HOUSTON – The Houston Symphony is teaming up with dozens of students from Crespo Elementary Fine Arts Magnet School Dance Department and Meyerland Performing and Visual Arts Middle School Dance Ensemble for a modern-day staging of the 1911 ballet Petrushka, to be premiered at 8 p.m. May 11 and 13 and 2:30 p.m. May 14 at Jones Hall.
The classic story of Petrushka will be brought to life by the orchestra and more than 50 costumed students, who will represent the characters of the story – Petrushka, the Moor and the Ballerina – and their loves and jealousies. Under the direction of Berlin-based choreographer Gabriel Galindez Cruz, the production will be culturally adapted to fit today’s multicultural society, as the students hail from different parts of the world, including Europe and Latin America. Since 2008, Cruz has led the Children’s Dance Company Berlin, which focuses on training children’s movement and developing their talent by exploring themselves and others through movement.
The evening’s program also features Ives’ The Unanswered Question, followed by the return of Israeli-American pianist Yefim Bronfman, who will join the orchestra to perform Bartók’s Piano Concerto No. 2. Recognized worldwide as one of today’s most acclaimed pianists, the Grammy-winning recording artist has performed in leading concert halls of North America, Europe and the Far East. His recording work includes the soundtrack to Disney’s Fantasia 2000, among many others. The Washington Post recently praised Bronfman’s late April recital at Washington Performing Arts for performing Bartók “sweetly and ferociously and thoughtfully, making it all sound easy and as if it could go no other way.”
The concert will take place at Jones Hall for the Performing Arts, 615 Louisiana Street, in Houston’s Theater District. For tickets and information, please call (713) 224-7575 or visit www.houstonsymphony.org. Tickets may also be purchased at the Houston Symphony Patron Services Center in Jones Hall (Monday–Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.). All programs and artists are subject to change.
