Grammy nominated Ars Lyrica Houston is known for presenting diverse programming from the Baroque era, producing live performances and recordings that showcase period instruments and repertoire in Zilkha Hall at the Hobby Center for the Performing Arts, and for their extensive outreach programming throughout the greater Houston area. Ars Lyrica’s special 2017-2018 season, Artful Women, is entirely dedicated to women and their capacity and enduring impact on the arts as muse, heroine, musician, and patron. The six concert programs explore the roles of women performers, composers, and philanthropists through history highlighting those capable, yet ultimately under-recognized, figures through repertoire, stories, and legacies while showcasing some phenomenal performers.

Ars Lyrica has acknowledged the importance of female philanthropists throughout the season by honoring some of Houston’s most inspiring women at each concert. This season will close on a high note with its finale, A Day with Marie Antoinette, the evening of May 19, 2018. During that evening, Ars Lyrica will honor mothers who impact not only this generation, but the next, by instilling the same passion and love for the arts in their children. The mothers being honored are: Connie Kwan-Wong, Sonja Bruzauskas, Yvonamor Palix, Dr. Ishwaria M. Subbiah, Dr. Rachel Ellsworth, Sara Loperena, Dominique McCormick, and Cecilia Duarte. Ars Lyrica honors the dedicated efforts of the mothers who instill education and support so that all may reap the resounding benefits music brings to humanity and the world.

The evening will include a special honoree dinner at Artista as well as the season finale concert program, A Day with Marie Antoinette, which features rustic to elegant music, conjuring up the essence of a day in music with France’s most famous queen. A violin concerto written by Marie Antoinette’s music teacher, Joseph Bologne, featuring violinist Cynthia Roberts; a Mozart flute quartet; and a dance suite from Gluck’s Orphée et Eurydice and Haydn’s Paris symphony, No. 85, subtitled, The Queen, will be part of the program. The event will conclude with a reception comprised of Ars Lyrica musicians, patrons, and honorees.

To learn more about the Artful Women season, Ars Lyrica Houston, and the honorees, please visit www.arslyricahouston.org.

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For ticket information, please contact the

Hobby Center Box Office at (713) 315-2525.

About Ars Lyrica
Founded in 1998 by harpsichordist and conductor Matthew Dirst, Ars Lyrica Houston presents a diverse array of music from the 17th and 18th centuries on period instruments. Its local subscription series, according to the Houston Chronicle, “sets the agenda” for early music in Houston. The company also appears regularly at major festivals and conferences. Ars Lyrica’s distinctive programming favors Baroque dramatic and chamber works, and its pioneering efforts have won international acclaim. The ensemble’s world première recording of Johann Adolf Hasse’s Marc’Antonio e Cleopatra, hailed by Early Music America as “a thrilling performance that glows in its quieter moments and sparkles with vitality,” was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Opera 2011.

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