The Score | ROCO, Down Under in NYC

Getting out of the concert hall is happening more and more frequently these days. How a performance in … a crypt? Five musicians from Houston’s River Oaks Chamber Orchestra did just that in October when they traveled to New York City to perform in the crypt of Harlem’s Church of the Intercession. The concert featured oboist Alecia Lawyer, ROCO’s founder (below right), with (in photo from left) Scott St. John (violin), Kevin Lau (piano), Kristin Wolfe Jensen (bassoon), and Nathan Williams (clarinet). Despite the crypt setting, the program focused on music by living composers: Bill Douglas, Alyssa Morris, Heather Schmidt, Kevin Lau, and Anthony DiLorenzo, whose Anthem of Hope: Houston Strong was commissioned by ROCO to salute Houston’s resilience in the face of Hurricane Harvey’s devastation in 2017. The performance was part of a classical music series called the “Crypt Sessions” curated by Andrew Ousley, who curates a similar series, Angel’s Share, at the catacombs of the Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York.