InTune | February 2023

InTUNE

Songs of the Earth Festival: Mahler The Song of the Earth

Songs of the Earth Festival: Debussy La mer

The

Best of Broadway with Jeremy Jordan

Blast Off to Space! Itzhak Perlman in Recital

welcome to the houston symphony

with Gamelan of the New Moon and members of the Symphony (Feb. 16). And the Jussens, our soloists for the second week’s main-stage concerts, will present a special late-night recital in an exclusive downtown Houston location (Feb. 18). For a complete rundown of Festival performances and activities, and information on how to get tickets, see page 15.

Dear Music Lovers,

I’m excited about February at the Houston Symphony—we have a festival featuring our Music Director, Juraj Valčuha; a celebration of Broadway with our Principal POPS Conductor, Steven Reineke; and a recital by our great Artistic Partner, Itzhak Perlman.

The Songs of the Earth Festival (Feb. 7–19) looks at the deep connections between Asian and Western European musical traditions. The cornerstones of the Festival are our two orchestra programs. The first features a set of variations for orchestra, Itinerary of an Illusion, by the contemporary Chinese-French composer Qigang Chen, and Gustav Mahler’s The Song of the Earth, a setting of freely adapted classical Chinese poems from the Tang Dynasty. In the second, we turn to Japan, with cultural crosscurrents flowing fast and furious between fin-de-siècle France and contemporary Japan in works by Ravel, Debussy, Takemitsu, and Hosokawa.

The Festival opens with a performance curated by Shepherd School of Music composer Shih-Hui Chen featuring contemporary works performed by musicians from the Symphony and from Rice at the Asia Society Texas Center (Feb. 7). We’ll also explore traditional gamelan music, which was a revelation for Debussy when he heard it at the 1889 Paris Exhibition, in a special concert at Jones Hall

For the final weekend of February performances, we welcome actor and singer Jeremy Jordan for The Best of Broadway, conducted by Steven Reineke. Jordan, who starred on Broadway in Bonnie & Clyde and NEWSIES! and was a regular on the television show Smash, brings some of the Great White Way’s most beloved tunes to Jones Hall and to our Bank of America POPS series. And that Sunday, Itzhak Perlman and his long-time pianist Rohan De Silva return to Jones Hall for a can’t miss, one-night-only recital event.

Last but not least, on the education and community engagement front, we continue our important work this season. We’re reintroducing our Community Connections programming, which serves a wide cross-section of people of all ages throughout our city. Many of these programs, which feature your Houston Symphony musicians, were put on hold during the pandemic. We’re thrilled to be out in the city again, bringing our music to a variety of community and educational settings.

Thank you for being here, and for supporting your Houston Symphony. I hope you enjoy the concert, and that we’ll see you again soon.

All my best,

Executive Director/CEO

Margaret Alkek Williams Chair

February 3 – April 9, 2023

Josef and Edith Mincberg Gallery

Mixed-Media Artworks by Celebrated Artist and Holocaust Survivor Alice Lok Cahana

Special thanks to Presenting Sponsors

Drs. Judith and Harvey Rosenstock

hmh.org

Tree of Life by Alice Lok Cahana, on loan from Drs. Rosenstock

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 Freddie Piegsa during the performance. He also can be reached at freddie.piegsa@houstonsymphony.org. You also 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 to six or more Classical or Bank of America POPS concerts, as well as PNC Family Subscribers, 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.

Juraj valČuha

Conductor 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. His profound understanding of composer and score, taste, and naturally elegant style make him one of the most sought-after conductors of his generation.

Since 2016, Valčuha has been music director of the Teatro di San Carlo, Naples, 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 with exciting concerts on the podium of the Orchestre National de France followed by remarkable debuts in the U.K. with the Philharmonia London, in Germany with the Munich Philharmonic, and in the United States with the Pittsburgh Symphony. His Italian debut took place at Teatro Comunale in Bologna with a sensational production of La bohème.

He has since led the Berlin Philharmonic, Dresden Staatskapelle, Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra,

Frankfurt Radio Orchestra, Munich Philharmonic, the NDR Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, the Vienna Symphony, Czech Philharmonic, Swedish Radio Symphony, Orchestre de Paris, Orchestre National de France, BBC Symphony, Philharmonia London, Amsterdam Royal Concertgebouw, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Maggio Musicale in Florence, Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome, Milan’s Filarmonica della Scala, Montréal Symphony, and NHK and Yomiuri orchestras in Tokyo. His active career in the United States has taken him to the orchestras of Boston, Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Dallas, Indianapolis, Los Angeles, St. Louis, and Utah. He enjoys regular collaborations with orchestras in Houston, Minnesota, New York, Pittsburgh, and San Francisco.

International touring with the Orchestra Sinfonica della RAI took them to the Musikverein in Vienna and the Philharmonie in Berlin, as well as Cologne, Düsseldorf, Zurich, Basel, and Munich, and to the Enesco Festival in Bucharest and the Abu Dhabi Classics. He has also toured with the Konzerthaus Orchester Berlin to Riga, Vilnius, and Tallinn to mark the 100 th anniversary of the Baltic nations.

Music Director Roy and Lillie Cullen Chair

Valčuha champions the compositions of living composers and aims to program contemporary pieces in most of his concerts. He has conducted world premieres, including Christopher Rouses’s Supplica with the Pittsburgh Symphony, 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 Sections at the Melos-Ethos Festival in Bratislava. Other composers he has supported and continues to follow with interest are Bryce Dessner, Andrew Norman, Luca Francesconi, James MacMillan, and Steven Stucky, among others.

On the opera stage, he has conducted Madama Butterfly, Elisir d‘amore, and Marriage of Figaro at the Bavarian State Opera Munich; Elektra and Turandot

at the Deutsche Oper Berlin; Faust and The Love for Three Oranges in Florence; Jenůfa, Peter Grimes, Salome, Tristan und Isolde, and Ariadne auf Naxos in Bologna; Peter Grimes in Venice; and Elektra, Carmen, Bluebeard’s Castle, Die Walküre, The Girl of the Golden West, Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, Katja Kabanova, and Pique Dame in Naples.

Juraj Valčuha was awarded the Premio Abbiati 2018 from Italian Music critics in the Best Conductor category.

His engagements in the 2022–23 Season take him to the Houston, Pittsburgh and San Francisco orchestras, the Danish National Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestra dell’Accademia di Santa Cecilia in Rome, and the Orchestre National de France. He conducts Verdi’s Don Carlo at Teatro San Carlo in Naples, and La bohème and Tristan und Isolde at the Bavarian State Opera Munich.

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

jurajvalcuha.com

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

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

Julia Schilz+

SECOND VIOLIN

MuChen Hsieh, Principal

Amy Semes, Associate Principal

Annie Kuan-Yu Chen

Mihaela Frusina

Jing Zheng

Martha Chapman*

Tianjie Lu*

Anastasia Ehrlich

Tina Zhang

Boson Mo

Samuel Park+

Teresa Wang+

VIOLA

Joan DerHovsepian, Acting Principal

Wei Jiang, Acting Associate Principal

Sheldon Person

Fay Shapiro

Phyllis Herdliska

Keoni Bolding

Samuel Pedersen

Meredith Harris+

Suzanne LeFevre+

CELLO

Brinton Averil Smith, Principal

Janice and Thomas Barrow Chair

Christopher French Associate Principal

Anthony Kitai

Louis-Marie Fardet

Jeffrey Butler

Maki Kubota

Xiao Wong

Charles Seo

Jeremy Kreutz

COMMUNITY-EMBEDDED MUSICIANS

David Connor, double bass

Rainel Joubert, violin

ASSOCIATE LIBRARIAN

Luke Bryson

ASSISTANT LIBRARIAN

Hae-a Lee

Steven Reineke, Principal POPS Conductor

Andrés Orozco-Estrada, Conductor Laureate

Yue Bao, Ting Tsung and Wei Fong Chao Foundation

Assistant Conductor

Allen Hightower, Director

Houston Symphony Chorus

DOUBLE BASS

Robin Kesselman, Principal

Timothy Dilenschneider, Associate Principal

Mark Shapiro

Eric Larson

Andrew Pedersen

Burke Shaw

Donald Howey

FLUTE

Aralee Dorough, Principal General Maurice Hirsch Chair

Matthew Roitstein*

Associate Principal

Judy Dines

Acting Associate Principal

Mark Teplitsky+

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

CLARINET

Mark Nuccio, Principal Bobbie Nau Chair

Thomas LeGrand, Associate Principal

Christian Schubert

Alexander Potiomkin

E-FLAT CLARINET

Thomas LeGrand

BASS CLARINET

Alexander Potiomkin

Tassie and Constantine S. Nicandros Chair

BASSOON

Rian Craypo, Principal

Isaac Schultz, Associate Principal

Elise Wagner

Adam Trussell

CONTRABASSOON

Adam Trussell

HORN

William VerMeulen, Principal

Mr. and Mrs. Alexander K. McLanahan

Endowed Chair

Robert Johnson, Associate Principal

Brian Thomas

Ian Mayton

Jesse Clevenger+

David Raschella+

TRUMPET

Mark Hughes, Principal

George P. and Cynthia Woods

Mitchell Chair

John Parker, Associate Principal

Robert Walp, Assistant Principal

Richard Harris

TROMBONE

Bradley White, Acting Principal

Ryan Rongone+

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 (Vacant)

KEYBOARD

Scott Holshouser, Principal

LIBRARIAN

Jeanne Case, Principal

*on leave + contracted substitute

STAGE PERSONNEL

Stefan Stout, Stage Manager

José Rios, Assistant Stage Manager

Nicholas DiFonzo and Justin Herriford, Stage Technicians

Giancarlo Minotti, Recording Assistant

SOCIETY BOARD OF TRUSTEES

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

John Rydman President

Janet F. Clark Chair

Jonathan Ayre Chair, Finance

Brad W. Corson Chair, Governance & Leadership

Manuel Delgado Chair, Marketing & Communications

Evan B. Glick Chair, Popular Programming

Lidiya Gold Chair, Development

Sippi Khurana Chair, Education

GOVERNING DIRECTORS

Jonathan Ayre

Marcia Backus

Gary Beauchamp

Tony Bradfield

Eric Brueggeman

Bill Bullock

Barbara J. Burger

Janet F. Clark

Lidiya Gold

Claudio J. Gutiérrez

William D. Hunt

Rick Jaramillo

Sippi Khurana, M.D.

