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Tag: Composer

  • ROCO Teases the Senses with 2025-26 Season Lineup

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    ROCO recently announced its 21st season, driven by artistic collaborations, filled with world premieres and punctuated by performances in unique venues. Themed Season of the Senses, the upcoming year will present evocative new works and immersive soundscapes by the great composers of present day paired with reimagined classics.

    “We have been told so many times that our concerts are a full body experience,” said Alecia Lawyer, ROCO’s founder and artistic director, referencing the group’s de facto motto of “you’ve never heard a feeling like this.” “We’ve heard people say that [phrase], and so we started leaning into that concept — you don’t just come and witness —so I think that’s part of what this [theme] means.”

    This year’s lineup includes 14 commissioned world premieres and rescores, a composer-in-residence and another chapter in the ROCO’s ongoing story of showcasing the most fun an audience can have with classical music.

    ROCO will have premiered 162 commissioned works by living composers by the end of this season, which is an accomplishment that Lawyer feels is central to the organization’s raison d’être.

    “So many of the [commissions] just kind of snowballed in the best way,” she said. “I feel like the mission that we’re on of seeking out the Bachs, Beethovens and Bondses of our time and finding ways to find these composers that lean into the genre-defined world that I see for ourselves…I feel like contemporary composers now have [so many] opportunities.”

    click to enlarge

    Mei-Ann Chen will return to the conductor’s podium this season with ROCO.

    Photo by Violeta Alvarez

    The season is telling stories that matter with people who matter, including composer-in-residence Kevin Lau.

    The recipient of the prestigious 2025 Johanna Metcalf Performing Arts Prize, Lau has been commissioned by some of Canada’s most prominent artists and ensembles. A prolific composer of orchestral, chamber, ballet, opera and film music, he served as Affiliate Composer of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra (TSO) from 2012 – 2015; to date, he has produced eight works for the TSO. He has composed three original ballets for companies including the National Ballet of Canada, National Arts Centre and Bravo Niagara!. His music can be found on 13 commercial recordings, and his seven string quartets have been championed globally by internationally renowned ensembles.

    This is not ROCO’s first brush with Lau. He is the same composer for a ROCO-commissioned work that was adapted to a children’s book, “The Nightingale.” He will kick off the first concert with the world premiere of his clarinet concerto that details 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.”

    Other notable people involved in the season are conductors Delyana Lazarova and Mei-Ann Chen and three guest concertmasters: Margaret Batjer, Laura Frautschi and Tereza Stanislav.

    As technology marches forward, so does ROCO by embracing the digital age. It is now enabling audiences anywhere, in person or livestreaming, to view the sheet music to scores and parts in the ROCO Mobile App during concerts.

    “We encourage people to bring tablets. The app helps the audience to have another pathway to multiple layers of experiencing our concerts,” Lawyer said. “What if you played flute in high school and you want to follow along with that? You’re able to choose your instrument and almost choose your musical adventure.”
    The 2025-26 season is as follows:

    ‘Feels Like Home’
    7:30 p.m., September 26 at Miller Outdoor Theatre, 6000 Hermann Park
    5 p.m., September 27at The Church of St. John the Divine, 2450 River Oaks

    Season of the Senses Soirée
    7:30 p.m., September 27 at Artechouse, 600 West 6th

    Unchambered Series concert
    5 p.m., October 11 at Julia Ideson Library, 550 McKinney
    Celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Julia Ideson Library, with a ROCO-commissioned world premiere based on its WPA murals

    ‘Fragrant Memories’
    5 p.m., November 1 at The Church of St. John the Divine, 2450 River Oaks

    Classic films with live scores performed by ROCO
    8 p.m., November 14 at The River Oaks Theatre, 2009 West Gray
    Classic films with live scores performed by ROCO, including “The Immigrant” (Charlie Chaplin), “Liberty” (Laurel & Hardy), and Disney’s Silly Symphony “Music Land.”

