Houston’s ROCO (formerly River Oaks Chamber Orchestra) will open its 2021-22 season on September 25 with a program entitled “Bursting at the Seams” at Houston’s Church of St. John the Divine. ROCO Artistic Partner Mei-Ann Chen will conduct the world premiere of “Turmoil,” the first movement of Maxime Goulet’s Ice Storm Symphony, which tells the story of Canada’s devastating 1998 ice storm; the work is a co-commission with Canada’s Orchestre Classique de Montréal, Laval Symphony Orchestra, Sherbrooke Symphony Orchestra, and Trois-Rivières Symphony Orchestra. Also on the program is the world premiere of Marcus Maroney’s OK, Goodbye. for flute, viola d’amore, and chamber orchestra, inspired by the melting of the Icelandic Okjökull glacier; Michael Abels’s Delights & Dances; and the Overture to Domenico Cimarosa’s Il Maestro di Cappella. The orchestra’s October 9 concert, at Houston’s Barbara Jordan Post Office, will feature the ROCO String Quartet in selections from Elvis Costello’s Juliet Letters with baritone Eduardo Tercero, and movements from Shostakovich’s String Quartet No. 1. The concert will feature dancers from Houston Contemporary Dance Company and readings by Houston Poet Laureate Outspoken Bean. Both performances will also be livestreamed for free.
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