Houston is set to be a hub of exquisite classical music performances featuring works by the great Joseph Haydn. Kicking off on September 26, 2024, with the Takács Quartet and Jeremy Denk at Hobby Center for the Performing Arts, audiences will be treated to Haydn's String Quartets, Op.54. In October, the Mercury Chamber Orchestra will present 'Classical Piano Trios' across various venues in Houston, including the Museum of Fine Arts. Come February 7, 2025, the New York Philharmonic String Quartet will grace the stage at the Hobby Center, performing Haydn's String Quartets, Op.77. Finally, on May 23, 2025, 'Classical Collaborations' will bring together a delightful mix of sonata, symphony, and concerto pieces at the Hobby Center, showcasing Haydn's Symphony No. 48.

Experience Haydn in Houston: Stellar Classical Performances Await

Houston is set to dazzle music lovers with a series of spectacular concerts celebrating the genius of Johannes Brahms. From the intricate Violin Concerto No. 1 by Bach, performed by the Houston Symphony, to the debut performance of the award-winning pianist Alexandre Kantorow, the city's musical calendar is packed with must-see events. Additionally, the beloved production 'Loving Clara Schumann' makes a triumphant return, while the critically acclaimed Merz Trio explores night melodies. Don't miss these unforgettable performances in Houston's finest venues.

Experience the Brilliance of Brahms in Houston: Unmissable Concerts and Performances

Houston, get ready to be mesmerized by an extraordinary series of events celebrating the genius of Robert Schumann! These captivating performances include 'Loving Clara Schumann' by the Mercury Chamber Orchestra, Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen's groundbreaking countertenor recital, and the innovative 'Merz Trio: Night Songs.' Each event promises an unforgettable experience, delving deep into themes of mental health, human connection, and the transformative power of music.

Houston's Musical Tribute: Schumann and Beyond

Renowned for their fresh approach to period instrument performance of classical repertoire, the members of this Russian-Swedish-French ensemble together produce a unique sound – described by The Observer (London) as “a shock to the ears of the best kind.” Rediscover great works of Beethoven and Schubert in the ensemble’s Houston debut.  Chiaroscuro Quartet translates into sound the Renaissance painting technique they are named after – crafting unforgettable music through shifting shades of light and darkness.

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Chiaroscuro Quartet

The Menil Collection

Spanish Harlem Orchestra, the three-time Grammy Award-winning salsa and Latin jazz band, sets the gold standard for excellence in authentic, New York-style salsa. Their energy on stage and their rich sound and musical precision leave audiences mesmerized. With an unwavering respect for the music’s storied history, the ensemble’s thirteen world-class instrumentalists and vocalists come together to create an unparalleled musical experience.

Spanish Harlem Orchestra

Wortham Theater Center

The stellar combination of pianist Jeremy Denk — winner of a MacArthur “Genius” Fellowship and the Avery Fisher Prize — and the internationally-renowned, Grammy Award-winning Takács Quartet promises music making of unparalleled virtuosity and deep intelligence. In their first DACAMERA appearance, Takács Quartet brings us a Haydn quartet filled with dramatic twists and surprises and Janáček’s first quartet, inspired by Tolstoy’s tale of passion, jealousy and murder. Dvořák’s exquisite, thrilling piano quintet transforms folk themes and dances into one of the most beloved works of the chamber music repertoire.

Takács Quartet and Jeremy Denk, piano

Hobby Center for the Performing Arts

One of the most lyrical and intimate voices of contemporary jazz piano, Brad Mehldau has forged a unique path, which embodies the essence of jazz exploration, classical romanticism and pop allure. His forays into melding musical idioms, in both trio and solo settings, has seen brilliant re-workings of songs by The Beatles, Cole Porter, Radiohead, Paul Simon, George Gershwin and Nick Drake; alongside the ever evolving breadth of his own significant catalogue of original compositions. Mehldau’s new trio includes seven-time Grammy Award-winning bassist Christian McBride and Grammy Award-winning drummer Marcus Gilmore, best known for his work with Chick Corea, Vijay Iyer and Pat Metheny.

Brad Mehldau, Christian McBride, Marcus Gilmore

Duke Ellington looms large as one of the most important composers, bandleaders and pianists of the 20th century. Experience the timeless genius of Ellington’s music, brilliantly reimagined by pianist Jason Moran, in this extraordinary celebration of the composer’s enduring legacy, 125 years after his birth. Guided by the composer’s great canon, Moran takes a solo piano climb up “Mount Ellington” and then he’s joined by the big band from his storied alma mater, Kinder High School for the Visual and Performing Arts.

Jason Moran Presents “Duke Ellington: My Heart Sings”

The immensely gifted drummer Terri Lyne Carrington – NEA Jazz Master and 4-time Grammy Award winner – has worked tirelessly over the last decade to advocate for inclusivity in jazz. Carrington and her bandmates delve into the Grammy-winning ‘Best Jazz Instrumental Album’ New Standards Vol. 01, shining a powerful light on music from great women composers including Carla Bley, Cassandra Wilson, Gretchen Parlato, Abbey Lincoln, Eliane Elias and Marilyn Crispell.

Terri Lyne Carrington’s New Standards

Described by the San Francisco Chronicle as “powerfully adept… with a combination of brilliance and subtlety,” the Telegraph Quartet was awarded the prestigious 2016 Walter W. Naumburg Chamber Music Award and the Grand Prize at the 2014 Fischoff Chamber Music Competition.

