MUSIC

The Houston Symphony is hitting the road, and heading to one of the most vibrant communities in the Houston area, Fort Bend County! Enjoy 3 of this season's most exciting concerts, right in your own neighborhood. All concerts performed at Sugar Land Baptist Church. The Houston Symphony and Sugar Land Baptist Church present Handel's Messiah in Candlelight Thursday, December 15 at 8:00PM.

"Rejoice Greatly" as this Houston tradition continues! The holidays wouldn’t be the same without Houston’s own performance of Handel’s Messiah with your Houston Symphony, Chorus, conductor Christian Knapp (pictured) and guest soloists.

One of today’s foremost young conductors, Christian Knapp is known for his dynamic stage presence and energy on the podium. He has performed in festivals and concerts throughout the world, conducting the St. Petersburg Philharmonic, the New World Symphony, the Indianapolis Symphony, the Western Australia Symphony Orchestra and the Chicago Civic Orchestra, among many others, and has collaborated with such renowned artists as Mstislav Rostropovich, Itzhak Perlman, Alexander Toradze, Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, Garrick Ohlsson, Vinson Cole and Pepe Romero.

Born in the United States, Mr. Knapp received bachelor's degrees in piano performance from the New England Conservatory and in philosophy from Tufts University. He studied conducting at the Accademia Musicale Chigiana in Siena under Yuri Temirkanov and Myung-Whun Chung; he then earned a post-graduate diploma in conducting from the St. Petersburg State Conservatory in Russia, where he studied with the renowned pedagogue, Ilya Musin. He has assisted Michael Tilson Thomas at the London Symphony Orchestra and Leonid Korchmar at the Kirov Opera.

ARTISTS
Christian Knapp, conductor
Charles Hausmann, Houston Symphony Chorus director