Classical, Contemporary, and Cross-Cultural Music & Theater Festivals

Common Practice 21C: Classical, Contemporary, and Cross-Cultural Music (abbreviated as, "21C") is a performing arts festival in Houston, Texas. It was founded in 2015 by Taiwanese-American composer Shih-Hui Chen. The three-day festival fosters intercultural exchange through a series of lectures, workshops, and performances that demonstrate traditional and modern performance. An array of musicians from different countries and practices meet to devise a global perspective of music that looks forward into the Twenty-first Century. Works and ideas presented at the festival embrace fusion of traditional Asian musical cultures with western art practices. Previous festivals have been centered on Chinese, Taiwanese, Korean, and Turkish cultures. In 2017, a CD titled “Crossing” was released by the Albany Records as a result of the festival.

The festival is supported by the Shepherd School of Music, Rice University, and Asia Society Texas Center.

Classical, Contemporary, and Cross-Cultural Asian Music: Taiwan Focus

Dr. Shih-Hui Chen
The Shepherd School of Music and Department of Transnational Asian Studies

Vibrant Voices: Musical Portraits from the Houston Asian American Archive is a unique and innovative concert experience that highlights immigrant experiences and triumphs in Houston. Join three young Houston-based composers — Victor Cui, Ethan Soledad, and Tian Qin — as they share vivid musical stories about three Houstonians:  wound care doctor and post-war Vietnam refugee Nathalie Roff; writer, filmmaker, and former stand-up comic BanBan Cheng; and dancer and choreographer Cookie Joe. The composers researched Houston Asian American Archive's materials and oral history collections, which sparked their inspiration to create these compositions. 

Join Asia Society Texas, Houston Asian American Archive, and Musiqa Thursday, October 3, 2024 for an evening celebrating Asian American experiences in Houston through music and oral history. Some of the interviewees will be present to deliver comments; a reception will follow the concert. Registration is required for this free event.

https://asiasociety.org/texas/events/vibrant-voices-musical-portraits-houston-asian-american-archive 

Shih-Hui Chen’s The Birds Are Real; Ambush From Ten Directions 
Shepherd School 50th Anniversary Commission

October 16, 7:00 pm, 
Wortham Theater at the Shepherd School Music

An evening of music, light and shadow puppetry
Learn more here.