Barbara J. Burger President-Elect

Mike S. Stude Chairman Emeritus

Mary Lynn Marks Chair, Volunteers & Special Events

Robert Orr Chair, Strategic Planning

Ed Schneider Chair, Community Partnerships

Miles O. Smith Chair, Artistic & Orchestra Affairs

Jesse B. Tutor Chair, Audit

Steven P. Mach ^ Immediate Past Chairman

Carey Kirkpatrick

Kenny Kurtzman

Isabel Stude Lummis

Cora Sue Mach**

Rodney Margolis**

Jay Marks**

Mary Lynn Marks

Elissa Martin

Barbara McCelvey

Paul R. Morico

Robert Orr

Chris Powers

John Rydman**

Paul Morico General Counsel

Barbara McCelvey Secretary

John Mangum^ Executive Director/CEO

Margaret Alkek Williams Chair

Bobby Tudor^ At-Large Member

Cheryl Byington^ President, Houston Symphony League

James H. Lee^ President, Houston Symphony Endowment

Juraj Valčuha^ Music Director, Roy and Lillie Cullen Chair

Joan DerHovsepian^ Musician Representative

Mark Hughes^ Musician Representative

Adam Trussell^ Musician Representative

Mark Nuccio^ Musician Representative

Katie Salvatore^ Assistant Secretary

Miles O. Smith

Anthony Speier

William J. Toomey II

Bobby Tudor**

Betty Tutor**

Jesse B. Tutor**

Judith Vincent

Gretchen Watkins

Robert Weiner

Margaret Alkek Williams**

EX-OFFICIO

Cheryl Byington

Brad W. Corson

Manuel Delgado

Joan DerHovsepian

Evan B. Glick

Mark Hughes

James H. Lee

Steven P. Mach

John Mangum

Mark Nuccio

Katie Salvatore

Ed Schneider

Adam Trussell

Juraj Valčuha

TRUSTEES

David J. Beck

James M. Bell Jr.

Devinder Bhatia, M.D.

Carrie Brandsberg-Dahl

Lindsay Buchanan

Nancy Shelton Bratic

Terry Ann Brown**

Ralph Burch

Dougal Cameron

John T. Cater**

Robert Chanon

Michael H. Clark

Virginia Clark

Evan D. Collins, M.D., MBA

Brad W. Corson

Andrew Davis, Ph.D.

Denise Davis

Manuel Delgado

Tracy Dieterich

Bob Duff

Joan Duff

Connie Dyer

Jeffrey B. Firestone

Eugene A. Fong

Aggie L. Foster

Julia Anderson Frankel

Ronald G. Franklin

Carolyn Gaidos

Evan B. Glick

Gary L. Hollingsworth

Stephen Incavo, M.D.

Brian James

I. Ray Kirk, M.D.

David Krieger

Andrew Go Lee, M.D.

Ulyesse J. LeGrange**

Matthew Loden

Steven P. Mach

Michael Mann, M.D.

Jack Matzer

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.

Mrs. J. Stephen Marks

Terry Ann Brown

FOUNDATION FOR JONES HALL REPRESENTATIVES

Dougal A. Cameron

Janet F. Clark

Jackie Wolens Mazow

Alexander K. McLanahan**

Marilyn Miles

Shane A. Miller

Aprill Nelson

Tammy Tran Nguyen

Leslie Nossaman

Scott Nyquist

Edward Osterberg Jr.

Zeljko Pavlovic

David Pruner

Gloria G. Pryzant

Miwa Sakashita

Ed Schneider

Helen Shaffer**

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

Jim R. Smith

Quentin Smith

Mike S. Stude **

Ishwaria Subbiah, M.D.

Shirley W. Toomim

Margaret Waisman, M.D.

Fredric A. Weber

Mrs. S. Conrad Weil

Vicki West

Steven J. Williams

David J. Wuthrich

Ellen A. Yarrell

Robert Yekovich

EX-OFFICIO

John Steven Cisneros, Ed.D.

Juan Zane Crawford

Kusum Patel

Frank F. Wilson IV

**Lifetime Trustee

Robert M. Hermance

Gene McDavid

Janice H. Barrow

Barry C. Burkholder

Rodney H. Margolis

Jeffrey B. Early

Michael E. Shannon

Ed Wulfe

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

Jane Clark

Nancy Littlejohn

Donna Shen

Barbara McCelvey

Jesse B. Tutor

Robert B. Tudor III

Robert A. Peiser

Steven P. Mach

Janet F. Clark

Dr. Susan Snider Osterberg

Dr. Kelli Cohen Fein

Vicki West

Mrs. Jesse Tutor

Darlene Clark

Beth Wolff

Maureen Higdon

Fran Fawcett Peterson

Leslie Siller

ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF

SENIOR MANAGEMENT GROUP

John Mangum, Executive Director/CEO, Margaret Alkek Williams Chair

Elizabeth S. Condic, Chief Financial Officer

Vicky Dominguez, Chief Operating Officer

Nancy Giles, Chief Development Officer

Gwen Watkins, Chief Marketing and External Relations Officer

DEVELOPMENT

Lauren Buchanan, Development Communications Manager

Timothy Dillow, Director, Corporate Relations and Development Operations

Amanda T. Dinitz, Major Gifts Officer

Zitlaly Jimenez, Annual Fund Manager

Hadia Mawlawi, Senior Associate, Endowment and Planned Giving

Meghan Miller, Special Events Associate

Emilie Moellmer, Development Associate, Gifts & Records

Tim Richey, Director, Individual Giving

Katie Salvatore, Development Officer and Board Liaison

Ika Soemampauw, Senior Development Associate, Administration

Christine Ann Stevens, Director, Major Gifts

Lena Streetman, Research Analyst

Stacey Swift, Director, Special Events

Sarah Thompson, Institutional Giving Associate

Christina Trunzo, Director, Foundation Relations

Alexa Ustaszewski, Development Ticket Concierge

FINANCE | ADMINISTRATION | IT | HR

Henry Cantu, Finance Accountant

Kimberly Cegielski, Staff Accountant

Tiffany Gentry, Junior System Administrator

Richard Jackson, Database Administrator

Joel James, Director of Human Resources

Tanya Lovetro, Director of Budgeting and Financial Reporting

Morgana Rickard, Controller

Gabriela Rivera, Senior Accountant

Pam Romo, Office Manager/HR Coordinator

Lee Whatley, Senior Director, IT and Analytics

MARKETING | EXTERNAL RELATIONS

Education and Community Engagement

Pam Blaine, Chief of Education and Community Engagement

Allison Conlan, Director, Community Engagement

Jennifer Lanham, Student Concerts Coordinator Marketing and Communications

Mark Bailes, Marketing Revenue Manager

Olivia Cantrell, Marketing and External Relations Coordinator

Heather Fails, Manager, Ticketing Database

Kathryn Judd, Director, Marketing

Yoo-Ell Lee, Junior Graphic Designer

Fiona Legesse-Sinha, Graphic Design Manager

Ciara Macaulay, Creative Director

Bianca Montanez, Content Marketing Coordinator

Eric Skelly, Senior Director, Communications Patron Services

Freddie Piegsa, Patron Experience Coordinator

John B. Pollard II, Assistant Manager, Patron Services

Jenny Zuniga, Director, Patron Services

OPERATIONS | ARTISTIC

Stephanie Alla, Associate Director of Artistic Planning

Lila Atchison, Assistant Orchestra Personnel Manager

Becky Brown, Director, Operations

Luke Bryson, Associate Librarian

Catherine Goode, Chorus Manager

Janwin Overstreet-Goode, Chorus Manager

Michael Gorman, Orchestra Personnel Manager

Lauren Moore, Associate Director of Digital Concert Production

José Rios, Assistant Stage Manager

Brad Sayles, Senior Recording Engineer

Claudia Schmitz, Artist Liaison and Assistant to the Music Director

Stefan Stout, Stage Manager

Meredith Williams, Associate Director, Operations

Rebecca Zabinski, Director, Artistic Planning

The second festival of the 2022–23 Season, Songs of the Earth, features programming that melds music from the East with Western compositions. On the first weekend (February 10–12), world-renowned vocalists Sasha Cooke and Clay Hilley join Juraj Valčuha and the orchestra for one of Mahler’s most stunningly powerful masterpieces, the “song-symphony” Das Lied von der Erde (The Song of the Earth). The second weekend (February 17–19) of the Songs of the Earth festival pairs music from prominent Japanese composers Takemitsu and T. Hosokawa with pieces by Ravel and Debussy.

For Gustav Mahler, 1907 was the darkest year of his life. His eldest daughter, Maria Anna, had just passed away from scarlet fever, he was diagnosed with a congenital heart disease, and he was forced to resign from his post as director of the Vienna State Opera. In a letter to his friend, Mahler stated, “With one stroke, I have lost everything, I have gained in terms of who I thought I was, and have to learn my first steps again, like a newborn.” During this period, Mahler came across The Chinese Flute, a collection of 83 Chinese poems translated to German by Hans Bethge. Mahler was taken with the poem’s themes of earthly beauty

juxtaposed with the fleeting nature of life and decided to choose seven of the poems to set to music as Das Lied von der Erde (The Song of the Earth). Composed in 1908 for two voices (tenor and soprano) and orchestra, The Song of the Earth addresses themes such as life, loss, and the ephemeral. Now the Houston Symphony takes on this soul-stirring meditation on life and death. The Song of the Earth is fittingly paired with ChineseFrench composer Qigang Chen’s Itinéraire d’une illusion (Itinerary of an Illusion), an orchestral work that uses Western musical idioms and instruments to express Chinese musical themes.