    ‘Make a Joyful Noise’
    6:30 p.m., December 4 at Padre’s Wine Bar, 3522 White Oak
    Adult Instrument Zoo and Wine Night

    ‘Beer & Brass’
    6:30 p.m., January 7, 2026 at Saint Arnold Brewing Company, 2000 Lyons
    Featuring the ROCO Brass Quintet

    Connections Series concert
    5 p.m., January 24, 2026 at Holocaust Museum Houston, 5401 Caroline
    Featuring and curated by Vijay Gupta, violin & Alexis Gerlach, cello

    ‘Do You Hear What I Hear?
    5 p.m., February 7, 2026 at The Church of St. John the Divine, 2450 River Oaks

    Unchambered Series concert
    5 p.m., February 28, 2026 at St. Francis Episcopal Church, 345 Piney Point
    Celebrating St. Francis’s 75th anniversary

    Connections Series concert
    5 p.m., March 28, 2026 at Asia Society Texas Center, 1370 Southmore
    Celebrating Japan’s Expo 2025

    ‘Seeing Is Believing’
    5 p.m., April 18, 2026 at The Church of St. John the Divine, 2450 River Oaks

    Connections Series concert
    5 p.m., May 2, 2026 at Artechouse, 600 W 6th
    12 p.m., May 5, 2026 at MD Anderson Cancer Center, 1515 Holcombe
    As part of the center’s Music-in-Medicine Initiative, this neurofeedback collaboration includes the research of Rice University professor Anthony Brandt, featuring pianist Dr. Mei Rui.

    ROCO’s 2025-26 season runs September 26 through May 5 at various locations.Tickets to ROCO concerts follow a pay-what-you-wish model. The ‘Season of the Senses Soirée’ takes place at 7 p.m. at Artechouse, 600 West 6th with single tickets for $300 and tables ranging from $2,500-$50,000. ‘Make a Joyful Noise’ takes place at 7 p.m. December 4 at Padre’s Wine Bar, 3522 White Oak with single tickets for $45.To purchase concert tickets or for more information, call 713-665-2700 or visit ROCO.org.

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  • Lost music by Chopin unearthed nearly 200 years after composer’s death

