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VIDEOS
Sarah Rothenberg Fanny Mendelssohn YouTube track surpasses 160,000 views
A track from Sarah Rothenberg’s 1996 recording Das Jahr recently surpassed 160,000 views on YouTube.
Da Camera presents For Philip Guston by Morton Feldman (excerpt)
In the contemplative setting of Rothko Chapel, Da Camera presents a performance of Morton Feldman’s monumental masterpiece For Philip Guston, completed 30 years ago on November 9, 1984.
Haydn, String Quartet in C Major, “Emperor”, Op. 76, No. 3
The St. Lawrence String Quartet opens Da Camera’s 2014-15 Season Inventors and Explorers with The Birth of the String Quartet: Haydn Discovery and Beethoven on Saturday, September 27, 2014 at the Wortham Center in Houston, Texas.
Commissioned by Da Camera to be premiered in the Rothko Chapel as part of Da Camera’s 25th Anniversary Season.
Movements 5, 6 and 8 from Time, Place, Action by Vijay Iyer. World premiere performance presented by Da Camera on February 15, 2014.
In this excerpt from the world premiere at Houston’s Wortham Center, mezzo-soprano Charlotte Hellekant and pianist/director Sarah Rothenberg perform Mvts Viii, IX, X, XI from Schoenberg’s The Book of the Hanging Gardens, Op. 15
Sarah Rothenberg performs Schoenberg Op. 11, No. 2. Excerpt from The Blue Rider: Kandinsky and Music; conceived and directed by Sarah Rothenberg; lighting and set design by Marcus Doshi; projection design by Sven Ortel. Produced by Da Camera of Houston; Cullen Theater, January 29, 2011.
DACAMERA RECORDINGS
DACAMERA-COMMISSIONED QUINTET BY TOBIAS PICKER AVAILABLE ON TZADIK LABEL
Acclaimed composer Tobias Picker’s DACAMERA-commissioned Piano Quintet: Live Oaks is now available on a recording issued by John Zorn’s Tzadik Label. The CD, Invisible Lilacs, presents four powerful and original pieces of chamber music spanning four decades of creative activity (1976–2011). Piano Quintet: Live Oaks had its world premiere in Houston in 2011, performed by the Brentano String Quartet and pianist Sarah Rothenberg. The New York Times called the Quintet “six deftly characterized movements of surging energy, jazzy vivacity and airy open-chord expanse.” Purchase from Amazon. Purchase from itunes.
DACAMERA recording of Shih-hui Chen’s Shu Shon Key available on Amazon and iTunes
Shih-Hui Chen’s DACAMERA-commissioned Shu Shon Key (Remembrance) for viola and chamber ensemble, is available for download 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. Click here to purchase on iTunes. Click here to purchase on Amazon. Click here for the liner notes.
Two Recent Da Camera Recordings on Major International Labels
“superior… Every work makes a statement and the sum of statements make for a convincing case for the interrelated ethos of Cage, Satie, and Feldman… in all ways a disk that excels in thoroughgoing programming brilliance, performative superiority and compositional exceptionality.” –Classical Modern Blogspot review of Rothko Chapel
“This is a marvelous release, equally perfect in conception, execution, and engineering… Very highly recommended.” – allmusic.com review of Rothko Chapel
In 2015, two DACAMERA recordings were released on prestigious European labels featuring works inspired by Houston’s Rothko Chapel. On October 23, ECM released DACAMERA’s unique Music for Rothko Chapel program featuring Morton Feldman’s 1971 masterpiece Rothko Chapel and works of Satie and John Cage. Rothko Chapel was inspired by Morton Feldman’s visit to the chapel in 1971 and by his close friendship with Rothko, who died the previous year. The DACAMERA recording is the first commercial recording of Feldman’s work made in Houston, connecting the work to its Houston roots and to the Chapel itself. The performers are Kim Kashkashian, viola; Houston Chamber Choir, conducted by Robert Simpson; Lauren Snouffer, soprano, Sonja Bruzauskas mezzo-soprano; Steven Schick, percussion and Sarah Rothenberg, piano and celeste.
