Do the Moon Walk
Space jam: Young professionals enjoy a cosmic party that's all Symphony
How can one turn down a back-to-back cosmic double feature? And we aren't talking about cheap sci-fi movies, folks.
When the Houston Symphony paired both of its HD Odyssey multimedia spectacles in a single concert, 250 young professionals headed to the Jones Hall box office for a night of galactic travel through iconic music scores and striking images followed by a party with the creative minds that made this all happen.
Houston Symphony's Young Professionals Backstage and Young Associates Council members experienced The Planets and The Earth, projects in collaboration with filmmaker Duncan Copp, with music director designate Andrés Orozco-Estrada on the podium. Above the 87-piece ensemble was a huge screen in which NASA's missions to earth and the solar system weaved seamlessly with John Adams' Short Ride in a Fast Machine, Richard Strauss' Also Sprach Zarathustra and Gustav Holst's The Planets.
CEO Mark Hanson's remarks launched a social that included telescopes operated by local astronomers and trivia games with prizes.
After curtain call, the evening continued in the Houston Club, where symphony CEO Mark Hanson's remarks launched a social that included telescopes operated by local astronomers, themed trivia games with prizes, a photo booth, dancing and tunes spun by DJ Squincy Jones.
Grilled cheese and reuben sandwiches and four open bars stocked courtesy of Izkali Tequila, Vision Vodka, Famous Grouse Whiskey and Brugal Dry Rum did their part to infuse high-octane fuel into the artsy assemblage.
The who's who in the crowd included Lindley and Jason Arnoldy, Pierce Bush, Katie Flaherty, Brooke and Nathaniel Richards, Carol Tai, Cristina and Tanner Bailey, KHMX personalities Chad Pitt and Lauren Finkelstein, CBS Radio's Victor Guajardo, Katie Chachere, Kristin Kruse, Edward Heap, Lindsay Canning and the symphony's chief marketing officer Glenn Taylor.
No YPB event is complete without a handful of the musicians. You can always count on virtuosos such as oboist Adam Dinitz, double bassist Eric Larson, flutist Rebecca Powell Garfield and violinists Kiju Joh and Sergei Galperin to feel right at home hobnobbing with their fans.