    Lost music by Chopin unearthed nearly 200 years after composer’s death

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    A curator at a museum in New York City has discovered a previously unknown waltz written by Frédéric Chopin, marking the first time that a new piece of work by the Polish composer has been found in nearly 100 years.Video above: Archaeologists excavate historic site in Gloucester, MassachusettsThe waltz, written on a small manuscript measuring about 4 inches by 5 inches, was first discovered by curator Robinson McClellan in 2019, who then sought outside expert help, according to a statement from the Morgan Library & Museum on Monday.“He found it peculiar that he could not think of any waltzes by Chopin that matched the measures on the page,” reads the statement.“Chopin famously wrote in ‘small forms,’ but this work, lasting about one minute, is shorter than any other waltz by him,” the statement says. “It is nevertheless a complete piece, showing the kind of ‘tightness’ that we expect from a finished work by the composer.”McClellan asked Chopin expert Jeffrey Kallberg, associate dean for arts and letters at the University of Pennsylvania, to help authenticate the waltz. “Extensive research points to the strong likelihood that the piece is by Chopin,” according to the statement.This research included analysis by paper conservators who found that the paper and ink match those that Chopin normally used. This dated the manuscript to the 1830s, a museum spokeswoman told CNN on Oct. 29.“The penmanship matches other examples of Chopin’s handwriting,” said the spokeswoman. “The score contains fingerings and dynamic markings, suggesting that Chopin thought the piece might be performed someday.”The Morgan Library & Museum believes the fact that the manuscript is so small could mean that it was meant to be a gift that the recipient would have kept in an autograph album.Chopin was known to sign manuscripts that were gifts, but this one is unsigned, which the museum says suggests that he ultimately decided against giving it away.“This newly discovered waltz expands our understanding of Chopin as a composer and opens new questions for scholars to consider regarding when he wrote it and for whom it was intended,” said McClellan in the statement.“To hear this work for the first time will be an exciting moment for everyone in the world of classical piano.”The museum spokeswoman said that the work “offers a look into Chopin’s creative process,” particularly given its short length and “some interesting dynamic markings.”“We can see Chopin trying things that would become hallmarks of his style,” she added, highlighting the fact that the manuscript would have been written when Chopin was in his early 20s.A discovery of an unknown piece of work by Chopin has not happened since the late 1930s, according to the museum.“Our extensive music collection is defined by handwritten examples of the creative process and it is thrilling to have uncovered a new and unknown work by such a renowned composer,” said Colin B. Bailey, museum director, in the statement.The Polish composer was born in 1810 and was best known for solo piano pieces.Chopin died in Paris, France, at the age of 39. He’s one of Poland’s most famous sons, and his name adorns the airport serving the capital, Warsaw, as well as parks, streets, benches and buildings.His works and image are ubiquitous across the central European country, and his residences bear unmissable plaques. Busts and statues of his likeness are dotted across several major cities.Even his heart, preserved in alcohol after his death in 1849, is sealed into a wall of Warsaw’s Holy Cross Church.But recent suggestions about Chopin’s private life collided awkwardly with Poland’s staunchly conservative traditions and have caused some to question whether the story of Chopin that Poles are told from a young age is true.According to a Swiss radio documentary released in 2020, the composer had relationships with men, and those relationships were left out of history by successive historians and biographers — a potentially thorny charge in one of Europe’s worst countries for LGBTQ rights.

    A curator at a museum in New York City has discovered a previously unknown waltz written by Frédéric Chopin, marking the first time that a new piece of work by the Polish composer has been found in nearly 100 years.

    Video above: Archaeologists excavate historic site in Gloucester, Massachusetts

    The waltz, written on a small manuscript measuring about 4 inches by 5 inches, was first discovered by curator Robinson McClellan in 2019, who then sought outside expert help, according to a statement from the Morgan Library & Museum on Monday.

    “He found it peculiar that he could not think of any waltzes by Chopin that matched the measures on the page,” reads the statement.

    “Chopin famously wrote in ‘small forms,’ but this work, lasting about one minute, is shorter than any other waltz by him,” the statement says. “It is nevertheless a complete piece, showing the kind of ‘tightness’ that we expect from a finished work by the composer.”

    McClellan asked Chopin expert Jeffrey Kallberg, associate dean for arts and letters at the University of Pennsylvania, to help authenticate the waltz. “Extensive research points to the strong likelihood that the piece is by Chopin,” according to the statement.

    This research included analysis by paper conservators who found that the paper and ink match those that Chopin normally used. This dated the manuscript to the 1830s, a museum spokeswoman told CNN on Oct. 29.

    “The penmanship matches other examples of Chopin’s handwriting,” said the spokeswoman. “The score contains fingerings and dynamic markings, suggesting that Chopin thought the piece might be performed someday.”

    The Morgan Library & Museum believes the fact that the manuscript is so small could mean that it was meant to be a gift that the recipient would have kept in an autograph album.

    Chopin was known to sign manuscripts that were gifts, but this one is unsigned, which the museum says suggests that he ultimately decided against giving it away.

    “This newly discovered waltz expands our understanding of Chopin as a composer and opens new questions for scholars to consider regarding when he wrote it and for whom it was intended,” said McClellan in the statement.

    “To hear this work for the first time will be an exciting moment for everyone in the world of classical piano.”

    The museum spokeswoman said that the work “offers a look into Chopin’s creative process,” particularly given its short length and “some interesting dynamic markings.”

    “We can see Chopin trying things that would become hallmarks of his style,” she added, highlighting the fact that the manuscript would have been written when Chopin was in his early 20s.

