MUSIC

Just in time for Halloween, the Houston Symphony’s first Weatherford Family Concert of the season will be Masquerade Ball on October 23!

Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra’s Associate Conductor Andrés Franco has planned a thrilling morning with pieces about witches, wizards and ghosts. Popular selections include the Suite from Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, the Theme from Ghostbusters, Mussorgsky’s Night on Bald Mountain and Saint-Saëns’ Danse Macabre. This costumed affair encourages the Symphony’s youngest guests to show off their favorite costume while reveling in some of music’s oldest fairy tales.

Weatherford Family Concerts are a fun-filled, interactive and educational concert series created for children and their families. Their concert experience will be enhanced through video projection screens that provide additional story support and enable them to see the orchestra in action. Come early or stay late to participate in exciting activities including an instrument petting zoo, arts and crafts and youth ensemble performances.

For more ticket information, the Houston Symphony Patron Service Center in Jones Hall is open Monday-Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., by phone at (713) 224-7575 or online at www.houstonsymphony.org .

Saturday, October 23, 10:00 AM (Family Fun Activities 9:00 to 10:00)
Saturday, October 23, 11:30 AM (Family Fun Activities 12:30 to 1:30)
Masquerade Ball
Weatherford Family Concerts
Andrés Franco, conductor
Tickets: Child $14; Adult $22

About Andrés Franco
Andrés Franco is the Associate Conductor of the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra and Principal Conductor of the Caminos del Inka Ensemble. He has been increasingly active in the U.S. and South America, appearing with several orchestras including the Houston, Stockton and Corpus Christi Symphonies as well as the Oregon Bach Festival Orchestra, Medellin Philharmonic and EAFIT Symphony.

Most recently, Andrés became Executive Director of Caminos del Inka, Inc., a project created by Maestro Miguel Harth-Bedoya to rediscover, preserve, expand, and disseminate the music legacy of the Americas. He has also conducted several choral-orchestral masterworks with the Oregon Bach Festival Choir, Kansas City Symphony Chorus and Texas Boys Choir. His interest in education has led him to work with the TCU Symphony Orchestra and the Youth Orchestra of Greater Fort Worth. His Masters’ degrees are in Piano Performance and Conducting from Texas Christian University.

About the Houston Symphony
The Houston Symphony has played a central role in Houston’s cultural and civic life since 1913. Each year, the Houston Symphony performs more than 170 concerts for approximately 350,000 people, featuring an innovative and broad spectrum of classical, popular, education and community-based symphonic programming. For tickets and more information regarding the 2009-10 season, please visit www.houstonsymphony.org  or call 713-224-7575.