ROCO Unveils 21st Season for 2025-2026: The Season of the Senses

ROCO’s Unveils 21st Season for 2025-2026: The Season of the Senses

15 commissioned world premieres and rescores

Kevin Lau features as Composer In Residence

3 new performance venues

Audiences anywhere, in person or livestreaming, can now view the sheet music to scores and parts in the ROCO Mobile App during concerts 

 

HOUSTON, TX – Driven by new artistic collaborations and adding performances in even more unique venues, ROCO’s bold 21st season is meant to be heard, felt, seen, and savored. “The Season of the Senses,” presents evocative new works and immersive soundscapes by the great composers of our time, paired with reimagined classics in a wide variety of spaces.

“ROCO is a physical experience, a full body experience.”
-audience member

Telling Stories That Matter 

ROCO’s Connections Series (site-specific collaborative chamber concerts) takes you all across the Houston landscape. Highlights include a newly commissioned work by Hiroaki Tokunaga based on Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata’s reflections on space exploration for a program beyond earthly boundaries to inspire curiosity and wonder at Asia Society Texas Center, featuring a quartet of ROCO musicians. Internationally renowned violinist and “epic force” Vijay Gupta takes the stage in partnership with ROCO principal cellist Alexis Gerlach at Holocaust Museum Houston, where music will bear a powerful testament to resilience. 

A new collaborator is Artechouse, an immersive digital space where ROCO will perform in conjunction with neurofeedback from musicians and audience members, with real-time brain wave visualizations projected in the space. A newly commissioned work by Dr. Anthony Brandt, alongside a work by Beethoven, will explore the effects of known and unknown music on the brain and will also be performed in partnership at MD Anderson Cancer Center’s Music-in-Medicine series with Dr. Mei Rui. ROCO as well returns to the historic River Oaks Theatre with live music to silent film.

ROCO’s Unchambered Series (curated by ROCO musicians) will also be performed in unique venues across Houston. Laurie Meister’s harp will resonate through Houston Public Library’s Julia Ideson Library, celebrating its 100th anniversary with a commission inspired by its murals, painted by women during the Works Progress Administration era. ROCO flutists Brook Ferguson and Rebecca Powell Garfield join forces for a program a program of solo, duo, and ensemble works featuring the flute family’s full spectrum, at Texas Southern University’s beautifully restored historic Charles P. Rhinehart Music Auditorium.

“A heartfelt thank you for being able to experience this…the music had my soul dancing!”
-Amirah, US Army Veteran

With the People Who Matter

Conductors Delyana Lazarova and Mei-Ann Chen return as Artistic Partners to deliver unmatched energy for the Albert and Margaret Alkek Foundation In Concert Series, featuring ROCO’s full 40-piece chamber orchestra. In April, Lazarova will again lead ROCO’s annual collaboration with Houston Youth Symphony, in a piece performed side-by-side. Andrew Earle Simpson returns with his signature silent film scores, and acclaimed conductor Anthony Parnther will also take?? the podium to make his ROCO debut.

Additionally, ROCO welcomes three guest concertmasters this season from the helms of their own orchestras. Margaret Batjer, Laura Frautschi, and Tereza Stanislav each bring their signature artistry to ROCO’s sound.

Engaging the Bachs, Beethovens, and Bonds of Our Time

Season of the Senses carries through ROCO’s tidal wave of expanding the orchestral repertoire with fresh voices and bold ideas. As the #2 most prolific commissioning ensemble in the United States, ROCO will have premiered 165 commissioned works by the end of this 2025-2026 season.

“I love knowing my support of ROCO is emboldening their work with living composers. Being a part of the creation process is exciting and makes the music deeply personal to me.”
-Andrew Coit, ROCO Resound Commissioning Consortium donor

Lauded for his ROCO-commissioned work that was adapted to a children’s book, The Nightingale composer Kevin Lau is Season 21’s Composer-In-Residence, kicking off the first concert with the world premiere of his clarinet concertino, featuring Principal Clarinetist Nathan Williams. This deeply personal piece will celebrate Nathan’s work in the hospice community as ROCO’s first Musicians with a Mission Manager and will wrestle with the arc of birth, life, and death. Lau will also write an epic piece for the full orchestra inspired by C.S. Lewis’ fantasy novel series, The Chronicles of Narnia.

