Upcoming Concerts
2007-08

Belcea Quartet
Tues, April 8, 2008

Emerson String Quartet
Tues, April 29, 2008

Tickets

PLEASE DONATE TICKETS YOU ARE UNABLE TO USE:

If you are donating your tickets for a concert, you may leave a message at our office phone, 713.348.5400. On the evening of the concert, 6:30-7:30 p.m., you may call the box office to donate the tickets: 713.348.5363. Any tickets which you need to donate or are unable to use will receive a receipt for tax purposes.

HFM as Matchmaker

HFM Subscribers Trish Hintzel & Carlos Simon

Although not normally considered part of its core mission, HFM is pleased to have indirectly acted as matchmaker in the case of subscribers Trish Hintzel and Carlos Simon.  As they tell the story, Carlos had seen Trish at HFM concerts and was on the lookout for opportunities to introduce himself.  That opportunity came in April of last year when he saw Trish at a nearby bakery.  Things moved quickly from there.  They worked with HFM Administrator Deirdre Spann to get their season tickets for the current season moved together.  The couple celebrated the Fourth of July by getting engaged. They married on February 2^nd of this year.  Trish says that Houston Friends of Music "brought us together."  But even before that, she thought of HFM as the "best music value in town."

HFM sponsored two master classes with the Jasper String Quartet.  The Jasper is a graduate string quartet at Shepherd School of Music.

The January 24^th event was held at Stratford High School, hosted by Stratford orchestra conductor Michael Fahey.  The February 5^th event was held at Lamar High School, hosted by Rick Yancey and Grace Granata.

Jasper Members Answer Stratford Students' Questions

The Jasper performed selections from Schubert's "Death and the Maiden" and Bartok's Fourth and Sixth String Quartets.  Members of the Jasper made insightful comments about the music along the way.  The students were clearly attentive and interested.  The Jasper fielded questions from students not only about the music but also questions regarding the backgrounds of the musicians as individuals, and as a performing string quartet.

The students also took turns at performing, with the Jasper members offering enthusiastic comments and encouragement.

Jasper Violist Sam Quintal Coaches Lamar Students

CANTUS Master Class

Earlier in the day of the February 12 Cantus performance for HFM, the group coached two choirs in a master class sponsored by Houston Friends of Music.   The class was held at the University of Houston, and over 60 students participated.  An audience of about 30 also attended.

U of H Concert Chorale relaxes between lively coaching sessions

The two groups were the U of H Concert Choral, led by Dr. Betsy Weber, and the Concert Women's Chorus led by Richard Robbins.

Dr. Weber says "Cantus' remarks to my singers during the master class were spot on."  The class was "incredibly important" in showing "the degree to which truly collaborative professionals LISTEN and take ownership in the music-making."

Coming in April

Belcea Quartet

Tuesday, April 8

http://www.artsmg.com/

Haydn:    String Quartet in D Major, Op. 20, No. 4
Britten:   String Quartet No. 3
Mozart:   String Quartet in D Major, K. 499 "Hoffmeister"

 
The relatively young Belcea String Quartet appears for the first time on the HFM series, Tuesday, April 8.  Last year, Michelle Dulak Thomson, the string player-turned reviewer from San Francisco, wrote: "It would be difficult to improve on the Belcea's Mozart.  They are not an ordinary competition-circuit quartet. For one thing, they put much more thought and effort into articulation than they do into pouring out sound ... Leader Corina Belcea ... embodies the [tone] ... Her alert, zesty, occasionally impetuous style is the style of her three comrades-in-arms. And everything they do, they seem to do with one mind, not because of obsessive rehearsing but just because they all want the same thing."