{"id":458781,"date":"2026-10-07T05:44:13","date_gmt":"2026-10-07T05:44:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/458781\/"},"modified":"2026-10-07T05:44:13","modified_gmt":"2026-10-07T05:44:13","slug":"roco-shows-its-serene-and-wild-sides-in-imaginative-opening-to-its-new-season-classical-music-doesnt-need-to-be-traditional","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/458781\/","title":{"rendered":"ROCO Shows Its Serene and Wild Sides In Imaginative Opening To Its New Season \u2014 Classical Music Doesn&#8217;t Need To Be Traditional"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>From the serene environs of St. John the Divine Episcopal Church to the wildly imaginative scene at ARTECHOUSE Houston, ROCO launched its new musical season in Houston. Each year, the chamber orchestra is celebrated for its dynamic performances, pioneering spirit and commitment to building community through music.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Revelry\u201d themed evening began with the annual concert in the church where the 40-member <a href=\"https:\/\/roco.org\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">chamber orchestra<\/a>, led by artistic partner Delyana Lazarova, showcased a dynamic program featuring two world premiere commissions: The Light Paintings by composer and saxophonist Alison Shearer (incorporating projected artwork from her late father, LIFE photojournalist John Shearer) and VISIONS by Leanna Primiani,\u00a0 the work commissioned through the <a href=\"https:\/\/americanorchestras.org\/learn\/artistic-programs\/women-composers-readings-and-commissions-program\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation Orchestral Commissions Program<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1843\" height=\"2560\" class=\"size-full wp-image-756748 img-responsive \" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Tami-Hiraoka-Chloe-Dao-and-Lou-Verrego-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"Tami Hiraoka, Chloe Dao, and Lou Verrego\"  \/>Tami Hiraoka, Chloe Dao, Lou Verrego at ROCO\u2019s Revelry gala (Photo by Alida Bonifaz)<\/p>\n<p>Also featured were Jonathan Peters\u2019 Sonus Colorum and Symphony No. 3 in C Major by Nino Rota, the iconic Academy Award-winning composer of The Godfather. In a memorable moment that delighted guests, the orchestra surprised the audience with a special performance of Rota\u2019s famous theme song from the legendary mob movie.<\/p>\n<p>Concert goers were joined by additional ROCO supporters for the literally colorful dinner where champions of the arts were recognized. Fashion designer Chloe Dao was presented the Wildcatter in the Arts honor, recognized for her creative innovation and spirit.<\/p>\n<p>Corporate Pillar of the Arts Awardee was Munck Wilson Mandala, an intellectual property law firm recognized for its advocacy, community investment and guidance under Houston managing partner John Cain.\u00a0ROCO\u2019s longtime managing director Amy Gibbs was honored for her dedication to the orchestra as she transitions into her new role as program officer for Arts &amp; Culture at <a href=\"https:\/\/houstonendowment.org\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Houston Endowment<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRevelry is a vibrant reflection of our spirit: a celebration of joy, connection and the incredible community that powers ROCO,\u201d founder and artistic director Alecia Lawyer says. \u201cAs we launch our 22nd season, ROCO Odyssey, we were thrilled to gather at ARTECHOUSE\u00a0to honor three visionaries who embody the creative energy of our city.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>      \t        Baobab Classique Scented Candles<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1586\" class=\"size-full wp-image-756746 img-responsive \" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/ROCO-Revelry-in-full-swing-amidst-Artechouse_s-stunning-projections-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"ROCO Revelry in full swing amidst Artechouse_s stunning projections\"  \/>ROCO Revelry in full swing amid stunning projections at ARTECHOUSE (Photo by Alida Bonifaz)<\/p>\n<p>The awards program, dinner and socializing with the musicians were punctuated by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.artechouse.com\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">ARTECHOUSE<\/a> environs which were rich with cutting-edge interactive projection art.<\/p>\n<p>PC Seen:\u00a0Susanne and Randall Evans,\u00a0Tami Hiraoka,\u00a0Zachary Horst and Taylor Kidd,\u00a0Mary Catherine and Bailey Jones,\u00a0Lona McManus and Gary Wulf,\u00a0Amanda McMillian and Benjamin Holloway,\u00a0Anne Park, Amanda Watson, and Karen Sumner.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"From the serene environs of St. John the Divine Episcopal Church to the wildly imaginative scene at ARTECHOUSE&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":458782,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[56,58,57],"class_list":["post-458781","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-houston","tag-houston","tag-houston-headlines","tag-houston-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/458781","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=458781"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/458781\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/458782"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=458781"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=458781"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=458781"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}