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Best in Texas: Moores Concert Chorale and Symphony Orchestra

Texas Music Educators Association selects Moores groups to perform at conference

Each year, teachers and band directors from around the world flock to San Antonio for the Texas Music Educators Association (TMEA) Convention. The annual event delivers hundreds of workshops and more than 60 concerts featuring top musicians from around the state.

Only the best in Texas perform at this event.

Among the ensembles selected to perform at this year’s event are the University of Houston’s Moores Concert Chorale and Moores Symphony Orchestra.  Both groups will perform Feb. 15.

“Each year TMEA features only two college choirs.  This will be the third time in recent years that UH Concert Chorale will be featured,” said Betsy Cook Weber, professor and director of choral studies.

“The audience will consist almost entirely of musicians who know what they are listening to,” she said. “They are always very supportive, but they are also very critical because they are so knowledgeable.  The students and I have been working very hard to prepare for this important concert.  We'll be ready!”

TMEA hosts one of the nation’s largest music educator conventions. More than 25,000 teachers, band directors and musicians attend this annual event. In addition to concerts, the convention features more than 200 workshops and an extensive showroom with exhibitors from around the globe. This year’s event runs Feb. 13 – 16 at San Antonio’s Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center.

All TMEA concerts will be performed in the Henry B. Gonzales Convention Center’s Lila Cockrell Theatre in San Antonio (200 E. Market St.).

Performances times and selected works are as follows:

  • 3:30 p.m. – Moores Symphony Orchestra with conductors Franz Anton Krager, David Bertman, Richard C. Crain, Lowell E. Graham and James F. Keene: Selections to be performed include “Commando March” by Samuel Barger, “First Military Suite in E. Flat” by Gustav Holst, “Lincoln Posy” by Percy Grainger, and “The Ride of the Valkyries” by Richard Wagner.
  • 6:30 p.m. - Moores Concert Chorale directed by Betsy Cook Weber: Among the selections to be performed are the Beatles’ “Ob-la-di, Ob-la-da,” “O Light of Light” by UH Moores School of Music director David Ashley White and “Frohlocket, ihr Völker auf Erden” by Felix Mendelssohn

The orchestra also will accompany the Texas All-State Choir during its performance at noon, Feb. 16 and the Texas All-State Women’s Choir at 3:30 p.m., Feb. 16.

“This is the biggest event of its kind in the state and one of the biggest music conventions in the country,” said Maestro Krager, professor of conducting and director of orchestras. “To be asked to perform at this event is an honor. Our students will perform in front of veteran musicians, so they will be on top of their games.”

The orchestra recently performed at another major music conference, the Midwest Clinic in Chicago.

In May, the Moores Concert Chorale will take its talents to 13th annual International Chamber Choir Competition in Germany. The ensemble is one of only 10 international choirs to be selected for this exclusive competition.

~ by Mike Emery