Greg Dean is playing.

Raymonda from Houston Ballet (May 29-June 8)
Dance lovers have certainly been anticipating this show ever since HB announced artistic director Stanton Welch would be creating a world premiere new vision for this most traditional classical ballet. The original late 19th century storybook ballet, choreographed by Marius Petipa to the music of Russian composer Alexander Glazunov, is rarely staged in its entirely, lacking some of the drama that modern audiences crave. Though inspired by Petipa, Welch has moved the original story set in the Middle Ages to a more fairytale realm.

In Welch’s version, the lovely young Raymonda and her sisters are destined to be betrothed to dukes from various countries. But Raymonda's heart already belongs to another. An evil plot by the queen’s trusted advisor may change the destiny of Raymonda and her one true love. Along with HB’s world class dancers, look for lavish sets and costumes by acclaimed Italian designer Roberta Guidi di Bagno. Raymonda is sure to become a treasured classic amongst Houston Ballet’s illustrious repertoire.

Let. Her. Rip. at Stages (May 30-June 22)
When Stages announced their 2024-25 season, they left the final pick to the incoming artistic director, Derek Charles Livingston, who has chosen this world premiere thriller play by Maggie Lou Rader. It’s a work he helped to develop in his previous position as the director of new plays at the Utah Shakespeare Festival.

Houston will be the very first to see the first full production of this intriguing tale of camaraderie, activism, and ferocity which lies in the crosshairs of London’s Match Women labor movement and the Jack the Ripper murders of 1888. Labor leaders Em, Liza, and Nana are endeavoring to make the East End safer for women and all working people when the headlines move away from their accomplishments to the man murdering women of their community. They must reignite their fight against deadly misogyny, police brutality, and their own personal demons. But as tensions come to a head, who will make the final rip?

Photo by Lynn Lane

Open Dance Project presents Panopticon