Stunning Westside Sanctuary Hosts Timely Concert Celebrating Music from Jewish, Muslim and Christian Faiths

Stunning Westside Sanctuary Hosts Timely Concert Celebrating Music from Jewish, Muslim and Christian Faiths

St. John Vianney Catholic Church (photo by Geoffrey Lyon)

TOMORROW, AT WEST Houston’s beautiful St. John Vianney Catholic Church, the Energy Corridor of Houston Orchestra (ECHO) kicks off its 10th season with Music of Faith, a celebration of music from Jewish, Muslim and Christian traditions, featuring internationally-known Klezmer violinist, Steven Greenman.


In addition to being one of the finest practitioners of traditional East European Jewish klezmer violin music, Greenman is a virtuoso performer of East European folk music and an in-demand soloist with symphony orchestras. “This concert celebrates music representing several of the many cultures that make up our Energy Corridor community that have supported us since our beginning,” says ECHO’s executive director Sarah McDonner.

Greenman will perform several short movements from his composition, Klezmer Suite for Violin and Orchestra, as well as the Cadenza from Fiddler on the Roof by film composer, John Williams. The rich and varied program also includes the final movement from Felix Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 5 (also known as the Reformation Symphony), which is based on the famous Christian hymn A Mighty Fortress is our God, and the overture to Verdi’s opera La Forza Del Destino. Ekaterinburg Gorlova, soprano with the St. John Vianney choir, will sing Handel’s Let the Bright Seraphim from Samson. ECHO’s founding director Michael Fahey conducts.

Fahey co-founded ECHO in 2014 with McDonner to bring audience-friendly, professional-level performances of classical and contemporary music to the Energy Corridor and surrounding communities. The orchestra’s combined membership of professional and volunteer players has contributed to its ongoing success with audiences, who may be new to classical repertoire.

“We are so excited to bring Steven Greenman back to Houston to perform for our incredible audience,” says Fahey. “It is our great pleasure to feature music and musicians from near and far as we continue to provide musical experiences that will delight our audiences.”

Art + Entertainment
Meet Brian Boyter, New High-End Residential Broker with an Unique Background

BRIAN BOYTER IS a Houston native with an interesting background in real estate. After an impressive 16-year tenure managing commercial transactions in a Fortune 500 Real Estate Investment Trust, he recently made the shift to high-end residential brokerage. The experience left him uniquely suited to thrive in the sometimes-emotional world of buying or selling a home.

Keep Reading Show less

What year was your organization launched? Founded in Houston in 1947, as the Cerebral Palsy Treatment Center, the organization provided services to individuals with disabilities living in Houston and Harris County. In 1989, the organization changed its name and greatly expanded its services to meet the needs of its clientele. Today as Easter Seals Greater Houston, the organization provides multiple outstanding service programs to children, adults, veterans, and service members with all types of disabilities and their families in Harris and sixteen surrounding counties.

Keep Reading Show less

John Kuykendall, Showroom Manager, Sub-Zero, Wolf and Cove

How did you get to where you are today? Growing up I had envisioned myself as a news anchor, living in NY and enthusiastically saying into the camera “Good Morning America!”. To this day, I am still a news/political junkie. My mother owned fur salons so specialty retail, luxury retail was in my blood through the family business. Eventually, mom shuttered the stores and I was recruited to a large specialty retailer. Over the next 30 years, I was in commissioned sales on the sales floor, became a department manager, worked my way up to buyer and store manager. Although I never became a newscaster, I did live in NYC for a few years. But Texas is home and with aging grandparents, I felt the pull to come back to my roots. A headhunter approached me. I never envisioned myself in the high-end appliance market, but there are so many similarities. Clients want a memorable experience; whether shopping for diamonds and fur or remodeling their kitchen.

Keep Reading Show less