"Some of my fondest memories, in music and in life, have been spent in the company of the people at ROCO; this season I'm absolutely thrilled to be joining the ROCO family as Composer In Residence.”
-Kevin Lau

Other commissioned works tap into the senses: Emmy-winning composer John Wineglass’s Sacred Ground honors the people and rich history of Houston’s Freedmen's town, GRAMMY-winning composer Starr Parodi’s Rip Tide creates a powerful sound world of life’s currents, while composer Heather Schmidt celebrates our furry companions in the premiere of her work based on husky rescue. A companion piece by James Stephenson called Quartet for Tomorrow is paired with excerpts from Messiaen’s famous Quartet for the End of Time at Holocaust Museum Houston. Errollyn Wallen writes a solo harp work in celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Julia Ideson Library based upon its murals painted by women through the Works Progress Administration in the 1930s.  More commissioned premieres include a work by Gala Flagello capturing the voice of our planet in Droughts and Downpours, and Patricia Leonard composes a work commemorating the 250th anniversary of the United States Declaration of Independence.

Known for their commissioned rescores of traditional works for chamber orchestra, ROCO has invited long-time collaborator Anthony DiLorenzo to take both the iconic Toccata and Fugue in D minor by J.S. Bach and Maurice Ravel’s La Valse and reduce them for ROCO’s size. Andrew Earle Simpson’s reductions of his silent film scores and Jason Stephens' reworking of the powerful New World Symphony by Antonin Dvorák round out the new pieces for the season. 

Innovating Every Aspect of the Experience

Following the launch of The Season of the Senses opening concert, ROCO will host an art adventure Soirée at the immersive and interactive ARTECHOUSE—featuring dazzling digital installations, curated bites, cocktails, and a playful musician scavenger hunt. The Season of the Senses Soirée invites guests to celebrate creativity through every sense, honoring legendary guitarist Steve Vai as the Wildcatting in the Arts Awardee, Frank Donnelly of Kensinger Donnelly as the Corporate Pillar of the Arts Awardee,  and led with passion by event chairs Jane Johnson and Wendy Burks.

Feeding lifelong curiosity, "Make a Joyful Noise!" returns to Padre's Wine Bar on December 4th, inviting adults to have fun, learn, and rediscover the joys of music in a wildly entertaining evening that invites adults to drink wine, try musical instruments, and hit the gong!

ROCO recently launched a first-of-its-kind, innovative initiative called Musicians with a Mission (MWM), which reimagines and redesigns the role of a full-time musician within an orchestra. MWM invites individual ROCO musicians to bring together their unique passions and artistic talents to create and run their own arm of service under the ROCO umbrella with guidance and oversight from the ROCO team. Nathan Williams, ROCO’s principal clarinet, was selected as the very first MWM Manager to run his own access/outreach initiative in the hospice and palliative care area. He moved to Houston full-time in January to also join the artistic team of ROCO.

You’ve Never Heard a Feeling Like THIS! 

2025-2026 SEASON

Albert and Margaret Alkek Foundation
IN CONCERT SERIES

ROCO’s full 40-piece orchestra performances with musicians from all over the US and Canada and guest artists from around the world

FEELS LIKE HOME

Friday, September 26, 2025 | Miller Outdoor Theatre | 7:30 pm
Saturday, September 27, 2025 | The Church of St. John the Divine | 5:00 pm
Season of the Senses Soirée following | Artechouse | 7:30 pm

Delyana Lazarova, conductor
Nathan Williams, clarinet soloist

Kevin Lau: At the Still Point of the Turning World (clarinet concertino)
ROCO Commissioned World Premiere

Emilie Mayer: Symphony No. 4 in B minor

Starr Parodi: Rip Tide
ROCO Commissioned World Premiere

Heather Schmidt: New work inspired by Husky Rescue
ROCO Commissioned World Premiere

FRAGRANT MEMORIES

Saturday, November 1, 2025 | The Church of St. John the Divine | 5:00 pm

Mei-Ann Chen, conductor
Laura Frautschi, violin soloist

J.S. Bach, arr. Anthony DiLorenzo: Toccata and Fugue in d minor
ROCO Commissioned World Premiere Rescore

Ludwig van Beethoven: Symphony No. 10 in Eb Major
Realized and arranged by Barry Cooper

Juan Pablo Contreras: La Minerva
III. Himno a la Mujer

David Little: Haunted Topography

Maurice Ravel, arr. Anthony DiLorenzo: La Valse
ROCO Commissioned World Premiere Rescore

John Wineglass: Sacred Ground
ROCO Commissioned World Premiere

DO YOU HEAR WHAT I HEAR?

