The Grammy-nominated ensemble Ars Lyrica Houston proudly announces its 19th season, “Sounding Legacies.” This season offers spectacular music by beloved Baroque composers, including major works of Purcell, Rameau, Handel, Monteverdi, and Bach. Soloists include audience favorites alongside rising opera stars, accompanied by an outstanding core ensemble of period string, wind, and continuo players. Performances will take place in Zilkha Hall at the Hobby Center for Performing Arts, Rienzi (the MFAH house museum for European decorative arts), and St. Philip Presbyterian Church.

Regarding this season’s focus, Artistic Director Matthew Dirst remarks that “our ‘Sounding Legacies’ theme seemed like the best way to link together various programs that honor a particular person or culture, whether mythological or real. The three Fall programs mine the musical legacies of St. Cecilia, Antonio Vivaldi, and the Virgin Mary, while the Spring programs take up the European artistic fascination with the Far East, its longstanding attraction to pastoral poetry and music, and the Psalms as a source of musical inspiration in the Christian and Jewish traditions.”

The season begins with “Hail, Bright Cecilia!” in September, a celebration of St. Cecilia, the patron saint of music, with two splendid Cecilian odes by Henry Purcell for multiple voices and a colorful Baroque orchestra. Next is “Red Priest of Venice” in November, a virtuosic tribute to Antonio Vivaldi featuring breathtaking concerti, colorful arias, and his beloved setting of Stabat Mater for solo voice and strings, performed by distinguished countertenor Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen. In December, the holiday concert “A Marian Feast” takes place at St. Philip Presbyterian Church and explores the rich musical legacy of the Virgin Mary. Ars Lyrica continues its collaboration with Rienzi, MFAH House Museum, in January. “Musical Chinoiseries in 17th- and 18th-Century Europe'' explores how Chinese culture inspired a popular, exotic design trend in Baroque Europe, reflected in the Rienzi collection and in curated works by harpsichordist Mario Aschauer.

Ars Lyrica is delighted to feature several rising stars of the opera world throughout the season. Handel’s “Clori, Tirsi e Fileno” in March includes Key’mon Murrah, the winner of the 2021 Eleanor McCollum Competition for Young Singers at Houston Grand Opera. He appears alongside the stunning Cecilia McKinley and Lauren Snouffer, all singing en travesti as the opposite gender to bring a new twist to this timeless story of a wily shepherdess and her two suitors. The season finale in May features a brilliant sextet of singers with the full ensemble for psalm settings by Rameau, Rossi, and Bach.

More information about each concert is available on our website:

Hail, Bright Cecilia!

Friday, September 23 at 7:30 pm | Zilkha Hall

Red Priest of Venice

Saturday, November 12 at 7:30 pm | Zilkha Hall

A Marian Feast

Tuesday, December 13 at 7:30 pm | St. Philip Presbyterian Church

From China with Love: Musical Chinoiseries in 17th- and 18th-Century Europe

Sunday, Jan 29 at 4 pm | Rienzi, the MFAH House Museum for European decorative arts

Clori, Tirsi e Fileno

Sunday, March 26 at 4 pm | Zilkha Hall

Songs of Zion

Saturday, May 13 at 7:30 pm | Zilkha Hall

For general 2022/2023 season tickets and subscription information, visit the Ars Lyrica website.