InTune | December 2024

InTUNE

The Houston Symphony Magazine

Beethoven’s Emperor Concerto

A Viennese Waltz Christmas

Yo-Yo Ma in Concert

KING

Your Houston Symphony

Welcome to the Houston Symphony

Your Symphony Experience

Juraj Valčuha, Music Director

Orchestra Roster

Society Board of Trustees

Administrative Staff

Fiesta Sinfónica

Vienna Calling Festival

Yefim Bronfman Steinway Piano Selection

Opening Night Concert and Gala

Next Month at the Houston Symphony

Symphony Spotlight

Final Note: Thomas LeGrand

Final Note: Eric Halen

Final Note: Scott Holshouser

Programs

Beethoven's Emperor Concerto A Viennese Waltz Christmas

Yo-Yo Ma in Concert

welcome to the houston symphony

Dear Music Lovers,

In this wondrous holiday season, we welcome you to the warmth and festivity of Jones Hall. December promises to be a month of musical reflection and joyous celebration, one that captures the spirit of the holidays for all of our patrons.

The centerpiece of our December offerings, the Holiday Series presented by Nexus Health Systems is the Vienna Calling Festival, a triptych of performances that offers a vibrant tribute to the city that shaped the course of classical music. We begin with a performance of Beethoven's monumental Emperor Concerto. This iconic work, known for its grandeur and boundary-pushing nature, will be brought to life by virtuoso pianist and Houston favorite, Yefim Bronfman. Under the masterful baton of our Music Director Juraj Valčuha, this promises to be a stirring exploration of Beethoven's heroic style.

For those seeking a more intimate experience, our Passport to Vienna chamber music program delves into the rich tapestry of Viennese music, featuring both familiar and lesser-known gems. And to truly capture the elegance of the Viennese ballroom, we present A Viennese Waltz Christmas, a program filled with the lilting melodies of the Strauss family in the grand tradition of Viennese new year’s traditions.

December wouldn't be complete without a celebration of the season's spirit in all its forms. The Holly Jolly Holiday program, part of our PNC Family Series, offers an enchanting blend of symphonic whimsy and cheer, perfect for creating magical memories with young audiences. Jazz enthusiasts can swing into the season with Swingin' Christmas, featuring the Houston Jazz Orchestra in a lively performance filled with the infectious rhythms of big band jazz.

Adding a touch of profound musicality to the season is a special performance by Yo-Yo Ma, the worldrenowned cellist whose artistry transcends genres. We are thrilled to welcome him back to Houston after a long wait for a poignant rendition of Dvořák's beautiful Cello Concerto.

Continuing cherished traditions, Handel's Messiah returns with the magnificent Houston Symphony Chorus and a stellar cast of soloists, promising an uplifting experience. Very Merry POPS brings holiday cheer with Broadway star Betsy Wolfe joining us for a program filled with festive favorites. The Holiday Brass Spectacular showcases the power and brilliance of our brass section, while José Hernandez' Merry-Achi Christmas offers a unique and joyful blend of mariachi music and holiday classics.

As we celebrate the end of another remarkable year, we are profoundly grateful for your continued support of the Houston Symphony. Our ongoing Annual Fund campaign is vital in bringing the gift of music to our community and beyond, reaching nearly 400,000 Houstonians each year through our outreach initiatives. Your generosity will ensure that the music never stops, whether through live performances at Jones Hall, educational programs, or community performances that connect us with audiences worldwide. To find out how you can make a tax-deductible contribution as part of your year-end giving, please turn to page 72.

We are thankful for each and every member of our Symphony family. May this holiday season bring you joy, peace, and beautiful music to share with loved ones. We look forward to celebrating with you and to an exciting new year ahead.

With Warmest Regards,

Elizabeth Condic, Interim Executive Director/CEO

Margaret Alkek Williams Chair

CALENDAR 2024 –25 SEASON

Ain’t No Mountain High Enough: The Music of Motown

September 28 & 29

Bohemian Rhapsody Festival: Bohemian Rhapsodies

September 29

Opening Weekend: Dvořák’s New World

October 4, 5 & 6

Trifonov in Concert

October 10

Dvořák’s Violin Concerto

October 12 & 13

Halloween Silent Film Double Feature

October 25

Rocky Horror Picture Show

October 26

Hansel and Gretel & Don Quixote

November 1, 2 & 3

It Don’t Mean a Thing: Swingin’ Uptown Classics with Byron Stripling

November 8, 9 & 10

Clap your hands, say yeah!

The Great American Music Adventure

November 9

Michael Tilson Thomas Conducts Beethoven 9

November 14

Disney Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas in Concert

November 16 & 17

Bach, Mozart & Brahms

November 23 & 24

Thanksgiving Weekend: Beethoven’s Emperor Concerto

November 29, 30 & December 1

Vienna Calling Festival: Passport to Vienna

December 1

Swingin’ Christmas with Houston Jazz Orchestra

December 3

A Viennese Waltz Christmas

December 7 & 8

Yo-Yo Ma in Concert

December 9

Very Merry Pops

December 12, 14 & 15

Holly Jolly Holiday

December 14

Handel's Messiah

December 20, 21 & 22

Joyful Fanfares: Holiday Brass Spectacular

December 22

Mariachi Sol De Mexico de Jose Hernandez presents: Jose Hernandez’ Merry-Achi Christmas

December 23

Pink Martini with China Forbes: 30th Anniversary Season

January 3, 4 & 5

An Eschenbach & Bruckner

Birthday Celebration

January 11 & 12

Killer Mike & The Mighty Midnight Revival

January 16

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban™ in Concert

January 18 & 19

Beethoven’s Violin Concerto & Tchaikovsky

January 24, 25 & 26

Viva Italia! Opera Beyond Words

February 7 & 9

Duke Bluebeard’s Castle

February 15 & 16

Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back in Concert

February 21 & 22

007: James Bond Forever

February 28, March 1 & 2

Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Missing Maestro

March 1

Hilary Hahn Plays Brahms

March 7, 8 & 9

Korngold’s Violin Concerto & Cinderella

March 14, 15 & 16

Fairytales Festival: Fairy Tale Fantasy

March 16

Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody & The Little Mermaid

March 21, 22 & 23

Showstoppers! Celebrating Iconic

Women of Broadway

April 4, 5 & 6

La Flor: The Music of Selena

April 12 & 13

Sibelius 5 & Stravinsky

April 18 & 19

Cirque Rocks!

April 25, 26 & 27

Cirque For Kids

April 26

Beethoven 7 & Mozart

May 1, 3 & 4

Trumpet Brilliance & Boléro

May 9, 10 & 11

Stayin’ Alive: The Bee Gees & Beyond

May 16, 17 & 18

Chamber Music: Musician Showcase

May 18

Bruce Liu Plays Chopin

May 23, 24 & 25

Juraj Valčuha Conducts Mahler 3

May 30, 31 & June 1

John Williams & Steven Spielberg: Movie Magic

June 6, 7 & 8

your symphony experience

JONES HALL

Since the opening of Jones Hall in 1966, millions of arts patrons have enjoyed countless musical and stage performances at the venue. Dominating an entire city block, Jones Hall features a stunning travertine marble facade, 66-foot ceilings, and a brilliantly lit grand entrance. Jones Hall is a monument to the memory of Jesse Holman Jones, a towering figure in Houston during the first half of the 20 th century.

CONCERT DISRUPTION

We strive to provide the best possible auditory experience of our world-class orchestra. Noise from phones, candy wrappers, and talking is distracting to the performers on stage and those around you. Please help us make everyone’s concert enjoyable by silencing electronic devices now and remaining quiet during the performance.

FOOD & DRINK POLICY

The Encore Café and in-hall bars are open for Symphony performances, and food and drink will be permitted in bar areas. Food is not permitted inside the auditorium. Patrons may bring drinks into the auditorium for Bank of America POPS Series concerts and Symphony Specials. Drinks are not permitted inside the auditorium for Classical concerts.

LOST & FOUND

For lost and found inquiries, please contact Patron Experience Coordinator Lien Le during the performance. She also can be reached at lien.le@houstonsymphony.org. You may contact Houston First after the performances at 832.487.7050

ETIQUETTE

For Classical concerts, if a work has several movements it is traditional to hold applause until the end of the last movement. If you are unsure when a piece ends, check the program or wait for the conductor to face the audience. If you feel truly inspired, however, do not be afraid to applaud!

CHILDREN

Children ages six and up are welcome to all Classical, Bank of America POPS, and Symphony Special concerts. Children of all ages are welcome at PNC Family Series performances. Children must have a ticket for all ticketed events.

LATE SEATING

Each performance typically allows for late seating, which is scheduled in intervals and determined by the conductor. Our ushers and Patron Experience Coordinator will instruct you on when late seating is allowed.

TICKETS

Subscribers of five or more concerts may exchange their tickets at no cost. Tickets to Symphony Specials or single ticket purchases are ineligible for exchange or refund. If you are unable to make a performance, your ticket may be donated prior to the concert for a tax-donation receipt. Donations and exchanges may be made in person, over the phone, or online.

THANK YOU to our sponsors

ESCANEE AQUÍ PARA VER TRADUCCIÓN AL ESPAÑOL

Juraj valČuha

Houston Symphony Music Director Juraj Valčuha is recognized for his effortless expressiveness and depth of musicianship. With sharp baton technique and natural stage presence, the impressive ease of his interpretations translate even the most complex scores into immersive experiences.

Before joining the Houston Symphony in June 2022, Juraj was Music Director of the Teatro di San Carlo, Naples, from 2016 to 2022 and first guest conductor of the Konzerthausorchester Berlin. He was Chief Conductor of the Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della RAI from 2009 to 2016.

The 2005–06 Season marked the start of his international career on the podium of the Orchestre National de France followed by remarkable debuts in the United Kingdom with the Philharmonia London, in Germany with the Munich Philharmonic, in the United States with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, and in Italy with Puccini's La bohème in Bologna.

He has since led the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, Dresden Staatskapelle, Munich Philharmonic, Berlin Philharmonic, Swedish Radio Symphony, Amsterdam Royal Concertgebouw, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Orchestre de Paris, Maggio Musicale in Florence, Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia

Music Director

Roy and Lillie Cullen Chair

Rome, Milan’s Filarmonica della Scala, Montréal Symphony, and the NHK and Yomiuri orchestras in Tokyo.

He enjoys regular collaborations with the Minnesota Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, and San Francisco Symphony. International touring with the Orchestra Sinfonica della RAI took them to the Musikverein in Vienna and Philharmonie in Berlin, Cologne, Düsseldorf, Zurich, Munich, to the Enesco Festival in Bucharest, and the Abu Dhabi Classics. With the Konzerthausorchester Berlin, he visited Riga, Vilnius, and Tallinn to mark the 100 th anniversary of the Baltic nations.

In Europe, he is acclaimed on the podium of the Munich Philharmonic, the NDR Hamburg and Frankfurt Radio orchestras, as well as the Vienna Symphony, Czech Philharmonic, Orchestre National de France, Orchestre de Paris, BBC Symphony and Philharmonia London, and the Swedish Radio Orchestra.

Juraj champions the compositions of living composers and aims to program contemporary pieces in most of his concerts. He has conducted world premieres, including Christopher Rouse’s Supplica with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Steven Mackey’s violin concerto with Leila Josefowicz and the BBC

Symphony in Manchester, and Nico Muhly’s Bright Idea with the Houston Symphony. In 2005, he conducted, in the presence of the composer, Steve Reich’s Four Seasons at the Melos-Ethos Festival in Bratislava. Other composers he has supported and continues to follow with interest are Bryce Dessner, Steven Stucky, Andrew Norman, James MacMillan, Luca Francesconi, Anna Thorvaldsdottir, Anna Clyne, Julia Wolfe, and Jessie Montgomery, among others.

Including his engagements in Houston, the 2023–24 Season took him to the Pittsburgh and Chicago Symphony Orchestras, San Francisco Symphony, and Minnesota Orchestra as well as to the Yomiuri Nippon Orchestra in Tokyo. On the European stage, he performed La fanciulla del West and Tristan und Isolde at the Bavarian State Opera and at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, and Jenůfa at the Opera di Roma. He led concerts with the RAI Orchestra, the Orchestra dell'Accademia di Santa Cecilia, the Orchestre National de France, the NDR, SWR, and the Bamberg Symphony, among others.

In the 2024–25 Season, Juraj will join the Semperoper in Dresden with Strauss’s Salome as well as the Paris Opéra Bastille with Janáček's The Cunning Little Vixen and the Deutsche Oper Berlin with Tchaikovsky’s Pique Dame. In the coming months, in addition to his concerts with the Houston Symphony, he will return to the Munich Philharmonic, the Orchestre National de France, the London Philharmonic, the Berlin Konzerthaus Orchester, the San Francisco Symphony, the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, and the Yomiuri Nippon Orchestra in Tokyo.

Born in Bratislava, Slovakia, Juraj studied composition and conducting in his birthplace, then at the conservatory in St. Petersburg (with Ilya Musin), and finally, at the Conservatoire Supérieur de la Musique in Paris.

ORCHESTRA ROSTER

Juraj Valčuha

Music Director

Roy and Lillie Cullen Chair

FIRST VIOLIN

Yoonshin Song, Concertmaster

Max Levine Chair

Eric Halen, Co-Concertmaster

Ellen E. Kelley Chair

Boson Mo, Assistant Concertmaster

Qi Ming, Assistant Concertmaster Fondren Foundation Chair

Marina Brubaker

Tong Yan

MiHee Chung

Sophia Silivos

Rodica Gonzalez

Ferenc Illenyi

Si-Yang Lao

Kurt Johnson*

Christopher Neal

Sergei Galperin

Timothy Peters+

SECOND VIOLIN

MuChen Hsieh*, Principal

Vacant, Associate Principal

Amy Semes

Annie Kuan-Yu Chen

Mihaela Frusina

Jing Zheng

Tianjie Lu

Anastasia Ehrlich

Tina Zhang*

Yankı Karataş

Hannah Duncan

Alexandros Sakarellos

Samuel Park+

Teresa Wang+

VIOLA

Joan DerHovsepian, Principal

Wei Jiang, Acting Associate Principal

Samuel Pedersen, Assistant Principal

Paul Aguilar

Sheldon Person

Fay Shapiro

Keoni Bolding

James Cunningham

Suzanne LeFevre+

Yvonne Smith+

CELLO

Brinton Averil Smith, Principal

Janice H. and Thomas D. Barrow Chair

Christopher French, Associate Principal

Jane and Robert Cizik Chair

Anthony Kitai

Louis-Marie Fardet

Jeffrey Butler

COMMUNITY-EMBEDDED MUSICIAN

Lindsey Baggett, Violin

ASSISTANT LIBRARIANS

Ali Verderber

Hae-a Lee

Steven Reineke, Principal POPS Conductor

Andrés Orozco-Estrada, Conductor Laureate

Gonzalo Farias, Associate Conductor

Maki Kubota

Xiao Wong

Charles Seo

Jeremy Kreutz

DOUBLE BASS

Robin Kesselman, Principal

Timothy Dilenschneider, Associate Principal

Eric Larson

Andrew Pedersen

Burke Shaw

Donald Howey

Avery Weeks

Michael Zogaib+

FLUTE

Aralee Dorough, Principal

General Maurice Hirsch Chair

Matthew Roitstein, Associate Principal

Judy Dines

Kathryn Ladner

PICCOLO

Kathryn Ladner

OBOE

Jonathan Fischer, Principal

Lucy Binyon Stude Chair

Anne Leek, Associate Principal

Colin Gatwood

Adam Dinitz

ENGLISH HORN

Adam Dinitz

Barbara and Pat McCelvey Chair

CLARINET

Mark Nuccio, Principal

Bobbie Nau Chair

Thomas LeGrand, Associate Principal

Christian Schubert

Alexander Potiomkin

E-FLAT CLARINET

Thomas LeGrand

BASS CLARINET

Alexander Potiomkin

BASSOON

Rian Craypo, Principal

Isaac Schultz, Associate Principal

Elise Wagner

Adam Trussell

STAGE PERSONNEL

Stefan Stout, Stage Manager

José Rios, Assistant Stage Manager

Nicholas DiFonzo, Head Video Engineer

Justin Herriford, Head Audio Engineer

Connor Morrow, Head Stage Technician

Giancarlo Minotti, Audio Production Manager

CONTRABASSOON

Adam Trussell

HORN

William VerMeulen, Principal

Mr. and Mrs. Alexander K. McLanahan

Endowed Chair

Robert Johnson, Associate Principal

Nathan Cloeter, Assistant Principal/Utility

Brian Thomas*

Brian Mangrum

Ian Mayton

Barbara J. Burger Chair

TRUMPET

Mark Hughes, Principal

George P. and Cynthia Woods

Mitchell Chair

John Parker, Associate Principal

Robert Walp, Assistant Principal

Richard Harris

TROMBONE

Nick Platoff, Principal

Bradley White, Associate Principal

Phillip Freeman

BASS TROMBONE

Phillip Freeman

TUBA

Dave Kirk, Principal

TIMPANI

Leonardo Soto, Principal

Matthew Strauss, Associate Principal

PERCUSSION

Brian Del Signore, Principal

Mark Griffith

Matthew Strauss

HARP

Allegra Lilly, Principal

KEYBOARD

Scott Holshouser, Principal

LIBRARIAN

Luke Bryson, Principal

*on leave + contracted substitute

Step into the extraordinary, where you will enjoy the ultimate refined luxury and warm, heartfelt hospitality™ found only aboard the World’s Most Luxurious Fleet®. With spacious all-balcony suites and a nearly 1:1 crew-toguest ratio, no one else compares.

SEVEN SEA S CRUISES ®

SOCIETY BOARD OF TRUSTEES

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

Barbara J. Burger President

Janet F. Clark Chair

John Rydman Immediate Past President

Mike S. Stude Chair Emeritus

Paul Morico General Counsel

Barbara McCelvey Secretary

Elizabeth Condic^ Interim Executive Director/CEO

Margaret Alkek Williams Chair

Jonathan Ayre Chair, Finance

Brad W. Corson Chair, Governance & Leadership

Carey Kirkpatrick Chair, Marketing & Communications

Evan B. Glick Chair, Popular Programming

Barbara McCelvey Chair, Development

Sippi Khurana, M.D. Chair, Education & Community Partnerships

GOVERNING DIRECTORS

Jonathan Ayre

Gary Beauchamp

Eric Brueggeman

Bill Bullock

Barbara J. Burger

Mary Kathryn Campion, Ph.D.

John Cassidy, M.D.

Janet F. Clark

Lidiya Gold

Claudio Gutiérrez

Rick Jaramillo

David J. M. Key

Sippi Khurana, M.D.

Carey Kirkpatrick

Mary Lynn Marks Chair, Volunteers & Special Events

Robert Orr Chair, Strategic Planning

John Rydman Chair, Artistic & Orchestra Affairs

Jesse B. Tutor Chair, Audit

Steven P. Mach ^ Immediate Past Chair

Bobby Tudor^ At-Large Member

Heidi Rockecharlie^ President, Houston Symphony League

James H. Lee^

President, Houston Symphony Endowment

Juraj Valčuha^ Music Director, Roy and Lillie Cullen Chair

Joan DerHovsepian^ Musician Representative

Wei Jiang Musician Representative

Mark Hughes^ Musician Representative

Mark Nuccio^ Musician Representative

Sherry Rodriguez^ Assistant Secretary ^Ex-Officio

Cindy Levit

Isabel Stude Lummis

Cora Sue Mach **

Rodney Margolis**

Mary Lynn Marks

Elissa Martin

Barbara McCelvey

Paul R. Morico

Leslie Nossaman

Robert Orr

Chris Powers

John Rydman**

Brittany Sakowitz

Ed Schneider

Justin Stenberg

William J. Toomey II

Bobby Tudor **

Betty Tutor **

Jesse B. Tutor **

Gretchen Watkins

Robert Weiner

Margaret Alkek Williams **

EX-OFFICIO

Elizabeth Condic

Brad W. Corson

Joan DerHovsepian

Evan B. Glick

Mark Hughes

Wei Jiang

James H. Lee

Steven P. Mach

Mark Nuccio

Heidi Rockecharlie

Sherry Rodriguez

Juraj Valčuha

TRUSTEES

David J. Beck

James M. Bell Jr.

Carrie Brandsberg-Dahl

Nancy Shelton Bratic

Terry Ann Brown**

Lindsay Buchanan

Ralph Burch

Dougal Cameron

John T. Cater**

Robert Chanon

Heaven Chee

Michael H. Clark

Virginia Clark

Brad W. Corson

Andrew Davis, Ph.D.

Denise Davis

Manuel Delgado

Allen Deutsch, M.D.