    A discovery of an unknown piece of work by Chopin has not happened since the late 1930s, according to the museum.

    “Our extensive music collection is defined by handwritten examples of the creative process and it is thrilling to have uncovered a new and unknown work by such a renowned composer,” said Colin B. Bailey, museum director, in the statement.

    The Polish composer was born in 1810 and was best known for solo piano pieces.

    Chopin died in Paris, France, at the age of 39. He’s one of Poland’s most famous sons, and his name adorns the airport serving the capital, Warsaw, as well as parks, streets, benches and buildings.

    His works and image are ubiquitous across the central European country, and his residences bear unmissable plaques. Busts and statues of his likeness are dotted across several major cities.

    Even his heart, preserved in alcohol after his death in 1849, is sealed into a wall of Warsaw’s Holy Cross Church.

    But recent suggestions about Chopin’s private life collided awkwardly with Poland’s staunchly conservative traditions and have caused some to question whether the story of Chopin that Poles are told from a young age is true.

    According to a Swiss radio documentary released in 2020, the composer had relationships with men, and those relationships were left out of history by successive historians and biographers — a potentially thorny charge in one of Europe’s worst countries for LGBTQ rights.

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  • Lost music by Chopin unearthed nearly 200 years after composer’s death

    Lost music by Chopin unearthed nearly 200 years after composer’s death

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    A curator at a museum in New York City has discovered a previously unknown waltz written by Frédéric Chopin, marking the first time that a new piece of work by the Polish composer has been found in nearly 100 years.Video above: Archaeologists excavate historic site in Gloucester, MassachusettsThe waltz, written on a small manuscript measuring about 4 inches by 5 inches, was first discovered by curator Robinson McClellan in 2019, who then sought outside expert help, according to a statement from the Morgan Library & Museum on Monday.“He found it peculiar that he could not think of any waltzes by Chopin that matched the measures on the page,” reads the statement.“Chopin famously wrote in ‘small forms,’ but this work, lasting about one minute, is shorter than any other waltz by him,” the statement says. “It is nevertheless a complete piece, showing the kind of ‘tightness’ that we expect from a finished work by the composer.”McClellan asked Chopin expert Jeffrey Kallberg, associate dean for arts and letters at the University of Pennsylvania, to help authenticate the waltz. “Extensive research points to the strong likelihood that the piece is by Chopin,” according to the statement.This research included analysis by paper conservators who found that the paper and ink match those that Chopin normally used. This dated the manuscript to the 1830s, a museum spokeswoman told CNN on Oct. 29.“The penmanship matches other examples of Chopin’s handwriting,” said the spokeswoman. “The score contains fingerings and dynamic markings, suggesting that Chopin thought the piece might be performed someday.”The Morgan Library & Museum believes the fact that the manuscript is so small could mean that it was meant to be a gift that the recipient would have kept in an autograph album.Chopin was known to sign manuscripts that were gifts, but this one is unsigned, which the museum says suggests that he ultimately decided against giving it away.“This newly discovered waltz expands our understanding of Chopin as a composer and opens new questions for scholars to consider regarding when he wrote it and for whom it was intended,” said McClellan in the statement.“To hear this work for the first time will be an exciting moment for everyone in the world of classical piano.”The museum spokeswoman said that the work “offers a look into Chopin’s creative process,” particularly given its short length and “some interesting dynamic markings.”“We can see Chopin trying things that would become hallmarks of his style,” she added, highlighting the fact that the manuscript would have been written when Chopin was in his early 20s.A discovery of an unknown piece of work by Chopin has not happened since the late 1930s, according to the museum.“Our extensive music collection is defined by handwritten examples of the creative process and it is thrilling to have uncovered a new and unknown work by such a renowned composer,” said Colin B. Bailey, museum director, in the statement.The Polish composer was born in 1810 and was best known for solo piano pieces.Chopin died in Paris, France, at the age of 39. He’s one of Poland’s most famous sons, and his name adorns the airport serving the capital, Warsaw, as well as parks, streets, benches and buildings.His works and image are ubiquitous across the central European country, and his residences bear unmissable plaques. Busts and statues of his likeness are dotted across several major cities.Even his heart, preserved in alcohol after his death in 1849, is sealed into a wall of Warsaw’s Holy Cross Church.But recent suggestions about Chopin’s private life collided awkwardly with Poland’s staunchly conservative traditions and have caused some to question whether the story of Chopin that Poles are told from a young age is true.According to a Swiss radio documentary released in 2020, the composer had relationships with men, and those relationships were left out of history by successive historians and biographers — a potentially thorny charge in one of Europe’s worst countries for LGBTQ rights.

