Concert is on Friday, Mar. 21 at Moores Opera House through Lago Vista Community Concerts Foundation and the University of Houston
Houston, February 6, 2025 – Tickets are now on sale for the Voice of Brubeck: Themes and Explorations, presenting major orchestral and vocal works of jazz pianist and composer Dave Brubeck, set for Friday, March 21 at the Moores Opera House on the University of Houston (UH) campus. Presented by Lago Vista Community Concerts Foundation, in partnership with UH, this is the second installment in the Voice of Brubeck series, following the sold-out, inaugural concert last June with the Houston Chamber Choir, the Brubeck Brothers Quartet, and the Paul English Quartet.
The Voice of Brubeck: Themes and Explorations brings back jazz artist Chris Brubeck, along with The Moores School of Music Symphony Orchestra (dir. Franz Anton Krager), soloists Simone Gundy (The Voice), Horace Alexander Young, and the Paul English Quartet. As with the inaugural edition, the UH program will be professionally recorded and released later this year on Navona Records.
Volume Two will feature some of Dave Brubeck’s freshly arranged sacred vocal music, a few of his jazz masterpieces, and a five-movement orchestral tour-de-force, Theme and Explorations, commissioned by Andre Previn for the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. The March 21 concert creates a unique opportunity for the listener to experience Brubeck’s versatile and complex musical narrative unrestrained by stylistic boundaries.
“The Voice of Brubeck is an homage to the great Dave Brubeck, with the mission to reintroduce listeners to the phenomenal legacy of his jazz, symphonic, chamber, and sacred choral music,” says Arthur Gottschalk, professor of music composition at Rice University and the producer of this multi-year, collaborative project. “Several decades ago, Brubeck’s jazz compositions were widely performed, but audiences today are often unfamiliar with his music, even more so with his classical and sacred music.”
“Houston is a diverse city with diverse musical tastes. Based on the turnout and audience reaction to last year’s Brubeck concert with the Houston Chamber Choir, we know there is an appetite for this amazing body of musical work,” Gottschalk continues.
“We hope people of all ages and backgrounds will come out to experience these wonderful artists and musicians who are keeping Brubeck’s music alive. With a lineup of Chris Brubeck, Simone Gundy, Horace Alexander Young, and the Paul English Quartet, backed by the Moores Symphony, the concert is a must-see event.”
“I grew up in Detroit, city of jazz, as a passionate lover of the art form,” says Franz Anton Krager, conductor of the Moores School Symphony Orchestra. “Dave Brubeck was my hero from the very beginning, as I listened to his music day in and day out. I credit him with instilling in me a lifetime regard for classic jazz, cool jazz and the blues.”
“Dave Brubeck’s use of rhythm and meter was so inspiring for me as a youngster that it set me on a path to study percussion as a music-major” continues Krager. “Today, as a professional conductor of classical music I consider rhythm to be one of my rudimentary strengths, and Dave Brubeck is that rhythmical spirit that lives within me. Now, to have been invited to be a part of a project that promotes the jazz legacy that is Dave Brubeck is one of the greatest honors of my professional conducting career.”
Supporting programming for the Voice of Brubeck includes educational opportunities such as master classes, guest artist talks, and Q&A sessions. During these sessions, students and audience members will be able to ask questions, engage in a conversation with Chris Brubeck and the other project principals, and hear more about Dave Brubeck’s music and the Voice of Brubeck initiative. Holding the performance at a university campus makes it convenient for students to attend the concert. Admission is free for university students.
Details:
WHAT: Voice of Brubeck: Themes and Explorations
WHEN: Friday, March 21 at 7:30 p.m.
WHERE: Moores Opera House, 3333 Cullen Blvd., Houston, TX 77004
TICKETS: Price range is $10 to $20. Tickets can be purchased online at www.voiceofbrubeck.com/voice-of-brubeck-themes-and-explorations/. Students attend for free with ID.
Check out our website www.voiceofbrubeck.com/voice-of-brubeck-themes-and-explorations/ for full details.
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Link to photos and video here
Photo and video credits:
Courtesy of Arthur Gottschalk
Courtesy of “The Voice of Brubeck”
Courtesy of Chris Brubeck
Courtesy Franz Anton Krager
Courtesy of Simone Gundy
Courtesy of Horace Alexander Young
Courtesy of Paul English
About Voice of Brubeck
The Voice of Brubeck is an homage to the great American jazz pianist and composer, Dave Brubeck, with the mission to reintroduce listeners to the phenomenal legacy of his jazz, symphonic, chamber, and sacred choral music. Several decades ago, Dave Brubeck’s jazz compositions were widely performed, but audiences today are often unfamiliar with Brubeck’s music, even more so with his classical and sacred music. Presented by and in partnership with the Brubeck Brothers Quartet, the Houston Chamber Choir, the Paul English Quartet, and many other fine musicians, this project will result in fresh performances of Dave Brubeck’s serious symphonic, chamber, and sacred vocal works, the studio recording of many of Brubeck’s compositions that were never before recorded, and a series of performances and educational opportunities in the Greater Houston area. This project is intended to raise awareness of and interest in Dave Brubeck’s lesser-known serious symphonic, chamber, and sacred vocal music, and to preserve his legacy for future generations of listeners.
Lago Vista Community Concerts Foundation has launched its new multi-year collaborative project – “The Voice of Brubeck,” which is comprised of new musical arrangements of Dave Brubeck’s compositions, public performances of those works, education workshops and lectures, touring, and recording sessions.
Dave Brubeck had a transformative impact on American Jazz and his legacy continues to influence jazz musicians to this day. The classical music of Dave Brubeck, however, remains mostly unknown, remaining in the shadow of his prolific jazz output. After serving in Patton’s 3rd Army in WWII, Brubeck returned to the United States to study classical music composition, first with Darius Milhaud in his native California, and then later with Nadia Boulanger, in France. Although he found early and sustained success with his career as a jazz pianist and composer, he continued to create high quality, serious works, often inspired by his deep faith and devotion, until his untimely demise in 2012. The purpose of this project is to celebrate, promote, and preserve Dave Brubeck’s symphonic, chamber, and sacred vocal music.
About The Moores School of Music
The Rebecca and John J. Moores School of Music is the music school of the University of Houston. The Moores School offers the Bachelor of Music, Bachelor of Arts in Music, Master of Music, and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees in music performance, conducting, theory and composition, music history and literature, pedagogy, and music education and also offers a Certificate of Music Performance. It is a component of the University of Houston’s Kathrine G. McGovern College of the Arts. The Moores School is a fully accredited member of the National Association of Schools of Music (NASM).
The mission of Moores School of Music is to provide an outstanding comprehensive music education on the undergraduate and graduate levels, overseen by a faculty and staff second-to-none; to continue to develop recognition of the school at the local, national, and international levels in order to attract students of the highest caliber; and to provide the university community and the city with the highest quality performances that will both educate and entertain.