Tracy Dieterich

Joan Duff

Connie Dyer

Jeffrey B. Firestone

Eugene A. Fong

Aggie L. Foster

Julia Anderson Frankel

Ronald G. Franklin

Carolyn Gaidos

Evan B. Glick

Andrew Gould

Lori Harrington

Jeff Hiller

Grace Ho

Gary L. Hollingsworth

Brian James

Dawn James

Matthew Kades

I. Ray Kirk, M.D.

David Krieger

Kenny Kurtzman

Matthew Loden

Steven P. Mach

Michael Mann, M.D.

PAST PRESIDENTS OF THE HOUSTON SYMPHONY SOCIETY

Mrs. Edwin B. Parker

Miss Ima Hogg

Mrs. H. M. Garwood

Joseph A. Mullen, M.D.

Joseph S. Smith

Walter H. Walne

H. R. Cullen

Gen. Maurice Hirsch

Charles F. Jones

Fayez Sarofim

John T. Cater

Richard G. Merrill

Ellen Elizardi Kelley

John D. Platt

E.C. Vandagrift Jr.

J. Hugh Roff Jr.

PAST PRESIDENTS OF THE HOUSTON SYMPHONY LEAGUE

Miss Ima Hogg

Mrs. John F. Grant

Mrs. J. R. Parten

Mrs. Andrew E. Rutter

Mrs. Aubrey Leno Carter

Mrs. Stuart Sherar

Mrs. Julian Barrows

Ms. Hazel Ledbetter

Mrs. Albert P. Jones

Mrs. Ben A. Calhoun

Mrs. James Griffith Lawhon

Mrs. Olaf LaCour Olsen

Mrs. Ralph Ellis Gunn

Mrs. Leon Jaworski

Mrs. Garrett R. Tucker Jr.

Mrs. M. T. Launius Jr.

Mrs. Thompson McCleary

Mrs. Theodore W. Cooper

Mrs. Allen W. Carruth

Mrs. David Hannah Jr.

Mary Louis Kister

Mrs. Edward W. Kelley Jr.

Mrs. John W. Herndon

Mrs. Charles Franzen

Mrs. Harold R. DeMoss Jr.

Mrs. Edward H. Soderstrom

Mrs. Lilly Kucera Andress

Ms. Marilou Bonner

Mrs. W. Harold Sellers

Mrs. Harry H. Gendel

Mrs. Robert M. Eury

Mrs. E. C. Vandagrift Jr.

FOUNDATION FOR JONES HALL REPRESENTATIVES

Dougal A. Cameron

Janet F. Clark

Nancy Martin

Jack Matzer

Jackie Wolens Mazow

Alexander K. McLanahan**

Marilyn Miles*

Aprill Nelson

Tim Ong

Edward Osterberg Jr.

Zeljko Pavlovic

Gloria G. Pryzant

Miwa Sakashita

Ted Sarosdy

Andrew Schwaitzberg

Helen Shaffer**

Becky Shaw

Ryan Silverman

Robert B. Sloan, D.D., Theol.

Jim R. Smith

Miles O. Smith**

Quentin Smith

Anthony Speier

Robert M. Hermance

Gene McDavid

Janice H. Barrow

Barry C. Burkholder

Rodney H. Margolis

Jeffrey B. Early

Michael E. Shannon

Ed Wulfe

Mrs. J. Stephen Marks

Terry Ann Brown

Nancy Strohmer

Mary Ann McKeithan

Ann Cavanaugh

Mrs. James A. Shaffer

Lucy H. Lewis

Catherine McNamara

Shirley McGregor Pearson

Paula Jarrett

Cora Sue Mach

Kathi Rovere

Norma Jean Brown

Barbara McCelvey

Lori Sorcic Jansen

Nancy B. Willerson

Tina Raham Stewart

Mike S. Stude **

Nanako Tingleaf

Shirley W. Toomim

Margaret Waisman, M.D.

Fredric A. Weber

Vicki West

Steven J. Williams

David J. Wuthrich

Ellen A. Yarrell

Robert Yekovich

EX-OFFICIO

John Steven Cisneros, Ed.D.

Juan Zane Crawford, Ph.D.

Kirby Lodholz

Frank F. Wilson IV

**Lifetime Trustee *Deceased

Jesse B. Tutor

Robert B. Tudor III

Robert A. Peiser

Steven P. Mach

Janet F. Clark

John Rydman

Jane Clark

Nancy Littlejohn

Donna Shen

Dr. Susan Snider Osterberg

Dr. Kelli Cohen Fein

Vicki West

Mrs. Jesse Tutor

Darlene Clark

Beth Wolff

Maureen Higdon

Fran Fawcett Peterson

Leslie Siller

Cheryl Byington

Mary Fusillo

Barbara McCelvey

Fredric Weber

ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF

LEADERSHIP GROUP

Elizabeth S. Condic, Interim Executive Director/CEO

Margaret Alkek Williams Chair and Chief Financial Officer

Timothy Dillow, Senior Director, Development

Vicky Dominguez, Chief Operating Officer

Alex Soares, Senior Director, Marketing

Christine Ann Stevens, Senior Director, Development

DEVELOPMENT

Sarah Bhalla, Development Officer

Lauren Buchanan, Development Communications Manager

Alex Canales, Senior Development Ticket Concierge

Jessie De Arman, Development Associate, Gifts and Records

Amanda T. Dinitz, Senior Major Gifts Officer

Vivian Gonzalez, Development Officer

Kamra Kilmer, Development Gift Officer

Kim Lyons, Development Officer

Karyn Mason, Development Officer

Hadia Mawlawi, Senior Associate, Endowment and Planned Giving

Meghan Miller, Special Events Associate

Mayenne Minuit, Development Associate, Administration

Emilie Moellmer, Annual Fund Manager

Megan Mottu, Development Officer

Janet Peck, Development Officer

Tim Richey, Director, Individual Giving

Sherry Rodriguez, Corporate Relations Manager & Board Liaison

Katie Salvatore, Major Gifts Officer

Marie Siegenthaler, Development Officer

Sacha Sikora, Development Officer

Lena Streetman, Manager, Research and Development Operations

Stacey Swift, Director, Special Events

Sarah Thompson, Donor Stewardship Manager

Christina Trunzo, Director, Foundation Relations

Alexa Ustaszewski, Major Gifts Officer

EDUCATION | COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

Olivia Allred, Education Manager

Allison Conlan, Director, Education and Community Engagement

Austin Hinkle, Education Coordinator

Jazmine Olwalia, Community Engagement Associate

Sheridan Richard, DeLUXE K!ds In Harmony Site Manager

Community-Embedded Musicians (CEM):

Cindy Ahn, CEM Teaching Artist

Lindsey Baggett, Lead CEM

Julissa Chapa, CEM Education Specialist

Lucinda Chiu, CEM Teaching Artist

David Connor, CEM Teaching Artist

Rainel Joubert, CEM Teaching Artist

Alexis Mitrushi, CEM Teaching Artist

FINANCE | ADMINISTRATION | IT | HR

José Arriaga, Systems Engineer

Henry Cantu, Finance Accountant

Kimberly Cegielski, Staff Accountant

Joel James, Director of Human Resources

Tanya Lovetro, Director of Budgeting and Financial Reporting

Jane Orosco, Database Administrator

Freddie Piegsa, Help Desk Technician

Morgana Rickard, Controller

Gabriela Rivera, Senior Accountant

Pam Romo, Office Manager/HR Coordinator

Lee Whatley, Senior Director, IT and Analytics

MARKETING | COMMUNICATIONS

Bryan Ayllon, Web Coordinator

Mark Bailes, Marketing Revenue Manager

Olivia Cantrell, Content Marketing Coordinator

Rachel Chen, Marketing and External Relations Assistant

Bella Cutaia, Patron Services Senior Representative

Heather Fails, Manager, Ticketing Database

Ruben Gandara, Patron Services Representative

Kathryn Judd, Director, Marketing

Priya Kurup, Senior Associate, Group Sales

Caroline Lawson, Patron Services Representative

Lien Le, Patron Experience Coordinator

Yoo-Ell Lee, Graphics and Media Designer

Ciara Macaulay, Creative Director

Ashley Martinez, Patron Services Representative

Mariah Martinez, Email Marketing Coordinator

Aracely Quevedo, Patron Services Representative

Eric Skelly, Senior Director, Communications

Christian Sosa, Web Experience Director

Jonathan Townsend, Patron Services Representative

Ashlan Walker, Manager, Patron Services

Jenny Zuniga, Director, Patron Services

OPERATIONS | ARTISTIC

Stephanie Alla, Associate Director of Artistic Planning

Becky Brown, Associate Director, Orchestra Personnel

Suré Eloff, Chorus Manager

Michael Gorman, Director, Orchestra Personnel

Julia Hall, Interim Director, Chorus

Adrian Hernandez, Concert Media Production Manager

Hae-a Lee, Assistant Librarian

Giancarlo Minotti, Audio Production Manager

Lauren Moore, Associate Director of Concert Operations

José Rios, Assistant Stage Manager

Brad Sayles, Senior Recording Engineer

Claudia Schmitz, Artistic Coordinator and Assistant to the Music Director

Stefan Stout, Stage Manager

Nathan Trinkl, Artistic Assistant

Ali Verderber, Assistant Librarian

Meredith Williams, Associate Director of Concert Operations

Rebecca Zabinski, Senior Director, Artistic Planning

On September 27, the Houston Symphony celebrated National Hispanic Heritage Month with its Fiesta Sinfónica concert. The annual Houston tradition, which began in 1992, is a free concert that celebrates the significant contributions of Hispanic and Latin American composers. Led for the first time by Chilean-born Associate Conductor Gonzalo Farias, this year’s concert was particularly significant as the Symphony presented the world premiere of a new Guitar Concerto by renowned Mexican composer Arturo Márquez.

One of Mexico’s most distinguished living composers, Arturo is known for his ability to blend traditional Mexican music styles with classical orchestration. His new work for guitar and orchestra is a co-commission by the Houston Symphony and was performed by acclaimed guitarist Pablo Sáinz-Villegas. Originally from La Rioja, Spain, Pablo is an internationally sought-after guitarist who has performed in more than 40 countries and with the world’s top orchestras, including the National Orchestra of Spain, San Francisco Symphony, and LA Philharmonic. His artistry and technical skill were perfectly on display in Márquez’s Concerto. Arturo was also present at Jones Hall to see the Symphony and Pablo bring his new work to life, making the evening even more special. After the world premiere, the orchestra also performed Arturo's most famous work, Danzón No. 2., and ended the concert with an encore performance of Marquez's Conga Del Fuego Nuevo.

The rest of the vibrant program featured works from all corners of Latin America, including Costa Rican composer Andrés Soto’s “En el Barco viene una Rosa,” from Suite No. 1 of La Rosa y el Niño; Chilean composer Enrique Soro’s Danza Fantástica; La flor de la canela (The Cinnamon Flower) by Peruvian singer-songwriter Chabuca Grande; the duo tango El choclo & La cumparsita (The Corn and The Little Parade) composed by Argentinean Angel Villoldo and Uruguay’s Gerardo Moto respectively; Alma llanera (Soul of the Plains) by Venezuelan composer Elías Gutiérrez; and the calypso song Cachita by Puerto Rican composer Rafael Hernández.

Fiesta Sinfónica was sponsored by Chevron and hosted in partnership with the Symphony’s Hispanic Leadership Council. Additional support for Fiesta Sinfónica was provided by Univision Houston and Amor 106.5FM, our Hispanic media partners.

An ever-popular Houston tradition Fiesta Sinfónica was a sold-out event.

Eager crowds wait for the auditorium doors to open at Jones Hall.

Composer Arturo Márquez embraces Associate Conductor Gonzalo Farias.

Guitarist Pablo Sáinz-Villegas performs Márquez's Guitar Concerto with the orchestra.

vienna Calling Festival

This month, the Houston Symphony pays tribute to the music of Viennese composers with the Vienna Calling Festival. As the largest city in Austria and a major center for arts and culture in Europe, Vienna has a long history with the arts, including theater, opera, fine arts, and especially Western music. In the 18th and 19th centuries, Vienna was the mecca of classical music—composers and conductors from around Europe flocked to the city to live, work, and create masterpieces. Their contributions laid the groundwork for even more composers who changed the way we perceive and compose music. Over two themed concert weekends, the Symphony will explore the brilliance of these composers who transformed the musical landscape of their day and established Vienna as a cultural epicenter.

The first weekend of concerts (Nov. 29–Dec. 1), focuses on the legacy of the First and Second Viennese Schools. These "schools" aren’t academic institutions, though—they are terms used to describe composers that represent a particular musical era. The First Viennese School refers to the composers Joseph Haydn, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Ludwig van Beethoven, and Franz Schubert, who represent the Classical and the early Romantic eras. They all contributed to the evolution of symphonic and chamber music by emphasizing melodies with supporting harmonies and establishing a stricter musical structure for symphony movements, concertos, and sonatas. In contrast, the Second Viennese School emerged about 100 years later in the early 20th century and was led by Arnold Schoenberg and his students—especially Alban Berg

Anton Webern. This group pushed boundaries and explored expressionism—a visual art that sought to evoke emotion through distortion—within their music. Their radical innovations focused on atonality and questioned traditional harmonies and structures, reflecting the complexities of their rapidly changing world.

The Festival’s first weekend will be particularly noteworthy because we will be joined by acclaimed pianist and friend of the Houton Symphony, Yefim Bronfman, as he performs Beethoven’s Emperor Concerto. The Emperor Concerto is unique in that it serves not only to highlight the soloist but acts as a partnership between the soloist and the orchestra, creating a truly blended symphonic concerto.

The Second Viennese School is represented in this concert with a performance of Berg’s Three Pieces for Orchestra, one of the most revolutionary and complex scores of the 20th century. The Symphony also presents the shift from Classicism to Romanticism with a performance of Schubert’s Symphony No. 8, Unfinished. With its focus on lyricism over the strict classical form that the First Viennese School established, the Unfinished Symphony is often considered by many to be the first Romantic symphony.

Our chamber concert, Passport to Vienna (Dec. 1), also features works by First Viennese School composers Mozart, Haydn, and Beethoven with small ensembles of orchestra musicians performing on the newly expanded Janice H. Barrow Piano Tier at Jones Hall. This casual setting gives audiences a

and

The Viennese waltz is the oldest ballroom dance style that still exists today. Here, dancers waltz at the Houston Symphony's 2024 Ball as a tribute to the imperial court balls in 19 th-century Vienna.

unique, up-close experience with the musicians and the music—just like the salons of Vienna in the 18th and 19th centuries.

For the second weekend in the Festival (Dec. 7–8), the Symphony performs Viennese waltz music by Austrian composers and brothers, Josef Strauss and Johann Strauss Jr. After the deaths of Beethoven and Schubert, a new era in Viennese music emerged— one marked by rapid industrialization and urban

expansion. This era saw the rise of the wealthy-upper middle class and the creation of imperial court balls where high society families would twirl across the dancefloor doing the popular dance of the day, the Viennese waltz. Nicknamed “The Waltz King,” Strauss Jr. composed more than 500 dance compositions, mainly waltzes, in his lifetime and was largely responsible for the popularity of the waltz in Vienna, changing the course of dance and music history. Waltzes were often played at balls during the holidays and around New Year's in the 19th century, and now— just in time for the holiday season—the Symphony kicks off the holiday season with some celebratory Viennese waltzes, including Strauss Jr.’s famous Blue Danube waltz, which is considered Austria’s unofficial national anthem.

The Vienna Calling Festival is an exploration into some of the most pivotal eras of Western music. Together, these two weekends of concerts showcase Vienna’s unique influence on music and culture and illustrates the city’s role in fostering artistic experimentation and creativity.

If you enjoy the Vienna Calling Festival, be sure to join us for our next two-week festival on March 14–16 and 21–23 when the Symphony will perform works about and inspired by your favorite fairytales. Visit houstonsymphony.org/tickets for more information on our upcoming Fairytales Festival.

—Lauren Buchanan

Alban Berg one of the most influential composers of the 20 th century and a member of the Second Viennese School.

Franz Schubert—a composer of the First Viennese School— is spotlighted in the first weekend of Vienna Calling Festival concerts.

Ever wonder how a major symphony orchestra goes about buying an instrument? When the Houston Symphony finds itself in need of a new piano, for instance, it can’t just go to the nearest mall music store, or scour the ads to pick up Aunt Xenobia’s used upright. This is an instrument that has to meet the extremely exacting standards of the likes of Daniil Trifonov, Kirill Gerstein, Cédric Tiberghien, and Bruce Liu, to name just four international piano stars appearing with the Houston Symphony this season. Already the owner of two New York Steinways, the Houston Symphony has long desired the acquisition of a Hamburg Steinway. In the orchestra world, the ability to offer a choice of between a New York and

to visiting guest artists is standard practice for any world-class orchestra. During the 2023-24 Season, the Symphony was able to realize this important initiative from our strategic plan thanks to an extraordinary gift from John and Lindy Rydman of Spec’s Wine’s, Spirits, and Finer Foods/Spec’s Charitable Foundation.

So how do you choose an instrument that satisfies such a starry array of the world’s greatest ivoryticklers? We called on six-time Grammy-winning Israeli-American piano superstar Yefim Bronfman to go to the Hamburg factory where Hamburg Steinway pianos are handmade, and you ask him to testdrive a selection of the best new pianos made in the

Hamburg

Immediate Past President John Rydman and his wife Lindy, alongside Yefim Bronfman.

Yefim Bronfman plays one of the nine pianos under consideration.

world today. A frequent guest and dear friend to the Houston Symphony, Mr. Bronfman was the perfect artist to select one just for us!

And that’s precisely what the Houston Symphony did. In September 2024, a Symphony delegation comprising of then Executive Director/CEO John Mangum, Immediate Past President of The Board John Rydman and his wife Lindy, Houston-based Steinway Representative Amanda Watson, and the Symphony’s piano technician Christa Andrepont met Yefim Bronfman at the Hamburg factory.

Steinway handpicked nine pianos that they felt were of the right quality, and were ready for Bronfman to “test drive.” Maestro Bronfman then proceeded to take an hour to play a series of excerpts on each of the nine, covering many different composers and periods of music, including classical piano standards from the likes of Rachmaninoff, Mozart, and Chopin. From nine, Bronfman narrowed the field down to three, of which everyone agreed there was indeed a front-runner. Having winnowed down the field, everyone took a dinner break to “reset their ears.” When they returned, Yefim Bronfman played a new set of excerpts on each of the three finalist pianos, and the group selected the winning model (which surprisingly was not the aforementioned "front-runner").

The Houston Symphony’s new Steinway grand piano selected and shipping arrangements finalized, the group was given a tour of the factory, where every piano is still entirely handmade, and the original US patents for each part of the piano is framed on the

Christa Andrepont, Yefim Bronfman, John Rydman, Lindy Rydman, John Mangum, and Amanda Watson pose outside the Hamburg Steinway Factory.

wall in each room where that part is assembled. The Houston Symphony is grateful to John and Lindy Rydman and Spec's Wines, Spirits, and Finer Foods/Spec's Charitable Foundation for making the acquisition of such a remarkable instrument possible.

—Eric Skelly

A close-up of the Hamburg Steinway insignia on the selected Model D Concert Grand piano.

Featured Program

Beethoven’s Emperor Concerto

Juraj Valčuha , conductor

Yefim Bronfman, piano

0:22 SCHUBERT – Symphony No. 8 in B minor, D.759 (Unfinished )

I. Allegro moderato

II. Andante con moto—

0:20 BERG – Drei Orchesterstücke, Opus 6

I. Präludium

II. Reigen

III. Marsch

INTERMISSION

0:38 BEETHOVEN – Piano Concerto No. 5 in E-flat major, Opus 73 (Emperor)

I. Allegro

II. Adagio un poco mosso—

III. Rondo: Allegro

About the Music

Friday, November 29

Saturday, November 30

Sunday, December 1

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS

Holiday Series

Grand Guarantor

Margaret Alkek Williams Spotlight Series

Livestream of this program is made possible by donors to our Livestream and Recording Studio Consortium listed on page 67

Video enhancement of Houston Symphony concerts is made possible by the Albert & Ethel Herzstein Foundation through a special gift celebrating the Foundation’s 50 th anniversary in 2015

The Classical Season is endowed by The Wortham Foundation, Inc ., in memory of Gus S. and Lyndall F. Wortham

Jones Hall

Jones Hall & Livestream

Jones Hall

Program Insight

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This Thanksgiving weekend, Music Director Juraj Valčuha returns to lead the opening of our Vienna Calling Festival with music by composers associated with that most musical of cities. This program begins with Schubert’s great Unfinished Symphony, a haunting masterpiece that was first performed some 30 years after the composer’s untimely death. Schubert completed the first two movements of what would likely have been a four-movement symphony, leaving only sketches for a projected third movement. Although several composers have attempted to complete the work over the years, for these performances Juraj has proposed a novel solution—“finishing” Schubert’s Unfinished Symphony with Berg’s Three Pieces for Orchestra . Completed more than 90 years after Schubert abandoned his Unfinished Symphony, Berg’s atonal Pieces are stylistically worlds away from Schubert’s early Romanticism, but the link between the works is nevertheless compelling. Both composers shared a strong lyrical gift, and both works occupy an uncanny, even tragic emotional realm. In contrast, the program ends with one of the repertoire’s most uplifting works, Beethoven’s Emperor Concerto. We are fortunate to have Yefim Bronfman, one of the world’s greatest living pianists, here to perform this beloved work. Combined with the astounding artistry of the orchestra’s musicians, these concerts are sure to leave listeners with much to be thankful for. —Calvin Dotsey

Program Notes

SCHUBERT

Symphony No. 8 in B minor, D.759 (Unfinished ) (1822)

BERG

Drei Orchesterstücke, Opus 6 (1913–14)

Unsolved mysteries have surrounded Schubert’s Unfinished Symphony ever since it was composed. After Schubert completed two movements of the symphony and also sketched out a scherzo and orchestrated 10 bars of it in the fall of 1822, he put the manuscript aside to write other works, then gave it to his friend, Josef Hüttenbrenner, the following year for delivery to Hüttenbrenner’s brother, Anselm, in Graz. Strangely, Anselm Hüttenbrenner kept the manuscript in an old trunk for 42 years, until the conductor of the Vienna Musikverein pried it loose and astounded the music world at its very belated premiere in 1865.