Telegraph Quartet: New Worlds

The 2024 Grammy Award-winning Imani Winds are celebrating over a quarter century of music making, having led both a revolution and evolution of the wind quintet through their dynamic playing, adventurous programming, imaginative collaborations and outreach endeavors that have inspired audiences of all ages and backgrounds. The recipient of the 2022 Sphinx Medal of Excellence, Michelle Cann has become one of the most sought-after pianists of her generation, lauded as “exquisite” by The Philadelphia Inquirer.

Imani Winds; Michelle Cann, piano

This dynamic alto saxophonist fuses traditional conceptions of jazz, hip hop and soul. With three Grammy Award nominations for her most recent recording Phoenix — for Best Jazz Instrumental Album, Best Instrumental Composition and Best Jazz Performance — Lakecia Benjamin is taking the jazz world by storm. “The wide sense of adventure on Phoenix,” says All Music, “reveals Benjamin as ambitious as she is focused, energetic and perceptive.”

Lakecia Benjamin and Phoenix

The winner of the coveted 2024 Gilmore Artist Award, the youngest pianist ever to receive this prestigious accolade, makes his first Houston appearance. At the age of 22, Alexandre Kantorow was the first French pianist to win the Gold Medal at the Tchaikovsky Competition, also receiving the Grand Prix, previously awarded only three times in the competition’s history.

Alexandre Kantorow, piano

Longtime DACAMERA favorites, the members of the New York Philharmonic String Quartet are principal musicians from the esteemed orchestra. Multiple prize winners all, they have appeared as concerto soloists with the Philharmonic and orchestras around the world, and their quartet performances are rare and cherished events.

New York Philharmonic String Quartet

DACAMERA and The Menil Collection welcome distinguished composer Thomas Adès, CBE, in his first Houston appearance. Recognized the world over as one of today’s greatest living composers, Adès is also active as pianist and conductor, having led award-winning performances of his operas The Exterminating Angel and The Tempest at Metropolitan Opera and beyond.  His most recent Grammy Award was for The Dante Project, a collaborative ballet with visuals by artist Tacita Dean.

Thomas Adès: Musical Alchemy

Emi Ferguson (baroque and modern flutes); Immanuel Wilkins Quartet (Immanuel Wilkins, saxophone; Micah Thomas, piano; Thomas Morgan, bass; Kweku Sumbry, percussion); Ruckus (Doug Balliett, baroque bass and viola da gamba; Elliot Figg, harpsichord and keyboard; Paul Holmes Morton, theorbo and baroque guitar; Clay Zeller-Townson, baroque bassoon)

Emi Ferguson, flute; Immanuel Wilkins Quartet; and Ruckus

With this moving program, countertenor Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen opens up new paths for his voice type. From Korngold and Schumann to works from Nussbaum Cohen’s Jewish heritage, songs by Black American composers, and a new work composed for this program by leading American composer, Jake Heggie, this program is a departure from the standard countertenor repertory and promises to create a memorable evening.

Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen, counter-tenor

By overwhelming consensus, the Vijay Iyer Trio has become one of the pivotal jazz bands of the twenty-first century. Described as “the best piano trio in jazz today” (Der Spiegel), “truly astonishing” (NPR) and “the best band in jazz” (PopMatters), the trio’s music is emotionally resonant and deeply interactive, radiating groove and brimming with polyrhythmic detail, rooted in tradition yet truly innovative in style and form.

Vijay Iyer Trio

Hailed as “entrancing” (BBC Music Magazine) and “artists in the deepest sense of the word” (CutCommon), Merz Trio – winners of the Naumburg, Concert Artists Guild, Fischoff and Chesapeake Competitions – are known for their inventive programming. Join Merz Trio as they search for song in night’s darkness. Beginning with the 12th century chants spun by Hildegard von Bingen in her solitary monastic cell, explore melody sung into and for the night, weaving together a musical conversation that joins the voices of Purcell, Schumann, Alma Mahler, Brahms and Zemlinsky, and into the twentieth century with Thelonious Monk’s poignantly lonely ode to a dark hour.

Merz Trio: Night Songs

Meta4 returns to DACAMERA with a dynamic program of vivid musical contrasts. DACAMERA’s dear friend, the great Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho (1952-2023), is remembered with a performance of her second quartet, Terra Memoria; composed “for those departed,” the work is deeply moving in its hypnotic exploration of memory, loss and transformation. Shostakovich’s Quartet No. 4 is a riveting response to the tragedies of the Second World War. The work was withheld from public performance until after Stalin’s death — the composer’s searing personal message is encoded in this powerful musical work.  The program concludes with Ravel’s colorful quartet– eagerly embraced by listeners since its first performance in 1904, promising a dazzling and brilliant finale to the evening.

Meta4 Quartet

Through an inimitable voice that The New York Times touts as “a smooth, dark alto possessed of qualities you might associate with barrel-aged bourbon or butter-soft leather,” acclaimed vocalist and songwriter Lizz Wright’s singing is a soaring reflection of the cultural fabric of America. Wright is one of the great modern American singers, with an illustrious 20-year career transcending social divides with her offer of love and a deep sense of humanity.

Dacamera

Dec 6, 2024

Terri Lyne Carrington’s New Standards

Dec 10, 2024

Telegraph Quartet: New Worlds

Jan 17, 2025

Imani Winds; Michelle Cann, piano

Jan 25, 2025

Lakecia Benjamin and Phoenix

Jan 28, 2025

Alexandre Kantorow, piano

Oct 28, 2024

Chiaroscuro Quartet

Oct 4, 2024

Spanish Harlem Orchestra

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