Houston's Weekend Planning Guide Weekend Fridays

[From BMI.com] Ricardo Montaner is one of the best-selling Latin singer/songwriters of all time and this weekend he is in Sugarland at the Smart Financial Center. A versatile musician and preeminent romantic balladeer, Montaner has composed and edited over 300 hundred songs, released over 24 studio albums, sold over 65 million records worldwide, broken attendance records at arenas all over the globe, and boasts one of the most recognizable voices in the Spanish-speaking world. He was born in Argentina but moved to Venezuela as a small child, where he first got his start singing in a church music group. From there, music became his driving passion, a calling that has taken him to a level of artistic renown few can match.

Over the course of his illustrious career, Montaner has sent numerous singles to the top of the charts, including perennial favorites like “Me Va a Extrañar,” “Dejame Llorar,” “La Gloria de Dios,” “La Cima Del Cielo,” “Castillo Azul,” “Quisiera,” “Vasito de Agua” and many more. His song “Tan Enamorados” occupied the No.1 spot of Billboard’s Hot Latin Songs chart for 47 weeks. In October 2011, the magazine cited him as one of the ten most outstanding Latin American artists in the last 25 years. Montaner continues to evolve as an artist, innovating with new styles and collaborating with contemporary hit makers like Tainy, Farruko, and J Balvin. Along the way, Montaner’s picked up several prestigious accolades, including a Latin GRAMMY Lifetime Achievement Award in 2016.

Skinny Kravitz is a Houston based vocalist and acoustic guitarist who represents all that is soulful and funky. His smooth and intimate vocal delivery covers a wide range of artistic stylings, however it's immediately apparent that Maxwell and Prince top his list of influences. Armed with a guitar, microphone and loop-station he can be found rocking local venues to the sounds of Bruno Mars, Prince, Miguel, Chris Stapleton, Bill Withers, John Legend, Babyface and Boz Scaggs to name a few. He is a welcome addition to Houston's acoustic cover artist scene.

Jump to the beat with your friends on Sesame Street! Join the fun with an interactive show that unfolds on one of the world’s most famous streets at the funniest, furriest party in the neighborhood … get ready for Sesame Street Live! Let’s Party!

Learn new songs and sing along to familiar favorites with Oscar and Cookie Monster; build a snowman with Elmo; flap your wings with Big Bird; marvel at Abby’s magic; be amazed when Super Grover flies; and move to the rhythm with Rosita.

Anything’s possible when everyone who shares something in common gets together. Kick your feet to the beat at Sesame Street Live! Let’s Party!

Music of the remarkable Boulanger sisters anchors this program of shimmering French masterworks, led by renowned French conductor Fabien Gabel. Nadia Boulanger goes down in history as the greatest composition teacher of all time, shaping the sound of everyone from Aaron Copland to Philip Glass to Quincy Jones, and the outstanding Alexandra Dariescu gives the U.S. premiere of Boulanger’s Fantaisie Variée for Piano and Orchestra. Then, star vocalists join the orchestra for Lili Boulanger’s Scenes from Faust et Hélène, the work with which she became the first woman to win the coveted Prix de Rome at just 19 years of age. Plus, Dariescu performs exquisite music of 19th century organ and piano virtuoso César Franck, and the orchestra gives the Houston premiere of a long-lost, newly rediscovered score by Stravinsky.