The question of why there are only two movements is an even greater mystery. Did Schubert consider it a satisfactory musical statement at that point? Did he consider the sketched-out scherzo inferior to the first two movements? Did Schubert’s discovery that he had contracted syphilis upset him to the point of being unable to finish the symphony? Or did Josef Hüttenbrenner lose the manuscript folios of the last two movements in transit? All of these theories have been proposed, argued, and some have been rejected, with no definite explanation.

The music world has marveled over Schubert’s Unfinished Symphony because it was a truly revolutionary document of the Romantic era. Ironically, in the age of the CD, drive-time classical radio, and the ready availability of live orchestral music, Schubert’s remarkable symphony may be too easily accessible for us to appreciate its historic innovations.

The brooding slow movement that opens the symphony is, for all practical purposes, unprecedented in the history of the form. Schubert’s tonal plan for the movement is ingenious and well advanced for its time; although it is a logical result of experiments he had carried out in several earlier symphonies. Its lyrical second theme, dominated by the cellos, and much of the slow second movement present a wellspring of flowing, overtly sentimental melody that are hardly found in Viennese symphonies of that era. The central development section of the first movement is more than a muscular wrestling match of thematic motives, after the fashion of Beethoven; it is a piercing, dramatic orchestral fantasia that calls up the terrors felt by the lonely, alienated Romantic artist. Even in such technical matters as Schubert’s extensive use of the trombone choir, the work marks a significant advance over Beethoven’s symphonic orchestration.

—Carl R. Cunningham

On September 8, 1914, just weeks after the outbreak of World War I, Alban Berg wrote to his teacher, Arnold Schönberg: “I’m sending you a roll of music as registered printed matter. I have been told here that it is now the only possibility of sending anything to Germany safely. I’m sending you the Orchestra Pieces, dear Herr Schönberg, which I’m dedicating to you on the occasion of your birthday.” These were the first and last of Berg’s Three Pieces for Orchestra; Berg would complete the middle movement the following year.

Born into a wealthy Viennese family, Berg might have remained a cultured dilettante had not his brother and sister replied to a newspaper

Program Notes

BERG

Drei Orchesterstücke, Opus 6 (1913–14)

ad on his behalf. Thanks to their intervention, in 1904 Berg enrolled in a music theory course taught by Arnold Schönberg, who recognized Berg’s potential and began to instruct him privately in composition. Ten years Berg’s senior, Schönberg was a musical autodidact with a magnetic personality who attracted several devoted pupils. For seven years, Berg studied under Schönberg, first mastering the traditional disciplines of harmony and counterpoint before following in his teacher’s footsteps with groundbreaking, atonal musical experiments, in which sounds previously forbidden by the strict rules of harmony were given free reign in what Schönberg referred to as the “emancipation of the dissonance.”

In awe of his teacher’s genius, Berg treated Schönberg with worshipful reverence, and Schönberg demanded complete obedience from his pupil—not only in musical matters, but also with mundane tasks and errands. Although this was typical of student-teacher relationships of that time and place, the inherent toxicity of such a relationship would become all too apparent once Berg began to assert his independence. Berg’s first three published opuses were in effect graduation pieces written under Schönberg’s tutelage; but trouble began to emerge with Berg’s following two works, which Schönberg dismissed as “insignificant” and “worthless.” For his Opus 6, Berg wished to write a Symphony, but Schönberg forbade such a grandiose endeavor, instructing Berg to write more modest character pieces for orchestra instead. Berg complied, but he followed the letter more than the spirit of his teacher’s instructions. Although the Three Orchestral Pieces have characteristic titles and together last only about 20 minutes, many commentators (including Berg himself) have remarked on this gripping work’s symphonic conception. Among Berg’s most complex orchestral creations, they are filled with references to the symphonies of Gustav Mahler and exemplify musical expressionism, exploring intense emotional and psychological terrain.

The first piece, "Präludium," begins with a whispered reminiscence of the opening of Mahler’s Ninth. Following a symmetrical arch structure, it builds to a powerful climax before fading back into silence. The following "Reigen" (Round Dance) is a series of parodistic waltz themes (or perhaps Mahlerian ländlers), distorted almost beyond recognition. Following Mahler’s example, Berg moves the weight of the work toward the finale, which is the length of the previous two movements combined. Of the three pieces, it most closely engages with traditional symphonic, sonata-form rhetoric. Specifically, it seems to be a response to the cataclysmic finale of Mahler’s Sixth Symphony, going so far as to include a series of fateful hammer blows much like its predecessor. Near the end, a tam tam suggests a brush with death á la Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet and Sixth Symphony, bringing the work to an arresting conclusion. —Calvin Dotsey

Program Notes

BEETHOVEN

Piano Concerto No. 5 in E-flat major, Opus 73 (Emperor) (1809)

Although Beethoven’s final piano concerto is known as the Emperor, this moniker did not originate with the composer. Perhaps a more accurate nickname would be the “Archduke” concerto. Archduke Rudolph, the youngest brother of Emperor Franz I of Austria, was a gifted musician and one of Beethoven’s most devoted patrons. Beethoven dedicated several celebrated works to him, including this one.

The circumstances of the concerto’s creation further illuminate this important connection. Near the beginning of 1809, Beethoven received an offer of employment from Jérôme Bonaparte, recently installed as the King of Westphalia by his brother, Napoleon. By this time, Beethoven had decidedly mixed feelings about Napoleon, but the offer of an official court position with a good salary likely tempted him. When Rudolph learned that Beethoven might leave Austria, he banded together with two other aristocrats to offer Beethoven a lifetime annuity of equal value. Beethoven gladly accepted, but the annuity did not work as planned. One of the aristocrats immediately vanished without paying Beethoven a cent. What money Beethoven did receive was soon devalued by the inflation that ravaged the Austrian economy when Napoleon invaded a few months later. As French cannons bombarded the city, Beethoven hid in his brother’s basement, covering his ears with cushions to protect what was left of his limited hearing.

Beethoven began composing the concerto, however, almost as soon as the annuity agreement was signed, perhaps to both express his gratitude and remind his patrons why they were so keen to keep him in Vienna. Although the concerto only reached its final form more than a year later, Beethoven’s optimism at this moment may account for the concerto’s remarkable spirit, which marries joy and gravitas.

Somewhat unconventionally, the work begins with a bravura passage for the soloist, who would traditionally remain tacet during the opening orchestral introduction. Sure enough, after this brilliant cameo the pianist retreats so that the orchestra can introduce the first movement’s main ideas. Bearing many hallmarks of Beethoven’s heroic style, the vital first theme soon leads to a shadowy, minor-key second theme, which then melts into a warm, major key variation for the horns. When the piano returns, it develops and transforms these main ideas to great dramatic effect.

Near the end of the movement, Beethoven departs from tradition by replacing the cadenza, a passage for the soloist alone that would normally have been improvised, with a last, delicate return of the shadowy second theme. Significantly, this was the first piano concerto Beethoven composed that he knew he would never play in public; by this point, Beethoven’s hearing had deteriorated so much that performing as a soloist with orchestra was no longer possible. Rather than leave such a crucial moment of the piece to the improvisatory caprice of another pianist, Beethoven composed this magical, understated passage.

The slow, hymn-like second movement is surely among Beethoven’s most deeply felt creations. After the orchestra introduces a soulful main theme full of pregnant pauses and yearning harmonies, the soloist leads

Program Notes

BEETHOVEN

Piano Concerto No. 5 in E-flat major, Opus 73 (Emperor) (1809)

the way through a free series of variations. Beethoven links the second movement with the finale, the main theme of which emerges dreamily from the slow movement’s final measures before bounding headlong into a bracing Allegro. This rhythmically dynamic main theme alternates with contrasting episodes, and the concerto concludes with one of Beethoven’s favorite conceits: the music seems to fade away to a gentle, quiet ending, but don’t be fooled—at the last moment, the soloist brings the piece to a rousing conclusion. —Calvin Dotsey

Program Bios

Juraj Valčuha, conductor

See p.6 for bio.

Yefim Bronfman, piano

Internationally recognized as one of today's most acclaimed and admired pianists, Yefim Bronfman stands among a handful of artists regularly sought by festivals, orchestras, conductors, and recital series. His commanding technique, power, and exceptional lyrical gifts are consistently acknowledged by the press and audiences alike.

A frequent touring partner with the world's greatest orchestras and conductors, the 2024–25 Season begins with the Pittsburgh and NDR Hamburg symphonies on tour in Europe followed by China and Japan with the Vienna

Philharmonic. With orchestras in the United States, he returns to Houston, Cleveland, New York, Portland, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Miami, Sarasota, and Pittsburgh; in Europe, he returns to Hamburg, Helsinki, Berlin, Lyon, and Vienna. In advance of a spring Carnegie Hall recital, his program can be heard in Austin, St. Louis, Stillwater, San Francisco, Santa Barbara, Washington, D.C., Amsterdam, Rome, Lisbon, and Spain. Two special projects are scheduled in this season—duos with flutist Emmanuel Pahud in Europe in the fall and trios with Anne-Sophie Mutter and Pablo Ferrandez in the United States in spring.

Born in Tashkent in the Soviet Union, Yefim Bronfman immigrated to Israel with his family in 1973, where he studied with pianist Arie Vardi, head of the Rubin Academy of Music at Tel Aviv University. In the United States, he studied at The Juilliard School, Marlboro School of Music, and the Curtis Institute of Music, under Rudolf Firkusny, Leon Fleisher, and Rudolf Serkin. A recipient of the prestigious Avery

Fisher Prize, in 2010 he was further honored as the recipient of the Jean Gimbel Lane prize in piano performance from Northwestern University and in 2015 with an honorary doctorate from the Manhattan School of Music. 

A Viennese Waltz Christmas

Juraj Valčuha , conductor

0:11

JOHANN STRAUSS JR. – Kaiser-Waltzer (Emperor Waltz), Opus 437

0:03 JOHANN STRAUSS JR. – Bauern Polka (Peasant Polka), Opus 276

0:06 JOHANN STRAUSS JR. – Egyptischer Marsch, Opus 335

0:05 JOSEF STRAUSS – Die Libelle, Polka-Mazurka, Opus 204

0:03 JOSEF STRAUSS – Moulinet Polka, Opus 57

0:03 JOHANN STRAUSS JR. – Perpetuum Mobile, Opus 257

0:03 JOSEF STRAUSS – Feuerfest!, Opus 269

0:09 JOHANN STRAUSS JR. – Overture to Die Fledermaus (The Bat), Opus 362

INTERMISSION

0:08 JOHANN STRAUSS JR. – Overture to Der Zigeunerbaron (The Gypsy Baron), Opus 417

0:03 JOHANN STRAUSS JR. – Im Krapfenwaldl, Opus 336

0:03 JOHANN STRAUSS JR. – Éljen a Magyár! (Hail to Hungary!), Opus 332

0:03 JOHANN STRAUSS JR. – Persischer Marsch, Opus 289

0:03 JOHANN STRAUSS JR. – Tritsch-Tratsch (Chit-Chat) Polka, Opus 214

0:03 JOHANN STRAUSS JR. – Unter Donner und Blitz (Thunder and Lightning), Opus 324

0:02 JOSEF STRAUSS – Jokey-Polka, Opus 278

0:09 JOHANN STRAUSS JR. – An der schönen blauen Donau (On the Beautiful Blue Danube), Opus 314

Saturday, December 7

Sunday, December 8

Jones Hall

Jones Hall & Livestream

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS

About the Music Program Insight

Guarantor

Meredith and Ben Marshall Guarantor

Livestream of this program is made possible by donors to our Livestream and Recording Studio Consortium listed on page 67

Video enhancement of Houston Symphony concerts is made possible by the Albert & Ethel Herzstein Foundation through a special gift celebrating the Foundation’s 50 th anniversary in 2015

The Classical Season is endowed by The Wortham Foundation, Inc ., in memory of Gus S. and Lyndall F. Wortham

7:30 p.m.

2:00 p.m.

The tradition of performing the music of the Strauss family during the holidays stretches back to the era when these works were first created. In Austria and Southern Germany, carnival season traditionally begins on November 11 and continues until Ash Wednesday. In Vienna, this was the season for grand balls, and at the height of their popularity, the Strausses and their orchestra could average multiple performances per day during the winter months.

Although the Strauss Orchestra is now long disbanded, the Vienna Philharmonic still performs a famous Strauss concert each year on New Year’s Day; this more modern tradition, however, has an unsavory past. The first such New Year’s concert was given on December 31, 1939, when the Nazis occupied Austria, and was part of a broader movement to brand the Strauss family as exemplars of German culture. The Nazis just faced one problem: Johann Strauss Sr.’s grandfather, Johann Michael Strauss, was a Hungarian Jew who converted to Catholicism when he moved to Vienna circa 1750. The Nazis went to extraordinary lengths to cover up the Strauss family’s Jewish ancestry, going so far as to replace the 18th-century marriage registry that contained a record of Johann Michael Strauss's Jewish origins with a copy that omitted any reference to his existence. Miraculously, the original registry was hidden away and survived the bombing of Vienna, allowing the truth to emerge after the war.

Today, the New Year’s concerts continue each year as a symbol of peace and Austria’s distinct culture and history. It is considered a great honor for a conductor to be invited to lead the New Year’s concerts; perhaps one day Music Director Jurai Valčuha will receive such an invitation. It certainly would not come as a surprise to those of us who appreciate his extraordinary artistry here in Houston. —Calvin Dotsey

Program Note

JOHANN STRAUSS JR.

(b. 1825, d. 1889)

JOSEF STRAUSS

(b. 1827, d. 1870)

Few artistic oeuvres are as associated with a time and place as the music of the Strauss family is with 19th-century Vienna. The founder of the Strauss dynasty, Johann Strauss Sr.—known as Strauss Vater (Father) in German-speaking lands—was born in the Austrian capital in 1804. The son of a tavern keeper, Strauss Vater was orphaned at 12, after which he was initially apprenticed to a bookbinder. Always fascinated by the itinerant musicians who had played in and around his home, he pursued music instead, making his public debut at 19. Initially, he collaborated with fellow composer Joseph Lanner, but in 1827 he struck out on his own to form what would become the legendary Strauss Orchestra.

Strauss’s concerts featured a wide variety of music, but the genre he contributed to most was the waltz. Originally a rustic country dance, the waltz first emerged in the mid-1700s under a variety of names, including the Ländler, the Deutsche, or simply “German Dances.” The name “waltz” comes from the German verb “waltzen,” “to spin.” In the German and Austrian lands where the dance originated, “waltz” simply described the spinning motion of the dancers rather than the dance itself; it was only when the dance became popular abroad that it became known as the “waltz.” The first international waltz craze began in the 1790s and climaxed in 1814 during the Congress of Vienna, when Europe’s crowned heads and diplomats descended on Vienna to negotiate peace after Napoleon’s final defeat. The rise of Strauss and Lanner in the 1820s and '30s was thus something of a waltz revival, already tinged with nostalgia for an earlier time; their innovations, however, would transform the dance.

Early waltzes rarely lasted more than a minute, and dance bands would string together waltz after waltz in quick succession. Although Weber’s Invitation to the Dance presaged many of Strauss and Lanner’s innovations in a concert-hall setting, the two musicians truly elevated the music heard in dance halls and ballrooms. Instead of linking together short, independent pieces, they composed works that included several waltz melodies (usually about five) that flowed from one to the next as part of an intentional, satisfying progression. Preceding the waltz tunes would be an often-poetic introduction, and the piece would end with a coda in which one or more of the waltz melodies could be reprised, giving the pieces an almost symphonic structure. Strauss also led the way in rhythmic innovation, introducing the hemiolas, pauses, and syncopations that would come to define the Viennese waltz style.

Although both were highly regarded in Vienna, Strauss’s fame eclipsed Lanner’s thanks to his many international tours, which spread his reputation across Europe. Strauss’s family life, unfortunately, was not as happy as his professional career. When he married at age 21, his wife, Maria Anna, was already expecting his first child (Johann Strauss Jr., or “Strauss Sohn”—“Strauss Son” in German). Although they would have five more children together, the marriage was not a happy one. Strauss Vater kept a mistress with whom he had an additional seven children, and Maria Anna ultimately divorced him in 1846. Regarding his children, Strauss Vater hoped that his sons would avoid careers in music and pursue more respectable professions, but Strauss Sohn had other ideas.

Program Note

JOHANN STRAUSS JR.

(b. 1825, d. 1889)

JOSEF STRAUSS

(b. 1827, d. 1870)

He secretly studied music and made a successful debut as a composer, violinist, and bandleader in 1844—at age 19, much like his father.

It was only after his father’s untimely death in 1849, however, that Strauss Sohn would truly come into his own when he merged his own orchestra with his father’s. As with his father, international touring was key to Strauss Sohn’s career, and a series of summer engagements in Pavlovsk, Russia (a fashionable suburb of St. Petersburg) that lasted from 1856 to 1865 proved particularly fruitful. Many works featured on this program were written for these Pavlovsk concerts, including Im Krapfenwaldl (meaning “In Krapfen’s Woods,” referring to a spot near Vienna—although the original title was “In the Pavlovsk Woods”), the Bauern Polka, the Egyptian March (written in 1869 to commemorate the opening of the Suez Canal), the Persian March (composed for the Persian Shah Naser ad-Din Shah, who awarded him a medal), and the Tritsch-Tratsch Polka, the title of which winkingly refers to the rumors of Strauss Sohn’s Russian love affairs, which were printed in the gossipy Viennese publication Tritsch-Tratsch

For many, Strauss Sohn would surpass his father’s accomplishments, and his compositions comprise most Viennese dances that are still performed today. Strauss Sohn himself, however, reportedly said that his brother Josef “is the more gifted of us two; I am merely the more popular.” Unlike Strauss Sohn, Josef was reluctant to join the family business. Initially, he pursued a successful career as an engineer, but was pressed into service when his famous older brother fell ill and needed a replacement in 1853. Josef titled his debut composition The First and Last, intending to retire immediately, but this waltz was such a success that he had to follow it up with The First After the Last. For critics, the many works that followed equaled his brother’s creations; perhaps the main reason he is less famous today was his untimely death at age 42.

In addition to the waltz, one other dance became very important within the Strauss brothers’ output: the polka, a duple meter dance that comes in three varieties: the moderately paced polka francaise, the quicker fast polka, and the polka-mazurka, which combined music of the triplemeter Polish mazurka with the dance steps of the polka. Several polkas feature on this program, including Strauss Sohn’s Bauern Polka, or Peasant Polka, which evokes folk music by opening with the sound of open strings, as if the orchestra were tuning up before beginning. The orchestral musicians are also required to sing throughout the piece, adding to the folksy atmosphere; the polka, however, did not in fact originate as a folk dance; it first arose as an urban social dance in Bohemia in the late 1830s and became a global craze in the 1840s, remaining a staple of ballroom music throughout the remainder of the century.

The colorful effects in the Bauern Polka are far from unique. The Strausses were master orchestrators, and many of their pieces feature charming orchestrational novelties. Among Josef’s works included on this program, in his Moulinet Polka the percussion imitates the sound of a mill wheel turning; Feuerfest! (Fireproof! ), commissioned by a company that manufactured fireproof safes, features a musical anvil, indicating the

Program Note

JOHANN STRAUSS JR.

(b. 1825, d. 1889)

JOSEF STRAUSS (b. 1827, d. 1870)

product’s indestructibility; the Jokey-Polka includes a part for musical whip, reminding listeners of the start of a horse race; more subtly, the delicate orchestration of Die Libelle (The Dragonfly) evokes the image of dragonflies hovering over a lake during a vacation Josef took with his wife.

