ROCO is thrilled to announce our 2019-20 season, entitled “Coming of Age,” celebrating our milestone fifteenth season. ROCO will present a record-breaking 21 new commissions, bringing the total to a whopping 100 distinct premieres since our formation in 2005.

This year’s In Concert series is built around these new commissions and will explore themes of hope, beauty, and humanity while our players curate their own concerts in the Unchambered series. The Connections series continues to take the music out of the concert hall and into new and unusual places with the return of the beloved Yuletide Brunch and Brass, a new special partnership with the Holocaust Museum Houston to inaugurate their newly opened building and a reimagining of the Age of Aquarius at Rienzi with music of the ‘70’s —1770, 1870, and 1970.

Additionally, ROCO is pleased to welcome Mei-Ann Chen as our first-ever Artistic Partner, returning each season as conductor for a dynamic collaborative concert, and engaging in dialogue with ROCO as an artistic thought partner.

“ROCO comes of age in this anniversary 15th season through exploring the individual musical journeys of our musicians and collectively building a vast new repertoire for our field,” says Alecia Lawyer, Founder and Artistic Director. “We are blazing a trail for the creation of innovative and community-specific arts groups around our country and look forward to inviting our audience into deeper musical conversations.”

Bruce Adolphe has written a triptych of pieces for ROCO to show the breadth and depthof what we do and our hybrid model:

In Concert • Hope for Beauty November 16 • St. John the Divine

I Too Bleed and Hope for Beauty (for chamber orchestra)

Connections • We Were the Music March 5 • Holocaust Museum Houston

Music is a Dream (chamber piece for oboe, cello, and piano)

We Were the Music (solo piece for cello)

FIFteen project: In celebration of Season 15, Mark Buller has curated an incredible list of diverse composers to write 15 Fanfares, Interludes, and Finales commissioned and sprinkled throughout the season.

Marcus MaroneyBrian Raphael NaborsOsnat NetzerHilary PurringtonKate SalfelderJess Langston TurnerCynthia Lee Wong

Judah AdashiKarim Al-ZandAlejandro BasultoMark BullerLedah FinckIsabelle GanzJason GerraughtyDesmond IkegwuonuMei-Ann Chen, Artistic Partner

Conductor: Shiyeon SungFlute: Christina JenningsViola d’amore: Matt Dane

Marcus Maroney: Concerto for Flute and Viola d’amore ROCO WORLD PREMIERE COMMISSION

Darius Milhaud: The Creation of the World

Modest Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition(arr. Alan Gout)

May 2 | 5:00 pm | St. John the Divine

September 27 | 8:00 pmMiller Outdoor Theatre

September 28 | 5:00 pmSt. John the Divine

Time for HopeConductor: Mei-Ann Chen, ROCO Artistic PartnerMezzo-Soprano: Laurie RubinComposer: Lisa Bielawa

Lisa Bielawa: Centuries in the Hours ROCO WORLD PREMIERE COMMISSION

Judith Shatin: Ice Becomes Water WITH IMAGES FROM LIBBIE MASTERSON

Alejandro Basulto: Triptico de Luz

Joseph Haydn: Symphony No. 104 “London”

Full 40-piece chamber orchestra

Conductor: Christopher RountreeErhu: Andy Lin

Kevin Lau: Concerto for Erhu ROCO WORLD PREMIERE COMMISSION

W.A. Mozart: Masonic Funeral Music

Missy Mazzoli: Sinfonia (for Orbiting Spheres)

Jean-Fery Francois: Elements

William Grant Still: Darker America

Conductor: Alastair Willis

Bruce Adolphe: I too Bleed, and Hope for Beauty

ROCO WORLD PREMIERE COMMISSION

Edward Elgar: SospiriGiya Kancheli: A Little DaneliadeManuel de Falla: El Amor Brujo

November 16 | 5:00 pm | St. John the Divine

February 8 | 5:00 pmSt. John the Divine

February 22

UnraveledDanielle Kuhlmann, Horn and CuratorGavin Reed, HornAlecia Lawyer, OboeMei Rui, Piano

Jim Stephenson ROCO CO-COMMISSION PREMIERE

Works by Heinrich Herzogenberg, Charlie Chaplin, Evan Kuhlmann

November 2

MorselsScott St. John, Violin and Curator

Min-Jeong Koh, ViolinRichard Belcher, Cello

Robert MaggioROCO WORLD PREMIERE COMMISSION

Works by Joseph Haydn, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart,

Anton Dvorak, Paul Hindemith, Anton Webern, Max Reger

...pushing the limits

of the expected. — Houston Chronicle

April 4

Alecia Lawyer, Oboe and CuratorErin Tsai, OboeSpring Hill, English HornKristin Wolfe Jensen, BassoonMei Rui, Piano and Harpsichord

Works by Alyssa Morris, Erberk Eryılmaz, Jan Dismas Zelenka

Intimate chamber ensemble series

curated by individual ROCO musiciansSaturdays | 5:00 pm | MATCH

Nathan WIlliams and Maiko Sasaki, Clarinets and Curators

Colette Valentine, Piano

October 19

Works by Igor Stravinsky, Michael Tenzer, Gary Schocker, Marcus Maroney, Bela Kovacs,

Felix Mendelssohn, Theresa Martin, Amilcare Ponchielli

Age of Aquarius • January 306:00 pm Reception

7:00 pm ConcertRienzi

1406 Kirby Drive

Featuring Robert Greenberg,The Great Courses

Music of the ‘70’s — 1770, 1870, 1970

January 9 • 6:00 pm Saint Arnold Brewery

2000 Lyons Ave

Unique collaborations with dynamic partners

throughout the community

We Were the MusicMarch 5

6:00 pm Galleries open • 7:00 pm Concert5401 Caroline Street

Explorations April 18 • 5:00 pmFirst Congregational Church10840 Beinhorn Road

ROCO Brass Quintet

Brunch & BrassDecember 911:00 am Location TBD

Peter and The RaptorJanuary 1110:30 am & 11:30 am

5555 Hermann Park Drive

A night out for you, music education and childcarefor kids!

