Mark your calendars

The switch up: Houston arts group changes its name, unveils a new lineup of more engaging concerts

After more than five decades of the same old look, Houston Friends of Chamber Music is freshening up its stylings to better represent what the volunteer-led classical music presenter does best: Bringing only the crème de la crème of chamber music ensembles from around the world to the Bayou City.

As Houston Friends of Chamber Music unveils the 2014-15 season, it also reveals a new modernist logo and a more concise name to sound the beginning of new tuneful adventures for concert goers — Chamber Music Houston. The name change will simplify how the organization's mission is communicated to Houstonians, particularly as Houston Friends of Chamber Music has been confused for a philanthropic venture that supports Rice University's Shepherd School of Music, which it isn't.

"The name Chamber Music Houston is easy to remember, expresses clearly what we offer, and is in a continuity with our former name," Lucile Agaisse, chair of marketing and communications, tells CultureMap. "It fits well with our new, fresh look while indicating that the organization will continue bringing the world's most celebrated chamber music ensembles to Houston."

The lineup of performances for 2014-15, aptly themed "New season. New name. New experience," promises to offer engaging concerts with more interaction between the guest artists and the audience, a hallmark of the intimate genre that can be lost in more traditional concert settings.

HOUSTON DEBUTS

The name Kavafian-Schub-Shifrin Trio (Nov. 11) — violinist Ani Kavafian, pianist Andre-Michel Schub and clarinetist David Shifrin — may imply the kind of conservatism associated with chamber music. But expect this program of 20th century jewels, including Bartok's Contrasts and Bolcom's Afternoon Cakewalk, to evince why this 25-year-old hyper-virtuoso ensemble has been praised for its intriguing programming and fierce integrity.

Friends Philippe Bernhard, Loïc Rio, Laurent Marfaing and François Kieffer comprise the Modigliani Quartet (April 9, 2015). It only took one year after the group formed in 2003 to earned international recognition, winning the Frits Philips String Quartet competition in 2004 and then the Young Concert Artists Auditions in New York in 2006. The "fab foursome" (Seattle Times) will perform Mozart's Quartet in D Minor, K. 421, Shostakovich's Quartet No 1 in C Minor and Dohnányi's Quartet No. 3 in A Minor.

NEW FAVORITES

The Austin-based Miró Quartet (Sept. 16) opens the Chamber Music Houston season. After last year's sincere and virile performance, consider this engagement as a sign that Chamber Music Houston has settled on a new favorite. Haydn's String Quartet in D minor, Op. 76, No. 2 "Fifths" plus Schuller's Houston premiere of his Quartet No. 5 are complemented by Schubert's famed Quartet in D Minor "Death and the Maiden." Music nerds will of course be wondering how the Miró will treat the opening of Schubert's work: To down bow or to up bow? That is the question.

Cantus (Feb. 10, 2015) made its Chamber Music Houston debut in 2008. No word yet on the playbill for this men's a cappella troupe, but we suspect a melange of introspective choral, carefree songs and powerful scores performed with a superhuman breath of colors and textures.

The Jupiter String Quartet (Dec. 2), which made its Chamber Music Houston debut in 2008, will be joined by violist James Dunham for Brahms' String Quintet in G Major. Also on the program are Schubert's Quartet in A Minor "Rosamunde" and Beethoven's String Quartet in F Major, Op. 135.

GOOD OLE FRIENDS

The Vienna Trio (March 10, 2015) returns for its fourth appearance with Chamber Music Houston. An evening of Austro-German works by Mozart, Schumann and Mendelssohn will test the threesome's "telepathic gifts of communications" (The Plain Dealer). We can only hope that Chamber Music Houston supplements the performance with Sachertorte at the reception. Too much to ask?

The Canadian Brass (Jan. 20, 2015) should need to introduction. Arguably the world's most recognized brass quintet, these musicians are always out and about with concert programs that surprise and entertain, eh?

Noted for dramatic and powerful performances, the Jerusalem Quartet (Oct. 21) returns with Beethoven's String Quartet in A Major, Op. 18, No. 5, Bartok's String Quartet No. 2 and Ravel's String Quartet in F Major.

ENCORE, PLEASE

At the current season's finale concert, set for April 29, Houston audiences will finally hear the new version of the Emerson since cellist David Finckel retired. With reviews that describe the veteran musicians plus cellist Paul Watkins as having a "new burst of energy," Chamber Music Houston once again hires the Emerson String Quartet (April 30, 2015) for the big bang of a curtain call.

