Letter from the Directors

Things happen for a reason. Or do they? When other explanations fail, we acknowledge fate. It’s a dodge, to be sure, but one with an auspicious past, one as old as humanity itself. Fate’s lingering power explains its long relevance in the arts—which, after all, have no obligation to rationality or reason.

Ars Lyrica’s 2025/26 season highlights Twists of Fate drawn from ancient myth and the Bible, as set to music principally during the Baroque era with occasionally excursions to more recent times. Major works include one of Bach’s most ambitious secular cantatas, a rarely heard Handel serenata, and a dramatic Haydn solo cantata. We’re especially pleased to offer a new production of Claudio Monteverdi’s epochal Orfeo in May 2026, in collaboration with the New York Baroque Dance Company.

More information on our 2025/26 season may be found in the following pages along with information on how to subscribe or purchase individual tickets. Early subscribers enjoy the best benefits, including discounts on individual tickets, choice of seating in Zilkha Hall, and priority seating for programs at St Philip Presbyterian Church and Rice University. Subscribers are also invited to attend post-concert receptions with the artists. Add Post-Opera Soirée seats to your early subscription and receive an invitation to an exclusive opera preview of L’Orfeo.

This coming season owes much to a network of generous patrons, who have made possible increasingly ambitious programming, a portfolio of diverse outreach activities, newly commissioned period instruments, and biennial operatic productions. Please consider a one-time, tax-deductible gift—or, better yet, a three-year pledge to the ALH Opera Circle—as you subscribe or renew for 2025/26. Become part of the Ars Lyrica family as you ensure a bright future for period-instrument performance and world-class Baroque opera in Houston.

With gratitude for your support,
Matthew Dirst, Artistic Director
Kinga Ferguson, Executive Director

Bach’s Divine Comedy
Friday, September 19, 2025 at 7:30 PM
Zilkha Hall, The Hobby Center

Love Untamed
Saturday, October 25, 2025 at 5 PM
Zilkha Hall, The Hobby Center

The Watchmen’s Song
Tuesday, December 2, 2025 at 7:30 PM
St. Philip Presbyterian Church

Fatal Attractions
Saturday, February 14, 2026 at 5 PM
Duncan Recital Hall, Rice University

Handel’s Aci, Galatea e Polifemo
Saturday, March 14, 2026 at 7 PM
Zilkha Hall, The Hobby Center

Monteverdi’s Orfeo
Friday May 29, 2026 at 7:30 PM &
Saturday, May 30, 2026 at 7:30 PM
Zilkha Hall, The Hobby Center