For immediate release -  ROCO continues its 17th Season “Musical Threads” with concerts from the Unchambered Series, the Connections Series, and the Albert and Margaret Alkek Foundation In Concert Series.

Two Unchambered Series concerts explore trumpet and percussion repertoire and include interactive Q&As with ROCO musicians. On March 12 at MATCH “Tapestry” showcases the trumpet in a concert curated by ROCO trumpeters Caleb Hudson and George Chase. The program includes everything from classical, to jazz, to contemporary music. The Boomtown Brass Band joins as special guests. On April 2 at MATCH “Spinning Tales” highlights the percussion family in a concert curated by ROCO percussionists Matthew McClung, Christina Carroll, and Craig Hauschildt. The program will present music by various composers, including Quinn Mason, and take the audience on a journey through a wide variety of percussive instruments.

The Connections Series brings three site-specific concerts in partnership with various organizations in Houston. “Pulling At Strings” on March 26 in partnership with the Holocaust Museum Houston features guitarist Mak Grgic playing works from around the world. ROCO founder and principal oboist Alecia Lawyer, and the ROCO string quartet, perform the world premiere of Bruce Adolphe’s Solitude, and Mak Grgic is joined by ROCO’s string quartet to perform the U.S. premiere of his Balkan Suite. The concert will also include works by Aaron Jay Kernis, and others. The postponed “Beer & Brass” concert at Saint Arnold Brewing Company Beer Hall will take place on April 6. The ROCO Brass Quintet serenades audience members in the annual tradition that includes craft beer and food. Finally, “Interwoven” will take place at the Buffalo Bayou Park Cistern on May 7. The concert features a one-of-a-kind performance in “Interwoven”—featuring the ROCO brass in a site-specific world premiere commission by Marcus Maroney.

The Albert and Margaret Alkek Foundation In Concert Series presents the official Season 17 closing concert, which takes place April 23 at The Church of Saint John the Divine in “Tying Up Loose Ends”. Rei Hotoda makes her ROCO conducting debut, with the world premiere of a work for large chamber orchestra by composer-in-residence Derek Bermel, based on J. Henry Fair’s photography collection “Industrial Scars”—capturing the beauty and destruction of industrial and human impacts on our planet—and the program will also include Viet Cuong’s percussion concerto Re(new)al, Darius Milhaud’s jazz-inspired 1923 work Creation of the World, and a new work by Cynthia Lee Wong.

“Pulling At Strings”, all Unchambered Series concerts, and “Tying Up Loose Ends” will be accessible for free via livestream on ROCO’s website, Facebook page, and YouTube channel.

Listing Info

Saturday, Mar 12 2022, 5:00pm
MATCH

Unchambered: Tapestry

Caleb Hudson (trumpet), George Chase (trumpet), Jasmine Hatem (piano);
Boomtown Brass Band: Thomas Helton (sousaphone, bass) Danielle Reich (vocalist, snare drum), Morris Moon (banjo), Doug Wright (clarinet, sax)

Saturday, Mar 26 2022, 5:30pm
Holocaust Museum Houston

Connections: Pulling at Strings
Mak Grgic - Balkan Suite for guitar and string quartet and bass [U.S. Premiere]
Aaron Jay Kernis - 100 Greatest Dance Hits
Bruce Adolphe - Solitude for oboe and string quartet and bass, 
[ROCO Commission World Premiere]
Music from “The Terezin Collection”, edited by Joza Karas - string quartet
 Praeludium Op. 12a, by Viktor Kohn (edited by Joza Karas)
Song Without Words, by Frantisek Domazlicky (edited by Joza Karas)
Gavotte, by Egon Ledec (edited by Joza Karas)

Scott St. John, violin, Rasa Kalesnykaite, violin, Lorento Golofeev, viola, Courtenay Vandiver Pereira, cello, Dave Connor, bass

Saturday, Apr 2 2022, 5:00pm
MATCH

Unchambered: Spinning Tales

Matthew McClung, Christina Carroll, Craig Hauschildt, percussionists

Thursday, January 13, 2022 at 6:00pm
St. Arnold Brewing Company Beer Hall

Connections: Beer & Brass
Sponsored by the W.T. and Louise J. Moran Foundation
Traditional Beer Hall Music & Favorite Brass Arrangements

Featuring the ROCO Brass Quintet and friends

Saturday, Apr 23 2022, 5:00pm
The Church of St. John the Divine

Albert and Margaret Alkek Foundation In Concert Series: Tying Up Loose Ends
Sponsored by the Albert and Margaret Alkek Foundation

Viet Cuong: Renewal
Cynthia Lee Wong: In a Blink of an Eye
[World Premiere ROCO Commission]
Derek Bermel: Industrial Scars
[World Premiere ROCO Commission, made possible by support from The National Endowment for the Arts]
Darius Milhaud: Creation of the World
Ludwig van Beethoven: Symphony No. 3 in E-Flat Major, Op. 55 “Eroica”

Rei Hotoda, conductor
Derek Bermel, composer-in-residence
Matt McClung, Ksenija Komljenovic, Todd Meehan, and Doug Perkins, percussion soloists

Saturday, May 7 2022, 10:00am
Buffalo Bayou Park Cistern

Connections: Interwoven

World premiere commission by Marcus Maroney

George Chase, Trumpet, Gavin Reed, French Horn, Thomas Hulten, Trombone, Jared Lantzy, Bass Trombone

About ROCO

ROCO is a dynamic and innovative professional music ensemble that flexes from 1 to 40 players from all over the US and Canada, with guest artists from around the world. Performing intimate concerts in dozens of venues, ROCO’s musicians don’t just give concerts – they challenge preconceptions, create extraordinary experiences, and foster new relationships with audiences through the language of music. ROCO’s debut album, Visions Take Flight, was recognized for a GRAMMY® Award for Producer of the Year for Blanton Alspaugh.
 
Widely recognized for diversity in programming, a recent study from the Institute for Composer Diversity found ROCO is the number one ensemble in the US for performing the works of women and number two for the works of composers of color. Additionally, ROCO has the third-highest number of commissions in the United States and has premiered nearly 100 commissions from living composers. ROCO embraces technology, with free worldwide concert livestreams and real-time artist commentary via a smartphone app, as well as on-demand recordings of past concerts via popular music streaming services. A vital part of the community, ROCO concert DVDs are sent to nursing homes and hospitals to bring music to those immobile communities, and their music education/childcare program called ROCOrooters attracts multigenerational audiences.