The second weekend of concerts further explores the influence that Eastern art had on Western artists. The program highlights Debussy’s symphonic poem La mer. Inspired by the Japanese artist Hokusai’s famous wood block print The Great Wave, the “three symphonic sketches” create an impressionistic seascape. Also inspired by Hokusai’s woodblock prints, Tōru Takemitsu’s haunting concerto for two pianos and the orchestra, Quotation of Dream (Say sea, take me!) is included in the program. The work, which fittingly uses music motifs from La mer, sees the Symphony debut of Dutch piano duo Lucas and

Arthur Jussen performing as guest artists. The concert opens with Ravel’s well-known Mother Goose Suite, which musically depicts a character from the Mother Goose fairytales in each movement and exhibits Ravel’s fascination with Japanese calligraphy and art. Also featured is Toshio Hosokawa’s breathtaking meditation on nature, Autumn Wind, which features a solo role for the shakuhachi, a Japanese and ancient Chinese vertical flute made of bamboo.

To play this unique instrument, the Symphony welcomes Kojiro Umezaki, a Japanese-Dutch performer and composer in his debut with the orchestra. In addition to these two weekends of programs, the Songs of the Earth festival includes a performance of Indonesian Gamelan, a traditional ensemble music, on February 16 by Gamelan of the New Moon. Members of the Symphony will join Gamelan of the New Moon for a performance of Debussy’s String Quartet in G minor. It is said that Debussy saw a Gamelan performance at the 1889 World’s Fair that inspired him to include elements of it in the String Quartet.

We hope you enjoy the final of these two dynamic festivals taking place this spring! —Lauren

Buchanan

HOUSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY CONCERT *

FEB. 4, 2 P.M.

HOUSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY JULIA IDESON BUILDING AUDITORIUM

LUNG-YI HUANG SHENG

HUI-KUAN LIN PIPA

PERFORMING ASIA

FEB. 7, 7:30 P.M.

ASIA SOCIETY TEXAS EDUCATION CENTER

LUNG-YI HUANG SHENG

HUI-KUAN LIN PIPA

MAHLER THE SONG OF THE EARTH**

JONES HALL FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS

JURAJ VALČUHA CONDUCTOR

SASHA COOKE MEZZO-SOPRANO CLAY HILLEY TENOR

THE ART OF INDONESIAN GAMELAN

FEB. 16, 7:30 P.M.

JONES HALL FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS

GAMELAN OF THE NEW MOON MUCHEN HSIEH VIOLIN

TONG YAN VIOLIN

SAMUEL PEDERSEN VIOLA

LOUIS-MARIE FARDET CELLO

DEBUSSY LA MER **

JONES HALL FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS

JURAJ VALČUHA CONDUCTOR

LUCAS AND ARTHUR JUSSEN PIANO KOJIRO UMEZAKI SHAKUHACHI

RECITAL WITH LUCAS AND ARTHUR JUSSEN

FEB. 18, 10:30 P.M.

KIRKLAND & ELLIS SKY ATRIUM

LUCAS AND ARTHUR JUSSEN PIANO

*FREE CONCERT

**SUBSCRIPTION CONCERTS

The first edition of Debussy’s La mer score published in 1905, inspired by The Great Wave off Kanagawa by Hokusai.

SONGS OF THE EARTH FESTIVAL:

MAHLER the SONG OF THE EARTH

Juraj Valčuha, conductor

Sasha Cooke, mezzo-soprano

*Clay Hilley, tenor

0:21 Q. CHEN – Itinéraire d’une illusion (Itinerary of an Illusion)

INTERMISSION

1:03 MAHLER – Das Lied von der Erde (The Song of the Earth)

I. Das Trinklied vom Jammer der Erde (The Drinking Song of Earth’s Misery)

II. Der Einsame im Herbst (The Lonely One in Autumn)

III. Von der Jugend (Of Youth)

IV. Von der Schönheit (Of Beauty)

V. Der Trunkene im Frühling (The Drunk in Spring)

VI. Der Abschied (The Parting)

*Houston Symphony debut

About the Music

Friday, February 10

Saturday, February 11

Sunday, February 12

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS

Barbara and Pat McCelvey

Eric Brueggeman

In Thanksgiving for Janice Barrow

Albert & Anne Chao

Guarantor

Robin Angly & Miles Smith

Underwriter

Livestream of Houston Symphony concerts is made possible by Barbara J. Burger

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

Program Notes

Q. CHEN

Itinéraire d’une illusion (Itinerary of an Illusion)

Qigang Chen was born into a musical family; his mother was a film music administrator, and his father a talented amateur on several traditional Chinese instruments. After showing early promise, Chen pursued studies at Beijing’s Central Conservatory of Music; his path toward a career as a composer, however, was derailed in 1966 by the Cultural Revolution. Western classical music was banned throughout China, the conservatory was shuttered, and Chen was shipped off to a camp to be “reeducated.” “During the experience of reeducation, our contact with the outside world and our family members was completely cut off, and we were forbidden to communicate privately with our peers,” Chen recalled in a 2019 interview with Strings Magazine. “[T]he cruel control over our intellectual and emotional life was unforgettable.”

It was only in 1977 that he was able to resume formal studies when the Central Conservatory reopened. After winning a competition to study abroad, he became Olivier Messiaen’s last private student. This encounter gave Chen an enduring connection to French culture, and he has since divided his time between China and Paris. Today, he is one of China’s preeminent composers: he has composed award-winning film scores and had his concert works performed by many of the world’s major orchestras and classical stars, including Lang Lang, Maxim Vengerov, and Alison Balsom. In 2008, billions heard his music featured in the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics.

Chen’s music frequently draws inspiration from Chinese folk traditions and possesses a striking clarity and immediacy. His Itinerary of an Illusion was first composed in 2017, although in a note accompanying a 2018 performance at the Paris Philharmonie, Chen confessed, “My first version was a failure and after the first rehearsal [...] I decided to abandon the work completely.” Over seven months, he reworked the piece into “an entirely new work.”

Program Notes

Q. CHEN Itinéraire d’une illusion (Itinerary of an Illusion)

“This is the first time that I have had such uncertainty about my own work,” Chen continued. “This is mainly explained by the fact that, in this case, I tried to do something in total rupture with my previous creations [...] I wanted to take this risk. For me, life is a big game and that’s the first reason why I gave this title to my piece.”

The Itinerary begins with a slow, captivating introduction that crescendos before dying away. A persistent pulse then emerges in the piano, above which solo strings introduce a simple, five-note idea. Perhaps this is the “illusion.” It becomes the basis for an extended chaconne-like series of increasingly complex variations, leading one reviewer from the Paris performance to call the piece a “neo-Boléro.” After building to a climax, the variations collapse, and the piece concludes with a dreamy coda reminiscent of the work’s opening.

Chen may have been uncertain about this piece, but at least one Paris critic found much to enjoy: “the subtlety of the counterpoint, the mastery of timbres, the brilliant management of form are the strong points of a piece without a dull moment, which has all the ingredients to become a hit in the years to come.” —Calvin

Dotsey

MAHLER Das Lied von der Erde (The Song of the Earth)

1907 has been described as Mahler’s “annus terribilis.” That terrible year, the eldest of his two daughters died of scarlet fever, and he was diagnosed with terminal heart disease. The following summer, he ensconced himself in the Tyrolean Alps and composed a work that grapples with the meaning of life, death, and nature: Das Lied von der Erde, or The Song of the Earth.

With alternating tenor and alto soloists woven into an orchestral fabric, his new creation merged the poetic intimacy of songs for voice and piano with the large-scale architecture of his symphonies. The text was drawn from Die chinesische Flöte (The Chinese Flute), a collection of Tang dynasty poems freely translated by Hans Bethge. In addition to Bethge’s interpretations, Mahler made his own alterations to the poems as well. Some scholars have speculated that Mahler’s attraction to Chinese poetry may be an expression of his Jewishness; in the German-speaking world of the early 20 th century, Jews were frequently “othered” and characterized as “foreigners from the East.” Throughout his life, Mahler was attacked by Vienna’s anti-Semitic press and frequently felt like an outsider. His choice to speak to his audience through the words of classic Chinese poets may be an expression of this sense of alienation.

Indeed, the poetry had a profound impact on the soundscape of Das Lied; many of the work’s melodies are based on Chinese pentatonic scales, and Mahler made extensive use of heterophony, a technique uncommon in Western classical music but found in many other traditions. In a heterophonic texture, the same melody is played by different instruments, but unfolds with varied rhythms and embellishments,

Program Notes

MAHLER

Das Lied von der Erde (The Song of the Earth)

creating a blurred, halo-like effect around the melody. Despite employing a large orchestra, in Das Lied Mahler also favored spare, lean orchestrations, evoking emptiness and vastness—ideas central to Buddhism. Combined with Mahler’s own post-Romantic style, these techniques produced a work that sounds unlike any other.

From Bethge’s anthology, Mahler selected poems that reflected his own personal worldview and preoccupations with life, death, and the cycles of nature. Four are by Li Bai (701–762), who was famous for writing poems featuring Dionysian themes. Indeed, all of the tenor’s songs feature texts by Li Bai about drinking. The chill autumn landscape of “Der Einsame im Herbst” (“The Lonely One in Autumn”) is based on an excerpt of a poem of Qian Qi (710–782), and “Der Abschied” (“The Farewell”) fuses together poems by two friends both known for their nature poetry, Meng Haoran (c. 690–740) and Wang Wei (699–759), as well as a few verses by Mahler himself.

Perhaps the central theme of the work is the contrast between the eternal renewal of nature in spring and the finite lifespan of the individual. Throughout, we progress from the intoxicating rage of the first song to the sadness of the second, the delicate irony of the following three, and the resignation and ultimate transcendence of the finale. After confronting the personification of death himself in the final song, the alto soloist finds peace, interpreting the end of life as becoming one with nature.

Upon completing Das Lied von de Erde, Mahler himself believed it was “the most personal thing I have yet created.” He would not live to hear it performed, but from its premiere on November 20, 1911, it has been regarded as perhaps his finest work. —Calvin

Dotsey

Program Bios

Juraj Valčuha, conductor

See p. 6 for his bio

Sasha Cooke, mezzo-soprano

Two-time Grammy Award-winning mezzo-soprano Sasha Cooke has been called a “luminous standout” by The New York Times and “equal parts poise, radiance and elegant directness” by Opera News. She has sung at the Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco Opera, English National Opera, Seattle Opera, Opéra National de Bordeaux, and Gran Teatre del Liceu, among others, and with

more than 80 symphony orchestras worldwide, frequently in the works of Mahler. This season marks her appointment at the Music Academy of the West as co-director of the Lehrer Vocal Institute.