Strauss Sohn’s many striking orchestral effects are also well represented. Like the Bauern Polka, the exotic Egyptian March features a singing orchestra, but perhaps his ultimate orchestral tour-de-force is his Perpetuum Mobile. Subtitled “a musical joke,” the piece consists of two chords that alternate over and over for the duration of the piece. Like a compressed version of Ravel’s Bolero, the entire interest of the work comes from the composer’s orchestral and melodic inventiveness. The piece has no written ending, indicating that it could go on forever.

Other effects are inspired by nature, such as the rumbling thunder in Unter Donner und Blitz, or the cuckoo calls and birdsong of Im Krapfenwaldl. Of course, Strauss’s greatest nature-inspired tone painting is An der schönen blauen Donau. This most famous of waltzes was originally written in 1867 for the Vienna Men’s Choral Association, and was based on a poem by one of the association’s members. Initially disappointed with the work’s reception in Vienna, Strauss Sohn set the waltz aside until he arrived in Paris later that year. Realizing he needed more music, he dusted off his Blue Danube waltz and created a new, purely orchestral version without chorus. Critically, he rewrote the ending, adding an extended coda that reprises the opening waltz melody, giving the waltz a more conclusive, symphonic structure. The new version took Paris by storm, and the waltz quickly became a symbol of Vienna itself.

After Josef’s death in 1870, Strauss Sohn composed fewer pieces of pure dance music, turning instead to works for the stage with a series of operettas intended to rival those of his French contemporary Offenbach. Represented on this program are the overtures from Die Fledermaus and Der Zigeunerbaron, both of which feature seamlessly changing meters and represent the height of Strauss Sohn’s musical sophistication. One late-career waltz was the Kaiser-Waltzer, written in part to commemorate Emperor Franz Joseph’s 40th jubilee. Fittingly, the introduction of the waltz takes the form of a noble march, and some have interpreted the cello solos that appear throughout as representing the aging Emperor himself. The Austro-Hungarian Empire may be long gone, but the Strauss family’s music remains as an echo of its glittering ballrooms and a symbol of Vienna. —Calvin Dotsey

Program Bio

Juraj Valčuha, conductor

See p.6 for bio.

Featured Program

Yo-yo ma in concert

Juraj Valčuha , conductor

Yo-Yo Ma , cello

0:09 JOHANN STRAUSS JR. – Overture to Die Fledermaus (The Bat), Opus 362

0:11 JOHANN STRAUSS JR. – Kaiser-Waltzer (Emperor Waltz), Opus 437

0:03 JOHANN STRAUSS JR. – Unter Donner und Blitz (Thunder and Lightning), Opus 32

0:40 DVOŘÁK – Cello Concerto in B minor, Opus 104, B. 191

I. Allegro

II. Adagio ma non troppo

III. Finale: Allegro moderato

About the Music

Monday, December 9

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS

Margaret Alkek Williams Grand Guarantor

Anne & Albert Chao Underwriter

Jones Hall

Program Insight

7:30 p.m.

This evening, the Houston Symphony welcomes a living legend back to Jones Hall. Since Leonard Bernstein introduced his historic televised debut in 1962, Yo-Yo Ma has broken boundaries and entranced audiences with his unsurpassed technique and deeply felt interpretations of music both old and new. Tonight, he performs perhaps the greatest of all works for cello and orchestra, Dvořák’s Cello Concerto in B minor. Begun at the end of Dvořák’s time in the United States and completed after his return to his native Bohemia, this masterpiece combines an epic scope with an astonishing emotional intimacy. The delightful waltzes and polkas of Johann Strauss Jr. complete the program. The tradition of performing the music of the Strauss family during the holidays stretches back to the era when these works were first created. In Austria and Southern Germany, carnival season traditionally begins on November 11 and continues until Ash Wednesday. In Vienna, this was the season for grand balls, and at the height of their popularity, the Strausses and their orchestra could average multiple performances per day during the winter months. Although the Strauss Orchestra is now long disbanded, the Vienna Philharmonic still performs a famous Strauss concert each year on New Year’s Day as a symbol of peace and good will for the year to come. From all of us at the Houston Symphony, we wish you happy holidays and a new year filled with music. —Calvin Dotsey

Program Notes

JOHANN STRAUSS JR.

Overture to Die Fledermaus (The Bat), Opus 362 (1874)

JOHANN STRAUSS JR.

Kaiser-Waltzer (Emperor Waltz), Opus 437 (1889)

Although Johann Strauss Jr. is famous for dozens of waltzes, his fame for stage works rests largely on Die Fledermaus, the only genuine hit among his long string of operettas. The story tells of a masquerading couple who carry on extramarital romances behind the backs of their spouses, only to be exposed after a night behind bars. Its plot stems from a mid-19th-century Viennese farce adapted for the Parisian stage in 1872. Its string of charming melodies includes several tunes from the third act where Rosalinda’s husband and her lover both wind up in jail, the bubbling second-act waltz and a mock-mournful oboe melody from the first-act Trio where Gabriel von Eisenstein tells his wife that he has to serve his jail term, without admitting that he is sneaking out to a fancy ball beforehand. —Carl R. Cunningham

Although he is known today as the “Waltz King,” Johann Strauss Jr.’s path to becoming the 19th-century’s most famous composer of music for social dancing was at first a rocky one. Strauss’s father, Johann Strauss Sr. (known as Strauss Vater—”Strauss Father”—in German) was the founder of the musical dynasty, but despite international success as a violinist, bandleader, and composer of dance music, Strauss Vater hoped that his sons would avoid careers in music and pursue more respectable professions. Strauss Vater planned for his namesake, Johann Strauss Jr. (Strauss Sohn—”Strauss Son”—in German), to pursue banking. To his credit, Strauss Sohn did earn a mark of “First with Distinction” on a bookkeeping exam, but of course his true passion lay in what would become the family business. Although casual music making was a regular part of the Strauss family’s homelife, Strauss Sohn secretly pursued further musical studies without his father’s knowledge and made his public debut as a violinist-conductor-composer in 1844 at age 19.

It was only after his father’s untimely death in 1849, however, that Strauss Sohn’s career would take off when he merged his own orchestra with his father’s. International touring became key to Strauss Sohn’s career, and a series of summer engagements in Pavlovsk, Russia (a fashionable suburb of St. Petersburg) that lasted from 1856 to 1865 proved particularly fruitful. After 1870, Strauss composed fewer pieces of pure dance music, turning instead to works for the stage with a series of operettas intended to rival those of his French contemporary Offenbach.

One late-career waltz was the Kaiser-Waltzer (Emperor Waltz), which Strauss composed in 1889 to commemorate a toast of friendship that Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria-Hungary made to Emperor Wilhelm II of Germany. Originally, Strauss titled the waltz Hand in Hand, but his publisher insisted on the title we know today. Although the publisher’s title was intended to be ambiguous, referring to either or both emperors, Austrian listeners mainly associated the waltz with Franz Joseph, who also celebrated his 40th jubilee that year.

Musically, the waltz is one of Strauss’s finest. It begins with a slow

Program Notes

JOHANN STRAUSS JR.

Kaiser-Waltzer (Emperor Waltz), Opus 437 (1889)

JOHANN STRAUSS JR.

Unter Donner und Blitz (Thunder and Lightning), Opus 32 (1868)

introduction—a noble march, befitting the Imperial title. Quiet at first, the march crescendos to a grand restatement before dying away. A solo cello (which some listeners have interpreted as representing Franz Joseph himself) leads into a procession of four distinct waltz themes. An elaborate coda then recapitulates the first and third of the waltz melodies. Near the end, the solo cello reappears for a last, backward glance at the first waltz theme before brass fanfares bring the dance to a stirring conclusion. —Calvin Dotsey

DVOŘÁK

Cello Concerto in B minor, Opus 104, B. 191 (1894–95)

Although Johann Strauss Jr. is most famous for his waltzes, his output of polkas is also significant. A duple-meter dance, the polka comes in three varieties: the moderately paced polka francaise, the quicker fast polka, and the polka-mazurka, which combines music of the triple-meter Polish mazurka with the dance steps of the polka. Although the polka bears some resemblance to traditional West-slavic folk dances, in fact the polka was never truly a folk dance; it first arose as an urban social dance in Bohemia in the late 1830s and became a global craze in the 1840s, remaining a staple of ballroom music throughout the remainder of the century.

Strauss’s popular Unter Donner und Blitz (Under Thunder and Lightning) is a particularly striking example of the fast polka. Composed in 1868 for one of Vienna’s many carnival season balls, this colorful polka has a typical A-B-A structure: after a few introductory bars, the A section begins, featuring the whirling of stormy winds in the cellos and bassoons. In the B section, we hear cymbal crashes followed by booming timpani, bass drum, and low brass, clearly evoking the sight and sound of lightning and thunder. After a reprise of the A section, the polka ends with a concise coda: a few more lightning bolts bring the dance to what can only be described as an electrifying ending. —Calvin Dotsey

Dvořák’s B minor Cello Concerto is the most popular work of its kind, but Dvořák approached the idea of writing it only after hearing the premiere of Victor Herbert’s successful concerto, toward the end of his three-year stay in New York. The work—Dvořák’s second attempt at the form—was written during a three-month period between November 8, 1894, and February 9, 1895. Following a cello concerto he left unfinished more than 20 years earlier, it was prompted by the persistent urging of his old friend, Bohemian cellist Hans Wihan, to whom Dvořák dedicated the work. Unfortunately, the concerto was the source of some disagreement as Wihan edited some passages for greater effectiveness and added a cadenza—all which Dvořák opposed. The cadenza was excised from the published version, but Wilhan’s other changes were retained. The concerto opens directly with the main theme—a tightly focused fournote motive that is immediately turned upside down into a nearly exact mirror image of itself. After being stated and developed in the clarinet,

Program Notes

DVOŘÁK

Cello Concerto in B minor, Opus 104, B. 191 (1894–95)

violins and, finally, the full orchestra, it gives way to a blooming second theme that counts as one of the most famous solo passages in the horn literature. At that point, a short martial theme for full orchestra leads to the entrance of the solo cello, which expounds upon the first and second themes. In the development section, Dvořák concentrates upon the main theme, subjecting it to many mood transformations. Following a long passage of increasingly agitated figuration in the solo cello, the broad second theme bursts forth in the full orchestra, announcing the recapitulation section. The main theme is reserved for the first movement’s climactic coda. The slow movement is a series of very tender, yearning melodies and is considered one of the most personal, revealing movements Dvořák ever composed. An extended duet for the clarinets leads off the movement, accompanied by other woodwinds in a running conversation with the solo cello. A sudden brief outburst— considered by some the evocation of a funeral march—briefly interrupts the lyrical mood, only to be followed by an orchestral adaptation of Dvořák’s plaintive song, “Leave Me Alone,” Opus 82, No. 1. Because the song was a favorite of Dvořák’s beloved sister-in-law, Josefa Čermáková, this sighing flute/cello duet is often regarded as the composer’s personal response to the news that she was very ill back home in Bohemia. (Like Mozart, Dvořák married the sister of the woman he really loved.)

The finale is essentially a large rondo combining a string of rustic, robust dance melodies with gentler, song-like interludes. A slow, nostalgic metamorphosis of the concerto’s main theme occurs in the coda, emphasizing Dvořák's longing for his homeland. When the composer returned to Bohemia in the spring of 1895, he learned to his sorrow that Josefa had passed away. At that point, he revised and lengthened the coda, adding a reminiscence of her second movement theme as well as the main theme of the first movement. —Carl R. Cunningham

Program Bios

Juraj Valčuha, conductor

See p.6 for bio.

Yo-Yo Ma, cello

Yo-Yo Ma’s multi-faceted career is testament to his belief in culture’s

power to generate trust and understanding. Whether performing new or familiar works for cello, bringing communities together to explore culture’s role in society, or engaging unexpected musical forms, Yo-Yo strives to foster connections that stimulate the imagination and reinforce our humanity.

Most recently, Yo-Yo began Our Common Nature, a cultural journey to celebrate the ways nature can reunite us in pursuit of a shared

Program Bios

future. Our Common Nature follows the Bach Project, a 36-community, six-continent tour of J. S. Bach’s cello suites paired with local cultural programming. Both endeavors reflect Yo-Yo’s lifelong commitment to stretching the boundaries of genre and tradition to understand how music helps us to imagine and build a stronger society.

Yo-Yo Ma was born in 1955 to Chinese parents living in Paris, where he began studying the cello with his father at age four. When he was seven, he moved with his family to New York City, where he continued his cello studies before pursuing a liberal arts education.

Yo-Yo has recorded more than 120 albums, is the winner of 19 Grammy Awards, and has performed for nine American presidents, most recently on the occasion of President Biden’s inauguration. He has received numerous awards, including the National Medal of the Arts, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and the Birgit Nilsson Prize. He has been a UN Messenger of Peace since 2006, and was recognized as one of TIME magazine’s 100 Most Influential People of 2020. 

The Gift of a M a ster piece

Single Malt Scotch Whisky, Alcohol 40% by Volume (80 Proof), ©2023 Whyte and Mackay USA Imports, Healdsburg, CA.

Corporate Spotlights

Frost Bank and the Houston Symphony—two institutions that have served Texans for more than a century—are happy to partner on the Frost Bank Gold Classics Series for the 2024-25 Season. From Dvořák’s Violin Concerto in October to Mahler’s Symphony No. 3 in June, Frost is proud to bring outstanding music to Houston this year.

Frost has helped generations of Texans achieve their financial goals for more than 155 years. Renowned for award-winning customer service, Frost has received the highest ranking in customer satisfaction in Texas in the J.D. Power U.S. Retail Banking Satisfaction Study for 12 consecutive years and is ranked among the top banks in the nation based on customer scores in the American Banker/Reputation Institute Survey. Frost is honored to support communities across the state, and we look forward to helping customers for years to come.

Visit frostbank.com to learn more about Frost Bank and the services we provide.

Houston Methodist is one of the nation’s leading health systems and academic medical centers. The health system consists of Houston Methodist Hospital, its flagship academic hospital in the Texas Medical Center; six community hospitals across the Greater Houston area, with a seventh currently under construction in Cypress; and a continuing care facility.

Houston Methodist is a dedicated supporter of the Houston Symphony as the official health care provider and underwriter of six concert weekends throughout the 2024-25 season. Houston Methodist offers unique benefits to the Houston Symphony's musicians through its Center for Performing Arts Medicine (CPAM). As the only center of its kind in the country, CPAM is comprised of a specialized group of more than 100 elite physicians working collaboratively to address the specific demands placed on artists so they can do what they do best — enrich the lives of Houston audiences.

Shell USA, Inc., a longtime leadership contributor to the Houston Symphony, underwrites the Houston Symphony's Favorite Masters Series of classical subscription concerts and supports our Education and Community Engagement initiatives as part of the company’s continuing commitment to the communities it serves.

Since it was founded, Shell has invested more than $1 billion in charitable, cultural, and educational organizations throughout Houston and the United States. Shell’s support of culture and the arts encompasses a wide range of symphony, opera, and theater groups, as well as the visual arts and science museums.

In recognition of its broad range of award-winning support, the Houston Symphony salutes Shell and applauds its support of the Symphony and other arts and culture institutions.

Luminary Leadership

Contributions to the Symphony play a big part in who we are and what we can do. Ticket sales cover just one-third of our budget. Donations make up that difference allowing us to attract great talent and support our community outreach efforts.

The Houston Symphony is made up of some of the finest musicians in the world. And it is because of this talent that we can attract the most amazing guest artists such as Yo-Yo Ma, Itzhak Perlman, Emanuel Ax, Lang Lang, Hilary Hahn, Yefim Bronfman, and Joshua Bell. None of this would be possible without the support of our patrons.

Your donations also support the Symphony’s Education and Community Engagement initiatives, which are an important part of our mission. Our musicians perform in schools, hospitals, and community centers, serving nearly 200,000 people every year. We inspire students to begin and to continue studying music through our Harry & Cora Sue Mach Student Concert Series and In Harmony, our community-based afterschool music program. We offer comfort to those in need through our hospital bedside visits and interactive dementia center performances. We also collaborate with more than 500 partner organizations to remove economic and geographical barriers to music, ensuring people from all walks of life can have access to extraordinary musical experiences. This truly important work is made possible by our supporters.

From what you hear on the Jones Hall stage to what we do in the community, your support goes a long way in helping the Houston Symphony be a first-class orchestra and organization. As a “Thank You!” for your support, we offer an amazing collection of benefits such as complimentary valet parking, access to the Shirley and David Toomim Family Green Room, intimate salon concerts, invitations to private rehearsals, parking passes, “Meet the Orchestra” events, complimentary tickets for guests, and more.

We thank you for your consideration. For more information on giving, please contact Christine Ann Stevens, Senior Director of Development, at christine.stevens@houstonsymphony.org or 713.337.8521 or Tim Dillow, Senior Director of Development, at timothy.dillow@houstonsymphony.org or 713.337.8538.

Luminary Leadership

Robin Angly & Miles Smith

Robin and Miles are avid classical music lovers and are passionately committed to the Symphony. Their generosity has focused on advancing projects of particular artistic ambition, including the Music Director Fund, tours, commissions, and programs with operatic components. Miles is a Lifetime Trustee of the Board and serves on the Artistic and Orchestra Affairs Committee. Both have musical backgrounds. Professionally, Robin is owner of Venture Partners and Miles is an attorney.

Bank of America

Bank of America is committed to making financial lives better through the power of every connection. They deliver on this through their responsible growth strategy, which emphasizes being a great place to work for the nearly 2,500 employees in Houston and sharing their success with our local community. Whether it is owning a home, starting a business, building savings and credit, or making a difference, Bank of America connects communities to the lending, investing, and giving they need to remain vibrant and vital. Bank of America is the title sponsor of the Bank of America POPS Series.

Gary and Marian Beauchamp/The Beauchamp Foundation

Marian and Gary Beauchamp are generous supporters of the performing arts and of Houstonians experiencing homelessness. They have provided funding for many of the Symphony’s acquisitions and special priorities over the years, including the orchestra’s custom RAT music stands, the sound shell used at Miller Outdoor Theatre, and the orchestra’s set of German timpani and Berlioz Bells. The Beauchamps are classical subscribers and have served as Musician Sponsors for several decades. Gary is also a Governing Director on the Board of Trustees, serving on the Artistic and Orchestra Affairs Committee.

The Brown Foundation, Inc.

The Brown Foundation, established in 1951, is a philanthropic organization committed to enriching Texas communities through education, arts, and civic engagement. It has distributed more than $1.7 billion in grants across Texas since its inception. With a focus on bringing passion, energy, and creativity to life in Houston, the Foundation has been a steadfast supporter of the Symphony for decades. Its generous contributions have enabled the Symphony to deliver exceptional performances, engage diverse audiences, and foster education initiatives.

Barbara J. Burger

Since joining the Symphony family in 2014, Barbara has established herself as one of the organization’s greatest champions. She is President of the Board of Trustees and provides leadership support for a wide range of Symphony initiatives. In 2023, she endowed the orchestra’s Fourth Horn Chair and touring activities. She is a Musician Sponsor, member of the Music Director Fund, and Guarantor of the Symphony’s Media Consortium, enabling the Symphony to reach audiences in all 50 states and 49 countries.

City of Houston through Houston Arts Alliance

The Houston Arts Alliance (HAA) is a local arts and culture non-profit agency dedicated to helping artists and non-profits be bold, productive, and strong. Under the guidance of the Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs, HAA implements the City of Houston’s vision for arts grantmaking and civic art investments. Additionally, HAA spearheads privately funded initiatives, including disaster preparedness, arts research, and temporary public art projects that invigorate local neighborhoods. HAA generously provides funding to the Houston Symphony, allowing us to improve accessibility of the arts throughout the Houston community.

Jane and Robert* Cizik

Jane and her late husband, Robert, have supported Houston’s cultural arts with extraordinary generosity for decades. Following his passing in 2019, the Houston Symphony’s 2020–21 Classical Season was named for Robert in recognition of his contributions. Jane continues their legacy and love of classical music with her steadfast presence at concerts and generous support of the orchestra. In 2024, Jane endowed the orchestra’s Associate Principal Cello Chair. She is a Musician Sponsor and a former member of both the Board of Trustees and the Symphony League.

Luminary Leadership

THE CULLEN TRUST FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS

Janet F. Clark

$100,000+

Janet has been a generous supporter and steadfast leader of the Houston Symphony for more than three decades. She is current Chair and a former President of the Board of Trustees. Janet serves as a Musician Sponsor, regularly supports special events, and frequently hosts gatherings to better connect people to the Symphony. She is former Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Marathon Oil Corporation. She is active in the Houston philanthropic community with an emphasis on education and environment, including Houston’s parks.

