A brief description about your website. http://www.uwtexas.org/ Copyright 2008 - United Ways of Texas. May 4, 2010. Da Camera of Houston announces that it has received three major grants from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). “This year marks the largest cumulative grant in our history from this federal agency," said Exec. Dir. Sarah Loudermilk. The grants are awarded by panels made up of our national peers, and this demonstrates the high level of respect that our colleagues have for Da Camera and Artistic Director Sarah Rothenberg’s thoughtful programming.” In the American Masterpieces category, Da Camera has been awarded $40,000 – its largest ever single grant from the NEA – in support of the organization’s 2010/2011 jazz series and related educational activities. Da Camera has been awarded a grant of $22,500 in the Access to Artistic Excellence category. The grant supports a recording of works by Asian American composers. A collaboration between Da Camera and the performing ensemble Music From China, the compact disc will include works by composers Zhou Long and Shih-Hui Chen. Da Camera receives $16,000 in a second Access to Artistic Excellence grant, supporting three chamber music concerts during the 2010/2011 season: Music for Rothko celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Rothko Chapel; the Ebène String Quartet; and pianist and Artistic Director Sarah Rothenberg’s The Blue Rider: Kandinksky and Music. http://www.uwtexas.org/uwt-capitol-blog/?aid=19 Mon, 17 May 2010 11:35:08 -0400 http://www.uwtexas.org/uwt-capitol-blog/?aid=19 Congratulations to long-time Da Camera subscriber Joy Lee, the lucky winner of two first-class tickets on Continental Airlines. Joy renewed her subscription by the April 15 deadline and was entered into a drawing to win the tickets. A special thank you to corporate sponsor Continental - the official airline of Da Camera of Houston. http://www.uwtexas.org/uwt-capitol-blog/?aid=14 Tue, 04 May 2010 14:58:02 -0400 http://www.uwtexas.org/uwt-capitol-blog/?aid=14 Da Camera of Houston’s Young Artists take the stage for a free nightclub show at Avant Garden, 411 Westheimer, Friday, February 19 at 7:30 PM. Breaking down boundaries between traditional classical music, world music and pop music, this performance features a wide variety of works by such composers as Bach, Mark O’Connor, Enrique Crespo, Heitor Villa Lobos and Zoltan Kodaly. The Young Artists performing on this concert are David Huntsman, violin; Joseph Maile, violin; Marissa Winship, viola; Cherry Kim, cello; Catie Hickey, trombone; Heather Zinninger, flute; Carlos Cordeiro, clarinet and Craig Hauschildt, percussion. The performers are members of the inaugural class of the Da Camera Young Artist Program. The Young Artist have worked with Da Camera throughout the year, conceiving adventurous community concerts and educational programs. Da Camera Young Artists hold degrees from our nation’s top music conservatories, including the Juilliard School, the Eastman School of Music, the University of Houston’s Moores School of Music and Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music. Da Camera selected them through competitive audition. http://www.uwtexas.org/uwt-capitol-blog/?aid=18 Wed, 10 Feb 2010 15:20:42 -0500 http://www.uwtexas.org/uwt-capitol-blog/?aid=18 Da Camera of Houston launches the Young Artist Program, a chamber music and jazz professional development program for instrumentalists, singers and composers, in the fall of 2009. This pilot program is designed to provide career-expanding experiences and training to the next generation of artists and educators, encouraging them to advocate for music in the community throughout their careers. Another primary goal is to give HISD students and under-served audiences up-close and personal experiences with great music and talented performers, encouraging the students to use music as a vehicle for exploration of what they are learning in the classroom. “More and more, musicians are expected to go beyond formal concert hall performances and to create other meaningful ways to engage the communities where they live and perform,” said Da Camera Artistic Director Sarah Rothenberg. “Yet there are too few programs in which young artists can develop these skills. We hope to help fill the gap. Also, young musicians today are seeking