In August and September, the Conroe Symphony Orchestra, Montgomery County Choral Society and Conroe’s two downtown theater groups will launch their respective new seasons for the 2024-25 performance year.
The symphony and choral society will begin assembling in August and have the first performance of the season in October. The theater groups will have their first shows in September.
Here’s what to know about each group for the 2024-25 year:
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Montgomery County Choral Society
The 53-year-old Montgomery County Choral Society is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to unite singers who celebrate their love of music through professional-quality performances and community outreach.
In addition to performing four concerts per season the group has a scholarship program where they annually award scholarships to deserving students who wish to pursue collegiate studies in music-related fields.
In May, the group announced the appointment of Jim Kritikos as the organization’s new artistic director.
A social event to meet Kritikos is set for 7 p.m. Aug. 5 at Pedro’s Taco and Tequila Bar at 2101 W. Davis Street, Conroe. Registration to become a singer with the group is now open on the Choral Society website through Aug. 5.
Kritikos, a native Texan hailing from San Antonio, is a musician, educator, mentor and advocate for fine arts. He currently serves as the director of worship at Wildwood United Methodist Church in Magnolia.
“I’m excited to enter this new adventure in my music life,” he said.
The first concert “A New Direction” is at 7 p.m. Oct. 11 at First Methodist Conroe on Texas 105.
“Since I’m new, we’ve titled our concert ‘A New Direction,’ and what we will be doing is taking music from across the world — north, south, east and west,” he said. “We’ll be doing some northern music, eastern music, some Korean music, some western music and taking the audience on a little trip around the world.”
Other season concerts include “Gloria” Dec. 6, “Ties That Bind” exploring themes of peace, love, family, faith, joy, acceptance and inclusion Feb. 28 and “Stage & Screen” May 2.
More details about the season are on the choral society website.
Conroe Symphony Orchestra
The Conroe Symphony Orchestra is in its 27th year. The group was founded in 1997 as a nonprofit community orchestra in Conroe. The orchestra is made up of professional and amateur musicians from a variety of backgrounds.
Conductor Gary Liebst joined the orchestra in 2022. Liebst has directed community bands, community jazz bands, community pit orchestras and previously led the Kingwood Pops Orchestra.
“It’s amazing to see all the talent that exists in the area,” Liebst said of this group and others.
The orchestra will host its first concert of the year in October featuring “Tunes from the Toons” at 2:30 p.m. Oct. 19. Other concerts in the season will be Dec. 14 “Christmas Around the World,” “Great Expectations” Feb. 8 and “The Best of Broadway” featuring Broadway star Sal Viviano April 26.
In August, the Friends of the Symphony will host an afternoon of music where more about the season will be announced and season tickets will be available. Musicians can volunteer to perform with the symphony on the group’s website.
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Conroe’s theaters
The Players Theatre Company opens the 2024-25 season with the rock musical “Rock of Ages.” The songs of Journey, Bon Jovi, Def Leppard and other artists underscore a tale of big dreams in Hollywood in the 1980s. The show runs at the Owen Theatre Sept. 6-22.
Other shows in The Players new season include “Steel Magnolias,” Oct. 25 through Nov. 10, “White Christmas” Dec. 6-22, “Bedroom Farce” Jan. 24 through Feb. 9, 2025, “Tuck Everlasting” March 14-30, 2025 “Little Shop of Horrors,” May 9-25,2025 and “Private Lives” June 20 through July 6, 2025.
Stage Right opens its 2024-25 season with “The Play That Goes Wrong” also Sept. 6-22 at the Crighton Theatre in downtown Conroe.
Other Stage Right shows for the new season include “Dracula” Oct. 18 through Nov. 3, “Charlie and The Chocolate Factory,” Nov. 29 through Dec. 15, “Big The Musical” Feb. 7-23, 2025, “Shakespeare in Love,” April 4-20, 2025 and “The Wedding Singer,” July 4-20, 2025.
Looking for something to do in the Houston area this weekend? Check out this weekend’s guide!
A July study from two Houston colleges shows a majority of Texas residents are preparing for hurricane season with a rising number of electrical blackouts.
Texas grapes will be coming into many Texas wineries over the next few weeks after a past week of rain. The Gulf Coast Harvest of Blanc du Bois was finished around the first week of July thank to Hurricane Beryl, with the harvest starting in the second week of June. Normally the first grapes from the Texas interior being the classic grapes, vitis vinifera, are the Chardonnay grapes with the thin-skinned reds coming into the wineries from the vineyards. The last grapes to be harvested are the thick-skinned grapes like Cabernet Sauvignon. I predict our Texas harvest will be finished before the first week in October which is normal for end of grape harvest.
Texas wineries will be celebrating with harvest celebrations. Below are a few of the winery celebrations:
• Messina Hof Winery in Bryan celebrates the grape harvest every weekend in August. This ticketed event will feature grape harvests, meals, grape-stomping contests, and more. For more information, on this 47th Annual Harvest Celebration, go to www.MessinaHof.com. • Bernhardt Winery holds its Grape Stomp Festival on Aug. 10 from noon to 6 pm and is free to attend and enjoy. Wine tastings, grape stomps and train tours through the vineyards are nominal in cost. For more information, go to www.BernhardtWinery.com.• Texas Hill Country Wineries invite you to a multitude of Harvest Celebrations which can be found at www.TexasWineTrail.com. It does pay to plan ahead to attend the various grape stomps, wine tastings, concerts, and wine dinners in the nation’s second most popular wine country destination. For instance, Pedernales Cellars is also hosting a Harvest Picnic on Saturday, August. 17th from 10 a.m. to 5p.m. where guests can enjoy a BBQ lunch and glass of wine. You can also participate in a “Grape Stamp” where they will use corks to stamp fabric paint onto a Pedernales t-shirt. Once the harvest of grapes is in and the wines have fermented, celebrate Texas wines with October being designated as Texas Wine Month.
Expanding Your Wine Palette
People ask me how to develop your palette on wines. I have several opportunities for you to have an evening of tasting diverse, but outstanding wines. The best way to expand and educate that palette is to taste a diversity of wines while also getting an education on each wine. Your first opportunity is September 20th at Bayway Cadillac of The Woodlands located on the east side of I-45 at 16785, I-45. There will be sixty or so premium wines for you to experience at a variety of wine tasting stations manned by wine experts providing their take on each wine’s characteristics. Did I also mention that outstanding Chefs will be pairing foods with those wines? A limited number of tickets for this palette pleaser are still available through Food and Vine Time as a part of their expanded Food and Wine Week in The Woodlands Don’t forget their Market Street Stroll moved to October 17th. This event runs for four hours starting at 5pm. and will be held during the cooler time of the year in lieu of in June during Wine & Food Week in The Woodlands.
Ron Saikowski may be reached at rsaikowski@comcast.net.
As budget workshops near for the county, preliminary estimates already show an overall increase to the budget.
The forest’s major trail network is open, with the forest service’s personnel and the Conroe Fire Department continuing to assess and clean up the damage until all the trails are cleared.
According to Montgomery County officials, a central Disaster Resource Center will be open to process applications by the end of the month.
The apartments will be age-restricted and cost-controlled.
There are several events taking place through Aug, 20 in the Conroe area, including concerts and an art exhibit. Check out a few of them below. This list is not comprehensive.
Southern Avenue Boutique is now open in Conroe.