Sasha opened the 2022–23 Season with a return to Houston Grand Opera in her role debut as Thirza in the company’s new production of Dame Ethel Smyth’s The Wreckers conducted by Patrick Summers. On the

Program Bios

concert stage, she performs throughout the United States and abroad: in Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde with the Houston Symphony conducted by Juraj Valčuha; Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius with Wiener Konzerthaus; Michael Tilson

Thomas’s Meditations on Rilke with the New York Philharmonic conducted by the composer; Mahler’s Symphony No. 3 with New Zealand Symphony Orchestra alongside Gemma New; and Mozart’s Requiem with the Concertgebouw Orchestra conducted by Klaus Mäkelä and later with Nashville Symphony. She debuts with Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Mahler’s Symphony No. 3 conducted by Sir Antonio Pappano, and the Utah Symphony in Mendelssohn’s Elijah, which she later performs with NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra under the baton of Alan Gilbert.

Also this season, she returns to Chicago Symphony for works by Vivaldi, to Philadelphia Orchestra for Handel’s Messiah, and to Kansas City Symphony for Hindemith’s When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d. Special collaborations on the recital stage include Jake Heggie’s Intonations: Songs for the Violins of Hope with Music of Remembrance; recitals with guitarist Jason Vieaux at San Francisco Performances and Round Top Festival; and a recital at Kaufman Music Center, alongside pianist Kirill Kuzmin featuring how do I find you, a collection of words and music created in 2020 that was recorded and released on the Pentatone label in January 2022. 

Clay Hilley, tenor

Praised in The New York Times for his “vocal heft, clarion sound and stamina,” by de Volkskrant for a “sublime” voice, in the Financial Times for his “extraordinary energy and stamina,” and heralded by Concerti for having “sung himself into the front row of the hero tenors,” American Clay Hilley appears at the world’s leading opera houses and concert venues in the most challenging heldentenor repertoire.

Clay’s most recent triumph was at the 2022 Bayreuther Festspiele, where he replaced an ailing colleague as Siegfried for the premiere of Valentin Schwarz’s new production of Götterdämmerung, under the baton of Cornelius Meister. On less than 24 hours’ notice, he was flown from his vacation in Italy for this prominent debut, a performance acclaimed by critics and Bayreuth’s audience alike.

The 2022–23 Season sees the tenor in three prominent debuts: with Deutsche Oper Berlin, he sings his first staged production of Tristan und Isolde conducted by Sir Donald Runnicles; at the Festspielhaus Baden-Baden, he assays the role of Der Kaiser in a new production by Lydia Steier

of Die Frau ohne Schatten with Kirill Petrenko on the podium of the Berliner Philharmoniker; and he makes a debut at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden in a new production by Deborah Warner of Wozzeck led by Sir Antonio Pappano. No less impressive is a concert schedule that includes Die Frau ohne Schatten with Kirill Petrenko and the Berliner Philharmoniker at the Philharmonie, Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde with Stéphane Denève and the St. Louis Symphony and with Juraj Valčuha and the Houston Symphony, Kodály’s Psalmus Hungaricus with Sir Antonio Pappano and the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, and a concert performance of Beethoven’s Fidelio at the Edinburgh International Festival with Sir Donald Runnicles leading The Philharmonia. 

SONGS OF THE EARTH FESTIVAL:

Debussy la mer

Juraj Valčuha, conductor

*Lucas Jussen, piano

*Arthur Jussen, piano

*Kojiro Umezaki, shakuhachi

0:16 RAVEL – Suite from Ma mère l’oye (Mother Goose)

I. Pavane de la Belle au bois dormant (Pavane of the Sleeping Beauty)

II. Petit Poucet (Tom Thumb)

III. Laideronnette, Impératrice des pagodes (Laideronnette, Empress of the Pagodas)

IV. Les entretiens de la Belle et de la Bête (Conversations of Beauty and the Beast)

V. Le jardin féerique (The Enchanted Garden)

0:17 TAKEMITSU – Quotation of Dream: Say sea, take me! for Two Pianos and Orchestra

INTERMISSION

0:14 T. HOSOKAWA – Autumn Wind for Shakuhachi and Orchestra

0:23 DEBUSSY – La mer

I. De l’aube à midi sur la mer (From Dawn to Noon on the Sea)

II. Jeux des vagues (Play of the Waves)

III. Dialogue du vent et de la mer (Dialogue of Wind and Sea)

*Houston Symphony debut

About the Music

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS

Gary and Marian Beauchamp/The Beauchamp Foundation Grand Guarantor

Albert & Anne Chao Guarantor

Program Notes

RAVEL

Suite from Ma mère l’oye (Mother Goose)

Ravel was always fond of children, perhaps in part because he himself was of slight stature. A longtime friend of the Godebski family, he composed a suite for piano for four hands for their children, Mimi and Jean, while visiting them in 1910. After telling them fairy-tales, he selected a few favorites to depict in music. The piece was so well received that Ravel orchestrated the suite, and in 1912, he expanded the suite into a ballet.

Miwa Sakashita & Dr. John Stroehlein

Sponsor

Livestream of Houston Symphony concerts is made possible by Barbara J. Burger

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

The composer took inspiration from Charles Perrault’s Mother Goose as well as other classic French fairy-tales. English-speaking audiences may know the stories of The Sleeping Beauty and Beauty and the Beast, but the tales of Petit Poucet and Laideronnette may be less familiar.

Petit Poucet is a character from French folklore similar to Tom Thumb, and much like Hansel and Gretel, he ends up lost in the woods after birds eat his trail of breadcrumbs. Ravel depicts this moment of the story, when Poucet is lost, trying to find his way home. Laideronnette, like Sleeping Beauty, was cursed by a wicked fairy who was not invited to her christening. Her curse, however, was to be hopelessly ugly. Although she ultimately regains her natural beauty, Ravel depicts her during the time she spent secluded from society, happily bathing amid her pagodas. The Jardin féerique (Fairy Garden) that concludes the suite is Ravel’s own invention, and its glowing ending radiates love for memories of childhood and an appreciation for the sophistication of fairy-tales, despite their naïve surfaces. —Calvin

Dotsey

Program Notes

TAKEMITSU

Quotation of Dream: Say sea, take me!

Tōru Takemitsu first discovered European music by chance; in 1944, at only 14 years old, he was drafted to serve in the Imperial Japanese army in the desperate, waning days of World War II. “It was far from Tokyo and all the young conscripts like myself lived in a kind of rough barracks,” Takemitsu recalled many years later. “For me the experience was an extremely bitter one.” One day, an officer secretly played an old, contraband record for him and a few other conscripts (during the war, the Japanese government censored most foreign music). “There was no needle to play the records, but this officer had carefully sharpened a piece of bamboo, and using it as a needle he was able to play the records for us.” The sound of a popular French chanson, “Parle-moi de l’amour,” came as a revelation to the young Takemitsu, who became fascinated by Western classical music.

By 16, he had begun writing his own original works as a self-taught composer. French composers such as Debussy and Messiaen were particularly influential in his development, and throughout his life, Takemitsu’s music always displayed sensuous textures and luminous orchestrations that showed his spiritual kinship with them. In his later years, Takemitsu adopted an increasingly postmodern approach, incorporating allusions to traditional harmonies, quotations, musical cyphers, and playful engagement with the past into his works. Perhaps there is no better example of this than Quotation of Dream, a work for two pianos and orchestra commissioned by the London Symphony Orchestra and the Barbican Center for their 1991 Japan Festival.

The title is perhaps more literal than one might expect: the dream being quoted is Debussy’s La mer, snatches of which are interwoven with Takemitsu’s original score. This is both an homage to Debussy and a reflection of Takemitsu’s lifelong love of the ocean. The subtitle, Say sea, take me, reflects another of Takemitsu’s passions: American literature. It is a quotation of Emily Dickinson’s “The Outlet,” which is brief enough to quote in full:

“My river runs to thee: / Blue sea, wilt welcome me? / My river waits reply. / Oh sea, look graciously! / I’ll fetch thee brooks / From spotted nooks,— / Say, sea, / Take me!”

The poem invites listeners to interpret Quotation of Dream as an allembracing musical ocean, in which the various rivers of Takemitsu and Debussy, east and west, present and past intermingle and become one. The piece begins with an incantation-like motif based on three notes—D, C, and F-sharp—that fit into a whole-tone scale, a common sonority in Debussy’s music. This main idea forms the glue of the piece, recurring periodically throughout. After some development of this initial idea, a series of quotations from La mer emerges. These appearances serve as jumping off points for further musical development in Takemitsu’s own

Program Notes

TAKEMITSU

Quotation of Dream: Say sea, take me!

style. As the piece progresses, the quotations and Takemitsu’s original music increasingly blur together, until it is difficult to tell where one ends and the other begins. The piece concludes just as it began, with the mysterious incantation motif fading into silence. —Calvin

Dotsey

T. HOSOKAWA Autumn Wind

This work was commissioned by MITO SettembreMusica for the celebration of the 150th anniversary of the founding of the Republic of Italy. In spite of its simple shape, the shakuhachi has a wide range of expression: it can make both a violent and a graceful sound. The shakuhachi represents a human being, while the orchestra can be taken as the universe and nature existing within and without the human figure. A song of a human being is connected with the root of nature more and more deeply through the dialogue between the shakuhachi and the orchestra. —Toshio Hosokawa.

Revolutionaries are often brash, noisy characters, iconoclasts intent on shattering traditions; Debussy, however, was a quiet revolutionary. Rather than shock his listeners, he sought to seduce them with beautiful sounds long outlawed by established laws of harmony and form. In place of rules of art passed down by his professors at the Paris Conservatoire, his credo was, “There is no theory. You have merely to listen. Pleasure is the law…”

Predictably, he met with resistance from the French musical establishment, who called his music “bizarre, incomprehensible and unperformable.” Their criticisms, however, are belied by the irresistible sensual appeal of his music. After the undeniable success of works such as Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun, Nocturnes, and Pelléas et Mélisande, he at last won official recognition when he was made a Chevalier of the Légion d’Honneur in 1903. Soon after, he began what is arguably his greatest masterpiece, La mer (The Sea), composed from 1903 to 1905. Debussy referred to La mer as “trois esquisses symphoniques” or “three symphonic sketches.”

