The Energy Corridor of Houston Orchestra (ECHO) is setting sail on its ninth season with programming to take audiences around the world without leaving west Houston. The season starts today with Music From The New World and offers several chances to see the organization on its musical journey throughout the year.
“On the heels of the pandemic, we feel like we can see the light at the end of the tunnel. It is really exhilarating now to be able to finally present full orchestra concerts to the public,” said Musical Director Michael Fahey. “We feel like we’re ready to perform in a free and much more joyous manner now that things have settled down a little bit in the world.”
Fahey chose to open the season with Antonin Dvorak’s Symphony No. 9, also known as the New World Symphony, at 7:30 p.m. Thursday with a full orchestral performance at St. John Vianney Church, 625 Nottingham Oaks Trail. The program will also feature the world premiere of a new work by Houston-based composer Mark Buller as well as Danzon No. 2 by Mexican composer Arturo Marquez.
“I realized that many composers wrote nine symphonies, and the Dvorak is a favorite symphony of a lot of people. It’s always been a favorite of mine. I’ve played it many times, but I’ve never conducted it, and this is the perfect time for us,” he said. “His ninth symphony is called The New World. We are the new world, in America, so we’re playing the Dvorak symphony to celebrate our nation and our hopeful emergence from the pandemic and landing on our feet.”
ECHO continues the season kick-off 5:30 p.m. October 23 with its first ECHOes in the Area miniconcert at La Tartine Restaurant, 1570 S. Dairy Ashford, compete with Parisian-style hors d’oeuvres and a glass of wine while enjoying Scirocco Winds, a clarinet quartet led by ECHO’s principal clarinet Jennifer Dennison.
Audiences can then travel to the Mediterranean, 5:30 p.m. Sunday, November 27 at Cafe Benedicte, 15455 Memorial Dr. Audiences will enjoy a string trio led by ECHO conductor Michael Fahey with wine and hors d’oeuvres.
ECHO’s choice to send trios and quartets to perform in cafes was born out of necessity due to the pandemic, but it turns out the audiences loved it – so ECHO will continue with that mode for part of this season.
“People really enjoy the intimacy of the smaller venues. They liked the idea of being able to have a bite to eat or have a glass of wine and listen to music at the same time. They liked the intimacy of having just a few musicians and that they could mingle with the musicians afterward. And they liked the informality of that too,” Fahey added.
The winter concert this season gets the jump on ringing in the New Year with ECHO’s first ever New Year’s Eve Eve event. This New Year’s Around the World concert at 7:30 p.m. December 30 at the Queensbury Theater, 12777 Queensbury lets audiences begin their celebration a day before the revelry begins with an upbeat selection of modern and contemporary orchestral and dance-band renditions of pieces from many countries. Vocalist Leon Turner will join, and the evening will conclude with a lobby reception including food and wine – topped off with a celebratory glass of champagne.
Moving into 2023, the orchestra will host its annual Young Artist Concerto Competition. High school and college music students are invited to Lanier Middle School, 2600 Woodhead, Sunday, February 19 from noon until 4 p.m. to compete for the opportunity to play a concerto during ECHO’s season finale.
ECHOes in the Area wraps up at 11:30 a.m. April 1 at the King’s Head Pub, 1809 Eldridge. The featured ensemble will be the Randy Snyder Jazz Trio led by ECHO’s principal trumpet Randy Snyder and will include food and drink within the ticket price.
To round out the group’s season, the orchestra will gather again at Strake Jesuit High School, 8900 Bellaire Boulevard, to celebrate music education in the community with a program featuring the winner of their Young Artist Competition as well as a side-by-side performance with the Strake Jesuit Orchestra of several well-known classical works including Academic Festival Overture by Johannes Brahms.
As the ninth season starts, Fahey beamed with pride reflecting on ECHO’s growth throughout the years.
Fahey said, “We’ve evolved to the point where we’re playing sometimes entire classical symphonies, romantic works and new works. [We’ve grown] in the depth and level of music that we play. We’ve grown also in the size of the group, the commitment level of the group and in the commitment level from the audience.”
See ECHO perform Music From The New World at 7:30 Thursday at St. John Vianney Church, 625 Nottingham Oaks Trail and 5:30 p.m. Sunday at LaTartine Restaurant, 1570 S. Dairy Ashford. For tickets or more information, visit ECHOrchestra.org. New World Symphony: Free to $15. ECHOes in the Area: $25.
This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2022.