    A curator at a museum in New York City has discovered a previously unknown waltz written by Frédéric Chopin, marking the first time that a new piece of work by the Polish composer has been found in nearly 100 years.

    Video above: Archaeologists excavate historic site in Gloucester, Massachusetts

    The waltz, written on a small manuscript measuring about 4 inches by 5 inches, was first discovered by curator Robinson McClellan in 2019, who then sought outside expert help, according to a statement from the Morgan Library & Museum on Monday.

    “He found it peculiar that he could not think of any waltzes by Chopin that matched the measures on the page,” reads the statement.

    “Chopin famously wrote in ‘small forms,’ but this work, lasting about one minute, is shorter than any other waltz by him,” the statement says. “It is nevertheless a complete piece, showing the kind of ‘tightness’ that we expect from a finished work by the composer.”

    McClellan asked Chopin expert Jeffrey Kallberg, associate dean for arts and letters at the University of Pennsylvania, to help authenticate the waltz. “Extensive research points to the strong likelihood that the piece is by Chopin,” according to the statement.

    This research included analysis by paper conservators who found that the paper and ink match those that Chopin normally used. This dated the manuscript to the 1830s, a museum spokeswoman told CNN on Oct. 29.

    “The penmanship matches other examples of Chopin’s handwriting,” said the spokeswoman. “The score contains fingerings and dynamic markings, suggesting that Chopin thought the piece might be performed someday.”

    The Morgan Library & Museum believes the fact that the manuscript is so small could mean that it was meant to be a gift that the recipient would have kept in an autograph album.

    Chopin was known to sign manuscripts that were gifts, but this one is unsigned, which the museum says suggests that he ultimately decided against giving it away.

    “This newly discovered waltz expands our understanding of Chopin as a composer and opens new questions for scholars to consider regarding when he wrote it and for whom it was intended,” said McClellan in the statement.

    “To hear this work for the first time will be an exciting moment for everyone in the world of classical piano.”

    The museum spokeswoman said that the work “offers a look into Chopin’s creative process,” particularly given its short length and “some interesting dynamic markings.”

    “We can see Chopin trying things that would become hallmarks of his style,” she added, highlighting the fact that the manuscript would have been written when Chopin was in his early 20s.

    A discovery of an unknown piece of work by Chopin has not happened since the late 1930s, according to the museum.

    “Our extensive music collection is defined by handwritten examples of the creative process and it is thrilling to have uncovered a new and unknown work by such a renowned composer,” said Colin B. Bailey, museum director, in the statement.

    The Polish composer was born in 1810 and was best known for solo piano pieces.

    Chopin died in Paris, France, at the age of 39. He’s one of Poland’s most famous sons, and his name adorns the airport serving the capital, Warsaw, as well as parks, streets, benches and buildings.

    His works and image are ubiquitous across the central European country, and his residences bear unmissable plaques. Busts and statues of his likeness are dotted across several major cities.

    Even his heart, preserved in alcohol after his death in 1849, is sealed into a wall of Warsaw’s Holy Cross Church.