ConocoPhillips

For more than 50 years, ConocoPhillips has supported the Houston Symphony, advocating for music education and cultural enrichment. In 2024, the company celebrated its 38th consecutive year as the Opening Night Concert Sponsor and Lead Corporate Gala Underwriter, ensuring a grand start to the Symphony’s season. This partnership exemplifies ConocoPhillips’s dedication to giving back to the community. As a leading exploration and production company, ConocoPhillips is committed to being a good neighbor and responsible citizen in the areas it operates.

The Cullen Foundation

The Cullen Foundation was established by Hugh Roy and Lillie Cranz Cullen in 1947 and has supported the Symphony for more than 60 years. In that time, the Foundation has been a loyal donor to the orchestra in times of prosperity and an invaluable champion during difficult times. The Foundation has made extraordinary gifts to help sustain the orchestra, including contributions to Hurricane Harvey relief and to the Symphony’s Endowment Campaign.

The Cullen Trust for the Performing Arts

The Cullen Trust for the Performing Arts is one of the best-known names in Houston philanthropy and has been one of the Symphony’s greatest champions. One of three charitable trusts with independent boards created by the Cullen Foundation in the 1970s, it furthers the philanthropic legacy of Houston legend Hugh Roy Cullen. The Trust has contributed more than $9 million to the Houston Symphony since 1984, supporting almost every aspect of the orchestra’s activity.

The Jerry C. Dearing Family Foundation

Founded in 2009, the Jerry C. Dearing Family Foundation is a family-run private foundation that supports Houston-based non-profit organizations that provide health, education, and sustainability services in Houston and Harris County. The Jerry C. Dearing Family Foundation has distributed more than $22.5 million in grants to support, encourage, and assist several local organizations. Since the Houston Symphony’s 2018–19 Season, The Jerry C. Dearing Family Foundation has supported a wide array of our Education and Community Engagement initiatives.

Joan and Robert

Duff

Joan and Bob have been supporters of the Houston Symphony since 2017. Joan is a member of the Houston Symphony Board of Trustees and serves on the Popular Programming Committee, serving as a steadfast advocate for our education and community engagement initiatives. They have chaired several Symphony events, including Magical Musical Morning two times and the Wine Dinner and Collector's Auction. Joan and Bob sponsor Associate Principal Horn, Rob Johnson.

Frost Bank

Frost Bank and the Houston Symphony—two institutions that have served Texans for more than a century—are happy to partner on the Frost Bank Gold Classics Series for the 2024–25 Season. It has helped generations of Texans achieve their financial goals for more than 155 years. Frost has consistently been ranked highest in customer satisfaction in Texas by the J.D. Power U.S. Retail Banking Satisfaction Study. Frost is honored to support communities across the state of Texas.

Luminary Leadership

The Hearst Foundations

$100,000+

THE HUMPHREYS FOUNDATION

In a remarkable gesture of support during the COVID-19 crisis, The Hearst Foundations granted $250,000 to the Houston Symphony, part of a $50 million effort benefiting 100 non-profits nationwide. William Randolph Hearst III and Virginia Hearst Randt announced these unprecedented grants, aimed at aiding the Symphony’s perseverance through challenging times. Additionally, the Hearst Foundations have been a enduring supporter of the Symphony’s Education and Community Engagement initiatives.

Houston Methodist

Houston Methodist is a dedicated supporter of the Houston Symphony as the Official Health Care Provider and underwriter of six concert weekends throughout the 2024–25 Season. Houston Methodist offers unique benefits to the Houston Symphony’s musicians through its Center for Performing Arts Medicine (CPAM). As the only center of its kind in the country, CPAM is composed of a specialized group of more than 100 elite physicians working collaboratively to address the specific demands placed on artists so they can do what they do best—enrich the lives of Houston audiences.

The Humphreys Foundation

For more than 30 years, The Humphreys Foundation’s grants have been instrumental in allowing the Symphony to bring high-quality artistic programming to Houston. Under the leadership of President Linda Bertman, the charitable foundation based in Liberty County has underwritten several iconic Symphony concerts, including: operas like Abduction from the Seraglio, Fidelio, Bluebeard’s Castle, and Oedipus Rex; the HD Odyssey trilogy (The Planets, The Earth, The Cosmos) and the 2017–18 Season performance of The Rite of Spring; as well as festivals like the two-week Schumann Festival in 2020, and Carmina burana

Drs. M.S. and Marie-Luise Kalsi

Drs. M.S. and Marie-Luise Kalsi, known as Kalsi and Ise to their friends, have been Symphony supporters for decades. They began attending together while studying at University of Houston, Kalsi pursuing his master’s in engineering and Ise her master’s in philosophy; this began their lifelong love of, and support for, the Symphony. The Kalsis serve as Musician Sponsors. In 2024, Kalsi established the Marie-Luise Schubert Kalsi Fund within the Symphony Endowment. Kalsi, originally from India, is founder and president of Kalsi Engineering; Ise, originally from Germany, is a retired professor of philosophy.

Dr. Sippi and Mr. Ajay Khurana

Sippi and Ajay are passionately committed to service, contributing both time and treasure across multiple sectors of the philanthropic community in Houston and beyond. At the Symphony, they are Program Guarantors for In Harmony, an intensive community-based music training program for underserved students. Sippi serves on the Executive Committee and Ajay as a Trustee for the HS Endowment.

KTRK ABC-13

KTRK ABC-13 is the leading local television news station serving the Greater Houston area, known for its comprehensive news coverage, entertainment programming, and community engagement. As the Official Television Partner of the Houston Symphony, KTRK ABC-13 plays a pivotal role in amplifying the Symphony’s reach and impact. This partnership exemplifies KTRK ABC-13’s commitment to supporting local arts and culture and enriching the lives of Houstonians through the power of music.

Max Levit

Max Levit has quietly supported the Symphony with extraordinary generosity since the 1990s. Through his decades of giving, Max has played a key role in advancing the Symphony’s level of artistry into the orchestra we enjoy today and has supported performances by the world’s most in-demand guest artists. He regularly attends both classical and pops concerts. Max co-managed his family company Grocers Supply and built it into one of the nation’s leading private companies. Max’s daughter, Cindy Levit, serves as a Governing Director on the Symphony’s Board of Trustees.

Cora Sue and Harry* Mach

Cora Sue’s dedication to the Symphony, with special emphasis on education, dates back more than two decades. She has contributed time and treasure with humility and generosity, having served as former Chair of the Education Committee of the Board, President of the League, and Chair of several special events. In partnership with Harry Mach, her late husband of 58 years, she is one of the institution’s leadership donors in her lifetime of giving. The 2024–25 Harry and Cora Sue Mach Student Concert Series honors Harry and enhances the lives of children by providing direct access to our orchestra.

Beth Madison

After two decades of generosity, Beth continues her support of the Houston Symphony with emphasis on special events. She is an honoree of the 2024 Opening Night Concert & Gala and has received numerous awards in the Houston philanthropic community. She is a Lifetime Symphony League Member and former member of the Board of Trustees. She serves as a Regent at the University of Houston, demonstrating her belief in the value of and relationship between education and the arts for a thriving community.

Meredith and Ben Marshall

Continuing in their support of worthy and local organizations, Ben and Meredith Marshall are proud to also give their loyalty to the Houston Symphony. What began as sporadic show goers a few years ago, has grown to a love and following of this impressive orchestra and the thrilling programming. Leaving the music making to the professionals, Ben and Meredith are delighted be part of such a gem to our beautiful, eclectic city.

Barbara and Pat McCelvey

Barbara and Pat are leaders in the Houston Symphony’s community of concertgoers, donors, and governance. In 2024, Barbara and Pat endowed the orchestra’s English Horn Chair. They support the Music Director Fund and serve as Musician Sponsors. Barbara serves as a Governing Director on the Board of Trustees and Chair of the Development Committee; she is a Symphony League member and former League president. Barbara also serves on the Board of the Foundation for Jones Hall and is instrumental in the planning and execution of the Jones Hall renovations currently underway.

Dr. Eric McLaughlin and Mr. Eliodoro Castillo

Eric and Elliot are active philanthropists in Houston’s performing arts world. For 2024–25, they are proud to elevate their support of the Symphony and its vision to be a world-class orchestra and Houston cultural leader. Outside of his entrepreneurial and healthcare pursuits, Eric dabbles in playing the piano. He cites exceptional performing arts and powerful air conditioning as key reasons he calls Houston home. Elliot, a professionally trained bass-baritone opera singer, has also grown his real estate and property management portfolio to over $40 million in just a few years. Together, Eric and Elliot enjoy travel and the outdoors.

M.D. Anderson Foundation

The Houston Symphony is grateful to the M.D. Anderson Foundation, a dedicated supporter since the 1970s, for supporting the Symphony’s grand scale musical projects and helping us adapt to pandemic challenges. Founded by Monroe Dunaway Anderson in 1936, the Foundation is renowned for its role in creating the Texas Medical Center and the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center and supports organizations enhancing the quality of life for Houstonians. The Houston Symphony thanks the Trustees of the Foundation for its decades of support and salutes them for their service to our city.

Miller Outdoor Theatre

Since 1923, Miller Outdoor Theatre has been Houston’s premiere venue for free, professional-caliber outdoor performances. Located in Hermann Park, it is the only proscenium theatre in America that offers an eight-month season of outstanding artistry, including classical music, jazz, dance, drama, films, and more. The Symphony’s partnership began in 1940 when we became the first performing arts organization to bring free concerts to the park.

Luminary Leadership

Bobbie Nau

$100,000+

Bobbie is actively involved in multiple civic, community, and philanthropic organizations in Houston and is a generous supporter of the Symphony’s Annual Fund, Special Events, and Endowment. She attends both classical and pops concerts and provides leadership support for general operations each year. In 2022, she endowed the orchestra’s Principal Clarinet Chair. In 2023, she chaired the highest-grossing Houston Symphony Wine Dinner and Collector’s Auction in the event’s history. Bobbie is former majority owner of Silver Eagle Distributors.

Leslie Nossaman

Leslie is an impactful leader on both the Symphony Board of Trustees and Houston Symphony League Board. She has been a Symphony patron since the 1980s and a major volunteer since 2016, including Student Concerts, Family Concerts, musician auditions, and the Archives. She is currently PresidentElect for the League and participates on many Symphony committees such as Marketing, Development, and Education and Community Engagement.

Oliver Wyman

Oliver Wyman is a leading global management consulting firm with offices in more than 50 cities across 30 countries and combines deep industry experience with specialized expertise in strategy, operations, risk management, and organization transformation. The company devotes substantial time and resources to creating positive social impact and works with non-profit organizations worldwide. Oliver Wyman has provided consulting services to the Houston Symphony since 2015. Please visit the company at OliverWyman.com to learn more.

Shell USA, Inc.

Shell USA, Inc., a longtime leadership contributor to the Houston Symphony, underwrites the Houston Symphony’s Favorite Masters Series of classical subscription concerts as part of the company’s continuing commitment to the communities it serves. Since it was founded, Shell USA, Inc. has invested more than $1 billion in charitable, cultural, and educational organizations throughout Houston and the United States. Shell’s support of culture and the arts encompasses a wide range of symphony, opera, and theater groups, as well as the visual arts and science museums.

John & Lindy Rydman/Spec’s Wines, Spirits & Finer Foods

The Houston Symphony’s Principal Corporate Guarantor is a landmark Houston institution, Spec’s Wines, Spirits & Finer Foods. Through the Spec’s Charitable Foundation, the company supports the Symphony in a variety of ways—through the annual Wine Dinner and Collector’s Auction, the Salute to Educators Concert, and the company’s own Symphony fundraising event, Vintage Virtuoso. In total, the company has contributed more than $6.5 million to the Symphony since 1996.

Mike Stude

Mike Stude, Chairman Emeritus of the Board of Trustees, has been one of the Symphony’s most devoted champions for decades. He has made extraordinary personal contributions of time and treasure and is a steadfast advocate of the Symphony and its Endowment among foundations and peers. A lifelong lover of classical music, Mike is former owner of KRTS classical radio, serves as a Musician Sponsor, and has traveled worldwide to hear the orchestra on tour. He began his career at Brown & Root and later became Owner and President of Stude Investment Partners and Chairman of Big Covey Exploration.

Texas Commission on the Arts

The Texas Commission on the Arts (TCA) generously provides grants to the Symphony to support our educational and community engagement initiatives and Holiday Concert Series. These grants are offered to arts organizations in designated cultural districts—like the Houston Theater District—for projects that enhance economic development, arts education, and cultural tourism. The Houston Symphony is grateful to the TCA and the State of Texas for supporting the arts in our home state.

Luminary Leadership

THE WORTHAM FOUNDATION, INC.

Bobby and Phoebe Tudor

$100,000+

Bobby and Phoebe Tudor are leading Houston philanthropists with a remarkable dedication to the Houston Symphony. Over the course of their decades-long involvement, they have provided leadership support for virtually every one of the organization’s strategic priorities. Bobby has served as both President and Chairman of the Board of Trustees. He is CEO of Artemis Energy Partners; previously, he was a founding partner and chairman of Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. Phoebe is an active community volunteer involved with the arts, historic preservation, parks, education, and quality-of-life issues.

Mr. & Mrs. Jesse B. Tutor

Betty and Jesse Tutor are active members of Houston’s philanthropic community and are known for their dedication to the arts and for fostering connections between fellow Houstonians. Both Betty and Jesse are Governing Directors of the Board of Trustees, Lifetime Trustees, Chairs of the Legacy Society, and former chairs of several special events. Betty, a former Woman of Distinction, has served as President of the Symphony League. Jesse, a retired partner at Accenture, is a former President of the Board of Trustees, and currently serves as Chair of the Audit Committee.

Vitol, Inc.

Vitol is a global energy and commodities company with a presence across the energy spectrum: from crude oil and refined products to power, natural gas, renewables and carbon. For more than 55 years, Vitol has served the world’s energy markets, trading and distributing energy safely and responsibly to growing economies around the world. From 40 offices worldwide, we seek to add value across the energy supply chain by deploying our scale and market understanding to help solve the energy challenges of today and investing in energy solutions for the future.

Margaret Alkek Williams

The Houston Chronicle named Margaret “the most powerful, committed female philanthropist in Houston since Ima Hogg.” Her extraordinary contributions have made a remarkable impact at the Symphony and across the theater district. Each season, she sponsors the six-concert Margaret Alkek Williams Spotlight Series and serves as Grand Guarantor of two programs. In 2015, Margaret endowed the orchestra’s Executive Director/CEO Chair. She is a Lifetime Trustee and Governing Director. In 2024, the Margaret Alkek Williams Grand Lobby opened at Jones Hall.

The Wortham Foundation,

Inc.

The Houston Symphony is fortunate to have the generous and longstanding support of The Wortham Foundation, Inc., whose grants play a vital role in maintaining the orchestra’s artistic excellence and organizational strength. The Wortham Foundation, Inc. has been a partner of the Symphony for more than 45 years, and its investment in the Symphony has been invaluable to the organization’s artistic growth.

Gardenia Foundation Edith and Robert Zinn

Music Director Fund

Margaret Alkek Williams

Robin Angly & Miles Smith

Barbara J. Burger

Albert & Anne Chao

Jane and Robert* Cizik

The purpose of the Music Director Fund is to provide leadership support to Juraj Valčuha and his artistic endeavors as Music Director. Since his arrival, Juraj has revealed his vision of a future with extraordinary concerts and exceptional service to the city of Houston. His leadership will continue to elevate the orchestra’s level of artistry on the Jones Hall stage, raise its international reputation, and increase its relevance to the Houston community. Music Director Fund donors provide dedicated resources to support the production of Juraj’s signature artistic projects such as multiconcert festivals and opera projects, the hiring of top-level orchestra musicians whose selection is overseen by Juraj, and invitations to guest soloists of the highest caliber.

To join the Music Director Fund, donors contribute $50,000 to $100,000 beyond their renewed Annual Fund support. To participate, please contact Christine Ann Stevens, Senior Director, Development at christine.stevens@houstonsymphony.org or 713.337.8521.

Janet F. Clark

Cullen Trust for the Performing Arts

Gardenia Foundation

Cindy Levit

Barbara & Pat McCelvey

John & Lindy Rydman / Spec’s Wines, Spirits & Finer Foods

Mike Stude

Dr. Eric McLaughlin and Mr. Eliodoro Castillo

Our Donors

The Houston Symphony gratefully acknowledges those who support our artistic, educational, and community engagement programs through their generosity to our Annual Fund and Special Events. For more information, please contact Emilie Moellmer, at emilie.moellmer@houstonsymphony.org or 713.337.8526.

$50,000+

Edward and Janette

Blackburne

Mr. Robert Boblitt Jr.

James* and Dale Brannon

Mary Kathryn Campion & Stephen Liston

Drs. Dennis & Susan Carlyle

Anne & Albert Chao

Virginia A. Clark

Elaine Finger/The Marvy

Finger Family Foundation

Aggie L. Foster & Steve

Simon

Stephen & Mariglyn Glenn

Gary L. Hollingsworth & Kenneth J. Hyde

The John P. McGovern Foundation

Mr. and Mrs. Bashar Kalai

Cindy E. Levit

Mr. and Mrs. J. Stephen

Marks

Dr. Miguel & Mrs. Valerie Miro-Quesada

John L. Nau III

Mr. and Mrs. Bryan Ruez

Margaret & Joel Shannon

Alana R. Spiwak & Sam L. Stolbun

Tina Raham Stewart in memory of Jonathan Stewart

Terry Thomas

Shirley W. Toomim

Hallie A. Vanderhider

Stephen and Kristine Wallace

Robert G. Weiner & Toni Blankmann

$25,000+

Farida Abjani

Dr. Angela R. Apollo

Ann & Jonathan Ayre

Dr. Saúl and Ursula Balagura

Dr. Gudrun H. Becker

Nancy and Walter Bratic

Terry Ann Brown

Ms. Cynthia Diller

Mr. and Mrs. Thomas L. Elsenbrook

Ms. Carolyn Faulk

Mr. & Mrs. Jeffrey B. Firestone

Mr. and Mrs. James C. Flores

Mrs. Mary Foster & Mr. Don DeSimone

Mr. & Mrs. Russell M. Frankel

Evan B. Glick

Rebecca & Bobby Jee

Joan & Marvin Kaplan Foundation/The Kaplan, Brooks, and Bruch Families

Dr. Charles Johnson & Tammie Johnson

Mr. and Mrs. Parker Johnson

Dr. Rita Justice/The MasterCaregiver Company

Cheryl Boblitt and Bill King

Mr. and Mrs. David B. Krieger

Paul Leach & Susan Winokur

Joella & Steven P. Mach

Alison and Ara Malkhassian**

Mrs. Carolyn and Dr. Michael Mann

Barry and Rosalyn Margolis Family

Mr. & Mrs. Rodney H. Margolis

Michelle & Jack Matzer

John & Dorothy McDonald

Muffy and Mike McLanahan

Katie and Bob Orr / Oliver Wyman

Mr. David Peavy and Dr. Stephen McCauley

Revati Puranik

Laurie A. Rachford

Ed & Janet Rinehart

Mr. Glen A. Rosenbaum*

Susan D. Sarofim

Donna Scott and Mitch Glassman

Kathy & Ed Segner

Bill Stanley

Frances and Ira Anderson

Nina K. Andrews

Anne Morgan Barrett

Consurgo Sunshine

Mr. Gordon J. Brodfuehrer

Terry Ann Brown

Eric D. Brueggeman

Mr. Bill Bullock

Mr. Robert Bunch and Ms. Lilia Khakimova

Roger and Debby Cutler

Mike and Debra Dishberger

Connie Dyer

Andria N. Elkins

Sidney Faust

Eugene Fong

Ron Franklin & Janet Gurwitch

Elia Gabbanelli

Steve and Mary Gangelhoff

Clare Attwell Glassell

Suzan & Julius Glickman

Mrs. Mary Goodman

Mr. & Mrs. Fred L. Gorman

Jo A. & Billie Jo Graves

Claudio J. Gutiérrez

Mr. and Mrs.* Jerry L. Hamaker

Claudia & David Hatcher

Mark & Ragna Henrichs

Carol and Charlie Herder

Mrs. James E. Hooks

Catherine and Brian James

Gwen & Dan Kellogg

Dr. & Mrs. I. Ray Kirk

Ms. Nancey G. Lobb

Cindy Mao and Michael Ma

John & Regina Mangum

Mr. and Mrs. Jarrod Martin

Marvin and Martha McMurrey

Rita and Paul Morico

Scott and Judy Nyquist

Dr. Susan Osterberg and Mr. Edward C. Osterberg, Jr.