a broader definition of career success. Inventing innovative programming, relating music to the world around them, talking to diverse audiences, self-presenting-- these are all aspects of developing a full life as a successful performing musician, and we're pleased to share our experience in these areas with young professionals." Da Camera’s program is notable for utilizing the organization’s experienced staff extensively as mentors and for the diversity of settings in which the young artists perform. It is also notable that an organization of Da Camera’s size is launching such a program independent of an educational institution. Applicants included aspiring professional musicians between 18 and 30 years of age, who were required to submit a resume, cover letter and list of repertoire. The finalists were selected by audition and interview with the director of the program, Da Camera’s Education Manager Evan Leslie; Artistic Director Sarah Rothenberg and an advisory committee consisting of Norman Fischer, Professor of Cello at Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music; Timothy Hester, Associate Professor of Piano at the University of Houston’s Moores School of Music; Richard Lavenda, Professor of Composition at the Shepherd School; jazz educator Dr. Robert Morgan. The recipients of the 2009/2010 Young Artist Program fellowship are David Keck, baritone; Matthew Roitstein, flute; Carlos Cordeiro, clarinet; Caitlin Hickey, trombone; David Huntsman, violin; Joseph Maile, violin; Marisa Winship, viola; Cherry Kim, cello; Ted Botsford, bass; Yi Zhang, piano; Craig Hauschildt, percussion and Andrew Nishikawa, composer. The participants range from graduate students at the Shepherd School of Music and the Moores School of Music to freelance musicians who have already completed their degrees. The Young Artist Program provides opportunities in four major areas: Performance Training: Da Camera Young Artists receive guidance through master classes and other activities with Da Camera’s Artistic Director, Sarah Rothenberg; Da Camera visiting artists, including Seymour Lipkin, Steven Isserlis, Eliot Fisk, Jennifer Koh, Ben Allison, Brandon Lee, the Enso String Quartet and members of the advisory committee. Performance Opportunities: Da Camera Young Artist performances will include appearances at The Wortham Theater Center on Da Camera of Houston’s A Little Day Music series, The Menil Collection on Da Camera of Houston’s Stop Look and Listen series and other education and outreach events. Education and Outreach Training: Da Camera Young Artists learn how to effectively engage young students in a classroom and how to perform effectively for diverse audiences. The artists collaborate with Da Camera staff and HISD teachers to create innovative lesson plans that integrate live music performance with core academic curriculum. Career Expansion: Da Camera Young Artists gain an up-close perspective on nonprofit arts management. Through workshops with Da Camera’s experienced staff, they learn about grant writing, fundraising and marketing. The Young Artists Program has received initial support from the Immanuel & Helen B. Olshan Foundation. Da Camera plans to expand the program in the future to serve more artists, school children and its audience for chamber music and jazz events. http://www.uwtexas.org/uwt-capitol-blog/?aid=11 Fri, 02 Oct 2009 10:35:55 -0400 http://www.uwtexas.org/uwt-capitol-blog/?aid=11 Houston native Brandon Lee appears on Wednesday, August 26 in the PBS Great Performances program, "Harlem in Montmartre." It tells the story of the jazz age in Paris between the first and second World Wars, exploring an often neglected era in African-American cultural history. After peace was signed at Versailles, many black Americans remained in Europe rather than return to the brutal segregation and racism of America. Over the next two decades, they created an expatriate community of musicians, entertainers and entrepreneurs, primarily congregating in Paris's hilly Montmartre neighborhood. Some achieved enduring fame, while others have faded into history. Inspired by the book by William A. Shack and utilizing rare archival material from both France and America, this documentary features footage of such key figures as James Reese Europe, Josephine Baker, Sidney Bechet, Bricktop, Eugene Bullard, Django