Saturday, February 7, 2026 | The Church of St. John the Divine | 5:00 pm

Anthony Parnther, conductor

Antonín Dvorák, arr. Jason Stephens:
Symphony No. 9 in E minor, "From the New World"
ROCO Commissioned Rescore US Premiere

Duke Ellington: New World A-Comin’ 

Gala Flagello: Droughts and Downpours
for string orchestra
ROCO Co-Commissioned Premiere

Patricia Leonard: America 250
ROCO Commissioned World Premiere

SEEING IS BELIEVING

Saturday, April 18, 2026 | The Church of St. John the Divine | 5:00 pm

Delyana Lazarova, conductor
Viviana Goodwin, soprano
Brook Ferguson, flute
Alecia Lawyer, oboe
Kristin Wolfe Jensen, bassoon

Richard Danielpour:  Adagietto for String Orchestra

Richard Danielpour: Breaking the Veil
Originally commissioned and premiered by ROCO,
Rescored for full string orchestra

"We Hold These Truths” Text by Thomas Jefferson
“Wild Horses” Original Words and Music by Jean Ritchie
Interpretation and Arrangement by J. Todd Frazier

Kevin Lau: New work inspired by Narnia
ROCO Commissioned World Premiere

Fanny Mendelssohn-Hensel: Overture in C Major
Houston Youth Symphony Side-by-Side piece

UNCHAMBERED SERIES

The Unchambered Series features concerts curated by individual ROCO musicians, giving them carte blanche to bring their own unique passions into the creation of their programs.

Brook Ferguson & Rebecca Powell Garfield, flutes
Saturday, October 11, 2025 | Charles P. Rhinehart Music Auditorium, Texas Southern University | 5:00 pm 
Featuring the full spectrum of the flute family, in solo, duo, and flute ensemble works

Laurie Meister, harp
Saturday, February 28, 2026 | Julia Ideson Library | 5:00 pm
Celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Julia Ideson Library, with a ROCO Commissioned World Premiere by Errollyn Wallen inspired by the murals in the library painted by women in the 1930s through the Works Progress Administration.

CONNECTIONS SERIES

Nomadic in nature, the Connections Series continues site-specific collaborative chamber concerts programmed specially for its chosen venues, in partnership with various arts and community organizations.

ROCO at ROT
Friday, November 14, 2025 | The River Oaks Theatre | 8:00 pm
Andrew Earle Simpson, conductor
Classic silent films with live scores performed by ROCO, including The Immigrant (Charlie Chaplin), Liberty (Laurel & Hardy), both ROCO Commissioned World Premiere Rescores—and Disney’s Silly Symphony “Music Land”

Beer & Brass
Wednesday, January 7, 2026 | Saint Arnold Brewing Co. | 6:30 pm
Featuring the ROCO Brass Quintet

Songs of Comfort
Saturday, January 24, 2026 | Holocaust Museum Houston | 5:00 pm
Vijay Gupta, violin; Alexis Gerlach, cello; Nathan Williams, clarinet
Music as the voice for the voiceless with a ROCO Co-Commissioned World Premiere by James Stephenson as a companion piece to selections from Messiaen’s Quartet for the End of Time.

Celebrating the World EXPO in Japan 2025
Saturday, March 28, 2026 | Asia Society Texas Center | 7:00 pm
Maiko Sasaki, clarinet; Kana Kimura, violin; Shino Hayashi, cello; Hiroaki Tokunaga, piano
Featuring the Japanese fashion collection from Houston Community College, and a ROCO Commissioned World Premiere by Hiroaki Tokunaga based upon astronaut Koichi Wakata from Japan.

