We're thrilled to announce that Da Camera is one of the June charities at the OKRA Charity Saloon. Bar patrons select which of 4 charities is chosen as a beneficiary by voting for one of 4 nominees. For each drink purchased, guests receive 1 vote that they may cast before leaving the bar for the evening. The Original OKRA Charity Saloon is located at 924 Congress, Houston, TX 77002. The Saloon is open from 4pm to 2am every day. Happy Hour from 4pm to 6:30pm every day: $3 well, $3 beers, $5 wines. Paninis, Fries, Cookies and other small bites are available until midnight daily.

In this fascinating piece, pianist Lara Downes reflects on leaders in the dual role of dual role of performing artist and concert presenter. Of Sarah Rothenberg's programming here at Da Camera she notes "this mining of other art forms for connection and context yields a wealth of fascinating material, and is fertile ground for the growth of a culturally inquisitive audience. It’s work that has created an effective change to the city’s cultural life."

"Sarah Rothenberg unravels darkness of human psyche in love-obsessed multimedia spectacle," says Joel Luks of Culturemap. "Rothenberg sketches a bewitching milieu that injects additional high octane, inner psyche turmoil to intensify haunting pieces by Arnold Schoenberg and Johannes Brahms; art by Max Klinger and Gustav Klimt; and the writings of Sigmund Freud and August Strindberg" Read the complete review.

Culturemap previews In the Garden of Dreams. This behind the scenes preview includes video interviews with Sarah Rothenberg, bass baritone Michael Sumuel and mezzo soprano Charlotte Hellekant.

Click here for a preview in the Houston Chronicle of Sarah Rothenberg's latest "boundary crossing" performance. 

We're thrilled that saxophonist Ravi Coltrane, vocalist/bassist Esperanza Spalding and violist Kim Kashkashian (for the lovely Kurtág & Ligeti: Music For Viola) were all nominated for 2012 Grammy Awards. And let us not forget Houston native jazz pianist Robert Glasper's two nominations in the R&B category for his genre-bending "Black Radio," one of our favorite jazz albums of 2012. Click here for the complete list of nominees.

Da Camera is pleased to announce its world premiere recording of Shih-Hui Chen's Da Camera-commissioned Shu Shon Key (Remembrance) for viola and chamber ensemble, available for download now on Amazon and iTunes.

“Shu Shon Key was inspired by a Taiwanese folk melody and conveys homesickness as well as a reminiscence of my Taiwanese childhood. Since Hsin-Yun [Huang: the violist for whom the work was written] and I were born in Taiwan and now we both reside in the West, it is most fitting for me to use a Taiwanese folk melody as the basis for this piece. This is also consistent with my compositional focus in recent years on the integration of Western techniques with elements from a Chinese sound world.” -- Shih-Hui Chen

The performers on this new recording are Hsin-Yun Huang, viola; Leone Buyse, flute; Richie Hawley, clarinet; Maureen Nelson, violin; Richard Belcher, cello; Blake Wilkins, percussion and Sarah Rothenberg, piano. Recorded in September, 2011 at Stude Hall, Shepherd School of Music, Rice University. Shu Shon Key was commissioned for Hsin-Yun Huang by Da Camera of Houston, Appalachian Summer Festival, Evergreen Symphony Orchestra and the Foundation for Chinese Performing Arts.

Click here to purchase on iTunes. Click here to purchase on Amazon.

Click here for the story by the Chronicle's Everett Evans.