We took an office poll, and here are our team's favorite classic works from our Listening Room, compiled to brighten your day during this difficult time!

ROCO Team Favorites - Classics

Mark Schultz, Dragons in the Sky

Clarice Assad, The Evolution of AI

Clarice Assad, Total Eclipse, I. RA

Clarice Assad, Total Eclipse, II. Cosmic Dust

Clarice Assad, Total Eclipse, III. Totality

Emilie Mayer, Overture No. 2 in D Major

Ludwig van Beethoven, Symphony No. 7, I. Poco sostenuto-Vivace

Ludwig van Beethoven, Symphony No. 7, II. Allegretto

Ludwig van Beethoven, Symphony No. 7, III. & IV. Movements

ROCO's Season 10 Finale, Notes to be Written, features the world premiere of the ROCO commission, From Dusk to Starry Night, composed by Pierre Jalbert, sung by mezzo-soprano Sasha Cooke, under the baton of David Danzmayr. The work is based on texts by Walt Whitman, Amy Lowell, and Stephen Foster. Notes to be Written also features Mendelssohn Bartholdy's Overture: The Hebrides (Fingal's Cave), op. 26, and "When Jesus Wept" from William Schuman's New England Triptych. Performed April 23, 2015 at The Church of St. John the Divine, Houston, TX.

Mendelssohn Bartholdy, Overture: The Hebrides (Fingal's Cave), op. 26

Concertmaster Scott St. John led from the chair during ROCO’s annual conductorless concert. "Legendary Love" was the name of the concert, as well as the title of another world-premiere commission – a classical piece by Dan Visconti honoring Christian Kidd, lead singer of the Houston-based ’70s punk rock band, The Hates. The performance also featured two new commissions by Houston-based composer, Mark Buller – "Nursery Rhymes" and "Tombstone Songs". Two movements from Antonin Dvorák’s "Legends" paired with "Wood Notes" by William Grant Still, who was heavily influenced by Dvorák’s call to American composers to find their own unique voices. "Mazurek", also by Dvorák, featured St. John as soloist. Recorded February 11, 2018 at The Church of St. John the Divine, Houston, TX.

William Grant Still, Wood Notes, II. Autumn Night (Lightly)

William Grant Still, Wood Notes, I. Singing River (Moderately Slow)

ROCO's first-ever Valentine's Concert featured conductor Tanya Ratner, as well as concertmaster, Brian Lewis, and principal oboist, Alecia Lawyer, in Bach's Concerto for Violin and Oboe, BWV 1060. Laven's Beyond the Odyssey, Fauré's Pelleas and Melisande Suite, op. 80, and Copland's Appalachian Spring, Suite for 13 Instruments rounded out the program, which was performed at The Church of St. John the Divine, Houston, TX. February 11, 2006.

Bach, Concerto for Violin and Oboe, BWV 1060, I. Allegro

Bach, Concerto for Violin and Oboe, BWV 1060, II. Adagio

Bach, Concerto for Violin and Oboe, BWV 1060, III. Allegro

ROCO is a Houston-based professional chamber orchestra known for its wide repertoire and engaging performances. ROCO.org

Mendelssohn Bartholdy, Overture: The Hebrides (Fingal's Cave), op. 26

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