On sale at the DACAMERA, 1402 Sul Ross. Order on Amazon Order on itunes
Ondine released Kaija Saariaho: Let the wind speak, a disc of works by the Finnish composer, featuring the DACAMERA-commissioned Sombre. DACAMERA celebrated its 25th anniversary by commissioning Saariaho, one of the world’s foremost composers, to respond to Rothko Chapel. The performers are Daniel Belcher, baritone; Camilla Hoitenga, bass flute; Bridget Kibbey, harp; Paul Ellison, double bass and Matthew Strauss, percussion.
“Intricate percussion intermingles with hovering, unearthly atmospheres to create a soundscape as spiritually vast as it is intimate.” — WQXR on Kaija Saariaho’s Sombre
On sale at the Da Camera Music Center, 1402 Sul Ross. Order on Amazon. Order on itunes.
IN THE PRESS
“perenially thoughtful chamber music and jazz series” – Alex Ross, The New Yorker
“an online season that stands apart from the virtual crowd” — Steve Smith, The New Yorker
“reliably adventurous” — The Washington Post
“trendsetting” – Time Out New York
“a cultural pillar of Houston and one of the nation’s leading presenters of ensemble music.”
– culturemap.com
“radiating uncommon care and intelligence” – The New York Times
“a Houston gem” – Houston Chronicle
“25th anniversary season is set to be a tour de force…daring programs that serve as a gathering spot for music lovers to meet other like-minded friends, an avenue to discover remarkable artists and music genres” – culturemap.com
“I was familiar with many of the works presented at the concerts — some of which I have performed many times — but with Rothenberg’s curatorial tactics, I was hearing them with virgin ears.” – culturemap.com
“Da Camera’s jazz series…a godsend for Houston jazz fans.”– Houston Chronicle
“Assembling a wicked corps of musicians, Da Camera presented a tour de force concert”
– culturemap.com
“a Houston gem with a unique niche in the city’s milieu of performing arts.”
– Houston Chronicle
“Da Camera has become a cultural pillar of Houston and one of the nation’s leading presenters of ensemble music.” – culturemap.com
“the city’s most significant jazz series.” – Houston Chronicle
“…exceptionally thoughtful programs on literary themes…” – The New York Times, 1997
“An ingenious thematic idea was brilliantly used in the program performed by Da Camera of Houston…” – The Washington Post, 1997
“Da Camera of Houston is unique.” – Champaign-Urbana News Gazette, 2000
“As part of an adventurous chamber music program, Da Camera brings in several national jazz acts each season.” – Downbeat
“Debussy wrote chamber music for unusual combinations of instruments. It’s performed only when a group like Da Camera puts together a program like Impressionist Visions.”
– Houston Chronicle, 2001
“Da Camera’s…program…was full of revelations.” – Austin American Statesman, 1996
“Da Camera has a knack for mixing genres…” – Houston Press, 2000
“What makes Da Camera’s programs more than just glorified poetry readings or concerts…is the care with which both art forms are portrayed in context.” – Piano and Keyboard, 1998
“These events by Da Camera of Houston begin with good ideas, but more impressive is the thoroughness with which they are worked out.” – The New York Times, 1997
“In its ambitious Music and the Literary Imagination series, Da Camera of Houston has been pairing poets and composers…” – Stagebill, 1997
OUR VALUES
Connection
We value and nurture rich and often unexpected connections among musical genres, art forms, and ideas; between people and places; between the past and the present.
Exploration
We believe that openness to new experiences and enthusiasm for learning are vital to human experience. At the vanguard of arts organizations, we continually evolve our ways of presenting to combine an unusual mix of in-depth exploration and accessibility.
Excellence
DACAMERA has become synonymous with quality; the common denominator of our diverse activities, on stage and in the community, is excellence.
LET’S KEEP IN TOUCH.
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