​Associate Conductor Robert Franz signed a two-year extension to his contract and will remain with the Houston Symphony through the 2013-2014 season according to a press release. Franz, in his fourth season with the symphony, leads programming for the David Dewhurst Student concerts and is the front person for the family concert series.

"I am thrilled and humbled to have the opportunity to extend my relationship with the incredible musicians of the Houston Symphony," Franz said in the release. "Making music with my colleagues brings me great joy, and performing for our incredible audiences is like icing on the cake. I look forward to many more exciting performances together."

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If you are looking for a new holiday tradition, consider the Houston Symphony's "Handel's Messiah in Candlelight," which is the perfect blend of sacred Christmas music, easily accessible for the casual symphony listener, with a stunning setting in the dim of candlelight. This year's annual performance took place this past weekend at Jones Hall.

Handel's Messiah premiered in Dublin, Ireland, as a part of a charity concert to benefit a Dublin hospital in April of 1742. When Handel brought it to London, it was received poorly due to its combination of religious components and the use of elaborate singing, which was considered sacrilegious. By 1750, however, the composition gained notoriety and has remained an homage to the birth of Christ and the Christmas spirit since.

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Composer Christoph König

​In December 1877, leading up to the premiere of Johannes Brahms's newest composition (which would be performed by the Vienna Philharmonic), the German told friends as well as the publisher of his work to watch out for the most emo piece of music ever written. It was a sardonic trick.

"It's so melancholy that you will not be able to bear it," said Brahms in an article published on November 22, 1877. "I have never written anything so sad, and the score must come out in mourning."

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Who gets the George R. Brown?

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Fiscal Affairs Committee Meetings of Houston City Council are among the last places you go expecting to see a first-rate tirade, complete with a door-slamming storming-out, but that was just what Hair Balls found there yesterday.

It happened when city Development Director Andy Icken (of Heights Wal-Mart email leak infamy) and Houston Convention Center Hotel Corporation Board Chairman Ric Campo briefed the committee on the proposed consolidation of the city's Convention & Entertainment Facilities Department with Campo's HCCHC.

You can read all about the ramifications of that deal here, here, and in the mayor's office's own words, also here.

Basically, the merger would create a non-profit organization called the Houston First Corporation. Pending council approval on May 18, Houston First would lease out the George R. Brown Convention Center, the Wortham Theater, Jones Hall, Jones Plaza, Miller Outdoor Theatre, Sesquicentennial Park, Root Memorial Square and several other smaller park and performing arts facilities from the city for a one-time cash payment of $8.6 million, followed by yearly payments of $1.4 million over the next five years.

Amid the drone of acronym-laden, jargon-heavy talk that followed (amid the alphabet soup, we got to hear the word "visioning" quite a bit), and a few questions from mostly contented council members, there suddenly erupted a volcano in the form of Councilman James Rodriguez, whose District I encompasses downtown, the site of most of the venues and the home of many arts donors and patrons.

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Who gets the George R. Brown?

​The City of Houston wants out of the fun business. Over the weekend, a plan was announced to sell off its Convention and Entertainment Facilities department, which oversees operations at taxpayer-built venues such as the Wortham Center, Jones Hall, the George R. Brown Convention Center, and Miller Outdoor Theatre.

The plan's backers say it will inject a much-needed $10 million influx into the stagnant our cash-poor city's coffers.

Specifically, the idea is being bandied about for the City of Houston to sell off its Convention and Entertainment Facilities department, which oversees the operations at prime, taxpayer-built venues such as the Wortham Center, Jones Hall, the George R. Brown Convention Center, and Miller Outdoor Theatre. Backers of the plan say it will bring a much-needed $10 million rainfall into a city whose finances are as cash-dry as our withering lawns are drought-stricken.

Opponents of the plan say it is little more than a scheme by which the city will rid itself of 120 union jobs (with benefits, and more importantly, pensions) and replace them with low-paid, minimally-benefited workers.

