Albert & Margaret Alkek Foundation In Concert Series: Pure Imagination

Presented by ROCO, Houston’s Chamber Orchestra
Sponsored by The Albert & Margaret Alkek Foundation
Lexus, the Official Vehicle of the Hobby Center

Mei-Ann Chen, ROCO Artistic Partner & Conductor
Mak Grgić, Guitar
Alecia Lawyer, Oboe
Nathan Williams, Clarinet
Kristin Wolfe Jensen, Bassoon
Elizabeth Freimuth, Horn

Maxime Goulet
The Return of Wolves: A Musical Tale of Nature’s Balance
ROCO Commissioned World Premiere

Austin Wintory
I Feel…
Mak Grgić, Guitar
ROCO Co-Commissioned Texas Premiere

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Sinfonia Concertante for Four Winds in E-flat major, K. 297b
I. Allegro

Gustav Mahler
arr. Yoon Jae Lee
Symphony No. 1 in D Major
I. Langsam, schleppend (Slowly, dragging) Immer sehr gemächlich (very restrained throughout)

Adventure continues where curiosity takes hold, in Pure Imagination. Artistic Partner Mei-Ann Chen returns to lead Houston’s chamber orchestra in its debut at the Hobby Center for the Performing Arts – Zilkha Hall on Saturday, Feb. 13, 2027, at 5 p.m. Featuring guitarist Mak Grgić, ROCO continues its 22nd season with two commissioned premieres, alongside works by Mozart and Mahler.

In the Texas premiere of his new guitar concerto written for Mak Grgić, Grammy-winning composer Austin Wintory invites the audience to help shape the performance in real-time through interactive technology. Composer Maxime Goulet traces an ecosystem’s rebirth at Yellowstone National Park, in the world premiere of The Return of Wolves: A Musical Tale of Nature’s Balance. The program also features ROCO’s principal wind musicians in the opening movement of W.A. Mozart‘s radiant Sinfonia Concertante for Four Winds, before concluding with the nature-inspired opening movement of Gustav Mahler‘s Symphony No. 1 in D Major.

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