Music Director Juraj Valčuha with the Houston Symphony. Valčuha will lead the orchestra in a semi-staged production of Salome during the League of American Orchestras’ National Conference in Houston this June. Photo by Melissa Taylor.
In Monday’s (4/8) Arts and Culture Texas, Steven Brown writes, “The Houston Symphony will end its season with a splash: a two-weekend festival devoted to Richard Strauss, whose name is practically synonymous with sonic spectacle…. The Houston Symphony, led by music director Juraj Valčuha, will sample [Strauss’s] whole range. The first program (June 1 and 2) will include An Alpine Symphony, which depicts a mountain-climbing expedition in the musical equivalent of IMAX, and the lush Four Last Songs. The second weekend (June 7 and 9) will bring a semi-staged Salome, with the orchestra onstage to deliver Strauss’ walloping, seductive score in all its vividness…. When they decided to spotlight Strauss, they set their sights on more than the Houston audience: They bore in mind that the festival would come as the Houston Symphony hosts the annual conference of the League of American Orchestras. Roughly 1,000 administrators, board members, musicians and other stakeholders will descend on Houston in time to see Salome. ‘We knew we would host the League conference, and we were thinking about something that would … show off the orchestra well,’ says Rebecca Zabinski, the orchestra’s artistic administrator…. Salome will get a semi-staged presentation—with costumes, lighting and stage direction.” Learn more about the League’s 2024 National Conference at leagueconference.org/.
