"MUSIC ST. MARTIN’S" CONCERT SERIES BEING PERFORMED ON JUNE 15.

This Sunday, June 15, "Music St. Martin's" presents a performance of "The Tonal Colors of The Gloria Dei Organ" at 1:30pm and "Festival of Sacred Music" at 2pm. "Music St. Martin's" is comprised of performances by the St. Martin's Choir, the Orchestra, and the Gloria Dei Organ and is under the direction of George Mims, Organist and Director of Music and David Henning, Assistant Organist and Assistant Director of Music.

Select pieces by Johann Sebastian Bach, Marcel Dupré, Ennio Morricone, Francois Dandrieu, Thomas Arne, and Jean Langlais will be performed on the Gloria Dei Organ. The Choir and Orchestra will perform "Adagio" by Domenico Zipoli for solo oboe and cello with string orchestra and organ; "Te Deum" by Franz Joseph Haydn; "Te Deum" by Benjamin Britten; "In the year King Uzziah died" by David McK. Williams (arranged for choir and orchestra); "Abide with me" arranged by George Mims for cello solo and choir; and much more. A free-will offering will be received, and child care is available.

St. Martin's Choir welcomes members -- they rehearse weekly on Thursday evenings from 7-9:15pm in the Choir Hall, the middle building facing Sage Road. They mentor new members, celebrate birthdays monthly and often share meals together. Members come from all walks of life within the parish and Houston community and each bring their special gift. "Music St. Martin's" exists as an arm of the Music Ministry for the purpose of outreach to the community of Greater Houston.

For more information, call 713.985.3823 or log onto www.stmartinsepiscopal.org.

THE HOUSTON SYMPHONY IS TAKING A “MUSICAL ROAD TRIP” AT THE CYNTHIA WOODS MITCHELL PAVILION IN THE WOODLANDS.

Pack your bags for a musical journey this Sunday, June 13 as Robert Franz conducts the Symphony and leads the audience on a trip through the prairies of Texas and across America connecting the repertoire through dialog with the audience.

Franz leads this musical tour from the wild west of Copland’s “Billy the Kid Suite” to the tossing of seas of Wagner’s “The Flying Dutchman.” Discover Dvořák’s “New World Symphony” and celebrate the mightiest river in the U.S.A. with Grofé’s “Mississippi Suite.” Continue your drive down the melodic highway to the sounds of Dragon’s “Yellow Rose of Texas,” Grieg’s “In the Hall of the Mountain King,” Smetana’s “Moldau,” and Hayman’s “Sing Out America.”

Before your road trip begins, enjoy free ice cream in the Fidelity Investments Plaza from 7-7:30pm and then relax to the sounds of the Sharpstown High School Band, Sollopa, and the public premiere of a piece of work written by the students under the direction of Kurt Stallmann, a composer and professor of music at Rice University. Sollopa is made up of 10 young musicians from the Sharpstown High School Band and they will be performing from 7-7:45pm.

The first 2,000 travelers to embark on this journey get free leis as they enter the gates and the first 500 tourists to check in with the plaza’s concierge get a free souvenir t-shirt. Visitors can have a picnic on the hill (no beverages please) during the concert and lawn seating is free and there are free lawn chairs available.

Reserved seats start at $10 and lawn seating is free, sponsored in part by Houston Community Newspapers.

For more information, call 281.363.3300 or log onto www.woodlandscenter.org.

SIGN YOUR KIDS UP FOR ROBOTICS CAMPS!

The American Robotics Academy® offers the most exciting "Robotics Program" going on in the Houston area, which includes “Lego Robotics”, “Crazy Action Contraptions” and “Robots on the Rampage”. Classes are divided by age and skills level and teach students to understand "how things work" through hands-on activities that demonstrate the principles of simple and motorized machines. They gain experience with design and problem solving through the use of gears, motors, wheels and axles, pulleys, and remote control devices. Working in teams of three, students learn a variety of ways to design a robot to do the things they want it to do. They decide and build, as a team, the best design of their robot for the competition to be held at the end of each class session.

The camps are offered in several convenient locations in all areas of Houston, including Missouri City, Beaumont, Clear Lake and the Woodlands. Their two main camps are at the Gateway Academy near downtown and the Met Private School in Memorial. All American Robotics Academy® camps are designed around a curriculum that enables students to take a full day/week program or choose to enroll in just morning or afternoon classes.

For a complete schedule and more information, call 281.599.7626 or log onto www.roboticsacademy.com.

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The purpose of GISH PICKS is to help parents become aware of all the fun things they can do with their children in Houston and the surrounding area, so HAPPY TRAVELS! Please do give me feedback and ideas, as you are out there in the trenches also looking for interesting things for your family and I want to hear what you find. If you are having trouble getting to a website listed here, try hitting the “Ctrl” button and left-clicking on the web address, which should make it “live”.