raise the baton

Prestigious international conductor competition will debut in Houston

Conductor Marin Alsop will lead the judging panel.

Photo by Clayton Stephenson

Houston is about to get a new baton in town, and this one comes with international ambitions.

The Cliburn has announced the launch of the Cliburn International Competition for Conductors.

Classical music cognoscenti might be asking what this has to do with Houston. After all, the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition has long been synonymous with Fort Worth. The answer lies in legacy, logistics, and a bit of full-circle musical fate: Houston is home to a world-class orchestra, a premier music school, and a deep-rooted connection to Van Cliburn himself, who made his orchestral debut here at age 12.

The new program is set to debut in June 2028 in Houston. So there it is.

Open to conductors ages 21 to 35, the competition marks the first major international conducting competition in North America, placing the city on the global podium for emerging musical leadership.

The new initiative is a collaboration between The Cliburn, the Houston Symphony, and the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University. The Houston Symphony will perform with all competitors.

“The event will bring people to Houston from around the world, enhancing our reputation as an international city with a thriving arts and cultural sector,” Gary Ginstling, executive director and CEO of the Houston Symphony, tells CultureMap.

Competition rounds will take place at both the Shepherd School and Jesse H. Jones Hall for the Performing Arts.

“Collaborations like this are central to who we are as a university,” Matthew Loden, dean of the Shepherd School of Music, says. “They build on a deep network of relationships we’ve established with renowned arts organizations in Texas and around the world, and they strengthen the multifaceted programs already in place at Shepherd.

Loden frames Houston — and Texas more broadly — as uniquely positioned to lead in the arts. Often dubbed the Third Coast, he sees the region as more than a participant in the global cultural conversation. Instead, he views Texas as actively shaping a growing center for artistic innovation, making Houston a fitting home for the first major international conducting competition in North America. It’s a point of pride, he notes, but hardly a surprise.

At the helm of the jury will be Marin Alsop, who also conducted the 2022 and 2025 Van Cliburn International Piano Competitions. An artistic advisory committee stacked with conducting prowess will help shape the competition’s structure and repertoire, including former Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra music director Miguel Harth-Bedoya (Shepherd’s resident director of orchestras), current Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra music director Robert Spano, Kent Nagano, Juraj Valčuha (Houston Symphony music director), and Xian Zhang.

Applications will open in October 2026, with submissions due in November 2027. A screening jury will narrow the pool to as many as 25 applicants for live auditions in early 2028, ultimately selecting 12 competitors. All rounds will be open to the public, with tickets going on sale in early 2028, and performances livestreamed to a global audience.

One grand prize winner will receive $50,000, concert engagements, and enhanced career support, while finalists will each earn $20,000.

Building on the Cliburn’s digital reach, more than 100 million video views across 180 countries in recent years, the new competition aims to be a launchpad for the next generation of maestros, with Houston as the overture.

performing-arts houston symphony rice university

let's dance

Houston Ballet leaps into 2026-2027 with world premieres and Swan Lake

Photo by Lawrence Elizabeth Knox

Artists of Houston Ballet in Stanton Welch’s Swan Lake.

Announcing its 2026-2027 season, Houston Ballet leaps into an immersive wonderland with the world premiere ballet Where’s Alice? from co-artistic director Stanton Welch. This is just one of many dance adventures set for a season filled with spectacular story ballets, cutting edge contemporary dances, and world premieres.

“This season reflects the full breadth of what Houston Ballet is — and where we’re going,” Houston Ballet co-artistic director Julie Kent said in a statement. “We are honoring the great choreographic voices that have shaped our art form, from Balanchine and MacMillan to Lubovitch and Peck, while simultaneously opening the door to new creative possibilities through world premieres and bold collaborations.”

The season begins September 11 through 20 with a classic Texas twang for Pecos Bill, the title production of an eclectic mixed repertory program. Stanton Welch’s fun and rollicking dance follows the adventures of the folklore cowboy, Pecos Bill. The program also showcases a work from 20th century dance master, George Balanchine, with the elegant and dynamic Symphonie Concertante. And for the first time, the company will perform celebrated choreographer Lar Lubovitch’s Meadow, a piece Julie Kent herself once danced when it first debuted.

Sir Kenneth MacMillan’s Manon returns September 24 through October 4. First performed by the company in 1994, the doomed love story between irresistibly beautiful femme fatale, Manon, and impoverished student, Des Grieux, has had audiences swooning for decades.

Of course, it wouldn’t be a Houston Ballet season without the annual Margaret Alkek Williams Jubilee of Dance. And then closing out 2026, the company gifts Houston with Welch’s delightful and delectable Nutcracker Ballet.

The new year premieres Where's Alice? , Welch’s brand new work will be a re-envisioning of Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland, February 25 through March 7. Describing it as one of the most ambitious undertakings in HB’s recent history, the company plans for Alice to become a fully immersive theater experience that incorporates cutting-edge audio and visual effects that will take audience down the rabbit hole into a living, breathing, wondrous world.

Keeping with what looks to be the 26-27 season’s theme of blockbuster ballets from Welch, the company floats into spring, March 11 through 21, with the classic story of Madam Butterfly, a dramatic exploration of love, sacrifice, and cultural collision danced to Puccini’s heartbreaking score.

Beginning May 27 through June 6, HB offers the second mixed repertory program of the season, The Rite of Spring, and with it another world premiere. First, the company brings back the hypnotic, contemporary ballet, Reflections, a piece it originally debuted by the dance world’s reigning rock star, Justin Peck. Company member and up-and-coming choreographer Jacquelyn Long will create a new ballet for the program. Another highlight of the evening and the title work, Welch’s The Rite of Spring, offers a a visceral and elemental reimagining of dance for Stravinsky’s score that shocked the music world when it first debuted.

$Artists of Houston Ballet in Stanton Welch\u2019s Swan Lake$

Photo by Lawrence Elizabeth Knox

Artists of Houston Ballet in Stanton Welch’s Swan Lake.

The season ends June 10 through 27 with one of ballet’s most beloved stories, Swan Lake. Stanton Welch’s celebrated production was first staged by the company in 2006 and has gone on to become an audience favorite. Inspired by Pre-Raphaelite painter John William Waterhouse’s painting “The Lady of Shalott,” the production features lavish sets and costumes.

Reflecting on the whole season and his Alice in particular, Welch echo’s Kent’s belief that the programming offers a vision that connects the company’s history, present, and future.

“Where’s Alice? is an example of that vision – a production that pushes the boundaries of ballet through immersive sets and thought-provoking storytelling that makes you question, 'Who in the world am I?' as Alice did, creating an entirely new world audiences can step into,” Welch said. “It’s work like this that allows us to welcome new audiences into the theater while continuing to challenge and inspire our longtime supporters.”

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