When Energy Corridor of Houston Orchestra will perform its finale of the 2024-25 season, it will do so with a flurry of improvisation guided by one of the most recognizable pieces of American music. Themed “Rhapsody in Blue,” it is not hard to guess what the signature piece will be. Yet, the concert on Friday, May 16 at St. John Vianney Catholic Church will feature a few rhapsodies, as well as a thrilling look at the newcomers to music’s history-makers.
Don’t know what a rhapsody is? No worries, ECHO Musical Director and Conductor Michael Fahey is happy to spell it out.
“A rhapsody is an improvisational, highly emotional piece of music that is free flowing and takes its inspiration from the original Greek drama and theater where the actors very often were speaking from the heart — partially memorized, partially made up — to the accompaniment of a harp,” he said. “[Rhapsodies] took this free flowing dramatic, sort of ‘Devil may care,’ highly emotional, improvisational form that really doesn’t follow any particular kind of boundaries.”
And thus, a new music form was born. When music’s classical structure blends into the wild abandon of emotion, soul and improvisation, just like a watercolor painting where nothing completely creates one solid form but still cohesively makes a complete story — that’s where the good stuff happens. It’s a Monet painting in musical form. It does not make complete sense in the up-close view, but as a total presentation, it is gorgeous.
The performance starts with George Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue,” made famous by a national airline’s commercial ad campaign, the 2013 blockbuster The Great Gatsby … and by anyone with functional hearing in the last century. (The composition just turned 101 this year.)
Gershwin’s masterpiece has stood the test of time. It was played during the opening ceremonies of the 1984 Los Angeles Summer Olympics, where it was performed by 84 pianists, and it remains a standard in the symphonic repertoire.
The piece served as the birthplace of a new generation of stylization. Relying on an original theme played during the first handful of measures by a featured performer in the clarinet, the piano then took off as the main star, and then the horns, strings and all the rest of the orchestra joined in for this unforgettable piece of Americana.
Tickling the ivories for the ECHO’s presentation is rising star Andrew Staupe, professor of piano at University of Houston.
“When I asked him to play this piece I almost apologized, because I know how often it is played,” Fahey said. Staupe replied, “It’s great music. I play it a lot, but there’s a reason. It’s because it is just that good.”
Another rhapsody on the programming is “Molly Bloom’s Sunrise,” composed by ECHO’s Composer-in-Residence Mark Buller, who is making an unmistakable impression in the music-making world.
Based in Houston but known both near and far, Buller is identifiable for blending lyricism and rhythms and has created pieces for everything from tiny miniatures for solo instruments to operas and works for large orchestras. During his downtime, he leads the American Festival for the Arts, one of the premier summer preparatory programs for classical musicians hosted at Kinder High School for the Performing Arts.
“’Molly Bloom’s Sunrise’ represents part of the final scene in James Joyce’s Ulysses, so this becomes rhapsodic because it is based on the Greek poems that were improvised and recited with the accompaniment of choir,” Fahey described. “In this particular scene, Molly Bloom goes through a transformation in her understanding of her romantic relationship with her husband, and she goes through the whole gamut of emotions within this piece from love to hate and then back to love again.”
Rounding out the rhapsodies is Franz Liszt’s “Hungarian Rhapsody.” Take note, music enthusiasts, Liszt’s music was preceded by the cadenzas of the mid-18th century and eventually gave way to the eternal work that we know as Gershwin and continues to this day in what we identify as jazz.
It all comes full circle. Changing the rhythm, key signature, time signature, the possible permutations of those original melodies…any combination of that can be found from the rhapsodies of yesteryear to more modern music artists. Dave Brubeck, anyone?
For anyone interested in a behind-the-scenes look at this concert’s performers and their inner thoughts about how this all culminates together, ECHO has established a podcast for that exact reason.
But wait, there’s more!
ECHO keeps the talent flowing with Friday’s concert with a preview of the future performers and composers, raised right here in Houston.
ECHO has hosted its Youth Concerto Competition for seven years, and with each turn of the calendar year, it has brought out the best, boldest and most talented of Houston’s burgeoning virtuosos.
Vanae Schunk will perform the first movement of Samuel Barber’s “Violin Concerto.” Schunk attends Clements High School, and she dazzled the judges with her skills.
Upon the first couple of measures, Schunk had the judges transfixed in astonishment of what was being performed by a freshman in high school.
“This is not the sound of a 14-year-old,” Fahey recalled. “Her audition sounded like a person who has been through heartbreak and back. It sounded so mature and so other worldly and so gorgeous that it melted our hearts away. As the piece progressed, we realized it wasn’t just the first measure or two. She had such beautiful control. We realized this is a very mature kind of work, and to have somebody at this tender age interpret music in such a beautiful and intelligent way is not very usual.”
Just as important as the players are the musicians who write the music, which is why ECHO created its first ever Young Composer Competition. With its adept familiarity of the Youth Concerto Competition’s impact, it made natural sense to expand by offering a chance to spotlight young composers as well.
“This is an exciting first for ECHO, but I think it is also a first for the city,” Fahey said. “I don’t think there’s another orchestra in the city that is sponsoring a young composers contest.”
This year’s winner is Caleb Mayberry, a 17-year-old who attends Cypress Creek High School, whose composition is a character piece, which is an arrangement that is expressive of a specific mood or non-musical idea.
“He’s created a piece that is very interesting and very unique to his voice, but it is also very enjoyable to listen to,” Fahey said. “I think listeners will really be glad they have the opportunity to hear not only Mark Buller’s world premiere but also Caleb Mayberry’s world premiere in one sitting.”
This is a once-in-a-lifetime chance to see how music has evolved from rhapsody directly to the Bayou City.
ECHO’s “Rhapsody in Blue” takes place at 7:30 p.m. Friday, May 166 at St. John Vianney Catholic Church, 625 Nottingham Oaks Trail. For tickets or information, visit echorchestra.org. $10 for students; $25 general admission; children 12 and under for free.
This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2025.
