Through the end of December, ROCO is providing the soundtrack for Houston’s largest waterway! Even if you can’t explore this beautiful location in person, you can visit the “Listen” page on our website (www.rocohouston.org) and hear the music selected for each of the forty stops along the way. Be sure to check out the eighteenth stop at the Carruth Bridge if you’d like to hear me play some Copland! Here’s the official press release:
ROCO is excited to announce a new project with the fellow Houston-based Buffalo Bayou Partnership, a non-profit organization that has spearheaded the revitalization and transformation of Buffalo Bayou, Houston’s most significant natural resource. Through this collaboration, visitors can explore miles of trails lining the Buffalo Bayou to discover QR codes posted at landmarks and public art works, which each link to a specific piece of music performed by ROCO, specially selected for each location or art installation and curated by the ROCO team.
Some of the works that will be included in the project include Flying Sirto by Erberk Eryilmaz at the Waugh Bat Bridge, Brad Sayles’ Buffalo Bayou Suite near John Runnels’s steel canoe sculptures, Alexander Miller’s ROCOmoji (a Concerto Grosso for Double Reeds) second movement, titled “OMG”, at the Lee and Joe Jamail Skatepark, Alejandro Basulto’s Tríptico de Luz at the Hidalgo Park Historic Gazebo, and Shostakovich’s Ballet Suite at the Sesquicentennial Park Monument honoring James A. Baker III, who helped oversee foreign policy at the end of the Cold War.
Chosen from ROCO’s 15 years of live performance recordings, the repertoire features a mix of pieces by historical and contemporary composers – including 13 of ROCO’s own commissioned world premiere works, seven pieces by female composers, and ten by composers of color. A recent study from the Institute of Composer Diversity found ROCO is the number one ensemble in the US for performing the works of women and number two for the works of composers of color.
“We can now physically weave our music through our community, providing a soundtrack for Houston! ROCO has always offered our recordings for free listening and now you can also enjoy the wonders of Buffalo Bayou while on a musical scavenger hunt,” said ROCO’s Founder, Artistic Director, and principal oboist Alecia Lawyer.
“We are thrilled to host this project by ROCO along the Buffalo Bayou Park trails,” said Karen Farber, BBP’s VP of External Affairs. “Now those walking or riding along the bayou can experience their surroundings in a whole new way. We hope our visitors will explore all 40 sites throughout the fall.”
The initiative will be in place from September 25 to December 31, 2020, in celebration of the Buffalo Bayou Partnership’s 5th anniversary.
“There are always flowers for those who want to see them.” —Henri Matisse