Details
Item details
Date
Friday, March 19, 2027 7:30PM
Description
Series Sponsor
Gene and Debbie Straka
About the Show
Presented by the Hobby Center, Houston Is Inspired is a series of original performances by Houston artists, each offering a fresh perspective on the city and a deeper connection to its creative community.
Looking Back, Leaping Forward celebrates Musiqa’s 25th anniversary with a double bill of new chamber operas exploring memory, change, and the choices that shape our lives.
Iphigenia by Anthony Brandt reimagines a Greek myth in a contemporary setting, where a proposed wind energy project becomes a flashpoint for a community navigating uncertainty. When shifting conditions force a reversal, the work explores the tension between progress and short-term comfort, asking what we’re willing to give up, and who ultimately bears the cost.
In Follow the Sky by Pierre Jalbert and Stephanie Fleischmann, a philosophy student is haunted by the music of an aging violinist, whose playing permeates the apartment building where they live. Inspired by HP Lovecraft’s The Music of Erich Zann, this meditation on music as a lifeline in the face of fractured memory explores the trauma of displacement and the meaning of home.
About the Artist
Musiqa is Houston's creative convergence point for new music, bringing together artists, ideas, and disciplines—from dance and theater to neuroscience and AI—to create work that reflects the world around us. Since 2002, Musiqa has performed works by more than 300 living composers, presented more than 100 world premieres, and commissioned 50+ new works in collaboration with artists across disciplines.
Rooted at the Hobby Center with nearly 150 performances in Zilkha Hall since 2004, Musiqa has grown into a nationally and internationally recognized organization, with awards from Chamber Music America, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Aaron Copland Fund for Music, and New Music USA, and a presence that has reached as far as the French-American Cultural Exchange and the UN's AI for Good Global Summit in Geneva.
About the Mural
The Houston Is Inspired series logo and mural, on display in Zilkha Hall, were created by artist GONZO247 for the Hobby Center, reflecting Houston culture and drawing from a visual theme in his mural at Market Square Park.
Notes
Ticket holders will receive helpful arrival details and event-specific information via email before each performance.