Though some have called La mer a symphony, it is perhaps more accurately an anti-symphony, as it deliberately eschews traditional symphonic form. Debussy’s highly original conception would suggest new possibilities to composers for generations to come. Each movement of La mer bears a poetic title. The first is “De l’aube à midi sur la mer” or “From Dawn to Noon on the Sea.” It begins with a subdued, misty evocation of the darkness before dawn. This slow introduction accelerates and crescendos to the main body of the movement, which arrives at a moment that suggests sunrise. Throughout the movement, Debussy reveals continuously developing episodes that wash over the orchestra like waves. Each contains a series of shifting moods, colors, and textures; the flutes, double reeds, and cellos seem to have special roles. Several ideas use the pentatonic scale (a five note scale common in many cultures throughout the world) and have a distinctive East Asian

Program Notes

sound—a sign of the influence Asian music had on Debussy (especially the Javanese gamelan music he heard at the 1889 Universal Exposition in Paris). The movement builds to a breathtaking coda in which one can hear waves crashing in the midday sun.

The second movement, “Jeux de vagues” (“Play of the Waves”) has a mischievous character; like the first movement, its form is sui generis. Though some melodic ideas presented at the beginning of the movement recur near the end, most of the movement is a continuous development of fragmentary motifs and melodic phrases, which playfully explore strange and enchanting new sounds.

The finale, “Dialogue du vent et de la mer” (“Dialogue of the Wind and the Sea”), is widely interpreted as a musical tempest. After a rumbling, fragmented opening, a melodic idea from the first movement reappears in the trumpet—some have suggested this is “the wind.” In this interpretation, “the sea” is represented by the following melody introduced in the oboes above a churning accompaniment. The “wind” and “sea” themes alternate, until in a moment of calm, the horns introduce a mysterious chorale. At the end, the chorale returns in a powerful guise, bringing La mer to a thrilling conclusion. —Calvin

Dotsey

Program Bios

Juraj Valčuha, conductor

See p. 6 for his bio

Lucas and Arthur Jussen, pianos

“It is like driving a pair of BMWs,” remarked conductor Michael Schønwandt, after directing the Dutch brothers Lucas (29) and Arthur Jussen (26). Despite their young age, they have been part of the international concert world for years and are vigorously praised by both press and audience.

The Jussen brothers have performed with orchestras such as the Boston Symphony and Philadelphia Orchestra, Concertgebouworkest, Danish National Symphony Orchestra, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, the Academy of St Martin in the Fields, as well as Montréal, Sydney, Singapore, and Shanghai Symphony Orchestras. They collaborate with renowned conductors, including Andris Nelsons, Christoph Eschenbach, Iván Fischer, Valery Gergiev, Sir Neville Marriner, Yannick NézetSéguin, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, and Jaap van Zweden.

In July 2022, the brothers made their debut at the Tanglewood Festival. Together with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, under the baton of Andris Nelsons, they gave the U.S. premiere of Anka kuşu (Phoenix) for piano four-hands and orchestra, written for them by

Fazıl Say. In the beginning of the season, they toured Europe with the Budapest Festival Orchestra under Iván Fischer. Guest engagements in 2022–23 take them to Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra London, Houston Symphony, Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, São Paulo Symphony Orchestra, NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester, hr-Sinfonieorchester, WDR Sinfonieorchester, and Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin. They are also artists in residence with the Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano. In recitals, the duo can be seen in Berlin, London, Paris, Stockholm, Stuttgart, Essen, and Dortmund.

Lucas and Arthur received their first piano lessons in Hilversum, their native town. It quickly became clear they were great talents. As children, they were invited to

Program Bios

perform for the Dutch Queen Beatrix. First awards at competitions soon followed. In 2005, the brothers studied in Portugal and Brazil for nearly a year at the invitation of Portuguese master pianist Maria João Pires. During the following years, they took lessons from both Pires and two renowned Dutch teachers. Lucas completed his studies with Menahem Pressler in the United States and with Dmitri Bashkirov in Madrid. Arthur graduated from the Amsterdam Conservatory, where he studied with Jan Wijn.

Recording exclusively with Deutsche Grammophon since 2010, their debut CD with works by Beethoven received platinum status and was awarded the Edison Klassiek audience award. A Schubert recording and Jeux, a CD dedicated to French piano music, were subsequently released. Their recording of Mozart’s piano concertos KV 365 and KV 242 together with the Academy of St Martin in the Fields and Sir Neville Marriner reached gold status. The brothers also recorded Poulenc’s double piano concerto and Saint-Saëns’s The Carnival of the Animals with the Concertgebouworkest and Stéphane Denève, as well as concertos and chorales by Bach with the Amsterdam Sinfonietta. On The Russian Album (March 2021), they interpret works for two pianos by Rachmaninoff, Stravinsky, and Arensky. The latest addition to their discography is Dutch Masters (April 2022), which is devoted to works by Dutch composers, including a collaboration with the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra and Karina Canellakis. The recording

was awarded an Edison Klassiek in the Chamber Music category as well as the audience award in September 2022. 

2021 and (Cycles) with Joseph Gramley, Dong-Won Kim, Faraz Minooei, and Brooklyn Rider in 2014.

Kojiro Umezaki, shakuhachi

Noted by The New York Times as a “virtuosic, deeply expressive shakuhachi player and composer” and the LA Times as one of the “better kept secrets of Southern California music,” Kojiro Umezaki (梅崎康二郎 ) continues to seek new musical homes for the shakuhachi, an end-blown bamboo flute with centuries of history in Japan.

He has performed regularly with the Silkroad Ensemble since 2001 and appears as performer/ co-composer/associate producer on Silkroad’s Grammy Awardwinning album Sing Me Home (2016). Other recordings and appearances with Silkroad include A Playlist Without Borders (2013), the Grammy-nominated album Off the Map (2009), and the Grammynominated 2015 documentary film, The Music of Strangers, directed by Morgan Neville.

As a soloist and bandleader, In a Circle Records released 流芳 Flow with pipa virtuoso Wu Man in

Other notable recordings as performer, composer, and/or producer include 2023 Grammynominee Brooklyn Rider’s Dominant Curve (2010), DownBeat Magazine Critics Poll’s perennial “Top Flutist of the Year” Nicole Mitchell’s Mandorla Awakening II (2017), Miles Davis’s keyboardist Kei Akagi’s Aqua Puzzle (2018), and the internationally renowned/ world music trailblazers Huun Huur Tu’s Ancestors Call (2010). His appearances in a number of films, TV, and games include Ghost of Tsushima from Sony Interactive Entertainment (2020); Paper Lanterns (2016) directed by Barry Frechette and Max Exposito on the story of atomic bomb survivor Shigeaki Mori and American POWs who perished in the bombing of Hiroshima; Words Can’t Go There directed by David Neptune (2019) on the life of the great shakuhachi innovator John Kaizan Neptune; and The Vietnam War by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick (2017).

Born to a Japanese father and Danish mother, Kojiro grew up in Tokyo. Currently professor of music at the University of California, Irvine, he is a core faculty member of the Integrated Composition Improvisation and Technology (ICIT) doctoral program where his practice-based research explores global and hybrid practices in music.

WE HOUSTON!

l ve

Greater Houston Community Foundation is dedicated to helping Houston thrive. As your philanthropic partner, we can help maximize charitable dollars for the causes you care about the most through various charitable vehicles and services — including donor advised funds, strategic consulting, next gen engagement, and foundation services.

We are passionate about proactively uplifting our region and are committed to honoring what our donors care about most and serving as a resource and collaborative partner to provide meaningful impact for the community we love.

LET’S CONNECT!

Andrea Mayes Senior Director of Charitable Solutions amayes@ghcf.org

713-333-2203

www.ghcf.org

515 Post Oak Blvd., Suite 1000 Houston, Texas, 77027

Corporate Spotlight

The Houston Symphony’s principal corporate sponsor 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 $5 million to the Symphony since 1996.

With over 200 locations throughout Texas and more than 4,000 employees, Spec’s is a true family business, run by Symphony Board of Trustees President, John Rydman, his wife, Lindy, and their daughter, Lisa Rydman Lindsey.

Spec’s is known for its personal touch in many areas: selecting products for its shelves, cultivating a sense of family among its employees, providing guidance and personal service to its customers, and giving back to the communities it serves.

HARMONY HERITAGE

& CELEBRATING BLACK CONTRIBUTIONS TO MUSIC

Music is a universal language. Through music, we can connect and learn about the diverse perspectives of other cultures and lived experiences. The Houston Symphony is proud to highlight the repertoire of composers from diverse and historically underrepresented backgrounds. In 2020, we committed to include musical selections composed by women and people of color on all programs. During the 2021–22 Season, we featured works from 21 Black composers, eight Hispanic composers, two Korean composers, one Japanese composer, and one Chinese composer—and of those, 17 were female. For the 2022–23 Season, we have continued our commitment to showcasing diverse voices in music in both our Classical and Bank of America POPS series. In honor of Black History Month, we’re highlighting the Black composers, conductors, and guest artists who brought their unique talent and perspectives to the Houston Symphony for the 2022–23 Season!

Our Celebrating Black Composers concert in October 2022—a program designed for our PNC Family Concert Series—featured classical and contemporary works from Black composers from around the world. Among the composers honored was 18th-century French composer Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges. One of the first known classical composers of African descent to receive critical acclaim, Saint-Georges published several symphonies, concertos, sonatas, operas, and string quartets over his lifetime and was the conductor of Concert des Amateurs, a prominent orchestra in Paris. The concert also featured works from two 20th-century classical composers, Florence Price and William Grant Still. Price and Still were two classical composers who made history during their lifetimes—Price was the first

Black woman to have her symphony performed by a major American orchestra when the Chicago Symphony Orchestra debuted it in 1933, and Still was the first Black man to conduct a major American orchestra when he led the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra at the Hollywood Bowl in 1936.

