CHECKMATE Launches ROCO's Concert Season

ROCO's (River Oaks Chamber Orchestra) 14th concert season, entitled "Games People Play," kicks off on September 21 & 22 with the world premiere of Maxime Goulet's Checkmate. Based on the legendary 1996 match between IBM's Deep Blue computer and then reigning world chess champion, Garry Kasparov, Checkmate is an interactive musical game of chess between ROCO's full 40-piece orchestra and world-renowned pianist Lara Downes. With Downes representing Kasparov and ROCO playing the role of Deep Blue, the sequence of musical themes will follow the chess moves of this famous game with animation projected above the stage in real time.

No stranger to games himself, Maxime Goulet works within various realms of musical creation ranging from symphonic music to video games. He wrote the music for the game Warhammer 40,000: Eternal Crusade, a symphony evoking different flavored chocolates (ROCO performed the string quartet version in November of 2017), a cabaret opera based on a comic book, and a crowd game for orchestra and a giant beach ball. Goulet's contemporary tonal style and original musical concepts help him connect with everyone from youth audiences to savvy music aficionados. His concert works have been performed on four continents by leading ensembles and his unique musical voice can also be heard in a number of well-known video game soundtracks.

Conductor Paul Watkins, cellist with the Emerson String Quartet, will lead this exciting program including a performance of Mendelssohn's Concert Piece No. 1 for Clarinet and Bassoon with ROCO principals, Nathan Williams and Kristin Wolfe Jensen as soloists. Concert-goers will also enjoy Mahler's string orchestra arrangement of the second movement of Schubert's Death and the Maiden, Martin?'s Sinfonietta "La Jolla," and the US premiere of Anthem by Watkins' brother, Huw Watkins.

Checkmate will be the first of ten world premieres in ROCO's 2018-19 season bringing the ensemble's total to 76 in just 14 years. ROCO is also committed to promoting diversity in the arts and will feature a female composer, conductor, or soloist on each concert this season.