Mr. & Mrs. Jonathan E. Parker

Mr. and Mrs. Robert Partin

Gloria & Joe Pryzant

Jean and Allan Quiat

Ron and Demi Rand

Mr. Floyd W. Robinson

Ann Roff

In Memory of Sybil F. Roos –Ginger Bertrand, Cathey Cook and Betsy Garlinger

Toni A. Oplt and Ed Schneider

Mr. & Mrs. James A. Shaffer

Tad & Suzanne Smith

Mr. Jay Steinfeld and Mrs. Barbara Winthrop

Dr. John R. Stroehlein and Miwa Sakashita

Mr. and Mrs. Frank Tsuru

Cecilia and Luciano Vasconcellos

Mr. & Mrs. Fredric A. Weber

Steven & Nancy Williams

Jeanie Kilroy Wilson & Wallace S. Wilson

Ellen A. Yarrell

Elena and John Young Anonymous

$15,000+

Dr. Carol Stelling

Justin Stenberg

Mr. and Mrs. Karl Strobl

Mrs. Marguerite M. Swartz

Margaret Waisman, M.D. & Steven S. Callahan, Ph.D.

Jay & Gretchen Watkins

Dede Weil

Kirin and Joe Wells

Ms. Terri L. West

Vicki West

Larry & Lori Williams

Anonymous

Our Donors

Gail and Louis Adler

Stanford and Joan Alexander Foundation

Marcie & Nick Alexos

Edward H. Andrews III

Mr. and Mrs. David J. Beck

Mr. and Mrs. Sverre

Brandsberg-Dahl

Mr. and Mrs. Mark A. Brueggeman

Ralph Burch

Kori and Chris Caddell

Dr. Robert N. Chanon

Dr. Ye-Mon Chen and Mrs. Chaing-Lin Chen

Coneway Family Foundation

Brad and Joan Corson

Andrew Davis and Corey Tu

Dr. Alex Dell

Ms. Elisabeth DeWitts

Valerie Palmquist Dieterich and Tracy Dieterich

Jeanette and John DiFilippo

Vicky Dominguez

Drs. Rosalind and Gary Dworkin

Kelli Cohen Fein & Martin Fein

Grace Ho and Joe Goetz

Sandy and Don L. Harris

Ms. Katherine Hill

Robyn and Richard D. Howe

Barbara and Charles Hurwitz

Mr. Daniel Irion

Dawn James

Marzena and Jacek Jaminski

Debbie & Frank Jones

Lil and Matthew Kades

Yvette & David J. M. Key

James & Betty Key

Mr. and Mrs. Calvin Leeke

Mr. & Mrs. U. J. LeGrange

Marilyn G. Lummis

Jay* & Shirley Marks*

Nancy F. Martin

Dr. & Mrs. George J. Abdo

John and Pat* Anderson

Tom Anderson

Lilly and Thurmon Andress

Rita and Jeffrey Aron

Mr. Jeff Autor

Mr. Theodore H. Barrow

Mrs. Bonnie Bauer

Kimberly and James Bell

Drs. Henry & Louise Bethea

Joan H. Bitar, MD

George Boerger

Mr. Russell Boone

James and Judy Bozeman

Mr. Chester Brooke and Dr. Nancy Poindexter

Barbara A. Brooks

Ms. Deborah Butler

Marilyn Caplovitz

Tatiana and Daniel Chavanelle

Barbara A. Clark & Edgar A. Bering

Donna M. Collins

Evan and Carin Collins

Mr. & Mrs. Byron Cooley

Ms. Miquel A. Correll

Kathy and Frank Dilenschneider

Bonnie and George Dolson**

Mr. William P. Elbel and Ms. Mary J. Schroeder

Mr. Parrish N. Erwin Jr.

Dr. Judith Feigin & Mr. Colin Faulkner

Ms. Ursula H. Felmet

Dr. Richard Fish and Marie Hoke Fish

Laurel Flores

Bill & Diana Freeman

Dr. and Mrs. Robert H. Fusillo

Mr. and Mrs. Patrick Gaidos

Mr. & Mrs. Harry Gendel

Dr. Eugenia C. George

Amy Goodpasture

Mr. Mark Grace and Mrs. Alex Blair

The Greentree Fund

Kathryn and Kirk Hachigian

Mary N. Hankey

Deborah Happ & Richard Rost

Barbara and Christopher Hekel

Mrs. Ann G. Hightower

Katherine and Archibald Hill

Mr. and Mrs. Jeffrey Hiller

Mr. and Mrs. John Homier

Steve and Kerry Incavo

Dr. and Mrs. Joseph Jankovic

Stephen Jeu and Susanna Calvo

Phil and Josephine John

Beverly Johnson

Mr. and Mrs. John F. Joity

Ms. Linda R. Katz

Kathryn L. Ketelsen**

Carey Kirkpatrick

Dr. William and Alice Kopp

Jane & Kevin Kremer

Mr. Kenneth E. Kurtzman

James Lassiter

Mr. Steve Lee

Golda Anne Leonard

Richard Loewenstern

Mr. and Mrs. Michael J. Lowenberg

Ms. Kathy McCraigh

Carol and Paul McDermott

Mrs. Cathy McNamara

Mrs. Anna Mergele

Susan and Michael Mason

Mr. and Mrs. Alexander Matiuk

Dr. and Mrs. Malcolm L. Mazow

Terry & Kandee McGill

Mr. and Mrs. Gerald Moynier

Tim Ong & Michael Baugh

The Carl M. Padgett Family

Mr. and Mrs. Robert Pastorek

Mr. Zeljko Pavlovic

Mr. Robert J. Pilegge

Edlyn & David Pursell

Dr. and Mrs. George H. Ransford

Gabriel & Mona Rio

Jill and Allyn Risley

Dr. Douglas and Alicia Rodenberger

Robert K. Rogerson

David and Roz Rowan

Larry and Lyn Miller

Jo Ann and Marvin Mueller

Stephanie Weber and Paul Muri

Aprill Nelson

Bobbie Newman

John and Leslie Niemand

Kusum and K. Cody Patel

Michael P. and Shirley Pearson

Heather & Chris Powers

Tim and Katherine Pownell

Roland and Linda Pringle

Darla and Chip Purchase

Cris & Elisa Pye

Kathryn and Richard Rabinow

Radoff Family

Vicky and Michael Richker

Fay and George Rizzo

Garry and Margaret Schoonover

Susan and Ed Septimus

Laura & Mike Shannon

Becky Shaw

Mr. & Mrs. Charles O. Shearouse

Donna and Tim Shen

Mr. & Mrs. Steven Sherman

Mr. and Mrs. Lance Smith

Mr. and Mrs. Quentin Smith

Sandy and George Sneed

Sam & Linda Snyder

Elizabeth and Alan Stein

Jean and Doug Thomas

Susan L. Thompson

Pamalah* and Stephen Tipps

Dr. Brad and Mrs. Frances Urquhart

Mr. and Mrs. David Vannauker

David and Robin Walstad

$10,000+

Lori Harrington and Parashar Saikia

Christy and Ted Sarosdy

Dr. & Mrs. Robert B. Sloan

Houston Christian

University

Mr. and Mrs. Jim R. Smith

Anthony and Lori Speier

Richard & Mary Spies

Kimberly & David Sterling

Mrs. Karen Tell

Carol and Eric Timmreck

Nanako & Dale Tingleaf

Ms. Barbara E. Williams

Mr. & Mrs. Tony Williford

Doug and Kay Wilson

Ms. Beth Wolff

Nina and Michael Zilkha

Edith & Robert Zinn Anonymous

$5,000+

Nancy and David Webb

Kate and Brook Wiggins

Dr. Robert Wilkins and Dr. Mary Ann ReynoldsWilkins

Nancy B. Willerson**

Doug Williams and Janice Robertson

Woodell Family Foundation

Mr. & Mrs. C. Clifford Wright, Jr.

Mrs. Lorraine Wulfe

Ezra Yacob

Trish and Steve Yatauro

Robert and Michele Yekovich

Erla & Harry Zuber

Anonymous (4)

Our Donors

Mary E. Ainslie

Ms. Mina Alaniz

Dr. Julia Andrieni and Dr. Rob Phillips

Rick Ankrom and Jay Hooker

Mr. and Mrs. Edmund Aversenti

Ms. Jacqueline Baly

Mr. and Mrs. Stephen J. Banks

Tatyana and Edward Baumgartner

Jeb & Cynthia Blackwell

Margery Anderson and Farhad Bozorgmehr

Mr. Sonny Brandtner

Jane and Ron Brownlee

Mr. and Mrs. Laurence Burns

Justice Brett and Erin Busby

David Bush

Cheryl & Sam* Byington

Margot & John Cater

Lynn Coe

Ms. Jeanette Coon and Thomas Collins

Mr. and Mrs. J. Carlton Cook

Ms. Sandra Cooper

Mrs. Rochelle Cyprus

Mrs. Myriam Degreve

Joseph and Rebecca Demeter

Dr. and Mrs. Allen Deutsch

Colleen DiFonzo-Lewis

Mrs. Edward N. Earle

Annette and Knut Eriksen

Aubrey* & Sylvia Farb

Wm. David George Ph.D.

Jill Gildroy

Dr. Michael Gillin and Ms. Pamela Newberry

Kathy & Albrecht Goethe

Ms. Lidiya Gold

Julianne & David Gorte

Mrs. Tami A. Grubb

Ms. Lilac Guzman

Rolaine Abramson

Maurine Alfrey

Jorge Alvarez

Sylvia & Edward Arnett

Ms. Sheila Aron

Mr. & Mrs. David M. Balderston

Myra W. Barber

Mr. and Mrs. Ken P. Barrow

Dr. & Mrs. David Barry

Deborah Bautch

Janet & John Beall

Mr. and Mrs. Clarke Bean

Drs. Nancy Glass & John Belmont

Mr. & Mrs. Frank R. Benton

Mr. and Mrs. Stephen Bickel

Dr. & Mrs. Carlos R. Hamilton Jr.

Mr. & Mrs. Houston Haymon

Mr. & Mrs. Frank Herzog

Richard and Arianda Hicks

Mr. Stanley Hoffberger

Steven E. Holbrook and Andres Fals

Mr. and Mrs. R. O. Hunton

C. Birk Hutchens

Mr. and Mrs. Rick C. Jaramillo

Mrs. Blanca Jolly

Mady & Ken Kades

Ms. Mandy Kao

Hoole & Kramr CPAsSamantha and Chris Kramr

Kirk Kveton

Stephanie and Richard Langenstein

Ms. Deborah Laws

Gary T. Leach

Dr. Hilary Beaver & Dr. Andrew Lee

Mr. William W. Lindley

Matthew and Kristen Loden

Kirby and David Lodholz

Mr. and Mrs. Stephen A. Lubanko

Ms. Tama Lundquist

Mr. & Mrs. Peter MacGregor

Tina Maddox

Barbara Manna

David and Heidi Massin

William D. & Karinne McCullough

Mr. & Mrs. D. Bradley McWilliams

Stephen & Marilyn Miles

Mr. & Mrs. Thomas L. Molloy

David R. Moore

Amanda Morgan

Richard & Juliet Moynihan

Mr. & Mrs. Richard Murphy

Mr. and Mrs. Geoffrey B. Newton

Ms. Barbara Nussmann

Dr. and Mrs. Thomas Oley

Macky Osorio

Dr. Michael A. Ozer and Ms. Patricia A. Kalmans

Nancy Parra

George & Elizabeth Passela

Mr. and Mrs. Melvin Payne

Mrs. Fran Fawcett Peterson

Linda Tarpley Peterson

Mrs. Jenny Popatia in memory of Dr. Tajdin R. Popatia

Mrs. Dana Puddy

Mr. & Mrs. Florante Quiocho

Mr. Juan Carlos Quiroga

Clinton and Leigh Rappole

Dr. Michael and Janet Rasmussen

Dr. and Mrs. William H. Reading MD

Mr. & Mrs. J.B. Reimer

Mrs. Diane Roederer

Mrs. Adelina Romero

Dr. and Mrs. Franklin Rose

Constance E. Roy

Mr. & Mrs. Gregory Rozenfeld

Mr. & Mrs. John Ryder

Mr. Robert T. Sakowitz

Lawrence P. Schanzmeyer

Dr. Mark A. Schusterman

Sarah and Peter Seltz

Mr. and Dr. Adrian D. Shelley

Mr. Carlos Sierra

Leslie Siller

Hinda Simon

Mr. Young Son

Georgiana Stanley

Jeaneen and Tim Stastny

Mr. Bill Stubbs

Dr. and Mrs. Van W. Teeters

Emily H. & David K. Terry

Juliana and Stephen Tew

Mr. Paul Bitner

Ms. Cyndi Bohannon

Helene Booser

Patricia K. Boyd

Catherine Bratic & Mike Benza

Joe Brazzatti

Dr. and Mrs. Larry Brenner

Ms. Helen Harding & Dr. Patrick Briggs

Claire Brooks

Mr. Clifford Brown III

Sally and Laurence Brown

Dr. Fred Buckwold

Mr. Frank Busch

Vicki Buxton

Marion & Bill Calvert

Mr. Joseph L. Campbell Jr.

Dorothy E.F. Caram, Ed.D

Mr. & Mrs. Terry Carius

Mr. Theodore Carpenter and Mrs. Stephanie Harrison

Stephen Carroll

Mr. Tripp Carter

Ann M. Cavanaugh

Mr. Per Staunstrup

Christiansen

Drs. Anna Chen and John

Chung

Mr. James Cleary

Carol Coale

Richard Collins

Dr. Carmen Bonmati and Mr. Ben Conner

$2,500+

Musicians of the Houston Symphony Inc.

Courtney & Bill Toomey

Sal and Denise Torrisi

Patricia Van Allan

Katharine & William Van Wie

Dean Walker

H. Richard Walton

Nancy Ames and Danny Ward

Alton and Carolyn Warren

Dr. and Mrs. Richard T. Weiss

Mr. and Mrs. Dennis Williams

Ms. Dena Winkler

Scott and Lori Wulfe

Mrs. Linda Yelin

Mr. and Mrs. Charles Zabriskie

Anonymous (3)

$1,000+

Mr. and Mrs. Michael F. Cook

Ms. Sylvia Lohkamp & Mr.

Tucker Caughlen

Mr. and Mrs. James L. Cross

Mr. Carl R. Cunningham

Dr. Tarek Dammad

Matthew Dangel

Mr. Phillip Davis

Ms. Anna M. Dean

Ms. Elena Delaunay

Mr. and Mrs. Manuel Delgado

Mr. & Mrs. E. E. Deschner

Mr. and Mrs. James P. Dorn

T. Michael Dossey

Mr. James Dyer

Ramsay M. Elder

Mr. Stephen Elison

Our Donors

Strong Landscaping, LLC

Mr. & Mrs. J. Richard Espinosa

Mr. & Mrs. James H. Etherton

Beverly and Gerald* Fanarof

Mr. Paul Fatseas

Dr. Jean A. Fefer

Ms. Susan Feickert

Mr. and Mrs. Bruce Ference

Larry Finger

Dale & Anne Fitz

Ms. Janet Fitzke

Marilyn and Theodore Flick

Susan Forestier

Mr. & Mrs. Christopher Frautschi

Edwin Friedrichs & Darlene Clark

Martin Gambling

Mark Garro and Annie Kurtz

Alyson & Elliot Gershenson

Susan and Kevin Golden

Helen B. Wils & Leonard A. Goldstein

Kathy and Marty Goossen

Mr. and Mrs. K. Lance Gould

Timothy & Janet Graham

Catherine Green

Mr. and Mrs. Joe Greenberg

Drs. Laurie and Lewis Greenberg MD

Mr. and Mrs. Charles H. Gregory

Joan DerHovsepian and Erik Gronfor

Richard & Stella Guerra Nelson

Julia C. Gwaltney

Eric and Angelea Halen

Susan and Dick Hansen

Mr. and Mrs. Franklin J. Harberg Jr.

Sheila Heimbinder

Dean & Beth Hennings

Eliane Herring

Mr. & Mrs. W. Grady Hicks

Maureen Y. Higdon

Charles and Jeannette Hight

Theresa Hochhalter

Susan Hodge & Mike Stocker

Mr. and Mrs. Roy Hollingsworth

Dr. Holly Holmes

George E. Howe

Dr. Vicki Huff & Dr. Eric Boerwinkle

Mariya Idenova

Mr. Craig Ignacio

Mr. & Mrs. Charles W. Jackson**

Ms. Qiana James

Sharon Jamison

Mark A. Jensen

Arlene Johnson

Ms. Kaleta Johnson

Francene Young and Ken Jones

Ms. Elise Kappelmann

Mr. Ara J. Karian

Mr. and Mrs. Harvey Katz

Lynda and Frank Kelly

Ms. Kat Khosrowyar

Mr. & Mrs. William H. Knull III

Marcia & Douglas Koch

Mrs. Judy Koehl

Dr. and Mrs. Morton Leonard Jr.

Robert J. Lorio

Tony and Judy Lutkus

Mr. & Mrs. Hubert Magee

Ms. Nancy Manderson

Soren & Astrid Marklund

Eric Martin

Mr. and Mrs. Mark Matovich

Patricia McMahon and Joseph F. McCarthy

Mr. David D. McPherson

Ernie and Martha McWilliams

Dr. Amy Mehollin-Ray

Mr. Stephen Mendoza

Ms. Kristen Meneilly

Mrs. Jean Mintz

Ms. Roslyn B. Mitchell

Ginni and Richard Mithoff

Mr. and Mrs. Richard S. Moen

Gerry Montalto

Mari Moore

Marguerite and Abraham Moreno

Mary Beth Mosley

Kiran Movva

Daniel & Karol Musher

Alan & Elaine Mut

Jackie Mutschler

Mr. Rex Naden

Leah Patterson and Dick Nagaki

Jessica & Erick Navas

Mr. & Mrs. Robert E. Nelson

Mr. and Mrs. Randolph J. Ney

Ms. Amy Ng

Phong Patrick Nguyen

Leslie & John Niemand

Joy and Gary Noble

Mr. and Mrs. Anthony J. Nocella

Ms. Kathryn O'Brien

Dr. John Oehler and Dr. Dorothy Oehler

John and Kathy Orton

Rochelle & Sheldon Oster

Mr. and Mrs. Marc C. Paige

Mr. William Parker

Mr. and Mrs. Raul Pavon

Dr. and Mrs. Joseph V. Penn

Mr. Doug D. Perley & Ms. Eileen M. Campbell

Ms. Leila Perrin

Georgica Pine

Dr. and Mrs. James L. Pool

David Pulaski and Elia Graves

Judy & Bill Pursell

Mr. and Mrs. J. E. Pybus Jr.

Susie and Jeff Raizner

Fairfax & Risher Randall

Mr. and Mrs. William B. Rawl

Glenda & David Regenbaum

Brian Rishikof & Elena Lexina

Linda & James Robin

Carolyn Rogan

Ms. Regina J. Rogers

Drs. Alex & Lynn Rosas

Jill and Milt Rose

Rosemarie and Jeff Roth

Brenda and Mansel Rubenstein

Debbie Brooks Ruffing

Dr. Kimberly Ruona**

Kent Rutter and David Baumann

Lisa Rydman

Ramon and Chula Sanchez

Carol and Kamal Sandarusi

Mr. and Mrs. Carl W. Sandlin

Charles and Dora Schneider

Donald and Susan Scruggs

Mrs. Lynda G. Seaman

Nicole & Julian Seiguer

Ms. Heidi Seizinger

Mr. and Mrs. Peter Seltz

Victor E. Serrato

Mr. & Mrs. Paul Shack

Ms. Diana Skerl

Mr. and Mrs. David Smith

Lawrence Smith

Becky and Sam Smith

Mr. & Mrs. William A. Smith

Mr. William T. Snypes and Ms. Suzanne Suter

Betty and Gerry Stacy

Ms. Claudia Standiford

Richard P. Steele and Mary J. McKerall

Mr. & Mrs. Gary Stenerson

Mr. and Mrs. James R. Stevens Jr.

Bill Stevens

Mr. and Mrs. Edward F. Stuart

Amy Sutton and Gary Chiles

Ms. Betsy Mims and Mr. Howard D. Thames

Mr. Aaron J. Thomas & Mrs. Jennifer Chang

Paul Strand Thomas

Suzy Till

Scott Ulrich

Mr. and Mrs. Timothy J. Unger

John and Mary Untereker

Mr. James Walker

Mr. and Mrs. John B. Wallace

Mr. & Mrs. Douglas Walt

Ms. Tammi Warfield

Ms. Joann E. Welton

Dr. & Mrs. Brad Wertman

Mr. and Ms. Bradley White

Katherine & William Wiener

Carlton Wilde

Bridget & Brooke Williams

Ms. Dodi Willingham

Larry and Susan Wilson

Mrs. Syalisa Winata

$1,000+

Jennifer R. Wittman

Patricia Wolfe

Jerry & Gerlind Wolinsky

Thomas Yarbrough

Melinda & Alan Young

Mr. & Mrs. Edward R. Ziegler

Anonymous (11)

*Deceased **Education and Community Engagement Support

Musician Sponsorship

Dr. Angela Apollo

Scott Holshouser, Principal Keyboard

Dr. Saúl and Ursula Balagura

Charles Seo, Cello

Gary and Marian Beauchamp/ The Beauchamp Foundation

Eric Larson, Double Bass

Nancy and Walter Bratic

Christopher Neal, First Violin

Mr. Gordon J. Brodfuehrer

Maki Kubota, Cello

Mr. Robert Bunch and Ms. Lilia Khakimova

Alexander Potiomkin, Bass Clarinet and Clarinet

As a Musician Sponsor, donors have the opportunity to build a personal connection with one of the musicians in the orchestra. Musician Sponsorships are the best way to support our hard-working musicians and recognize them for the wonderful music they bring to the stage as well as all they do for the community. Musician Sponsors also support the Houston Symphony’s ability to attract and retain the world’s finest talent to the orchestra by demonstrating to prospective musicians, current musicians, and other patrons that our musicians are well-supported and valued. Annual Fund donors can sponsor a section musician at the $15,000+ level and can sponsor a principal or titled musician at the $25,000+ level.

