I step into the Ismaili Center—opened last December on the banks of Buffalo Bayou—and the space announces its intention immediately. The light is controlled. The quiet is profound, engineered so conversation is possible, so presence can be felt.
ACTX spoke with Austin Symphony Orchestra’s lead conductor and musical director, Peter Bay, about his decision to “pass the baton” at the 2026-2027 season’s conclusion.
A truly unique performing arts organization has arrived on Houston’s vibrant classical music scene, a group dedicated to illuminating the sacred through music.
Since its founding in 2012, Dallas’s Avant Chamber Ballet has commissioned more than 50 world-premiere ballets, including four full-length works, all from female or minority choreographers. Its 2026-27 season continues that tradition with world premieres from founding artistic director Katie Puder and former New York City ballet principal Jock Soto, but audiences can also expect plenty of classical ballet’s greatest hits, including The Nutcracker and the second act of Swan Lake. The season also features the most performance dates in the company’s 15-year history, all occurring at Moody Performance Hall.
It’s been almost ten years since the heads of Dance Source Houston, the Bayou City’s diligent and committed resource organization for the local field of dance, hatched an inspired plan. Executive Director Mollie Miller and then Board President Stephanie Todd Wong recognized a need for performance opportunities for the city’s dance-makers, as well as production training so that these artists could utilize the newly opened Midtown Arts and Theater Center Houston (MATCH).
Audra McDonald has been a leading light of Broadway for three decades, and the José Limón Dance Company has enriched the modern-dance world for more than twice as long.
For several years as Arts and Culture’s resident theater cartographer, I’ve been mapping the big Broadway and West End touring shows as they tour across Texas.
Audra McDonald has been a leading light of Broadway for three decades, and the José Limón Dance Company has enriched the modern-dance world for more than twice as long.
An East German punk rocker, a Black female gunslinger, a pair of impressionable teens, a gold-digging pool boy, a riled-up school board, singing World War I soldiers, and William Shakespeare walk into a theater in Fort Worth…
