MUSIC

The Houston Symphony presents Symphony in Space. Two shows Saturday, April 2, at 10:00 am and 11:30am. 

For the final Weatherford Family Concert of the season, the Houston Symphony looks to the stars for Symphony in Space. Associate Conductor Robert Franz will voyage through definitive space-themed anthems like John Williams’ film scores from Star Wars and E.T. Franz is even including the piece, The Flinstones meet the Jetsons, by cartoon creators William Hanna and Joseph Barbara.

For fans of the Houston Symphony’s best-selling 2010 concert and DVD, The Planets – An HD Odyssey, Franz will perform the ever popular “Jupiter” movement accompanied by NASA images of Jupiter. Also included will be Strauss’ Also sprach Zarathustra, made famous by the film, 2001: A Space Odyssey which will also be one of the pieces used in the Symphony’s February 2012 sequel to The Planets, Orbit – An HD Odyssey.

Making a special guest appearance with the orchestra will be astronaut, musician and Chief of International Space Station Operations, Chris Hadfield. Hadfield and the Children’s Choir from Pearl Hall Elementary in Pasadena, Texas, will perform an original piece of music entitled “Big Smoke”. The piece is about the large clouds of smoke emitted during a space shuttle launch and was written by Hadfield’s brother, Dave Hadfield – a professional folk singer, before his first trip into space.

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 – plus, Robert Franz always promises a surprise costume!

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.

Artists:
Robert Franz, conductor

About Robert Franz
Music Director of the Boise Philharmonic, and Associate Conductor of the Houston Symphony, Robert Franz is emerging as one of the most talented conductors of his generation. As Associate Conductor of the Houston Symphony, Robert Franz continues to lead the Symphony in a broad range of creative educational and family concerts. Franz’s emphasis on these programs has led him to a continuing relationship with Radio Disney.

On two occasions, ASCAP has recognized Robert Franz for his advocacy in arts education. Under his direction, both the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra in 2008 and the Louisville Orchestra in 2001 were awarded the Leonard Bernstein Award for Educational Programming. The Louisville Orchestra’s award lead to the creation an education program for Kentucky Educational Television entitled, Creating Music and Stories. Winner of the 2008 BPO/ECMEA Music Educators Award for Excellence, Franz is a strong supporter of arts education, and has created arts education programs for the Carolina Chamber Symphony, Buffalo Philharmonic, Louisville Orchestra, West End Chamber Ensemble and the Winston-Salem Piedmont Triad Symphony, including that organization’s innovative Bolton Research Project.

In addition to his current posts, Franz served as the Music Director of the Mansfield Symphony in Ohio from 2003-2010, Resident Conductor of the Buffalo Philharmonic from 2005-2009, and Associate Conductor of the Louisville Orchestra from 1997-2006. He has also led the Winston-Salem Piedmont Triad Symphony, the Louisville Youth Orchestra, and the Winston-Salem Youth Symphony. He continues to serve as Music Director Emeritus of the Carolina Chamber Symphony, an orchestra that he founded, and provides educational programming workshops at the National Repertory Orchestra during the summer.

Franz received his Master of Music degree in conducting from the North Carolina School of the Arts in 1992 and his Bachelor of Music degree in oboe performance in 1990 from that same institution.

About Chris Hadfield
Ontario native Chris Hadfield was interested in flying and music at a young age. He joined the Canadian Armed Forces at 18, studying engineering and aviation systems at Royal Roads Military College, the Royal Military College, the University of Waterloo and the University of Tennessee while concurrently playing bass trombone and singing with college bands.

Hadfield graduated as a top pilot from basic flight training and the United States Air Force Test Pilot School and was an overall top graduate from Jet Training. He served as a NORAD CF-18 fighter pilot, an exchange test pilot (U.S. Navy) and performed research with NASA, among other accomplishments.

After being one of four Canadian astronauts selected to train at NASA’s Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston, Hadfield has served as Chief CAPCOM for 25 consecutive space shuttle missions, director of operations (Star City, Russia) and chief of International Space Station Operations (NASA); and chief of robotics (JSC). He was the first-ever Canadian mission specialist, the first Canadian to operate the Canadarm in orbit and the only Canadian to ever board the Space Station Mir. Hadfield has also performed two spacewalks, making him the first Canadian to ever leave a spacecraft and float freely in space.

Hadfield is a civilian CSA astronaut, having retired as a colonel from the Canadian Air Force after 25 years of military service (2003). He has flown over 90 different types of aircraft; flown twice in space (Atlantis, Endeavour); was named a US Navy Test Pilot of the Year; is a member of the Order of Ontario; was commemorated on Royal Canadian Mint silver and gold coins; and has been inducted into Canada's Aviation Hall of Fame.

He has been a member of several bands in Texas including MaxQ, the all-astronaut rock and roll band, and Bandella, a five-piece acoustic band. He has played on Good Morning America, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and for the Russian Prime Minister from onboard the Space Station Mir.

He is currently assigned to Expedition 34/35, launching in 2012, for a long-duration spaceflight which will see him become the first Canadian to command a spaceship. Hadfield is looking forward to floating weightless next to the Earth-facing windows, being inspired to write, play and sing music using the onboard Larrivee acoustic guitar while orbiting Earth at five miles per second. 

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, please visit www.houstonsymphony.org  or call 713-224-7575.