Ages 2 months to 10 years are welcome! All receive music education lesson, only children ages 5 to 10 years old

are invited into the concert to hall to hear a piece.

Parents, grandparents, and

caregivers get to enjoy a ROCO

concert and a date night or fun

with friends while children receive:

a music lesson on one piece

on the ROCO program from our

fantastic music teacher

a trip into the concert hall to hear the piece performed live

a recap from our teacher to solidify what was heard and seen

movies and pizza afterward until 10:30 (optional)

ROCOrooters is available during all of ROCO’s In Concert performances at St. John the Divine and offers up to 6 hours of childcare under the supervision of certified and bonded childcare professionals.

Drop-off time: 4:30pm

Latest pick-up time: 10:30pm

Tickets $35 – 1 child$60 – 2 children $85 – 3 children

Subscriptions for the wholeseason are available too!$140 / $240 / $340

Season 15 ROCOrooters Concerts:Saturdays -- Sep 28 • Nov 16Feb 8 • May 2

For more questions or more information

please email info@roco.org

or call us at 713.665.2700 or

purchase at roco.org/tickets

“Since its establishment…ROCO has been known to be two beats ahead of its time”

— Modern Luxury Houston Magazine

Accessibility is one of ROCO’s core values. We achieve this through creating an inclusive

atmosphere, offering inexpensive or free tickets, and partnering with schools and

organizations. New this season, program notes for our concerts will be made accessible

for the blind and visually impaired through audio recordings and braille. Our partnership

with Spectrum Fusion will allow adults with autism to experience ROCO in a sensory-

friendly environment. Season 15 programming will expand ROCO’s reach and allow for

individuals to build relationships with ROCO musicians in even more innovative ways.

Can’t make it to a concert?

Want to relive one you loved?

Now you can enjoy ROCO anywhere in the world!

Anytime, Anywhere

ROCO live streams all In Concert performances

and hosts a collection of audio recordings from

past concerts on our website. All you need is a

sense of curiosity and an internet connection and

you can be transported to a ROCO experience under the listen tab at roco.org!

ROCO is a dynamic and innovative professional music ensemble that flexes

from 1 to 40 players from all over the US and Canada, with guest artists from

around the world. Performing intimate concerts in dozens of venues, ROCO’s

musicians don’t just give concerts – they challenge preconceptions, create

extraordinary experiences, and foster new relationships with audiences

through the language of music.

Expanding the repertoire, ROCO has premiered over 65 commissions from

living American composers. ROCO embraces technology, with free worldwide

concert livestreams and real-time artist commentary via a smartphone app,

as well as on-demand recordings of past concerts via the Listening Room. A

vital part of the community, ROCO concert DVDs are sent to nursing homes

and hospitals to bring music to those immobile communities, and their music

education/childcare program attracts multigenerational audiences.

➤In ConCert Full 40-piece chamber orchestra

➤ UnChambered Intimate chamber ensemble series featuring individual ROCO musicians at The MATCH

➤ConneCtIons Unique collaborations with dynamic partners throughout the community

➤ tIme for hope September 27 • 8:00 pm Miller Outdoor Theatre September 28 • 5:00 pm St. John the Divine

➤ flaIr October 19 • 5:00 pm MATCH

➤ morsels November 2 • 5:00 pm MATCH

➤ hope for beaUty November 16 • 5:00 pm St. John the Divine

➤yUletIde brUnCh and brass December 9 • 11:00 am Location TBD

➤beer & brass January 9 • 6:00 pm Saint Arnold Brewery

➤peter and the raptor January 11 10:30 am and 11:30 am Houston Museum of Natural Science

➤age of aqUarIUs January 30 6:00 pm Reception 7:00 pm Concert Rienzi

➤ beaUty Is In the eye February 8 • 5:00 pm St. John the Divine

➤ Unraveled February 22 • 5:00 pm MATCH

➤We Were the mUsIC March 5 6:00 pm Galleries open 7:00 pm Concert Holocaust Museum Houston

➤ personalItIes April 4 • 5:00 pm MATCH

➤exploratIons April 18 • 5:00 pm First Congregational Church of Houston

➤ eye of the World May 2 • 5:00 pm St. John the Divine

Houston Endowment, Inc.

Albert and Margaret Alkek Foundation

City of Houston and Houston Arts Alliance • EPCO

The Houstonian Hotel, Club & Spa • Miller Theatre Advisory Board

The Brown Foundation, Inc. • The Wortham Foundation

The W.T. and Louise J. Moran Foundation

The William Stamps Farish Fund • Comstock

Anadarko Petroleum Corporation • Humphreys Foundation

Texas Commission on the Arts • Cullen Trust for the Performing Arts

Frost Bank • Powell Foundation

Thank You!

for more InformatIon or to donate:roCo.org/donate

713.665.2700

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