Presented by Stella Artois
Photos: HERE
HOUSTON, TX (February 28, 2023) — The Houston Symphony announces its full series of 2023 Summer Special concerts, Summer Sounds at the Hobby Center, presented by Stella Artois. This summer’s lineup ushers in John Williams’s epic score in Star Wars: A New Hope in Concert, as well as unforgettable hits in The Music of Queen, live in concert at the Hobby Center for the Performing Arts.
Kicking things off on July 7 and 8 with the force of a full rock band, the Houston Symphony takes on a set list of Queen’s iconic hits. Guest conductor Brent Havens returns to Houston to lead the electrifying program with rock vocalist Mig Ayesa for fan favorites including “Somebody to Love” and “Bohemian Rhapsody.” Formed in the 1970s, the English rock band Queen dominated popular culture as one of the world’s top-selling recording and concert acts. With record sales estimated in the hundreds of millions, Queen received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2018. The classical influence in progressive rock anthems like “Bohemianl Rhapsody” makes Queen’s music particularly well-suited for symphony orchestras. For tickets and more information, call 713.224.7575 or visit houstonsymphony.org/musicofqueen.
Friday, July 28 and Saturday, July 29, the Houston Symphony performs John Williams’s epic score for Star Wars: A New Hope in Concert. The Symphony will screen the iconic 1977 American film by award-winning director George Lucas, bringing its soundtrack to life for a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Regarded as one of the most important films in the history of cinema, Star Wars: A New Hope commenced the start of the movie’s franchise, launched the careers of its young stars Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill, and Carrie Fisher, and revolutionized motion pictures. Its groundbreaking special effects and its restoration of the primacy of film scores to the art of storytelling changed the way films are made in Hollywood forever. For tickets and more information, call 713.224.7575 or visit houstonsymphony.org/starwars.
Details about the Hobby Center and parking are at https://www.thehobbycenter.org/visit/parking-directions/. Audiences are encouraged to come dressed as their favorite character as Han, Luke, Leia, and company roam the lobby for photo opportunities, and adults in the audience can enjoy special Star Wars-themed cocktails. Additionally, visitors may enjoy dining at the Diana American Grill prior to or after performances. For more information about Diana American Grill, visit https://dianaamericangrill.com/. For tickets and more information, please call 713.224.7575 or visit houstonsymphony.org. All programs and artists are subject to change.
The Music of Queen
Friday, July 7 at 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, July 8 at 7:30 p.m.
Hobby Center for the Performing Arts
Brent Havens, conductor
Mig Ayesa, vocalist
Star Wars: A New Hope in Concert
Friday, July 28 at 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, July 29 at 2:30 and 7:30 p.m.
Hobby Center for the Performing Arts
About Houston Symphony
For Juraj Valčuha’s inaugural season as Music Director, the Houston Symphony continues its second century as one of America’s leading orchestras with a full complement of concert, community, education, touring, and recording activities. One of the oldest performing arts organizations in Texas, the Symphony held its inaugural performance at The Majestic Theater in downtown Houston on June 21, 1913. Today, with an operating budget of $34.325 million (FY23), the full-time ensemble of professional musicians presents more than 130 concerts annually, making it the largest performing arts organization in Houston. Traditionally, musicians of the orchestra and the Symphony’s two Community-Embedded Musicians also offer over 1,000 community-based performances each year at various schools, community centers, hospitals, and churches reaching more than 200,000 people in Greater Houston annually.
After suspending concert activities in March 2020 and cancelling the remainder of 2019–20 events due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Symphony resumed activities in May 2020, opening the 2020–21 Season on schedule in September 2020. The Symphony successfully completed a full 2020–21 season with in-person audiences and weekly livestreams of each performance, making it one of the only orchestras in the world to do so, while the Symphony’s Education and Community Engagement team continued to fulfill its mission through creative and virtual means throughout the COVID pandemic.
The Grammy Award-winning Houston Symphony has recorded under various prestigious labels, including Koch International Classics, Naxos, RCA Red Seal, Telarc, Virgin Classics, and, most recently, Dutch recording label Pentatone. In 2017, the Houston Symphony was awarded an ECHO Klassik award for the live recording of Alban Berg’s Wozzeck under the direction of former Music Director Hans Graf. The orchestra earned its first Grammy nomination and Grammy Award at the 60th annual ceremony for the same recording in the Best Opera Recording category.
About Stella Artois
Title Sponsor of the Houston Symphony’s Summer Sounds at The Hobby Center for the Performing Arts, Stella Artois has been crafting the finest lager with quality ingredients with more than 600 years of brewing heritage since its first brew in Leuven, Belgium. Now an Anheuser-Busch brand, Stella Artois dreams to provide opportunity for people, to uplift communities, and to make a meaningful impact on the world. They are business partners, collaborators, and community leaders working to make a difference around the corner and around the globe. Its thousands of employees are united in building a business for the future. A future that everyone can celebrate, and everyone can share.