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Chamber Music Houston full season subscriptions start at $185 for adults, $167 for seniors and $92.50 for students. Subscription packages ranging from three to seven concerts are available starting at $70 for adults and $63 for seniors. Tickets may be purchased online or by calling 713-348-5400.

Philippe Bernhard, Loïc Rio, Laurent Marfaing and François Kieffer comprise the Modigliani Quartet.

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Best March Art

9 new art museum and gallery exhibits opening in Houston this month

Ernesto Neto, SunForceOceanLife (installation view), 2020, crocheted textile and plastic balls, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Museum purchase funded by the Caroline Wiess Law Accessions Endowment Fund

As spring returns so does a flowering of biannual, annual, and biennial art festivals and events this month. Art blooms indoors in Houston's favorite museums but also on the city's streets, parks, and even waterways. Lots of immersive art invites viewers to journey into the picture.

The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston gets contemplative, and the Menil Collection displays some rare recent gifts. If that’s not enough art for one month, FotoFest celebrates a big anniversary, and the yearly “Night Light” art party heads downtown.

“Global Visions – FotoFest at 40” programming across Houston (March)
Marking four decades of photographic arts and education programming in Houston, this 2026 FotoFest looks back on key works and themes from the 20 previous biennials between 1986 and 2024. With participating art galleries and museums around the city offering special photography exhibitions over the next several month, FotoFest will feature more than 450 artists from the United States and 58 countries. Curated by FotoFest co-founder and former artistic director Wendy Watriss and FotoFest executive director Steven Evans, with co-curators Annick Dekiouk and Madi Murphy, “Global Visions” will explore some of the previous festival themes including geography, identity, war, ecology, and social change, while also celebrating FotoFest’s global reach and impact. Look for auctions, tours, conversations, art walks, and workshops as part of the programming.

“Buddha/Nature: Five Dialogues on a Shared World” at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (now through May 10)
Ancient and contemporary art converse in this extraordinary new exhibition at the MFAH that explores key teachings of Buddhism centered on how we engage with the natural world. The exhibition is organized crossed five thematically focused galleries, including Samsara, Impermanence, Karma, Compassion, and Awakening. Each gallery features one of five ancient Buddhist sculptures from the Xuzhou Collection, a private collection of Buddhist masterpieces, along with works by international and Texas contemporary artists.

“This exhibition brings ancient Buddhist sculptures into dynamic dialogue with contemporary art,” explains Hao Sheng, consulting curator to the MFAH and organizing curator of the exhibition. “These sacred objects take on new resonance when paired with modern works that explore fundamental questions about existence and harmony. As we witness shifts in our natural environment, we are invited to reflect on the impact of our collective choices in order to achieve a deeper understanding of our place within a changing world.”

“Blooming Wonders: A Celebration of Spring” at Artechouse (now through May 31)
The Houston venue that acts as a greenhouse for art, science, and technology to grow together, Artechouse, brings back this hit exhibition from last year.To explore themes of growth, renewal, and sustainability, “Bloom wonders” showcases several dynamic installations, including “PIXELBLOOM: Timeless Butterflies,” a 270 degrees projection space that puts visitors in the middle of a butterfly cloud. Audiences journey with a flock of butterflies into an immense garden of flowers. In another immersive space, “BloomFall: Through the Infinite” guests enter an mirrored infinity room full of shifting floral dimensions. The installation, “Akousmaflore et Lux” creates a very different type of garden where plants transform into musical instruments. “Clay Pillar” invites visitors to sculpt new forms using clay and a little help from an AI program.

“Ernesto Neto: SunForceOceanLife” at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (now-September 7)
Immersive art gets elevated as the MFAH brings back this commissioned installation that had museum goers walking on air. Looking something like a giant starfish or spiral galaxy from underneath, Ernesto Neto’s singular work floats above almost the entirety of Cullinan Hall in the Caroline Wiess Law Building. One of the largest crochet works to date by Neto, the sculpture consists of yellow, orange, and green materials hand-woven into a myriad of patterns and sewn together in a spiral formation. Visitors can enter this rising labyrinth and wander through different sections filled with soft, plastic balls underfoot that move with each step. Once they reach the center of work, they might pause to view the piece from within the art and reflect on their own journey through “SunForceOceanLife.”

“Ernesto Neto created this site-specific piece as a tribute to the life-giving forces of the sun and the ocean. Inspired by crochet, which he learned from his grandmother, the piece transforms this traditional Brazilian craft into a massive, enveloping structure that engages the body and the mind,” remark Mari Carmen Ramírez, Wortham Curator of Latin American Art on the return of the monumental installation.