    But recent suggestions about Chopin’s private life collided awkwardly with Poland’s staunchly conservative traditions and have caused some to question whether the story of Chopin that Poles are told from a young age is true.

    According to a Swiss radio documentary released in 2020, the composer had relationships with men, and those relationships were left out of history by successive historians and biographers — a potentially thorny charge in one of Europe’s worst countries for LGBTQ rights.

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  • Vilcek Foundation Awards $100,000 Prize in Music to Du Yun

    Vilcek Foundation Awards $100,000 Prize in Music to Du Yun

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    Born in China, composer, performer, and advocate Du Yun defies expectations or categorization.

    Press Release
    –

    Feb 14, 2023 09:45 EST


    NEW YORK, February 14, 2023 (Newswire.com)
    –
    Du Yun receives a 2023 Vilcek Prize in Music for her open approach to composition, which stretches the boundaries of traditional classical music by incorporating influences from punk, electronic, experimental music, and spoken word traditions. The composer, performer, and advocate is renowned for her artistic leadership as a founding member of the International Contemporary Ensemble, and for her groundbreaking operas Zolle and Angel’s Bone.

    “Du Yun’s phenomenal range is apparent in the span of her work—from her operas to her electrifying postmodern compositions,” says Vilcek Foundation President Rick Kinsel. “From the atonal jazz of her band OK MISS to the haunting movements of A Cockroach’s Tarantella, her work bridges sound art and classical composition.”

    The Vilcek Prize in Music is a $100,000 prize awarded by the Vilcek Foundation as part of the Vilcek Foundation Prizes. The prizes are awarded annually in recognition and celebration of immigrant vanguards in the arts and in biomedical science whose work has had a profound impact on culture and society. In addition to providing direct support to immigrant artists and scientists, the purpose of the prizes is to raise awareness of the importance of immigration to intellectual and cultural life in the United States. 

    In recognition of Du Yun’s receipt of the Vilcek Prize, the Vilcek Foundation has published a video biography and in-depth profile on the foundation’s website, Du Yun: “You can’t think of things that don’t work as a failure”. 

    At the age of 4, Du Yun asked for a piano, and for music lessons. Her parents—both factory workers in Shanghai—let her know they would be willing to make the financial sacrifices necessary to support her pursuit of music, but that such sacrifice would require Du Yun’s commitment and dedication. Du Yun didn’t hesitate. This tenacity has characterized Du Yun’s career. She insists that her talent is not innate but has come from years of work—her own, and that of her family.

    “To be an artist is such a privilege,” she says. “So many people worked so that you can do the thing you want to do.” 

    Du Yun receives the Vilcek Prize in Music, as does Benin-born singer and songwriter Angélique Kidjo. In 2023, the Vilcek Foundation is also awarding three smaller prizes of $50,000 each—the Vilcek Prizes for Creative Promise in Music—to young immigrant musicians whose work demonstrates a unique perspective and represents an important contribution to their genre. The 2023 Vilcek Prizes for Creative Promise in Music are awarded to Arooj Aftab (b. Saudi Arabia to Pakistani parents), Juan Pablo Contreras (b. Mexico), and Ruby Ibarra (b. Philippines). 

    Read more at the Vilcek Foundation: Du Yun: “You can’t think of things that don’t work as a failure”

    The Vilcek Foundation

    The Vilcek Foundation raises awareness of immigrant contributions in the United States and fosters appreciation of the arts and sciences. The foundation was established in 2000 by Jan and Marica Vilcek, immigrants from the former Czechoslovakia. The mission of the foundation was inspired by the couple’s respective careers in biomedical science and art history. Since 2000, the foundation has awarded over $7 million in prizes to foreign-born individuals and supported organizations with over $6 million in grants.

    The Vilcek Foundation is a private operating foundation, a federally tax-exempt nonprofit organization under IRS Section 501(c)(3). To learn more, please visit vilcek.org. 

    Source: The Vilcek Foundation

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