This Thursday at Beaver's

Come join Ars Lyrica musicians, staff, and friends for "Cultured Cocktails" with Ars Lyrica & Spacetaker, on Thursday, December 4, from 5-10pm at Beaver's: 2310 Decatur Street (just south of Washington at the corner where the "Pigstand" used to be). A portion of the proceeds from "Cultured Cocktails" menu benefits Ars Lyrica, and the event is a great social opportunity for us. Hope to see you there!

When in Padua...

Never been to Padua? If you're in Houston next Sunday, Nov 23, you can at least hear what a 17th-century Vespers service sounded like in this magnificent Duomo. The program is at 6 pm at Christ the King Lutheran Church (Greenbriar at Rice Blvd), and features the Moores School of Music Collegium Musicum (yours truly, director) and members of Ars Lyrica, all conducted by DMA candidate Richard Robbins. At 5:30 pm, Richard lectures on this program, which will be the first modern performance of several large psalm settings by Leandro Gallerano, a contemporary of Monteverdi who lived and worked in Padua for most of his career. Come join us for an Italian feast!

Hats Off to Eastman and UNT

I'm just back from engagements at two major conferences, both celebrating the installation of new organs, at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY and the University of North Texas in Denton, TX. Hats off to the conference organizers and those responsible for the splendid new instruments, which include (in Rochester) a copy of a late 18th-century German instrument by a builder named Casparini, plus Paul Fritts' latest instrument (at Sacred Heart Cathedral) and a new Taylor & Boody Tannenburg-style organ, which I played last weekend in a pair of recitals at the First Presbyterian Church in Pittsford, NY. Details on the Eastman conference can be found at EROI, aka the Eastman Rochester Organ Initiative, founded several years ago to build a significant collection of historic and historically-inspired instruments at this legendary school of music, which has always been a major presence on the worldwide organ scene.

The conference at UNT came about because of the new Helmuth Wolff organ in the Murchison Performing Arts Center (see pic above), which opened nearly a decade ago and is now finally finished with a spectacular-looking instrument. The building itself is equally distinctive: if you're driving by Denton on I-35, it's the building that looks like a very large armadillo!

I was delighted also to have the opportunity to deliver papers at both conferences, on continuo practice in the Bach circle (at EROI) and on the cultural significance of the organ music of J. S. Bach at UNT. Many thanks to the conference organizers for some very stimulating sessions, and memorable music-making!

Chron review of "Legendary Lovers"

It was great to see so many of you at "Legendary Lovers" on Friday evening. I'm delighted that we were able to put this program on, despite complications from the hurricane. Many thanks to St Philip Presbyterian Church for accommodating us on such short notice!

The Houston Chronicle review is available online: Ars Lyrica Performance Radiant

The Show Will Go On!

"Legendary Lovers" will go on Friday evening at 7:30, but the venue has changed, since the Hobby Center just announced today (Thursday) that they must close for the weekend. So we'll be giving the concert at St Philip Presbyterian Church, 4807 San Felipe (at West Loop 610) at 7:30 pm.

The Houston curfew order has been changed from 9 pm to midnight, so there's no worry about being stopped going home from the concert. Parking for St Philip is on the east side of the church grounds, between the sanctuary and Yia-Yia Mary's Greek Restaurant. Hope to see many of you Friday evening for one of the only cultural events actually happening this weekend in our fair city!

In OutSmart

Check it out: yours truly is featured in this month's issue of OutSmart, the glossy zine catering to Houston's gay, lesbian, bi and trans communities. The article is a nice summary of both professional and personal activities over the last several years here in Houston (no salacious revelations here, just good clean fun). Guess I'm really out now...Happy reading!

Joel's Classical Relocating

Music-loving friends in Houston will want to know this bit of recent news: Joel's Classical Shop is relocating to 3514B S. Shepherd @ Richmond, as of next weekend. The old shop on Bissonnet is already closed. His phone number and email remain the same.

Houston is lucky to have such a wonderful classical CD store. Here's hoping the new location brings him lots of business and many good years. A toast to Joel and his new shop!