Classical music wasn’t the only genre on display at the Celebrating Black Composers program. The orchestra also played the ragtime classic, The Entertainer, by composer and pianist Scott Joplin, famously nicknamed “the King of Ragtime.” With its syncopated, or “ragged” rhythm, ragtime came from the African American communities of the South and Midwest and set the stage for the development of jazz. The orchestra also performed Duke Ellington’s Suite from The River, a ballet that premiered with the Alvin Alley

Although Duke Ellington, pictured above, was a pivotal figure in the history of jazz, he was also known for his inventive use of the orchestra and considered himself to be “beyond category.”

Dance Company in 1971. In this Suite, Ellington, better known for being one of the most important pioneers of jazz and the big band sound, merged the properties associated with jazz with classical music on a symphonic scale. Also featured in the concert, Community-Embedded Musician Rainel Joubert—who is Afro-Cuban and of Haitian descent—performed a violin solo to “Purple Haze” by Jimi Hendrix. Hendrix, an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter, was known as one of the most gifted instrumentalists in the history of rock and roll. The program was led by guest conductor Daniel Bartholomew-Poyser, a Canadian Black conductor who is famous for conducting and creating shows to target diverse groups that are not traditionally associated with the orchestral world. This season’s programs also featured contemporary works from living Black composers and the talents of fabulous Black guest artists and conductors. Early on in our Classical Season, we featured the works of two composers who draw on the African American experience to inform their music. Zoom! for Strings and Percussion by composer Shawn Okpebholo was a response to the global pandemic and evokes his optimism about the world’s return to normalcy. Okpebholo describes his work as not “music for music’s sake…;”, but rather, it is inspired by or in response to an experience or event—he regularly draws from his African and African American heritage, the classical canon, and his faith. In September, the orchestra also performed a piece by Adolphus Hailstork entitled Still Holding On, the first movement of his fourth symphony SURVIVE. The premiere of the work was at a Los Angeles Philharmonic concert saluting William Grant Still. In order to pay tribute, Still Holding On includes references to Still’s famous symphony Afro-American and features motifs from the African American spiritual Hold On. Spirituals are

rooted in the Black oral tradition of storytelling and merged biblical stories with the hardships of slavery. The musical motifs in spirituals and gospel music, including repetition and “call and response” interactions, set the groundwork for genres such as rock and roll, rhythm and blues, and soul music. Speaking of soul music—last October, the Houston Symphony performed the world premiere of She’s Got Soul with Broadway star Capathia Jenkins. Jenkins created She’s Got Soul to pay tribute to the soul music superstars she grew up listening to. The program consisted of classic soul songs from recording artists such as Whitney Houston, Gladys Knight and the Pips, Sade, Toni Braxton, and many more.

Still to come this season, the orchestra will perform works from talented Black composers such as Carlos Simon and see appearances from superstar guest artists like virtuoso violinist Tai Murray. Simon’s Fate Now Conquers will be a part of our Brahms Piano Concerto 1 and Dvořák’s Symphony No. 8 program March 10–12, a program that will be conducted by Jonathon Heyward. Jonathon is a rising star in the orchestral world—at just 29 years old, he made history when he became the first person of color to be appointed the music director of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. Currently in his second year as a chief conductor of the Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie as well, Jonathon’s talent and passion for music are inspiring, and we look forward to welcoming him to Houston as a guest conductor.

The Houston Symphony is proud to offer programming featuring these Black composers and guest artists and we continue our commitment to highlight works that reflect the diversity of the modern city and world we live in.

—Lauren Buchanan

Community Embedded Musician Raniel Joubert takes a bow after performing Violin Concerto in D major by Saint-Georges at the Celebrating Black Composers Family Concert.

Superstar violinist Tai Murray will join the Houston Symphony for a special performance of Dvořák’s Violin Concerto in March.

Scan here for a video with Adolphus Hailstork on Still Holding On

Featured Program

THE BEST OF BROADWAY WITH JEREMY JORDAN

Steven Reineke, conductor

Jeremy Jordan, vocalist

Program to be announced from the stage

About the Music

Friday, February 24 Jones Hall

Saturday, February 25 Jones Hall

Sunday, February 26 Jones Hall

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS

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

PROGRAM INSIGHT

8:00 p.m.

8:00 p.m.

2:30 p.m.

• A Texas native, Jeremy Jordan was born and raised in Corpus Christi before heading to upstate New York to study drama at Ithaca College.

• Jordan is perhaps best known for his portrayal of Jack Kelly in Disney’s NEWSIES!, for which he won a Tony in 2012 for Best Leading Actor in a Musical.

• In 2013, Jordan landed the role of Jimmy Collins in season two of Smash. For the first few months, Jordan would film the series during the day and perform in NEWSIES! at night.

• Jordan’s first time on Broadway was as an alternate for leading man Tony in the Broadway Revival of West Side Story. Seven years later, he performed the same part at the Hollywood Bowl.

• Other Disney credits include the voice of Varian on Disney Channel’s animated series Tangled

Program Bios

between news segments. In 2018, Steven led the same orchestra and hip hop legend Nas performing his seminal album, Illmatic, on PBS’s Great Performances.

Steven Reineke, conductor

Steven Reineke has established himself as one of North America’s leading conductors of popular music. In addition to his role as Principal POPS Conductor of the Houston Symphony, this season, he celebrates his 10 th anniversary as music director of The New York Pops at Carnegie Hall. Additionally, he is principal pops conductor of the National Symphony Orchestra at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. Steven is a frequent guest conductor with The Philadelphia Orchestra, and his extensive North American conducting appearances include Atlanta, Cincinnati, Edmonton, San Francisco, and Sarasota.

On stage, he has created programs and collaborated with a range of leading artists from the worlds of hip hop, Broadway, television, and rock, including Common, Kendrick Lamar, Nas, Sutton Foster, Megan Hilty, Cheyenne Jackson, Wayne Brady, Peter Frampton, and Ben Folds, among others. In 2017, he was featured on NPR’s All Things Considered leading the National Symphony Orchestra, in a first for the show’s 45-year history, performing live music excerpts

As the creator of more than 100 orchestral arrangements for the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra, Steven’s work has been performed worldwide, and can be heard on numerous Cincinnati Pops Orchestra recordings on the Telarc label. His symphonic works Celebration Fanfare, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, and Casey at the Bat are performed frequently in North America, including performances by the New York Philharmonic and Los Angeles Philharmonic. His Sun Valley Festival Fanfare commemorated the Sun Valley Summer Symphony’s pavilion, and his Festival Te Deum and Swan’s Island Sojourn were debuted by the Cincinnati Symphony and Cincinnati Pops Orchestras. His numerous wind ensemble compositions are published by the C.L. Barnhouse Company and are performed by concert bands worldwide.

A native of Ohio, Steven is a graduate of Miami University of Ohio, where he earned Bachelor of Music degrees with honors in both trumpet performance and music composition. He lives in New York City with his husband, Eric Gabbard. 

Jeremy Jordan, vocalist

Jeremy Jordan is best known for his Tony and Grammy-nominated portrayal of Jack Kelly in NEWSIES! on Broadway, as well as his many roles on television, including series regulars on CW’s Supergirl, NBC’s Smash, and Disney’s Tangled. Most recently, he starred as Seymour in the New York production of the iconic Little Shop of Horrors. Next up, Jeremy will star as the tenacious record industry giant, Neil Bogart, in the new feature film, Spinning Gold Other films include The Last Five Years opposite Anna Kendrick, Joyful Noise with Queen Latifah and Dolly Parton, American Son with Kerry Washington, and NEWSIES! live on stage. Additional Broadway credits include Bonnie & Clyde (Theatre World Award), West Side Story, Waitress, American Son, and Rock of Ages He has guest starred on numerous television shows, including The Flash, Elementary, and Law and Order: SVU. Jeremy’s concerts and cabaret shows have won awards and acclaim worldwide. He is also the lead singer of Age of Madness, a new rock band which launched earlier this year.

Follow @JeremyMJordan for all updates. 

PNC Family Series Blast off to space!

Nicholas Hersh, conductor

Program to be announced from the stage

Program Bio

Saturday, February 25

Jones Hall 10:00 & 11:30 a.m.

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS

Vivian L. Smith Foundation Partner

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 Houston Symphony’s Education, Family and Community Engagement concerts are supported in part by the Margarett and Alice Brown Endowment Fund for Education

American conductor Nicholas Hersh has earned critical acclaim for his innovative programming and natural ability to connect with musicians and audiences alike.

In the 2022–23 Season, Nicholas debuts with the Utah, Colorado, and Modesto symphonies and The Florida Orchestra. He returns to the Houston, Baltimore, and New Jersey orchestras, and Rochester Philharmonic. Highlights of the prior season include engagements with the National (D.C.), Detroit, Grand Rapids, Portland (ME), and Tucson symphony orchestras; Louisiana Philharmonic; Sarasota Orchestra; symphonies of Richmond and Winston-Salem; and Peabody Opera. Other recent conducting appearances include the Phoenix Symphony, North Carolina Symphony, and New World Symphony.

Over a remarkable tenure as associate conductor of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Nicholas created the BSO Pulse series, through which he brought together indie bands and orchestral musicians in unique collaborations; he led the BSO in several subscription weeks and concerts in and around Baltimore; and he directed the BSO’s educational and family programming, including the celebrated Academy for adult amateur musicians. He maintains a close relationship with the National Symphony Orchestra, leading concerts throughout Washington, D.C. He stepped in to replace an indisposed Yan Pascal Tortelier, on subscription, to great acclaim. Nicholas is frequently in demand as an arranger and orchestrator, with commissions from orchestras around the globe for adaptations of everything from classical solo and chamber music to popular songs. His orchestration of Beethoven’s Cello Sonata, Op. 69 was premiered by the Philharmonie Zuidnederland in January 2022, while his symphonic arrangement of Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” continues to see worldwide success as a viral YouTube hit. He also serves as arranger and editor for the James P. Johnson Orchestra Edition.

Nicholas Hersh, conductor

Program Bio

Nicholas grew up in Evanston, Illinois, and started his musical training as a cellist. He earned a bachelor’s degree in music from Stanford University and a master’s degree in conducting from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. He is a two-time recipient of the Solti Foundation Career Assistance Award. Nicholas lives in Philadelphia with his wife, Caitlin, and their two cats. In his free time, he enjoys baking (and eating) sourdough bread. 

