River Oaks Chamber Orchestra

For those of you not familiar with the large lexicon of Unilocalisms, the acronym, FTR, stands for «first to review». Unilocal acknowledges FTRs on its site to encourage their review community to further expand its coverage of reviewed businesses. In the Houston area, I often get acknowledged for FTRs because I primarily review places outside the loop (OTL) which are ripe pickings compared to the over-​Yelped establishments found inside the loop (ITL). When I stumble upon an ITL FTR opportunity these days, it usually represents an under-​appreciated gem. This is the case here in spades.
The River Oaks Chamber Orchestra (known as ROCO to its fans) was founded four years ago by its very talented Principal Oboist, Alecia Lawyer. It is long overdue to be acknowledged here with a five-​star FTR. I was prompted to write this today because I was listening to Performance Today Online (
) and heard a lilting performance by ROCO of Bach’s Concerto for Violin and Oboe. I thought, «Wow! They’re being discovered around the country, but we still barely know them in our own backyard!» Hence, this review.
ROCO is one of a bevy of chamber groups in the Houston area that deserve four or five star recognition. Others include Da Camera, Mercury Baroque and Ars Lyrica. As a professional singer in town, I’ve had the opportunity and privilege to perform with all these groups when they needed a chamber choir to round out their performing personnel. I most recently performed with ROCO last November.
What impressed me most about this group in addition to their virtuosity, sensitivity and flexibility was their very innovative way of engaging their audiences and make their performances fun. Most of the ROCO musicians are quite young and they defy any of the «stuffy» or «boring» stereotypes that are hung on classical music by those who really don’t know better. These musicians rock.
Let me explain more. They perform works in an order that doesn’t necessarily reflect what is printed in the program, they always add «surprise» works, and they allow raffle winners to sit on stage amongst the orchestra during one of the works. Their coolest innovation is their ROCOrooters program. It’s a child care /​music education program that runs in tandem with their concerts and allows couples with kids to have a date night while giving their kids an opportunity to learn about the music that made Western civilization great. Kudos upon kudos to ROCO for this!
Their principal venue is the Church of St. John the Divine in River Oaks. Come to a concert and hear them. You’ll be better for it.