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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British actor Kenneth Haigh once said "You need three things in theater: the play, the actors and the audience-and each must give something." Houston's Theater District had that formula in mind when they hosted the 17th annual Theater District Open House on Sunday.

From noon to 4 p.m., the public got a celebratory look into a slew of companies situated in the district's four venues: the Alley Theatre, Hobby Center for the Performing Arts, Wortham Theater Center and Jones Hall.

Theater enthusiasts and neophytes alike were privy to a bevy of activities. Children and their young-at-heart guardians enjoyed musical instrumentation displays, costume dress-up sessions, stage combat demonstrations and Broadway photo mock-ups and behind-the-scenes backstage tours of all the performance locales. The Capital Bank-sponsored event was also a source for premium deals on tickets for the 2010-2011 season.

Check out the slideshow.

Get ready for Art Attack! The brand new Houston Press blog will feature news, profiles, random ephemera and tidbits on everything from the Downtown Theatre District to museums and galleries to the most underground experimental freakshows. Along the way we'll praise, ponder, critique and slam as we see fit, always aiming to provide you, the reader, with thoughtful, intelligent and entertaining commentary on the scene. We welcome your comments, applause and abuse (art is a dialogue, after all), so don't hesitate to let us know what deserves our attention, what we're doing right, and how to fix what's not working. (We reserve the right, of course, to roll our eyes in disdain.)

Also, for daily updates and haphazard rambling, be sure to follow us on Twitter.

Look for the posts to start rolling out today. Enjoy!

-Art Attack