COVID19 Arts Music Update for Houston
There seems to be not one aspect of our collective live’s that this pandemic has not impacted and changed us. How we (or do not) work, shop, worship, entertain, visit friends, travel, and interact with society in general are just some examples of how we have all been affected. For the time being going to Minute Maid Park, the Toyota Center and NRG Stadium are simply not a possibility. The same is true for our vibrant arts community. The performing venues are dark and, realistically, as with the rest of our lives, the immediate future is unknown. Here is the latest information from our musical presenters for the 2020-2021 season:
Houston Grand Opera
I spoke recently with Perryn Leech, the Managing Director of Houston Grand Opera. He told me that essentially no live performances are planned until the summer of 2021. “It is quite simply impossible to rehearse and perform before any sized live audience without threatening the safety of all involved.” Like most similarly sized organizations, HGO has reduced its administrative budget by about one third.
There will be some digital performances, however, beginning this September. The “Live from the Cullen Recital Series” has been recently announced as well as a “re-envisioned HGO Studio Showcase” televised series with its global streaming partner, “Marquee TV.”
Houston Grand Opera (HGO) is pleased to announce HGO Digital, its all- new program of digital works for the 2020–21 season. Starting in September and extending through April 2021, HGO will release original video content bimonthly for audiences to enjoy from the comfort of their homes, free of charge. Programming includes one three-act opera, three one-act operas, three concert events, and a special documentary project on the making of HGO’s world-premiere opera based on the children’s book The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats. In addition, HGO Digital will present the Live from the Cullen Recital Series, featuring opera stars Tamara Wilson, Arturo Chacón-Cruz, Reginald Smith Jr., and select HGO Studio artists in the fall 2020 releases.
To support the series, Sarah and Ernest Butler, longtime HGO supporters, have made the extraordinarily generous pledge of $1 million to help underwrite HGO Digital programming. The pledge will support both Houston Grand Opera and Austin Opera, creating a strategic partnership between the two Texas companies.
For more information, please go to www.houstongrandopera.org.
Houston Symphony Orchestra
I reached out to Vicky Dominquez, Chief Operating Officer, and Eric Skelly, Director of Communications for HSO.
From a recent press release –
Since canceling the balance of the 2019-2020 Season and its usual slate of summer performances in early March, the Houston Symphony has been turning out reams of content to keep its audiences connected and entertained during quarantine (www.houstonsymphony.org/listenathome). The Symphony has been continuously performing live concerts for its audiences via livestream.
Beginning in May the Symphony began live-streaming its Living Room Series. Each Friday night, a musician from the Houston Symphony hosted a live-streamed concert from their home.
This gave way to Live from Jones Hall, a new series going on now, in which Houston Symphony musicians perform live from the stage of Jones Hall each Saturday night. It’s hosted by Executive Director/CEO/holder of the Margaret Alkek Williams Chair John Mangum, and each program showcases Houston Symphony musicians, socially distanced onstage, in programs that balance the familiar (e.g.: a Brandenburg concerto from J.S. Bach) with the less familiar (a movement from a Florence Price string quartet).
An update on the 2021-2022 season was to be issued after the INTOWN publishing deadline.
For updates, go to www.houstonsymphony.org
Houston Ballet
Houston Ballet’s Public Relations Manager, Jacalyn Lawton, provided INTOWN with its latest information.
From its press release –
Due to the ongoing pandemic and recovery forecasting, the schedule for Houston Ballet’s fall in-theater performances has changed. Season package repertories, Love Letters (September 11-20, 2020) and Mayerling (September 24 – October 4, 2020) will not be held in person during their regularly scheduled times. Subscribers will receive fulfillment for this portion of their investment via to be determined digital fall programs and/or rescheduled in-person performances in 2021. The Nutcracker (November 27 – December 27, 2020), which generates $5 million in revenue, will not be performed as planned. The organization hopes to hold its first in-theater performance with the Margaret Alkek Williams Jubilee of Dance on December 4, followed by a limited number of performances of a holiday special. Subscribers will receive more information about these changes via email.
The nonprofit, which lost $1.3 million in revenue over three canceled ticketed productions alone, filled the remainder of its canceled 2019-2020 season with an abundance of digital content. It upheld its promise to season subscribers and single ticket holders through Brunch with Houston Ballet, delivering exclusive on-demand videos of 16 previously recorded ballets. HB at Home, a social media series of videos, welcomed viewers daily to new dancer generated content. The well-established Dance Talks lecture series reached new audiences through digital Zoom conversations entitled After the Curtain Falls and The Dancer Perspective.
“We are not finished creating,” says Houston Ballet Artistic Director Stanton Welch. “We’ve demonstrated that time and time again. While the future is uncertain, this is not. We can and will bring high-quality art to this city through dance, whether you see it from the house of a theater or your living room couch.”
Houston Ballet’s staff members are diligently preparing solutions for multiple scenarios in a reimagined 2020-2021 season. They hope to know more in the coming months about alternative programming, after further discussions with artists unions and healthcare partners.
“We’ve had to make difficult decisions for the season ahead, because of the prolonged COVID-19 crisis,” says Houston Ballet Executive Director Jim Nelson. “Every member of our Houston Ballet family will be affected at some point during the season. It’s paramount that we make these changes to safeguard the longevity of our organization.”
To ensure Houston Ballet successfully emerges from this pandemic with its world-renowned ballet company and staff who support them intact, it will take more than budget cuts. To address the devastating loss of ticket revenue, Houston Ballet has launched a $5 million fundraising campaign to restore its artists and staff.
“With strong support from the Board of Trustees, we have already raised more than $1 million towards this campaign goal, which includes a generous dollar-for-dollar challenge grant from The Cullen Trust for the Performing Arts,” says Houston Ballet Chief Development Officer Angela Lane. “Even so, the pandemic presents the most significant financial challenge Houston Ballet has ever faced, and we need community-wide support to emerge from this crisis.”
For updates, please go to www.houstonballet.org
River Oaks Chamber Orchestra
I discussed ROCO with Alecia Lawyer, Founder and Artistic Director, and she said that ROCO will move forward with the 2020-2021 season this fall and will perform only as live-streams, not to an in-person audience. ROCO has already been live-streaming for over seven years. The ROCO Gala, normally held after the first concert, will be a virtual event on September 25, 2020 with live performances streamed and meals by one of Houston’s leading chefs, Robert Del Grande, delivering gourmet meals to each home.
For updates, please go to www.roco.org
Houston Civic Symphony
President Al Thomas advises that they have suspended rehearsals and concerts through the end of the calendar year. They are hoping that their first performance will be in March, 2021, where their Young Artists winner perform.
For update, please go to www.civicsymphony.org
Houston Brass Band
Artistic Director, Bob Walp, told me that the members are meeting via ZOOM post the INTOWN deadline to determine their collective ideas of the coming season. He also mentioned that the annual Middle School and High School young musicians competitions will be held during the year. The Middle School contestants will be judged by members of HBB, and the High School students will, as usual, be judged by the brass players of the Houston Symphony.
For updates, please to to www.houstonbrassband.org
So there you have the results of the most unpleasant assignment that I ever gave myself. The best way to summarize is to say this is one of most important times to begin or continue to support the arts. There has probably never been a time when donations are so vital. Our common goals should be to help ensure that when these great organizations return to regular performances that they are in as good financial shape as possible.
As always, your comments are most appreciated at classicalmusicberquist@gmail.com