Upcoming Events
Neighborhood Community Day
April 1
The Menil Collection, 1533 Sul Ross St.
Enjoy an afternoon of art, music, poetry, and family activities in celebration of the Menil’s vibrant neighborhood. Participating organizations include: DACAMERA, Houston Center for Photography, Inprint, The Menil Collection, Rothko Chapel, Watercolor Art Society, and Writers in the Schools.
Art Car Parade
April 10-16
Various locations
Orange Show Center for Visionary Art hosts the annual Art Car Parade and event week. Founded in the mid-'80s as a small gathering of like-minded individuals making a statement on the road, the now internationally recognized phenomenon showcases personal artistic creativity and provides a forum for a unique type of expression. Festivities include the annual ball, a lineup party along Allen Parkway, Kids' Creative Zone in Sam Houston Park, the 36th annual Art Car Parade, and an awards ceremony.
Academy of St. Martin in the Fields Wind Ensemble
April 11
Rice University—Alice Pratt Brown Hall—Stude Concert Hall, 6100 S. Main
Though its string ensemble is already well-known to Chamber Music Houston audiences, the celebrated Academy of St. Martin in the Fields offers guests a wind ensemble in a program featuring two superb quintets for piano and winds by the masters: Mozart and Beethoven.
"Crossing to the New World: Early and Traditional Music in the British Isles, France, and North America"
April 16
A.D. Bruce Religion Center, 3841 Cullen Blvd.
Houston Early Music presents a concert by Baltimore Consort featuring country music brought to the shores of the New World by northern European settlers.
"Si Lewen: The Parade"
April 21-Sept. 3
Menil Drawing Institute, 1412 W. Main St.
This epic series features 63 drawings by Polish-born artist Si Lewen (1918-2016). In the 1950s he published a cutting-edge graphic novel that directly responded to the horrors of World War II. This exhibition is the first in the United States to bring together the complete set of works from "The Parade."
"Hyperreal: Gray Foy"
April 21-Sept. 3
Menil Drawing Institute, 1412 W. Main St.
Between the 1940s and 1970s, American artist Gray Foy (1922–2012) created a body of extraordinarily meticulous drawings, most often rendered in graphite on paper, and this exhibition spans the entirety of Foy’s career. It also celebrates two recent gifts that have made the Menil Collection the foremost repository of Foy’s work.
"The Story of the Lone Star State"
April 22
Mangum-Howell Community Center, 2500 Frick Road (inside Doss Park)
This original production by Houston's award-winning children's theater takes a bite out of Texas history. Beginning with the indigenous people of the Gulf Coast through the adventures of NASAs astronauts, 600 years of Texas tales are told in an hour.
Calidore Quartet with Matthew Lipman
May 2
Rice University—Alice Pratt Brown Hall—Stude Concert Hall, 6100 S. Main St.
The Calidore Quartet returns to close the season in a beautiful program featuring string quintets by Mendelssohn and Mozart, aided by Lincoln Center star violist Matthew Lipman, already well-known to Chamber Music Houston audiences from past digital presentations. The quartet also performs Smetana's autobiographical work, "From My Life."
Go Bananas!
June 3
Houston Botanic Garden, 1 Botanic Lane
The Houston Botanic Garden goes bananas this June, in celebration of the world's most popular tropical fruit. The festival, which features food and drink, educational programs, and entertainment, highlights the 11 types of banana plants in the Garden's global collection. Everyone knows the fruit, but many don't know how amazingly unique the banana plant itself is. Go Bananas! introduces visitors to new and unexpected culinary uses and benefits of bananas, while also exposing them to cultural, botanical, environmental, and community impacts of the plant and its fruit as well.
Accordion Kings and Queens Concert
June 3
Miller Outdoor Theatre, 6000 Hermann Park Drive
Deemed the unofficial national instrument of Texas by many, the accordion plays a key role in diverse folk music genres and cultural communities in Texas. Dust off your dancing boots for a historic celebration of the accordion with accordion-fronted music performances from top bands including Cedric Watson and Bijou Creole, Grupo Imagen, Alex Meixner Band, and the winners of Texas Folklife's 2023 statewide Big Squeeze Youth Accordion Contest.
"The Iconic Portrait Strand by Nestor Topchy"
Aug. 4-Jan. 21
The Menil Collection, 1533 Sul Ross St.
This exhibition presents over 100 portraits made over the past 20 years by Houston-based artist Nestor Topchy (b. 1963). The small paintings, with their gold backgrounds, resemble Byzantine icons; however, rather than represent religious figures, Topchy depicts friends and colleagues in the art community.
