Kathrine G. McGovern College of the Arts

Directed by Franz Anton Krager, The Moores School Symphony Orchestra is a leading ensemble in the area of new music as well as an important repository for the standard literature, presenting works from all major orchestral genres including full orchestra, chamber orchestra, opera, oratorio, and ballet. As a major ensemble with over 110 members, the orchestra collaborates on a regular basis with the Moores Opera Center, Moores School of Music choirs, and the Houston Ballet Academy. The high level of its performances has been hailed by international artists and critics alike as a student ensemble of professional quality and versatility. 

The orchestra appears regularly with world-class performing artists and has been featured at several Texas Music Educators Association conventions and at the Midwest Clinic in Chicago. As an accompanying ensemble, the orchestra performs with soloists including major guest artists, school faculty, and students selected through the Moores School Concerto Competition. Many of the orchestra’s alumni have gone on to win positions in major orchestras and become conductors, performers, and leading music educators in the field.

Season Opener Program:

Bela Bartok: The Miraculous Mandarin: Suite

Samuel Coleridge-Taylor: Symphonic Variations on an African Air, Op 63

Augustina Kapoti, conductor

Erich Wolfgang Korngold: Violin Concerto in D Major, Op 35

Mann-Wen Lo, solo violinist

About the Soloist:

Violinist Mann-Wen Lo performs extensively throughout the world in some of the most prestigious venues as a soloist and a chamber musician. Lo has been a recurring artist in performances at Carnegie Hall, Jordan Hall, Alice Tully Hall, and Walt Disney Hall, among others. Featured on radio and TV broadcasts in the United States, Taiwan, Japan, and France, Lo has gained recognition at numerous competitions and awards. Most recently, her recording with the Mana Music Quartet featuring music of Queen Liliʻuokalani was awarded Instrumental Album of the Year at the 2021 Na Hoku Hanohano Award. Lo is a core member in Delirium Musicum, which released a debut album with Warner Classics in April 2023. Chamber music is at the core of Lo’s musical passion. She has collaborated in concerts with members of world-renowned string quartets such as the Juilliard String Quartet, the Cleveland Quartet, Quatuor Ysaÿe, and the Takacs Quartet, among others. Lo has been invited as a guest artist to concert series such as Camera Lucida in San Diego, Sunset MusicFest, Le Salon de Musiques, the Castleton Chamber Players and the Da Camera Society in Los Angeles. Her festival appearances include Yellow Barn Chamber Music Festival, Menuhin Festival Gstaad, Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, Saito Kinen Festival, ANA Music Week, Hawaii International Music Festival, Hawaii Chamber Music Festival and Rencontres Franco Américaines de Musique Chambre.
Lo also shares her passion for music through teaching as a violin faculty member at the University of Houston’s Moores School of Music.