There is no better band to celebrate Halloween with than Houston’s Two Star Symphony. The unconventional eight-piece ensemble is celebrating their 20 year anniversary with two very distinct events that will show off the range of one of Houston’s longest running and distinct acts.
Two Star Symphony will host a backyard bash at The Continental Club on Saturday, October 22. The band will perform a set sandwiched between burlesque performances by Emma D’Lemma, magic by Dylan Bryson and music by DJ Bear Linh. Costumes are encouraged.
Then on Thursday, October 27, Two Star Symphony will be on tap for a special evening at Houston’s historic Majestic Metro Theater as part of the Candlelight Concert series where they will perform their original live score to The Cabinet Of Dr. Caligari, a silent horror movie from Germany made in the 1920’s.
There will be two performances at The Majestic Metro that evening. While the show itself takes audience members to another time, The Majestic, built in 1926, with its small space decked out in candlelight will add to the already abundant ambience of the spooky and romantic fall evening.
“Halloween is our favorite holiday and we haven’t really been playing live,” says co-founder and violinist Debra Brown who along with cellist Margaret Lejeune started the project performing at Oscar’s Creamery dressed as pirates in exchange for free ice cream.
“The world is coming back around to getting to normal but still a little scary out there so I’m happy to have this beautiful outside space with expert sound and all the things to make a beautiful show happen,” she adds about their Continental show which will be more like a big party and reunion of fans, friends, family and past collaborators the group has amassed in their long career.
The Majestic Metro performance by contrast will be a more focused and formal affair showing off Two Star Symphony’s compositional skills. In 2006, The Museum of Fine Arts commissioned the group to write the music to the film which is broken up into six acts allowing the band to create sections to match the film.
“We opt not to listen to the original score because we don’t want it to influence us in any way,” says Brown describing the group’s writing style as they sat down to watch the film bouncing ideas off of one another.
“We don’t have sheet music like a lot of other ensembles that do scores. We write more like a rock band,” she says, explaining why Two Star Symphony never comes across as a traditional ensemble but more of classical music with an edge.
“I just feel like we are really connected to one another because a lot of composers work as singular composer and create all the pieces of music for each individual player where we are all individual composers working towards the same goal. We all write our own parts we are all responsible for knowing when we go in and come out and the next change so I believe it’s a more organic approach.”
Since their beginning, the band has had a long history of collaborations with dancers, puppeteers and visual artists adding yet another layer of artistry to their craft that has allowed them to perform in museums, theaters and clubs all over the United States.
“It is because of collaborations and other artists needing music,” says Brown of their long career. “That has been our saving grace. We love creating because of other people’s creations.”
“It is because of collaborations and other artists needing music. That has been our saving grace. We love creating because of other people’s creations.”
Last year, the band was commissioned by the Contemporary Arts Museum to create original pieces as part of the museum’s Lab Residency. Two Star Symphony added Say Girl Say’s Brigette Yawn on viola after collaborating with her and her bandmate for a special performance at Jones Hall in 2021. Yawn is the newest member and will be part of these upcoming performances.
The music created during their Lab Residency will be released as a string of singles starting early next year along with the planned release of a music video featuring puppeteer Afsaneh Aayani with a screening at the Contemporary Arts Museum.
Creating any type of music with more than one person can always have its challenges but for Two Star Symphony their unconventional approach and sounds seem to serve as magnets for like minded artists and collaborators.
“I just feel so blessed that we get to create with all of these amazing and talented people,” says Brown. “I don’t know how I was fortunate enough to meet this group of people but we are just very respectful and supportive of one another and somehow there’s no ego in this band, it’s just respect and trust.”
Two Star Symphony will perform on Saturday, October 22 at The Continental Club, 3700 Main at 7 p.m, $12 and on Thursday, October 27 at The Majestic Metro, 911 Preston. Shows at 6:30 and 9 p.m, $50-65.
This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2022.