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Abby Koenig

​This weekend the Houston Symphony presented three pieces in its classical series including Sibelius's "Violin Concerto in D minor" and Mendelssohn's famous composition "Scottish."

The crowd was fortunate enough that violinist Leila Josefowicz served as the main attraction for the Sibelius concerto. Josefowicz, a 2008 MacArthur Fellow, has been performing nationally and internationally since her Carnegie Hall debut in 1994. Her performance was astounding. The "Violin Concerto" came in and out in waves and Josefowicz never missed a beat nor string. At various stanzas she bowed so intensely that if she had broken a string, no one would have been surprised. The third movement shook you wide awake (especially the elderly woman sitting next to me) and concluded with a bang. It has previously been described by the famous musicologist Sir Donald Tovey as a "polonaise for polar bears" which sounds super exciting, although I'm not sure what that means.

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Dave Nickerson

Misha Penton, Megan Hanson and Michael Walsh in Wake, by James Norman

​Joe Carl White, executive director of Opera Vista, a 2010 MasterMinds Award winner, says Houston's arts community is a hotbed of innovation and ingenuity, making singling out just three art groups or individuals a year for special notice almost impossible. "There are a lot of great organizations in Houston right now," he tells us. "You could give out a hundred of these awards and every winner would deserve it."

Opera Vista has an unusual scope for an opera company. Instead of a season of performances, the group holds an annual competition festival for composers, with the winner being given a full-scale production the following year.

Opera Vista Founder and Artistic Director Viswa Subbaraman says the group choose not to compete with other organizations such as Houston Grand Opera, which was already doing an excellent job of presenting traditional and new works as well as reaching out to schools and students. "Houston Grand Opera does such an incredible job, says Subbaraman. "They're an international level company doing great work...When we looked at that we thought it would be redundant to try to do something that they were already doing.

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Kristen Eide

Castle Lights

​Walking up stone carved stairs to a private, secluded house in one of the richest neighborhoods in Houston isn't a typical Saturday night for most people. But this past Saturday was an exception for the lucky few that experienced Houston's foray into Songs From A Room. The concept started in London with Robert Pattinson (yes, that Pattinson) in Passion Ate Dave's living room, thinking of a way to showcase local bands to music lovers that just want to sit and enjoy the music and not leave a venue barely able to hear. The success in London with Songs From A Room has quickly spread, and it made its way into this particular Houston living room on Saturday night.

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​Remember to join us tonight, 7-9 p.m., at Bering Art Collective to celebrate the launch of Art Attack, nominate artists and organizations for our annual Mastermind Awards, meet our writers and spend a Monday evening in the company of local artists.

There'll be a special performance by Bootown, an exhibition of artwork by John Jenkins, light bites by Phoenicia and libations provided by Tito's, Maker's Mark and Real Ale.

And it's FREE!

Bering Art Collective is located at 805 Rhode Pl. ste. 500 (behind Gravitas).

We look forward to meeting you!

Two Star Symphony on Facebook

​This week Rocks Off got a hot tip from our pal Jason that the venerable Two Star Symphony would be playing an evening gig out in Houston's western territories. It had been a good while since we'd seen the local string quartet, and with our Spidey Sense tingling about big things afoot in their camp we made the trek out to CityCentre - which is quite far from the center of the city.

In fact, we were so certain something was coming down the Two Star pipeline - up the fingerboard? - Rocks Off sat down to have a chat after their two hour-long sets at the Monnalisa Bar in Hotel Sorella, where Two Star returns Sept. 14. [Ed. Note: Some answers were more collective in nature and are credited to the entire group.]

Rocks Off: That second piece you played in the second set...

Debra Brown (violin): "Another Little Terror"?

RO: Ah, we were curious about the name, because we've only ever heard it referred to by Ben Wesley as "The Hip Hop Song."

DB: We also call that the "Ass-Kicking Squad Song." If you heard that outside your window, it meant that you're about to get your ass kicked by Two Star.

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