True North 2026 along Heights Boulevard (now through December)
Once again, art grows on the Height Boulevard esplanade with this annual outdoor sculpture exhibition sponsored and partnered by the nonprofit Houston Heights Association. The outdoor show features the latest work of some stellar Texas and Houston artists, including Hans Molzberger, Suzette Mouchaty, James D. Phillips, Roger Colombik, Mark Nelson, Robbie Barber, Jim Robertson, Keith Crane/Damon Thomas. Since the artists don’t always install their sculptures on the same days, True North is always an artful excuse to make time for a walk along the boulevard to see what new work has popped up. This beloved tradition is once again thanks to an all-volunteer team, along with the Houston Heights Association in cooperation with the City of Houston Parks and Recreation and Public Works Departments and the Houston Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs.

"Rebel Girl" and “The Vanguard” at Houston Center for Photography (March 12-April 12)
Just a few days after International Women’s Day, HCP continues their historic commitment to championing women’s photographic careers as they present two exhibition exploring the complexities of female identity. “Rebel Girl” exhibits the work of Luisa Dörr, Selina Román, and Jo Ann Chaus, artists whose work challenges convention while questioning stereotypes and illuminating the evolving roles and perceptions of women today. For “The Vanguard,” HCP executive director, Anne Leighton Massoni, went through their archives and selected the work of 20 trailblazing women who exhibited at HCP within its first 20 years. Taken together their work illustrate the diversity of women’s artistic visions and creativity.

“The Gift of Drawing: Cy Twombly” at the Menil Collection (March 27-August 9)
Perhaps as a nod to the Menil Collection being the home of the only permanent retrospective exhibition of 20th century pioneering artist, Cy Twombly’s, work, last year the Cy Twombly Foundation made an extraordinary gift of 121 of Twombly’s drawings to the institute. Now art lovers around the world will get to see some of that landmark gift, as the Menil Drawing Institute presents this exhibition featuring 30 of those works. Covering three decades of the artist’s activity, from the 1950s to the 1980s, the show will feature work created by Twombly’s use of a broad range of materials, from graphite to oil paint; techniques such as drawing and collage; and themes that are fundamental to his entire practice, such as classical antiquity, eroticism, and nature. Some highlight of the exhibition will be a series of lush and unrestrained landscapes from 1986 that verge on pure abstraction; two untitled works from 1970 that are related to the artist’s “blackboard paintings” on view in Cy Twombly Gallery; and Narcissus, 1975, a collage of paper, with oil, charcoal, and wax crayon on paper. None of these works have been exhibited in the U.S. before.

“Night Light” at Allen’s Landing at Buffalo Bayou Park (March 28)
The annual free festival of video art along Buffalo Bayou moves west this year from its usual setting along the industrial and residential landscapes of the Buffalo Bayou East trails to Allen’s Landing in downtown Houston. The concrete bridges and underbellies of the major city freeways that emerge from watery bayou depths become the canvases for three site-specific installations from some of Houston most innovative video and multidisciplinary artists. Co-presented by the Aurora Picture Show and Buffalo Bayou Partnership “Night Light” puts the spotlight on new works from artist, designer, and engineer, Corey De’Juan Sherrard Jr.; video, installation, and performance artist and Rice professor, Kenneth Tam; and award winning collaborative duo Hillerbrand+Magsamen. And it wouldn’t be an outdoor Houston event of any kind without food, so expect a lively night artisan market hosted by East End District and BLCK Market at East River featuring local vendors and food trucks plus tunes from DJ Gracie Chavez.

Bayou City Art Festival Downtown at Sam Houston Park (March 28-29)
Downtown Houston continues to sprout art everywhere, as the last weekend in March also heralds the biannual Bayou City Art Fest in Sam Houston Park. Showcasing art from 250 creators from around the country, the festival always brings a wide selection of paintings, prints, jewelry, sculptures, and functional art at all price levels. Fest goers also have the opportunity to meet the art makers and hear the stories behind the art. This year’s featured artists is Lijah Hanley, a digital photographer from Vancouver, WA who first found his place behind a camera lens when he was 13. Along with a day of art, a ticket includes live music all day long on two stages, roaming performers, exciting kids areas with interactive crafts, and culinary arts demonstrations.

$Ernesto Neto, SunForceOceanLife (installation view), 2020, crocheted textile and\nplastic balls, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Museum purchase funded by the\nCaroline Wiess Law Accessions Endowment Fund$