“Arabian Nights” awaits at Rice University

An “Arabian Nights” adventure awaits attendees of the 2023 Shepherd School of Music Family Concert, set for Jan. 28 in Stude Concert Hall in Rice University’s Alice Pratt Brown Hall. The concert is free and open to the public.

The annual event offers families the chance to meet musicians and see concert instruments up close prior to a family-friendly concert. Instrument demonstrations and meet and greets with musicians will begin at 10:30 a.m., followed by the 55-minute concert at 11.

This year’s program, “Parizade and the Singing Tree: A Tale from ‘The Arabian Nights,’” tells the thrilling and adventurous story of the brave and determined Parizade, who is on a quest to find a magical singing tree but encounters challenges along the way. The concert features music by Karim Al-Zand, a Shepherd School professor of composition, performed by the Shepherd School Chamber Orchestra. Rachel Buchman, a Shepherd School lecturer and head of the young children’s division of the school’s Michael P. Hammond Preparatory Program, will narrate the performance, and Michael Webster, professor of orchestral and chamber repertoire, will conduct the orchestra.