Corporate Spotlight

Kirkland expanded to Texas in 2014 when the Houston office launched to better serve clients focused on the energy and infrastructure sectors. Since then, the office has grown to include more than 200 attorneys and has become a leading player in Texas, uniquely qualified to handle sophisticated and complex matters for clients around the world. From its office in downtown Houston, lawyers tap the resources of a large, international platform with diversified practices and experience. The Houston team is also deeply invested in the community, working with legal aid, business, and nonprofit organizations to improve the lives and communities in Houston.

Kirkland offers the highest quality legal advice coupled with extraordinary, tailored service to deliver exceptional results to clients and help their businesses succeed. It invests in the brightest legal talent and builds dynamic teams that operate at the pinnacle of their respective areas. And it believes in empowering lawyers, encouraging entrepreneurialism, operating ethically and with integrity, and collaborating to bring their best to every engagement. These principles have guided them in building successful long-term partnerships with clients since the firm was founded in 1909.

Featured Program

ITZHAK PERLMAN IN RECITAL

Itzhak Perlman, violin

Rohan De Silva, piano

Houston Symphony

Program Bios

Sunday, February 26

Jones Hall

7:30 p.m.

Itzhak currently serves as Artistic Partner of the Houston Symphony in a partnership that commenced in the 2020–21 Season and culminates at the end of 2023–24. He performs nine programs across three seasons that feature him in versatile appearances as conductor, soloist, recitalist, and presenter.

Itzhak Perlman, violin

Undeniably the reigning virtuoso of the violin, Itzhak Perlman enjoys superstar status rarely afforded a classical musician. Beloved for his charm and humanity as well as his talent, he is treasured by audiences throughout the world who respond not only to his remarkable artistry, but also to his irrepressible joy for making music.

Having performed with every major orchestra and at concert halls around the globe, Itzhak was granted a Presidential Medal of Freedom—the nation’s highest civilian honor—by President Obama in 2015, a Kennedy Center Honor in 2003, a National Medal of Arts by President Clinton in 2000, and a Medal of Liberty by President Reagan in 1986. He has been honored with 16 Grammy Awards, four Emmy Awards, a Kennedy Center Honor, a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, and a Genesis Prize.

In the 2022–23 Season, Itzhak conducts the LA Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl and the Houston Symphony on Mozart’s Requiem, and is joined by an illustrious group of collaborators— Emanuel Ax, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, and the Juilliard String Quartet— in a special Itzhak Perlman and Friends program appearing in only three locations: Toronto’s Roy Thomson Hall, UMS Ann Arbor, and Carnegie Hall. He continues touring An Evening with Itzhak Perlman, which captures highlights of his career through narrative and multi-media elements intertwined with performance, to Boston, Philadelphia, Long Island, Akron, Austin, Tallahassee, and Naples (Florida). He plays season-opening concerts for the Colorado Symphony, Vancouver Symphony, and Florida Orchestra, and recitals across the United States with longtime collaborator Rohan De Silva.

Itzhak Perlman has an exclusive series of classes with Masterclass.com, the premier online education company that enables access to the world’s most brilliant minds, including Gordon Ramsay, Wolfgang Puck, Martin Scorsese, Ron Howard, Dame Helen Mirren, Jodie Foster, and Serena Williams, as the company’s first classical music presenter.

Program Bios

Rohan De Silva, piano

Rohan De Silva’s partnerships with violin virtuosos Itzhak Perlman, Pinchas Zukerman, Cho-Liang Lin, Midori, Joshua Bell, Benny Kim, Kyoko Takezawa, Vadim Repin, Gil Shaham, Nadja SalernoSonnenberg, Julian Rachlin, James Ehnes, and Rodney Friend have led to highly acclaimed performances at recital venues all over the world.

Alongside Perlman, Rohan has performed multiple times at the White House, most recently in 2012 at the invitation of President Barack Obama and Mrs. Obama for Israeli President and Presidential Medal of Freedom honoree Shimon Peres; and at a State Dinner in 2007, hosted by President George W. Bush and Mrs. Bush for Her Majesty The Queen and His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh.

Rohan began his piano studies with his mother, Primrose De Silva, and with Mary Billimoria. He spent six years at the Royal Academy of Music in London and received many awards, including the Grover Bennett Scholarship, the Christian

Carpenter Prize, the Martin Music Scholarship, the Harold Craxton Award, and the Chappell Gold Medal for best overall performance. He was the first recipient of a special scholarship in the arts from the President’s Fund of Sri Lanka. This enabled him to enter The Juilliard School, studying with Martin Canin, Felix Galimir, and violin pedagogue Dorothy DeLay. He was awarded Best Accompanist at the Ninth International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow, and received the Samuel Sanders Collaborative Artist Award presented to him by Itzhak Perlman at Carnegie Hall.

Rohan De Silva has recorded for Deutsche Grammophon, Universal, CBS/SONY Classical, Collins Classics in London, RCA Victor, and Chandos. 

Spec’s Charitable Foundation Salute to Educators Concert

The Houston Symphony honors Houston-area educators for their outstanding impact on the lives of young people and our community. Houston’s teachers work tirelessly to help students grow and succeed, and we are proud to support them in enhancing their students’ education through music.

Additionally, as part of this celebration, the Spec’s Charitable Foundation Award for Excellence in Music Education is presented to an individual educator whose commitment to students and our community is truly remarkable.

Dr. Ana Treviño Godfrey, 2023 Recipient

SPEC’S CHARITABLE FOUNDATION AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN MUSIC EDUCATION

SPEC’S: SUPPORTING MUSIC EDUCATION

The Salute to Educators concert is made possible by the Houston Symphony’s Principal Corporate Guarantor, Spec’s Wines, Spirits & Finer Foods/ Spec’s Charitable Foundation. Spec’s supports the Symphony’s education programs in numerous ways, including Symphony fundraising events like the annual Wine Dinner and Collector’s Auction, and the company’s own Vintage Virtuoso fundraiser.

In total, Spec’s has contributed more than $5 million to the Symphony since 1996. Spec’s president John Rydman currently serves as the President of the Houston Symphony Society Board of Trustees. We thank John, his wife Lindy, and his daughter Lisa Rydman Lindsey, for their ongoing commitment to music education.

Ana Treviño-Godfrey, DMA, is the director of Prelude Music Classes for Children and co-founder and director of education of The Prelude Music Foundation. She is passionate about music, musicmaking, and education. Ana graduated from Rice University (DMA, MM) and The Cleveland Institute of Music (BM) and performed opera and early music in the United States and abroad, appearing as a featured soloist with professional orchestras around Houston. Her love of music led her to co-found Mercury Chamber Orchestra.

In 2011, Ana stopped performing to focus on her vocation: to serve children and their families through music education. Together with her husband, Ana co-founded the Prelude Music Foundation, a nonprofit bringing Music Together ® classes to marginalized communities in Houston, Texas. The foundation currently serves more than 2,000 students in Title 1 schools, Casa de Esperanza de Los Niños, and families at the Ronald McDonald House, supporting children’s cognitive, emotional, physical, social, and language development through the power of music. Partnered with like-minded organizations, including the Houston Symphony, Ana believes music education has the power to change lives, help us heal, and bring us peace.

Ana is a presenter at early childhood and music education conferences, including the NAEYC (National Association for the Education of Young Children), and has taught at Rice University, Houston Community College, and Interlochen Arts Camp. In addition, she is a worldwide Music Together ® teacher trainer.

Our Donors

Annual Support

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 Tim Richey, Director, Individual Giving, at tim.richey@houstonsymphony.org or 713.337.8531.

As of January 31, 2023

Drs. Dennis & Susan Carlyle

Joan & Bob Duff **

Drs. M.S. & Marie-Luise Kalsi

Cora Sue & Harry* Mach**

Mr. & Mrs. Jesse B. Tutor

Edith and Robert Zinn

$25,000+

Farida Abjani

Ann & Jonathan Ayre**

Dr. Gudrun H. Becker

Eric D. Brueggeman

Ralph Burch

Michael H. Clark & Sallie Morian

Valerie Palmquist Dieterich & Tracy Dieterich

Mr. and Mrs. Thomas L. Elsenbrook

Ms. Carolyn Faulk

Nanette B. Finger*

$15,000+

Marcie & Nick Alexos

Nina K. Andrews

Dr. Saúl & Ursula Balagura

Anne Morgan Barrett

Nancy & Walter Bratic

Mr. Gordon J. Brodfuehrer

Terry Ann Brown

Mr. Robert Bunch and Ms. Lilia Khakimova

Jane Cizik

Roger & Debby Cutler

Dr. Alex Dell

Mr. & Mrs. Marvy A. Finger

Eugene Fong

Ms. Elia Gabbanelli

Steve & Mary Gangelhoff

Gary L. Hollingsworth and Kenneth J. Hyde

Catherine & Brian James

Mr. and Mrs. Parker Johnson

Cheryl Boblitt and Bill King

Mr. and Mrs. David B. Krieger

Mr. & Mrs. U. J. LeGrange

Cindy E. Levit

Joella & Steven P. Mach

Beth Madison

Mrs. Carolyn & Dr. Michael Mann

Clare Attwell Glassell

Evan B. Glick

Suzan and Julius Glickman

Mr. & Mrs. Fred L. Gorman

Claudio J. Gutiérrez

Claudia and David Hatcher

Mark & Ragna Henrichs

Mrs. James E. Hooks

Rebecca & Bobby Jee

Joan Kaplan

Gwen & Dan Kellogg

Dr. & Mrs. I. Ray Kirk

Ms. Nancey G. Lobb

John & Regina Mangum

Jay & Shirley* Marks

Mr. and Mrs. Jarrod Martin

** Education and Community Engagement Donor

* Deceased

Janice Barrow*

Gary & Marian Beauchamp/ The Beauchamp Foundation

Barbara J. Burger

Janet F. Clark

$150,000+ $50,000+ $100,000+

Dr. Sippi & Mr. Ajay Khurana**

Rochelle* & Max Levit

Barbara & Pat McCelvey**

Bobbie Nau

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

Mike Stude

Bobby & Phoebe Tudor

Margaret Alkek Williams

Edward and Janette Blackburne

Mr. Robert Boblitt Jr.