In addition to being able to bond with musicians through several relationship-building Musician Sponsorship events, Musician Sponsors also receive these benefits:

• Access to the Toomim Family Green Room

• Complimentary valet parking and access to the Development Ticketing Concierge

• Invitations to private salon concerts and “Meet the Orchestra” events

• An invitation for two to the annual Musician Sponsorship Dinner held on stage at Jones Hall

Our goal is for every musician in our orchestra to have a sponsor. If you would like to become a Musician Sponsor donor or have any questions about Musician Sponsorships, please contact Alexa Ustaszewski, Major Gifts Officer, at alexa.ustaszewski@houstonymphony.org or 713.337.8534.

Barbara J. Burger

Andrew Pedersen, Double Bass

Mary Kathryn Campion, Ph.D.

Rodica Gonzalez, First Violin

Drs. Dennis and Susan Carlyle

Louis-Marie Fardet, Cello

Jane Cizik

Qi Ming, Assistant Concertmaster

Janet F. Clark

MuChen Hsieh, Principal Second Violin

Michael H. Clark and Sallie Morian

Colin Gatwood, Oboe

Virginia A. Clark

Lindsey Baggett, Violin Community-Embedded Musician

Roger and Debby Cutler

Tong Yan, First Violin

Mike and Debra Dishberger

Phillip Freeman, Bass Trombone

Joan and Bob Duff

Robert Johnson, Associate Principal Horn

Andria N. Elkins

Colin Gatwood, Oboe

Aggie L. Foster & Steve Simon

Mihaela Frusina, Second Violin

Steve and Mary Gangelhoff

Judy Dines, Flute

Stephen and Mariglyn Glenn

Christian Schubert, Clarinet

Evan B. Glick

Fay Shapiro, Viola

Suzan and Julius Glickman

Thomas LeGrand, Associate Principal Clarinet and E-flat Clarinet

Mary Goodman, Jing Zheng, Second Violin

Mr. and Mrs. Fred L. Gorman

Christopher French, Associate Principal Cello

Musician Sponsorship

Mark and Ragna Henrichs

Donald Howey, Double Bass

Carol and Charlie Herder

Nathan Cloeter, Assistant Principal/Utility Horn

Gary L. Hollingsworth and Kenneth J. Hyde

Robert Walp, Assistant Principal Trumpet

Mrs. James E. Hooks

Burke Shaw, Double Bass

Drs. M.S. and Marie-Luise Kalsi

Eric Halen, Co-Concertmaster

Joan & Marvin Kaplan

Foundation/The Kaplan, Brooks, and Bruch Families

Mark Nuccio, Principal Clarinet

Dr. and Mrs. I. Ray Kirk

John C. Parker, Associate Principal Trumpet

Cindy E. Levit

Adam Trussell, Bassoon and Contrabassoon

Cora Sue and Harry* Mach

Joan DerHovsepian, Principal Viola

Joella and Steven P. Mach

Eric Larson, Double Bass

Mrs. Carolyn and Dr. Michael Mann

Ian Mayton, Horn

Cindy Mao and Michael Ma Si-Yang Lao, First Violin

Mr. and Mrs. Rodney H.

Margolis

Eric Halen, Co-Concertmaster

Mr. and Mrs. J. Stephen Marks

Brian Del Signore, Principal Percussion

Michelle and Jack Matzer

Kurt Johnson, First Violin

Barbara and Pat McCelvey

Adam Dinitz, English Horn

Muffy and Mike McLanahan

William VerMeulen, Principal Horn

Dr. Eric McLaughlin and Mr. Eliodoro Castillo

Jonathan Fischer, Principal Oboe

Martha and Marvin McMurrey

Rodica Gonzalez, First Violin

Dr. Miguel & Mrs. Valerie Miro-Quesada

Leonardo Soto, Principal

Timpani

Rita and Paul Morico

Elise Wagner, Bassoon

Scott and Judy Nyquist

Sheldon Person, Viola

Dr. Susan Osterberg and Mr. Edward C. Osterberg Jr. MiHee Chung, First Violin

Mr. and Mrs. Jonathan E. Parker

Jeffrey Butler, Cello

Mr. David Peavy and Dr. Stephen McCauley

Jeremy Kreutz, Cello

Gloria and Joe Pryzant

Matthew Strauss, Associate Principal Percussion

Allan and Jean Quiat

Richard Harris, Trumpet

Laurie A. Rachford

Timothy Dilenschneider, Associate Principal Double Bass

Ron and Demi Rand

Annie Chen, Second Violin

Ed & Janet Rinehart

Amy Semes, Associate Principal Violin

In Memory of Sybil F. Roos

– Ginger Bertrand, Cathey Cook, and Betsy Garlinger

Mark Hughes, Principal Trumpet

Mr. Glen A. Rosenbaum

Aralee Dorough, Principal Flute

John and Lindy Rydman / Spec’s Wines, Spirits & Finer Foods

Anthony Kitai, Cello

Kathy and Ed Segner

Kathryn Ladner, Flute & Piccolo

Mr. and Mrs. James A. Shaffer

Eric Halen, Co-Concertmaster

Tad and Suzanne Smith

Marina Brubaker, First Violin

Alana R. Spiwak and Sam L. Stolbun

Wei Jiang, Acting Associate Principal Viola

Justin Stenberg

Brian Mangrum, horn

Mike Stude

Brinton Averil Smith, Principal Cello

Bobby and Phoebe Tudor

Bradley White, Associate Principal Trombone

Mr. & Mrs. Jesse B. Tutor

Joan DerHovsepian, Principal Viola

Margaret Waisman, M.D. and Steven S. Callahan, Ph.D.

Mark Griffith, Percussion

Stephen and Kristine Wallace

Rian Craypo, Principal Bassoon

Mr. & Mrs. Fredric A. Weber

Allegra Lilly, Principal Harp

Robert G. Weiner and Toni Blankman

Anastasia Ehrlich, Second Violin

Vicki West Rodica Gonzalez, First Violin

Larry & Lori Williams

Samuel Pedersen, Viola

Steven and Nancy Williams MiHee Chung, First Violin

Jeanie Kilroy Wilson and Wallace S. Wilson

Xiao Wong, Cello

Elena and John Young Keoni Bolding, Viola

Nina and Michael Zilkha

Kurt Johnson, First Violin

HOUSTON SYMPHONY

OPENING NIGHT CONCERT AND GALA 2024

The annual Houston Symphony Opening Night Concert and Gala, chaired by Mary Lynn & Steve Marks, took place on October 4 and raised more than $550,000 for the Symphony’s industry-leading Education and Community Engagement initiatives. ConocoPhillips served as the Concert Sponsor and Lead Corporate Gala Underwriter for the 38th year.

The event celebrated the beginning of the 2024–25 Season and the third season of Juraj Valčuha as the Houston Symphony’s Music Director and holder of the Roy and Lillie Cullen Chair. Before the concert at Jones Hall, partygoers enjoyed a champagne reception on the Mezzanine level before making their way into the Nancy and Charles Davidson Performance Hall. The concert featured Juraj conducting the orchestra and the Houston Symphony Chorus, alongside Czech opera singer Svatopluk Sem and the Houston Chamber Choir in an enchanting performance of Martinů’s Czech Rhapsody, followed by Dvořák’s New World Symphony—a timeless masterpiece inspired by the diverse musical influences of America.

Following the performance, more than 300 guests were transported to the Corinthian Houston for a spectacular seated dinner catered by City Kitchen with expert wine pairings by Spec’s Wine, Spirits, & Finer Foods. The décor, created by The Events Company, transformed the space to the Gilded Age of New York while jazz vocalist Julie Johnson, provided the perfect musical ambiance for guests as they enjoyed their multi-course meals.

Concert Sponsor and Lead Corporate Gala Underwriter

Guests enjoy dinner at the Opening Night Gala

Margaret Alkek Williams

Bill & Sharon Bullock

Steven Marks and Opening Night Gala Co-Chair Mary Lynn Marks

Houston Symphony Board President Barbara J. Burger

Lindy & John Rydman

Sippi and Ajay Khurana Houston Symphony

If you would like to request support for an upcoming program or event for a 501(c)(3) organization, please fill out a donation request form at titosvodka.com/donation to get started.

The Houston Symphony Endowment is organized and operated exclusively for the benefit of the Houston Symphony Society. Our Endowment provides funding for the Symphony’s day-to-day operations costs, supports our Education and Community Engagement initiatives, and helps us keep accessible ticket prices available. Contributions to the Endowment ensure the financial sustainability of your orchestra now and for generations to come.

An Endowed Musician Chair or Named Fund are a few of the most impactful ways to support the Endowment. Named Funds can be designated for general operating support or specific interests or programs, such as our PNC Family Concert Series, New Works, or Music and Wellness programs, among others. Support to the Endowment can be made through a bequest, a gift during your lifetime, or a combination of both. The minimum contribution to establish a Named Fund is $250,000.

An Endowed Musician Chair may be named in the donor’s honor or may be supported anonymously. Endowing a chair provides the Houston Symphony with funds to attract, retain, and support musicians of the highest caliber. An Endowed Musician Chair requires an investment of $1.5 million for a Section Chair, $2.5 million for Associate or Assistant Principal Chair, and $5 million for a Principal Chair.

You can also endow your Annual Fund donation to make sure the programs and goals most important to you continue thriving after your lifetime. When you make a donation 25 times your annual giving amount, your annual gift is funded in perpetuity, creating a legacy of support after your lifetime. When the gift is made, we use a portion of the Endowment each year to fund our programs and reinvest the remainder, allowing it to grow and support annual payouts indefinitely.

Our goal is to increase the size of our endowment by approximately $40 million by 2030. For more information about how you can contribute to the Endowment through a bequest or with a gift during your lifetime, please contact Hadia Mawlawi, Senior Associate, Endowment and Planned Giving, at hadia.mawlawi@houstonsymphony.org or 713.337.8532.

Houston Symphony Endowment

Janice H. and Thomas D. Barrow Chair

Brinton Averil Smith, Principal Cello

Barbara J. Burger Chair Ian Mayton, Horn

The Brown Foundation Guest Pianist Fund

The Brown Foundation Miller Outdoor Theatre Fund in memory of Hanni and Stewart Orton, Legacy Society Co-Founders

Margarett and Alice Brown Fund for Education

Janet F. Clark Fund

The Jane and Robert* Cizik Chair

Chris French, Associate Principal Cello

Roy and Lillie Cullen Chair

Juraj Valčuha, Music Director

The Cullen Foundation Maestro’s Fund

The Cullen Trust for the Performing Arts Fund for Creative Initiatives

The Margaret and James Elkins Foundation Fund

The Virginia Lee Elverson Trust Fund

Fondren Foundation Chair Qi Ming, Assistant Concertmaster

William Randolph Hearst Endowed Fund for Education Programs

The General and Mrs. Maurice Hirsch Memorial Concert Fund in memory of Theresa Meyer and Jules Hirsch, beloved parents of General Maurice Hirsch, and Rosetta Hirsch Weil and Josie Hirsch Bloch, beloved sisters of General Maurice Hirsch

General Maurice Hirsch Chair Aralee Dorough, Principal Flute

Houston Symphony Chorus Fund

Drs. M.S. and Marie Luise Kalsi Fund

Joan and Marvin Kaplan Fund

Ellen E. Kelley Chair Eric Halen, CoConcertmaster

Max Levine Chair Yoonshin Song, Concertmaster

Mary R. Lewis Fund for Piano Performance

M.D. Anderson Foundation Fund

Mary Lynn and Steve Marks Fund

Barbara and Pat McCelvey Fund

Barbara and Pat McCelvey Chair Adam Dinitz, English Horn

Mr. and Mrs. Alexander K. McLanahan Endowed Chair William VerMeulen, Principal Horn

Monroe L. Mendelsohn Jr. Fund

George P. and Cynthia Woods Mitchell Summer Concerts Fund

George P. and Cynthia Woods Mitchell Chair Mark Hughes, Principal Trumpet

Bobbie Nau Chair

Mark Nuccio, Principal Clarinet

C. Howard Pieper Foundation Fund

Walter W. Sapp Fund, Legacy Society Co-Founder

Fayez Sarofim Guest Violinist Fund through the Cullen Trust for the Performing Arts

The Schissler Foundation Fund

Spec’s Charitable Foundation Salute to Educators Concert Fund

$250,000+

The Micijah S. Stude Special Production Fund

Lucy Binyon Stude Chair

Jonathan Fischer, Principal Oboe

Bobby and Phoebe Tudor Fund

Mr. and Mrs. Jesse B. Tutor Endowed Fund

Margaret Alkek Williams Chair Executive Director/CEO

The Wortham Foundation Classical Series Fund in memory of Gus S. and Lyndall F. Wortham

Concert Sponsorship

As a Classical or Bank of America POPS Concert Sponsor you have an opportunity to support the Symphony in a very special and unique way. Sponsoring a concert is a wonderful way to strengthen your connection with the Symphony and to show your commitment to supporting orchestral music in Houston. Get even closer to the music and receive some amazing benefits in return. Concert Sponsorship and Premium Concert Sponsorship are available to Annual Fund donors at the $15,000+ and $25,000+ levels, respectively.

In addition to access to the Toomim Family Green Room, complimentary valet parking, and invitations to other special donor events, Concert Sponsors also receive the following benefits:

• Four complimentary guest concert tickets to your sponsored concert; eight for premium; with Toomim Family Green Room access and valet parking

• Special recognition as Concert Sponsor online, in InTune magazine, and in the hall at your sponsored concert

• Premium Concert Sponsorship includes a private champagne reception or artist greeting, pending artist availability

For more information, please visit our website or call or email Amanda T. Dinitz, Senior Major Gifts Officer, at amanda.dinitz@houstonsymphony.org or 713.337.8541.

POPS Artist Sponsorship

The Bank of America POPS Artist Sponsorship connects donors directly with the guest conductors, guest soloists, and guest artists who perform at Bank of America POPS Series concerts. The POPS Artist Sponsorship offers donors an opportunity to demonstrate enthusiasm for and philanthropic investment in the work happening on our stage. Guest artists appreciate the opportunity to form a meaningful relationship with their artist sponsors and deepen their connection to the Houston Symphony audience. Bank of America POPS Artist Sponsorships are offered at the $25,000+ and $50,000+ levels.

In addition to access to the Toomim Family Green Room, complimentary valet parking, and invitations to other special donor events, POPS Artist Sponsors also receive the following benefits:

• Meet-and-Greet opportunity with the artist and signed keepsake

• VIP night out at the Houston Symphony with complimentary tickets for you and your guests during your sponsored artist’s concert weekend

• Host unlimited guests at a private rehearsal

• Special recognition online, in InTune Magazine, and in the hall on the weekend your sponsored artist is performing

For more information, please contact Katie Salvatore, Major Gifts Officer, at katie.salvatore@houstonsymphony.org or 713.337.8544

Rebecca & Bobby Jee

Betsy Wolfe, Vocalist

Bill Stanley Lena Hall, Vocalist

Tina Raham Stewart

Steven Reineke, Principal POPS Conductor

Young Associates Council

The Houston Symphony’s Young Associates Council (YAC) is a philanthropic membership group for young professionals, music aficionados, and performing arts supporters interested in exploring symphonic music within Houston’s flourishing artistic landscape. YAC members are afforded exclusive opportunities to participate in musically focused events that take place not only in Jones Hall, but also in the city’s most soughtafter venues, private homes, and trendsetting neighborhood hangouts. From behind-the-scenes interactions with the musicians of the Houston Symphony to unforgettable private performances by world-class virtuosos, the Houston Symphony’s Young Associates Council offers incomparable insight and accessibility to the music and musicians that are shaping the future of orchestral music. For more information, please contact Vivian Gonzalez, Development Officer, at vivian.gonzalez@houstonsymphony.org or 713.337.8535.

YOUNG ASSOCIATES LEADERSHIP

Kirby Lodholz, Chair

Justin Stenberg, Vice Chair

YAC - CONDUCTOR'S CIRCLE

(as of October 31, 2024)

Lindsay Buchanan, Communications Chair

Laurel Flores, Partnerships Chair

Carrie & Sverre

Brandsberg-Dahl#

David Breece III

Eric D. Brueggeman

Lindsay Buchanan & Brian Fisher#

Heaven Chee

Vicky Dominguez

YAC - VIRTUOSO CIRCLE

Andria N. Elkins

Carolyn & Patrick Gaidos

Roya Gordon#

Rebecca & Andrew Gould

Claudio Gutiérrez

Lori Harrington & Parashar Saikia

Elaine & Jeff Hiller#

Christopher P. Armstrong & Laura Schaffer

Xandro Canales

Charlotta Elizabeth Barø-Hill

Karley Buckley and William

Bald

Emily Bivona & Ryan Manser

Denise & Brandon Davis

Laurel Flores#

YAC

Amber Ali

Kendrick Alridge

Fiona Anklesaria

Mandy Beatriz

David Chaluh

David S. Charles & Julie Dickinson

Lincoln Chen

Aurelia & Jeff Detwiler

Chante Westmoreland

Dillard & Joseph Dillard

Evin Ashley Erdoğdu

Adam Ewald

Patrick B. Garvey

Meesha & Nick Gruy

Jonathan T. Jan#

Veronica Juarez

Maxine Olefsky & Justin Kenney#

Allegra Lilly & Robin Kesselman#

Kirby & David Lodholz#

Elissa & Jarrod Martin

Josh McDonald

Amanda Lenertz & Chadd Mikulin

Aprill Nelson#

Tim Ong & Michael Baugh

Liana & Andrew

Schwaitzberg#

Kelser McMiller

Gwen & Jay McMurrey

Sergio Morales

David R. Moore

Emily & Joseph Morrel

Anna Robshaw

Chicovia Scott

Carlos Sierra

Melanie Smith

$5,000+

Aerin & Quentin Smith

Justin Stenberg#

Stephanie Weber & Paul Muri

Kathy Zhang-Rutledge & Mack Wilson

$2,500-$4,999

Young Son Jeffrey Taylor Owen Zhang

Florence Francis

L. Blaine Fulmer

Kallie Gallagher

Amy Goodpasture

Mario Gudmundsson

Kendall & Chris Hanno

Lauren and C. Birk Hutchens

Lina Liu

Marisa & Tandy Lofland

Joel Luks

Zoe Miller

Marlena Mitchell

David Moyer

Trevor Myers

Tyler Murphy

Lauren Paine

Blake Plaster

Katie Salvatore

Anthony Sanchez Rodriguez

Lee

Tim Sesby

Leonardo Soto

Bryce Swinford

Gabriela Tantillo

Elise Wagner#

Alexander Webb

$1,500-$2,499

Marquis Wincher

Kristin & Leonard Wood

# Steering Committee

Livestream and Recording Studio Consortium Donors

Donors to the Livestream and Recording Studio Consortium support the Houston Symphony’s exemplary livestream concert series, in-house recording studio, and other media initiatives. The Houston Symphony livestreams nearly every Classical and Bank of America POPS subscription concert for audiences across the world in its Live From Jones Hall series. The livestream series serves music lovers who cannot otherwise easily access Jones Hall or who prefer to enjoy concerts from home or while traveling.

The Houston Symphony is also constructing a recording studio within Jones Hall with new state-of-the-art equipment and high-quality studio room features to support livestream production and enhance current recording operations. The studio—which will be funded, owned, and operated by the Houston Symphony—will also help us build upon previous successes like our 2018 GRAMMY Award-winning recording of Alban Berg’s Wozzeck. Livestream ticket sales cover about 25 percent of ongoing livestream and recording production expenses—the remainder is supported by donations.

The following donors contribute leadership support of $5,000 or more designated to the Livestream and Recording Studio Consortium. For more information on how to participate, please contact Amanda T. Dinitz, Major Gifts Officer, at amanda.dinitz@houstonsymphony.org or 713.337.8541.

