For immediate release – Houston, TX – ROCO’s 14th season, Games People Play, continues with three November events. Featuring the world premiere of Heather Schmidt’s Solitaire, ROCO’s In Concertseries picks up on November 17 with Queen of Hearts, presenting a program of all female composers. On November 29, ROCO’s 2018 Connections series continues with a vintage board game night and concert at Rienzi, featuring principal cellist Richard Belcher and violinist Cecilia Belcher.

Guest conductor Mei-Ann Chen will lead ROCO’s all-female-composer program Queen of Hearts on November 17. Taking center stage for the evening, Heather Schmidt’s Solitaire will mark ROCO’s 3rd world premiere for the season, bringing their total number of commissions to 76 in just 14 years. Composed for solo violin and orchestra, Solitaire is inspired by the inherent solitude of the classic card game and will feature ROCO’s concertmaster, Scott St. John, as soloist interacting with the orchestra as though flipping through a deck of cards. The program will also include Anna Clyne’s Within Her Arms, Ruth Gipps’s Seascape, and Louise Farrenc’s Symphony No. 3.

Mei-Ann Chen will also lead the orchestra in selections from the Queen of Hearts program the night prior on November 16 as part of a performance and panel discussion titled Concert & Conversation: Women in the Arts. Dialogue will focus on the roles of women in the arts and cultural industries, the importance of diverse female voices, and the future of their representation. Panelists will include Lauren Anderson of Houston Ballet, Christine West of Houston First, Fleurette Fernando of UH’s Masters in Arts Leadership program, Pia Agrawal of UH’s Cynthia Woods Mitchell Center for the Arts, Mei-Ann Chen, conductor, and Heather Schmidt, composer. The concert and panel will be held at Houston’s MATCH (Midtown Arts and Theatre Center Houston).

On November 29, before an evening of music from the husband and wife duo of principal cellist Richard Belcher and principal second violinist Cecilia Belcher, ROCO invites attendees to enjoy a variety of vintage board games in the unique surroundings of the historic 1950s era Rienzi home at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. This will be the second concert for ROCO’s 2018 Connections series, focused on site-specific, collaborative, and multi-disciplinary performances. 

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