Reinhardt, and many more. Catch Brandon Lee on Da Camera's jazz series in March, 2010. http://www.uwtexas.org/uwt-capitol-blog/?aid=17 Tue, 25 Aug 2009 16:52:22 -0400 http://www.uwtexas.org/uwt-capitol-blog/?aid=17 A frequent guest ensemble on Da Camera of Houston's chamber music series, the Enso String Quartet has a new cd of quartets by Ginastera out on Naxos. http://tinyurl.com/lou4d5 Get a glimpse of the recording session with soprano Lucy Shelton in this YouTube video. The quartet performed a Ginastera quartet during their concert at the Menil Collection in November 2007. They return with guitarist Eliot Fisk for Italian Romantics on October 30. http://www.uwtexas.org/uwt-capitol-blog/?aid=16 Mon, 13 Jul 2009 13:03:04 -0400 http://www.uwtexas.org/uwt-capitol-blog/?aid=16 Da Camera Artistic Director Sarah Rothenberg's The Blue Rider In Performance will open the season at New York's renowned Miller Theatre. This world premiere event explores the dynamic interaction of music, light, and visual imagery using materials from Vasily Kandinsky's seminal Blue Rider Almanac of 1912. Rooted in Kandinsky's connections to artists in both Russia and Germany, the Blue Rider Almanac brought together art, music, and writing from avant-garde movements across Europe, capturing a short-lived moment of international experimentalism that was abruptly halted by the outbreak of World War I. Pianist Sarah Rothenberg and soprano Susan Narucki perform music from the era by such composers as Scriabin, Webern, and Berg under a rich blanket of light and projection; world premiere choreography by Karole Armitage further illuminates Arnold Schoenberg’s ground-breaking Second String Quartet. The Blue Rider In Performance opens September 23 with an additional performance on September 25. It is co-produced with Works & Process at the Guggenheim, in conjunction with the KANDINSKY retrospective at the Guggenheim Museum. With concept and direction by Sarah Rothenberg, The Blue Rider features lighting and set design by Marcus Doshi, projection design by Sven Ortel, the Brentano String Quartet; Susan Narucki, mezzo-soprano; Sarah Rothenberg, piano; special guest choreographer Karole Armitage with dancers from Armitage Gone! Dance and music by Alban Berg, Thomas de Hartmann, Arthur Lourié, Arnold Schoenberg, Alexander Scriabin, and Anton Webern. http://www.uwtexas.org/uwt-capitol-blog/?aid=15 Fri, 26 Jun 2009 12:15:39 -0400 http://www.uwtexas.org/uwt-capitol-blog/?aid=15 Congratulations to Esperanza Spalding, the Jazz Journalists Association's Up and Coming Artist of the Year for 2009. Don't miss her appearance as part of the 09/10 Da Camera jazz series. Other award winners include SFJAZZ Collective, Sonny Rollins, Rudresh Mahanthappa, Brian Blade and Kurt Elling, all of whom have appeared on the Da Camera Jazz series. Read more about the awards. http://www.uwtexas.org/uwt-capitol-blog/?aid=13 Fri, 19 Jun 2009 12:24:21 -0400 http://www.uwtexas.org/uwt-capitol-blog/?aid=13 Read more about it here. http://www.uwtexas.org/uwt-capitol-blog/?aid=12 Thu, 04 Jun 2009 13:03:54 -0400 http://www.uwtexas.org/uwt-capitol-blog/?aid=12 Da Camera of Houston’s second compact disc, featuring the music of American composer Charles Wuorinen, has been released on the Naxos label. Featuring six chamber works by the acclaimed composer and performed by an ensemble of musicians long associated with Da Camera, Charles Wuorinen: Ashberyana and Fenton Songs includes the Da Camera-commissioned Ashberyana for baritone, string quartet, trombone and piano; Fenton Songs I and Fenton Songs II for soprano, violin, cello and piano; Josquiniana for string quartet and the solo piano pieces Praegustatum and Ave Christe of Josquin. The album is released in anticipation of Wuorinen’s 70th birthday on June 9, 2008. Ashberyana was commissioned in 2004 by Da Camera of Houston to honor Sarah Rothenberg’s tenth anniversary as Artistic Director with funds from Chamber Music America’s Commissioning Program, supported by the Chamber Music America Endowment Fund. Additional support provided by Works and Process at the Guggenheim and the National Endowment for the Arts. The recording was made possible in part by a grant from the Aaron Copland Fun for Music, Inc. http://www.uwtexas.org/uwt-capitol-blog/?aid=10 Wed, 20 May 2009 16:50:34 -0400 http://www.uwtexas.org/uwt-capitol-blog/?aid=10