Category: Texas

  • Vandal in a Red Armchair

    Something has been pestering me about the news coverage of Uriel Landeros, the alleged “artist” who last year defaced Picasso’s Woman in a Red Armchair at The Menil Collection. I’d forgotten about him until last week, when Whitney Radley covered his guilty plea for Culturemap. She wrote an excellent brief story, probably what I would…

  • The Sound of the Wild, Wild West

    As thrilling as the Houston Symphony Orchestra’s final concert with Hans Graf was last Friday night – everything came together perfectly for a stunning Mahler 2nd – it’s bittersweet to see him leave. He’ll be back as guest conductor at HSO next year, in particular, from November 29-December 1, for a concert with pianist Ingrid Fliter…

  • That’s Right, You’re Not From Austin

    When I lived in Boston, I met and worked with many press agents. I remember one of them saying once, “you know, there’s good news and there’s bad news. And then, there is some f*cking serious news.”   I know she would agree when I say the past few weeks have been filled with way too much…

  • Hydrocarbons: They’re What’s For Dinner

    Editor’s note: My partner Joseph Campana and I discovered Marina Zukow’s work when it was presented in Houston by Diverseworks (see below). One of the most important American artists of her generation, Zurkow will be coming to Houston later this year as part of Joe and his colleague Tim Morton’s unique seminar on energy and the arts. Joe…

  • Living Room for the Performers

    Liminal Space Contemporary Music Ensemble is a recently-formed, Houston-based new music group I’ve decided to follow. Regrettably, I missed their first concert last year, devoted to John Cage’s work. Liminal’s second performance in December at the Station Museum was a stunning event focused on Frederick Rzewski (covered  elsewhere on this blog). The ensemble’s founders and main performers Luke Hubley…

  • Only a Red Glow in the West

    It was, without doubt, the frightening photo of Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau and Evelyn Lear on the Deutsche Grammophon boxed vinyl recording of Alban Berg’s Wozzeck that first attracted me to this modern masterpiece. The cover promised whatever was contained inside was bound to be completely different. I was still an undergraduate music student at the time,…

  • Coming Together, in December

    The weeks preceding Christmas might seem like a strange time for musical performances with a political and/or military flavor. Maybe not. In 1969, of course, John Lennon and Yoko Ono chose December to disseminate their billboard message, “WAR IS OVER! If You Want It – Happy Christmas From John and Yoko,” around the world. We…

  • Light Years

    Light Years

    The last time I spoke with Houston artist and lighting designer Jeremy Choate, he was planning an installation for the exterior building of the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, a project about which he was very excited. This morning, I learned that Jeremy died suddenly Saturday night in Houston. Stopped at a red light on his…

  • The Choreographer Vanishes

    The Choreographer Vanishes

    Just before I moved to Texas, people warned me Houston was a kind of dance wasteland. Even a local critic told me there was “nothing here” in terms of dance, saying in a scolding tone, “you know, you’re not in New York!” While my experience has been variable (check out my latest review of Houston Ballet…

  • Dial M for Mahler

    Dial M for Mahler

    The “iPhone Marimba Man” accused of ruining the New York Philharmonic’s recent Mahler 9th was stoned to death this past weekend in a secluded alley of the city’s meat-packing district. “It’s a dirty job, but someone has to do it,” said one conductor wearing a woolen ski mask to conceal his identity. Photographers from New…