GUARANTOR

Barbara J. Burger The Elkins Foundation Ms. Leslie Nossaman

UNDERWRITER

Alana R. Spiwak & Sam L. Stolbun

SPONSOR

Nancy and Walter Bratic Terry Ann Brown John & Dorothy McDonald

SUPPORTER

Dr. Robert N. Chanon $100,000+ $50,000+ $25,000+ $10,000+

Legacy Society

The Legacy Society honors those who have included the Houston Symphony Endowment in their long-term estate plans through a bequest in a will, life-income gifts, or other deferred-giving arrangements.

For more information, please contact Hadia Mawlawi, Senior Associate, Endowment and Planned Giving, at hadia.mawlawi@houstonsymphony.org or 713.337.8532.

CRESCENDO CIRCLE

(as of October 31, 2024)

Dr. and Mrs. George J. Abdo

Priscilla R. Angly

Jonathan and Ann Ayre

Myra W. Barber

Janice Barrow*

Jim Barton

James Bell

Joan H. Bitar, M.D.

Zarine Meherwan Boyce

James* and S. Dale Brannon

Walter and Nancy Bratic

Joe Brazzatti

Terry Ann Brown

Mary Kathryn Campion and Stephen Liston

Drs. Dennis and Susan Carlyle

Janet F. Clark

Virginia A. Clark

Mr. William E. Colburn

Elizabeth DeWitts

Andria N. Elkins

Jean and Jack* Ellis

The Aubrey* and Sylvia Farb Family

Eugene Fong

Mrs. Aggie L. Foster

Stephen and Mariglyn Glenn

Evan B. Glick

Jo A. and Billie Jo Graves

Mario Gudmundsson

Claudio J. Gutiérrez

Deborah Happ and Richard Rost

Don L. Harris

Marilyn and Bob Hermance

Dr. Charles and Tammie Johnson

Dr. Rita Justice

Mary W. Kenner

Dr. James E. and Betty W. Key

Carey Kirkpatrick

Calvin and Helen Leeke

Mr.* and Mrs. U. J. LeGrange

Joella and Steven P. Mach

Martha and. Alexander Matiuk

Michelle and Jack Matzer

Dr. and Mrs. Malcolm L. Mazow

David Peavy and Dr. Stephen McCauley

Barbara and Pat McCelvey

Bill and Karinne McCullough

Muffy and Mike McLanahan

Cecilia McMaster*

Dr. Georgette M. Michko

Alfred Cameron Mitchell*

Mr. and Mrs. Marvin H. Mueller

Drs. John and Dorothy Oehler

Gloria G. Pryzant

Dr. Douglas and Alicia Rodenberger

Constance E. Roy

Donna Scott

Charles and Andrea Seay

Mr. and Mrs. James A. Shaffer

Michael J. Shawiak

Louis* and Mary Kay Snyder

Ronald Mikita* & Rex Spikes

David and Helen Stacy

Frank Shroeder Stanford in memory of Dr. Walter O. Stanford

Tina Raham Stewart, in memory of Jonathan Stewart

Mike and Anita* Stude

$100,000+

Mr. and Mrs. Jesse B. Tutor

Elba L. Villarreal

Margaret Waisman, M.D. and Steven S. Callahan, Ph.D.

Mr. and Mrs. Fredric A. Weber

Robert G. Weiner & Toni Blankmann

Vicki West in honor of Hans Graf

Susan Gail Wood

Jo Dee Wright

Ellen A. Yarrell

Anonymous (3)

SCAN HERE TO VIEW THE FULL LISTING

Jesse H. Jones Hall Renovation Donors

The Houston Symphony is grateful to those who have generously provided leadership support to the Friends of Jones Hall’s campaign to provide much-needed improvements to the patron experience at Jones Hall.

For more information, please contact Tim Dillow, Senior Director of Development, at timothy.dillow@houstonsymphony.org or 713.337.8538 or Christine Ann Stevens, Senior Director of Development, christine.stevens@houstonsymphony.org or 713.337.8521.

(As of October 31, 2024)

Nancy and Charles Davidson

$10 MILLION+

$5 MILLION+

The Brown Foundation, Inc.

The City of Houston / Houston First Corporation

Margaret Alkek Williams

$1 MILLION+

Janice H. Barrow

The Robert and Jane Cizik Family

Janet F. Clark

ConocoPhillips

The Cullen Foundation

The Cullen Trust for the Performing Arts

The Elkins Foundation

Houston Endowment

Barbara and Pat McCelvey

The Shirley and David Toomim Family

The Wortham Foundation, Inc.

FRIENDS OF JONES

M.D. Anderson Foundation

Anne and Albert Chao

Mr. & Mrs. J. Stephen Marks

Beverly and James Postl

Vivian L. Smith Foundation

Bobby and Phoebe Tudor

Mr. and Mrs. Jesse B. Tutor

HALL

Corporate, Foundation & Government Partners

The Houston Symphony is proud to recognize the leadership support of our corporate, foundation, and government partners that allows the orchestra to reach new heights in musical performance, education programming, and community engagement for Greater Houston and the Gulf Coast Region. For information on becoming a Corporate partner, please contact Sherry Rodriguez, Corporate Relations Manager & Board Liaison, at sherry.rodriguez@houstonsymphony.org or 713.337.8542. For information on becoming a Foundation or Government partner, please contact Christina Trunzo, Director, Foundation Relations, at christina.trunzo@houstonsymphony.org or 713.337.8530.

CORPORATE PARTNERS

(As of October 31, 2024)

Principal Corporate Guarantor ($250,000+)

Spec’s Wines, Spirits & Finer Foods / Spec’s Charitable Foundation**

Grand Guarantor ($150,000+)

ConocoPhillips**

Houston Methodist*

Guarantor ($100,000+)

Bank of America Frost Bank Kalsi Engineering

Underwriter ($50,000+)

Amerapex

Baker Botts L.L.P.*

Chevron** CKP*

Houston Christian University

Sponsor ($25,000+)

EOG Resources

The Events Company*

H-E-B/H-E-B Tournament of Champions** The MasterCaregiver Company

Neiman Marcus*

Partner ($15,000+)

Beam Suntory City Kitchen* Faberge

Supporter ($10,000+)

Accordant Advisors*

American Tank and Vessel, Inc.

Houston First Corporation* Marine Foods Express, Ltd.** Mark Kamin & Associates

Benefactor ($5,000+)

Beck Redden LLP

J-Bar-M Barbecue*

Patron (Below $5,000)

Amazon

Avatar Innovations

Baker Hughes

Christian Dior

KPMG US Foundation, Inc.

KTRK ABC-13* Vitol, Inc.

Oliver Wyman* PaperCity*

Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo**

Kinder Morgan Foundation** Kirkland & Ellis

The Lancaster Hotel*

One Market Square Garage*

Rand Group, LLC*

Sewell

Silver Eagle Distributors Houston, LLC Truist

Gorman’s Uniform Service Jackson & Company*

New Timmy Chan Corporation

Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe, L.L.P.

Quantum Energy Partners

Russell Reynolds Associates, Inc.

University of St. Thomas*

Union Pacific

Mercantil ONEOK, Inc.

Nippon Steel North America, Inc.

Quantum Bass Center* SEI, Global Institutional Group

Shell USA, Inc.**

Nexus Health Systems Oxy** PNC**

Silver Eagle Beverages Tito's Handmade Vodka

Univision Houston & Amor 106.5FM Vinson & Elkins LLP

Lockton Companies of Houston USI Southwest

Beth Wolff Realtors Vivaldi Music Academy Zenfilm*

Volume Social Club* Wortham Insurance & Risk Management

Smith, Graham & Company

Soren Pedersen Catering & Events*

Stewart Title Company

TAM International, Inc.

Corporate, Foundation & Government Partners

FOUNDATIONS & GOVERNMENT AGENCIES (as of October 31, 2024)

Diamond Guarantor ($1,000,000+)

The Brown Foundation, Inc.

Houston Symphony Endowment**

Premier Guarantor ($500,000+)

The Alkek and Williams Foundation

City of Houston through Houston Arts Alliance

Grand Guarantor ($150,000+)

The Cullen Foundation

The Cullen Trust for the Performing Arts

The Hearst Foundations**

Guarantor ($100,000+)

City of Houston through the Miller Theatre Advisory Board**

Underwriter ($50,000+)

Beauchamp Foundation

Houston Symphony Chorus Endowment

Sponsor ($25,000+)

The Melbern G. & Susanne M. Glasscock Foundation**

Partner ($15,000+)

Ruth & Ted Bauer Family Foundation**

Houston Symphony League

The Wortham Foundation, Inc.

The C. Howard Pieper Foundation

Texas Commission on the Arts**

The Humphreys Foundation

MD Anderson Foundation

Texas Economic Development

The Jerry C. Dearing Family Foundation

The Elkins Foundation

LTR Lewis Cloverdale Foundation

John P. McGovern Foundation**

William S. & Lora Jean Kilroy Foundation

The Houston Arts Combined Endowment Fund

The Powell Foundation**

The Vivian L. Smith Foundation**

William E. & Natoma Pyle Harvey Charitable Foundation**

Supporter ($10,000+)

George & Mary Josephine Hamman Foundation

Benefactor ($5,000+)

Leon Jaworski Foundation

Patron (Below $5,000)

The Lubrizol Foundation

The Schissler Foundation

The Radoff Family Foundation

The Blanche Stastny Foundation

The Scurlock Foundation

Albert and Ethel Herzstein Charitable Foundation

The Hood-Barrow Foundation Sterling-Turner Foundation

The Pierce Runnells Foundation Strake Foundation**

Keith & Mattie Stevenson Foundation

* Includes in-kind support

**Education and Community Engagement Support

SEASON OF GIVING

EMBRACE THE SEASON OF GIVING AND HELP YOUR HOUSTON SYMPHONY SPREAD CHEER ALL YEAR WHEN YOU GIVE THE GIFT OF MUSIC

This holiday season, we invite you to celebrate the joy of giving with your Houston Symphony. Thanks to the incredible generosity of patrons like you, we’ve had a remarkable start to the 2024-25 Season! Your support helps us share the gift of music across Houston—bringing unforgettable performances to Jones Hall, o ering free concerts throughout the city, creating industry-leading educational programs for children, and more!

SCAN HERE TO DONATE USING OUR WEBSITE:

SCAN HERE TO DONATE USING PAYPAL:

We are so grateful for everything you do for your Symphony! To ensure that your gift is tax deductible this year, please remember to make your gift before December 31st. Thank you for making the Houston Symphony a part of your year-end giving!

P.S.

Keep the Spirit of Giving alive all year by joining the Sostenuto Circle, our monthly giving program. Your ongoing support can help us enhance our concert programs and strengthen the impact of our Education and Community initiatives!

HOUSTON SYMPHONY ENDOWMENT

When you make a donation to our Endowment, you give a gift with both immediate and long-term benefits. It’s a way to share your values and invest in the longevity of our mission.

A robust Endowment allows us to make meaningful plans to further enhance our world-class music and deepen our work in our community.

Donations to the Endowment support concert activities, educational and community events, and musician chairs. As of May 31, 2024, the value of the Endowment was $100 million. An Endowed chair may be named in the donor’s honor or may be supported anonymously.

CHOOSE ONE OF SEVERAL WAYS TO HELP US GROW OUR ENDOWMENT:

ENDOW A MUSICIAN CHAIR

Realizing more Endowed musician’s chairs is an institutional funding priority and we have a goal of securing two new Endowed chairs each season. A distinctive way to make a significant commitment to the society, each Endowed chair allows the organization to become even more sustainable. It provides the Houston Symphony with dependable funds to attract, retain, and support musicians of the highest caliber by creating a stable source of funding for our largest expense—the orchestra.

By creating an Endowed fund with our organization, or adding to an existing fund, you can give a gift that lasts forever. A named fund may be designated for general operating support or specific interests or programs. Donations to a named fund can be made through a bequest, a gift during your lifetime, or a combination of both. When the minimum contribution of $250,000 is funded, you can name your fund and determine its purpose. Endowed Chairs are available at the $1.5+ million, $2.5+ million, and $5+ million levels.

Make a plan so that the programs and goals most important to you continue thriving after your lifetime. When you Endow your annual gift, you ensure that your generosity continues for generations to come. Our goal is to grow our Endowment to be five times our operating budget to ensure the organization’s longterm stability and protection from financial downturns and other unforeseen events. Won’t you partner with us? An Endowment contribution 25 times the amount of one's typical Annual Fund gift ensures the Symphony will benefit from that same annual support for years into the future.

NEXT MONTH AT THE SYMPHONY

The Houston Symphony kicks off the new year with the ultimate New Year’s music party, courtesy of those international masters of world music, Pink Martini featuring China Forbes. January 2025 also brings us the thrill of hearing an iconic John Williams score performed live by the Houston Symphony to the film Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, and an auspicious Houston Symphony debut by conductor Tabita Berglund conducting Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto featuring our own Concertmaster Yoonshin Song.

But for those of us who have been following the Houston Symphony for a long time, and who remember those heady days of the Eschenbach Era in the 1990s, the main event in January 2025 is the return of Maestro Christoph Eschenbach. He’s celebrating the 200th anniversary of Anton Bruckner’s birth in a unique way, by conducting all eight of Bruckner’s symphonies with important orchestras across the globe, each symphony with a different major orchestra that played an important role in Maestro Eschenbach’s career. With the Houston Symphony, Eschenbach conducts Bruckner’s Symphony No. 4 (Romantic), January 11 and 12, 2025, just a month before the Maestro’s own 85th birthday.

The symphonies of Anton Bruckner are very much in Christoph Eschenbach’s wheelhouse. Said Robert Battey in The Washington Post : “National Symphony Orchestra Music Director Christoph Eschenbach has long had an affinity for the symphonies of Anton Bruckner, music that embodies timelessness and lofty spirituality….this music truly plays to his strengths.”

And about a Houston Symphony recording with the Maestro, Robert R. Reilly in Ionarts said: “I caught on to the glories of Christoph Eschenbach’s Bruckner some time ago when I came across the Koch CD live-recording of his 1996 performance of the Bruckner Second Symphony, with the Houston Symphony. He somehow conjured the players of that orchestra into sounding like the Berlin Philharmonic.”

Reilly heard something in that recording that those of us in Houston at the time were well aware of. The Houston Symphony was performing at a world class level, and it was just getting started! —Eric Skelly

Beethoven’s

Tchaikovsky

Jan. 3, 4 & 5

Jan. 11 & 12

Jan. 16

Jan. 18 & 19

Jan. 24, 25 & 26

New Year's Celebration! Pink Martini with China Forbes: 30 th Anniversary Season

An Eschenbach & Bruckner Birthday Celebration

Killer Mike & The Mighty Midnight Revival

Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban™ in Concert

Violin Concerto &

The Houston Symphony’s Fiesta Sinfónica on September 27 was a vibrant celebration of Latin American and Hispanic composers, drawing a large audience—one of our largest to date!—for this free concert. The program featured Enrique Soro’s lively Danza Fantástica, the beloved Peruvian waltz La flor de la canela, and Venezuela’s iconic Alma Llanera

A special highlight of the evening was the world premiere of Arturo Márquez’s Guitar Concerto, performed by the renowned Spanish guitarist Pablo Sáinz-Villegas. Arturo, who was in attendance, received a warm reception from the crowd. The concert beautifully showcased the cultural richness of Latin American music.

Fiesta Sinfónica

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September 27, 2024

Fiesta Sinfónica

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September 27, 2024

Fiesta Sinfónica

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September 27, 2024

Fiesta Sinfónica

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September 27, 2024

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FINAL NOTES: THOMAS LEGRAND “

Associate Principal Clarinet, E-flat Clarinet Hometown: Richmond, Virginia

The Houston Symphony bids farewell to Thomas LeGrand in December and celebrates his musical legacy.

How long have you been with the Houston Symphony? 38 years

Can you share one of your favorite memories of your time at the Houston Symphony?

There are countless great memories of my time in the Houston Symphony. One of my favorites is the performance of the Mahler Symphony No. 1 conducted by Christoph Eschenbach in the Vienna Musikverein during our first European tour in 1992. That was a spectacular performance that showed how far the Houston Symphony had come and where it was going in the future.

What will you miss the most?

I will miss the great collaboration with my musical colleagues and the joy of hearing the music from inside the orchestra.

Are there any projects you are looking forward to working on? Any fun trips planned that you would like to share?

I will continue my work at the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University teaching orchestral repertoire and training woodwinds to be great orchestral musicians. I plan to continue performing at the Grand Teton Music Festival. I am excited to have time to travel in the United States and abroad for recreation and to teach and coach.

Do you have any words of advice or encouragement that you would tell a young musician who is just starting to play or is early in their career?

Playing in an orchestra requires great dedication to the work, but it is essential to hold onto the joy of performing the music that brought us here in the beginning.

Suzan and Julius Glickman serve as musician sponsors to Thomas LeGrand.

FINAL NOTES: ERIC HALEN “

Co-Concertmaster, Ellen E. Kelley Chair

Hometown: Bellevue, Ohio

The Houston Symphony bids farewell to Eric Halen in December and celebrates his musical legacy.

How long have you been with the Houston Symphony? Since January 1987.

Can you share one of your favorite memories of your time at the Houston Symphony?

The most exciting times were our European tours with Christoph Eschenbach during the 1990s.

What will you miss the most?

I will greatly miss rehearsing and performing regularly with my wonderful colleagues. It has been such a privilege to work with such excellent artists for so many years.

Are there any projects you are looking forward to working on? Any fun trips planned that you would like to share?

I look forward to being able to prioritize time with my wife and adult children. We enjoy camping and fishing trips. And a trip to Italy is in the planning stages soon!

Do you have any words of advice or encouragement that you would tell a young musician who is just starting to play or is early in their career?

I would just want to tell them that the amount of time and commitment required can be daunting, but—if you are willing to put in the time—few things in life will be as satisfying and rewarding as a life spent playing great music.

Drs. M.S. and Marie-Luise Kalsi, Mr. & Mrs. Rodney H. Margolis, and Mr. and Mrs. James A. Shaffer serve as musician sponsors to Eric Halen.

FINAL NOTES: SCOTT HOLSHOUSER “

Principal Keyboard

Hometown: Athens, Georgia

The Houston Symphony bids farewell to Scott Holshouser in December and celebrates his musical legacy.

How long have you been with the Houston Symphony?

I have been the main keyboardist for the Houston Symphony since 1980.

Can you share one of your favorite memories of your time at the Houston Symphony?

I especially enjoyed getting to play the Rhapsody in Blue a few times; that is a fun one!

What will you miss the most?

I will miss playing all the different kinds of music the symphony plays and playing chamber music with Houston Symphony members.

Are there any projects you are looking forward to working on? Any fun trips planned that you would like to share?

I will hope to do an occasional sub with the orchestra, and I still do a little competition accompanying and private teaching. I most look forward to spending more time and traveling with my wife Eileen and son Sean!

Anything else you would like to share?

I would like to thank the fine people I have had the pleasure of working with. That includes orchestra members and staff as well!

Dr. Angela R. Apollo serves as musician sponsor to Scott Holshouser.

Indulge in the Grandeur of Chateau Nouvelle!

Situated in the heart of Houston, this exquisite venue embodies the timeless allure of a European castle. With breathtaking architecture, it creates a luxurious atmosphere for any occasion. Journey through interiors adorned with elegant European-imported fixtures and stunning Italian hand-painted murals, handpicked from around the world.

Spanning 37,000 square feet, our versatile indoor and outdoor spaces allow you to craft your perfect celebration. Lavish overnight accommodations ensure you and your guests savor every moment. With customizable culinary experiences that awaken the senses, Chateau Nouvelle promises an unforgettable experience that transforms beautiful moments into lifelong memories.

SCAN HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION ON CHATEAU NOUVELLE

CONTACT

713.887.0362

events@chateaunouvelle.com

HOUSTON’S FINEST EVENT VENUES

Experience the Elegance of Sandlewood Manor!

This stunning 27-acre estate in Tomball, TX, captivates with serene landscapes, exquisite vineyards, renowned horses, a lush pecan orchard, and multiple picturesque spaces.

Inspired by the historic Nottoway near New Orleans, the award-winning architectural design showcases breathtaking views and a refined atmosphere. You will be swept away by the intricate details and craftsmanship of the ballroom, illuminated by awe-inspiring crystal chandeliers.

With customizable culinary experiences crafted to delight your palate, Sandlewood Manor offers unparalleled elegance and sophistication, ensuring every occasion is elevated to extraordinary heights.

SCAN HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION ON SANDLEWOOD MANOR

CONTACT

281.466.9487

events@sandlewoodmanor.com

STAR WARS: THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK IN CONCERT

Feb. 21 & 22, 2025

Houston Symphony Gift Guide

Take the guess work out of shopping, and give the gift of unforgettable experiences. From printable concert tickets to hassle-free gift certificates and ticket vouchers, we’ve got the perfect gift for everyone on your list! VIEW OUR GIFT GUIDE