The Houston Brass Quintet.
H-Town arts lovers, get ready to travel on a sonic tour of the Bayou City. The DiverCity Project, a new, free concert series that kicks off this weekend at Market Square Park, offers audiences the chance to explore some of Houston’s many cultural communities through the universal language of music.
“We wanted something that reflects the fabric of Houston,” says Laurette Cañizares, programming and events manager for the Downtown District, which has partnered with the Houston Brass Quintet for the DiverCity Project.
Each of the six hour-long concerts will focus on a different style of music found in Houston, including African roots-infused jazz, Western bluegrass, and Latin fusion. At every performance, featured artists specializing in each style of music will join the Houston Brass Quintet to perform original compositions and explore favorite tunes in a different way.
“There’s all this original art that’s being created for every program and in a really authentic way,” says Sarah Perkins, manager of the Houston Brass Quintet and one of its two trumpeters. “That, to me, is the coolest thing about it as a musician.”
The DiverCity Project will culminate in May with a concert featuring an original composition by Houston composer Stephen Bachicha. The piece, which is currently unnamed, brings together the genres from all of the previous concerts into a kind of drive through Houston, Perkins says. The finale piece will also feature narration and elements from previous concert pieces that didn’t make it in the shows’ arrangements.
“What’s beautiful is, whether you go to every single concert or you just go to the finale, the finale is this beautiful medley of all these sounds,” Cañizares says. “If you did go to the other concerts, it will still be very unique and different.”
Check out the full concert schedule below:
The DiverCity Project
Mar 7: Jazz with African roots
Mar 21: Western Bluegrass
Apr 4: German music
Apr 18: Indian music
May 2: Latin and Cuban music
May 16: DiverCity finale
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