Neurofeedback Collaboration
Saturday, May 2, 2026 | Artechouse | 5:00 pm
Tuesday, May 5, 2026 | MD Anderson Cancer Center | 12:00 pm
Beethoven’s Piano Quintet plus ROCO Commissioned World Premiere by Anthony Brandt and featuring pianist Dr. Mei Rui, Director of Music in Medicine at MD Anderson Cancer Center

SPECIAL EVENTS

The Season of the Senses Soirée
Saturday, September 27, 2025 | Artechouse | 7:30 pm
A reimagined digitally immersive celebration after the opening night concert

Make a Joyful Noise
December 4, 2025 | Padre's Wine Bar | 6:30 pm Thursday
Adult Instrument Zoo and Wine Night

ABOUT ROCO

ROCO is Houston’s deeply local, globally impactful 40-piece professional chamber orchestra with musicians and guest artists from around the globe. Livestreaming for free since 2013, our concerts have reached all seven continents. ROCO is one of the most prolific commissioning organizations in the US, reaching over 150 world premieres, which are paired with classics and rarely-heard gems. Performing in over 75 venues in Houston, our multigenerational and multimedia-enhanced experiences are offered with a Pay-What-You-Wish ticketing model, made possible through 98% of our income being donated by a vast portfolio of supporters.  

Known for our use and integration of technology, we invite you to turn ON your phones and iPads in the concert hall to not only view our digital program, but also to see the sheet music and interact with our content in real time. ROCO's innovative and sector-changing ROCO on the Go! initiative weaves music through the community with QR codes on signs installed in Houston's parks, hospitals, and schools, now with over 55,000 scans—linking to recordings from our vast library of past performances, providing access for all. 

Live audio recordings from concerts are regularly broadcast nationally on American Public Media’s Performance Today show and are available for free listening in ROCO’s own Listening Room as well as through all popular music streaming services. The Donne Foundation's most recent global report ranked ROCO as second internationally to the BBC Symphony in programming works by women and composers of color. And ROCO’s debut album, Visions Take Flight, was recognized with a GRAMMY® Award for Producer of the Year, Blanton Alspaugh.

Cultivating a multigenerational audience, ROCOrooters music education and childcare program offers a concert and a night out for caregivers. The Nightingale, ROCO’s newly published children’s book, offers unprecedented delivery of interactive music and narration.

CALENDAR

The Albert and Margaret Alkek Foundation In Concert Series
FEELS LIKE HOME
September 26, 2025 | Miller Outdoor Theatre | 7:30 pm, Friday
September 27, 2025 | The Church of St. John the Divine | 5:00 pm, Saturday
Season of the Senses Soirée following  | Artechouse  | 7:30 pm

Unchambered Series
Brook Ferguson & Rebecca Powell Garfield, flutes
October 11, 2025 | Charles P. Rhinehart Music Auditorium, Texas Southern University  5:00 pm, Saturday

The Albert and Margaret Alkek Foundation In Concert Series
FRAGRANT MEMORIES
November 1, 2025 | The Church of St. John the Divine  | 5:00 pm, Saturday

Connections Series
ROCO at ROT
November 14, 2025 | The River Oaks Theatre | 8:00 pm, Friday

Make a Joyful Noise
December 4, 2025 | Padre's Wine Bar  | 6:30 pm, Thursday

Connections Series
Beer & Brass
January 7, 2026 | Saint Arnold Brewing Company | 6:30 pm, Wednesday

Connections Series
Songs of Comfort
January 24, 2026 | Holocaust Museum Houston | 5:00 pm, Saturday

The Albert and Margaret Alkek Foundation In Concert Series
DO YOU HEAR WHAT I HEAR?
February 7, 2026 | The Church of St. John the Divine | 5:00 pm, Saturday

Unchambered Series
Laurie Meister, harp
February 28, 2026 | Julia Ideson Library | 5:00 pm, Saturday

Connections Series
Celebrating the World EXPO in Japan 2025
March 28, 2026 | Asia Society Texas Center | 7:00 pm, Saturday

The Albert and Margaret Alkek Foundation In Concert Series
SEEING IS BELIEVING
April 18, 2026 | The Church of St. John the Divine | 5:00 pm, Saturday

Connections Series
Neurofeedback Collaboration
May 2, 2026 | Artechouse | 5:00 pm, Saturday
May 5, 2026 | MD Anderson Cancer Center | 12:00 pm, Tuesday

PRESS CONTACT:

Greta Rimpo, Director of Marketing & Communications, ROCO
Email: greta@roco.org
Direct: 713-665-2700, Extension 4