Robin Angly & Miles Smith

Albert & Anne Chao

Virginia A. Clark**

Aggie L. Foster & Steve Simon

Stephen & Mariglyn Glenn

Mr. and Mrs. Bashar Kalai

Barry & Rosalyn Margolis Family

Mr. & Mrs. Rodney H. Margolis

Muffy & Mike McLanahan

Katie & Bob Orr

Oliver Wyman

Laurie A. Rachford

Donna Scott & Mitch Glassman

Alana R. Spiwak & Sam L. Stolbun

Mr. and Mrs. Frank Tsuru

John L. Nau III

Mr. & Mrs. J. Stephen Marks**

Terry Thomas

Hallie A. Vanderhider

Shirley W. Toomim

Stephen & Kristine Wallace

Robert G. Weiner & Toni Blankmann

Dr. John R. Stroehlein and Miwa Sakashita

Judith Vincent

Steven & Nancy Williams

Jeanie Kilroy Wilson & Wallace S. Wilson

Mr. Jay Steinfeld & Mrs. Barbara Winthrop**

Ellen A. Yarrell**

Mr. & Mrs. Fredric A. Weber Anonymous

Michelle & Jack Matzer

Elizabeth McIngvale PHD

Dr. Eric McLaughlin & Mr. Eliodoro Castillo

Marvin & Martha McMurrey

Tammy & Wayne Nguyen

Scott and Judy Nyquist

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

Mr. & Mrs. Jonathan E. Parker

Mr. David Peavy and Mr. Stephen McCauley

Gloria & Joe Pryzant

Allan & Jean Quiat

Ron and Demi Rand

Ed & Janet Rinehart

Mr. Floyd W. Robinson

Mrs. Sybil F. Roos

Mr. Glen A. Rosenbaum

Kathy & Ed Segner

Margaret and Joel Shannon

Tad and Suzanne Smith

Anthony and Lori Speier

Drs. Carol & Michael Stelling

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

Dede Weil

Vicki West

Our Donors

$10,000+

Edward H. Andrews III

Dr. Angela R. Apollo

Mr. & Mrs. David J. Beck

Mr. Bill Bullock

James & Dale Brannon

Cheryl & Sam* Byington

Dr. Robert N. Chanon

Coneway Family Foundation

Brad & Joan Corson

Andrew Davis & Corey Tu

Mike & Debra Dishberger

Vicky Dominguez

Connie Dyer

Mr. & Mrs. Jeffrey B. Firestone

Mrs. Mary Foster-DeSimone and Mr. Don DeSimone

Ron Franklin & Janet Gurwitch

$5,000+

Dr. and Mrs. George J. Abdo

Lilly and Thurmon Andress**

Dr. and Mrs. Jeffrey B. Aron**

Mr. Jeff Autor

Ms. Jacqueline Baly

Mrs. Bonnie Bauer

Kimberly and James Bell

Joan H. Bitar, M.D.

Anne Boss

Mrs. Vada Boyle

James and Judy Bozeman

Mr. Chester Brooke and Dr. Nancy Poindexter

Barbara A. Brooks

Lindsay Buchanan

Ms. Deborah Butler

Marilyn Caplovitz

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

Barbara A. Clark and Edgar A. Bering

Donna M. Collins

Evan and Carin Collins

Mr. and Mrs. Byron Cooley

Mr. and Mrs. Larry Corbin

Ms. Miquel A. Correll

Mr. and Mrs. Denis A. DeBakey

Ms. Elisabeth DeWitts

Kathy and Frank Dilenschneider

Drs. Rosalind and Gary Dworkin

David and Carolyn Edgar

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

The Ensell Family

Mr. Parrish N. Erwin Jr.

Paula and Louis Faillace

Ms. Ursula H. Felmet

Mr. and Mrs. Robert J. Franco

Mr. and Mrs. Walter Finger

Bill and Diana Freeman

Patrick and Carolyn Gaidos

Mr. & Mrs. Russell M. Frankel

Nancy D. Giles

Mr. & Mrs. Jerry L. Hamaker

Marzena & Jacek Jaminski

Dr. Charles Johnson & Tammie Johnson

Ms. Carey Kirkpatrick

Mr. & Mrs. Calvin Leeke

Marilyn G. Lummis

Mr. and Mrs. Ransom C. Lummis

Sue Ann Lurcott

Cindy Mao and Michael Ma

Dr. Miguel & Mrs. Valerie Miro-Quesada

Dr. & Mrs. Malcolm L. Mazow

Terry & Kandee McGill

Rita & Paul Morico

Ms. Leslie Nossaman

The Carl M. Padgett Family

Sandra Paige, Veritas Title

Partners

Mr. & Mrs. Robert Pastorek

Mr. Zeljko Pavlovic

Dave & Alie Pruner

Lila Rauch

Mr. and Mrs. George A. Rizzo Jr.

Toni Oplt & Ed Schneider

Mr. & Mrs. James A. Shaffer

Laura & Mike Shannon

Dr. & Mrs. Robert B. Sloan

Houston Christian

University

Mr. & Mrs. Jim R. Smith

Mr. & Mrs. Karl Strobl

Mr. William W. Stubbs

Mrs. Marguerite M. Swartz

Cecilia & Luciano

Vasconcellos

Mr. and Mrs. Tony Williford

Jay & Gretchen Watkins

Doug & Kay Wilson

Ms. Beth Wolff **

Scott and Lori Wulfe

Nina & Michael Zilkha

Anonymous (2)

Mr. Mark Grace and Mrs. Alex Blair

Ms. Eugenia C. George

Joseph E. Goetz & Mrs. Grace Ho

Jo and Billie Jo Graves

The Greentree Fund

Mrs. Tami A. Grubb

Mary N. Hankey

Ms. Deborah Happ and Mr. Richard Rost

Mr. and Mrs. Frank Herzog

Mrs. Ann G. Hightower

Mr. and Mrs. William D. Hunt

Steve and Kerry Incavo

Mr. Michael Jang

Dr. and Mrs. Joseph Jankovic

Stephen Jeu and Susanna Calvo

Phil and Josephine John

Beverly Johnson

Mr. and Mrs. John F. Joity

Debbie and Frank Jones

Dr. Rita Justice

Ms. Linda R. Katz

Mr. Mark Klitzke and Dr. Angela Chen

Dr. William & Alice Kopp

Mr. Kenneth E. Kurtzman

Mr. and Mrs. Phillip Ladin

Golda Anne Leonard

Ms. Nancey G. Lobb

Richard Loewenstern

Mr. and Mrs. Alexander Matiuk

Ms. Kathy McCraigh

John & Dorothy McDonald

Mr. and Mrs. Michael McGuire

Alison and Ara Malkhassian

Mr. and Mrs. William B. McNamara

Mr. and Mrs. D. Bradley McWilliams

Mr. Stephen Mendoza

Stephen & Marilyn Miles

Ginni and Richard Mithoff

Dr. and Mrs. Jack Moore

Mr. and Mrs. Gerald Moynier

Aprill Nelson

Mr. and Mrs. Robert E. Nelson

Bobbie Newman

Mr. and Mrs. Geoffrey B. Newton

Jenni and Todd Olges

Katherine and Jonathan Palmer

Mr. and Mrs. Raul Pavon

Michael P. and Shirley Pearson

Mr. Robert J. Pilegge

Dr. and Mrs. Taj Popatia

Heather and Chris Powers

Tim and Katherine Pownell

Roland and Linda Pringle

Cris and Elisa Pye

Kathryn and Richard Rabinow

Bradley L. Radoff and Monica

Hoz De Vila

Dr. and Mrs. George H. Ransford

Jan Rhodes

Vicky and Michael Richker

Jill & Allyn Risley

Linda & Jerry Rubenstein

Dr. Douglas and Alicia Rodenberger

Harold H. Sandstead, M.D.

Mr. Tony W. Schlicht

Garry and Margaret Schoonover

Dr. Mark A. Schusterman

Susan and Ed Septimus

Donna and Tim Shen

Mr. and Mrs. Steven Sherman

Mr. and Mrs. Quentin Smith

Sam and Linda Snyder

Georgiana Stanley

Mr. and Mrs. Keith Stevenson

Wesley L. Story

Mr. and Mrs. Hans Strohmer

Drs. Ishwaria and Vivek Subbiah

Stephanie and Bill Swingle

Susan L. Thompson

Eric and Carol Timmreck

Nanako and Dale Tingleaf

Pamalah* and Stephen Tipps

James F. Trippett

Mr. and Mrs. David Vannauker

Mr. and Mrs. David Walstad

General and Mrs. Jasper Welch

Nancy B. Willerson **

Ms. Barbara E. Williams

Doug Williams and Janice Robertson

Loretta and Lawrence Williams

Ms. Tara Wilson

Woodell Family Foundation

Mrs. Lorraine Wulfe

Robert and Michele Yekovich

Mr. and Mrs. Edward R. Ziegler

Erla & Harry Zuber

Anonymous (7)

Our Donors

$2,500+

Pat and John Anderson

Mr. Tom Anderson

Mr. and Mrs. Stephen J. Banks

Drs. Henry and Louise Bethea

Mr. and Mrs. Stephen Bickel

George Boerger

Robert and Gwen Bray

Joe Brazzatti

Mr. and Mrs. Bruce G. Buhler

Justice Brett and Erin Busby

Kori and Chris Caddell

Ms. Greta Carlson

Mr. Steve Carroll and Ms. Rachel Dolbier

Mr. and Mrs. Brady F. Carruth

Drs. David A. Cech and Mary R. Schwartz

Darleen and Jack Christiansen

Matt Chuchla

Jimmy and Lynn Coe

Richard Collins

Consurgo Sunshine

Ms. Jeanette Coon and Thomas Collins

Ms. Sandra Cooper

Mr. and Mrs. James L. Cross

Mr. and Mrs. John Dabbar

Mrs. Myriam Degreve

Mr. and Mrs. Manuel Delgado

Joseph and Rebecca

Demeter

Jeanette and John DiFilippo

Ms. Cynthia Diller

Mrs. Edward N. Earle

Mrs. Julie Earley

David and Carolyn Edgar

Mr. John Egbert and Ms. Kathy Beck

Aubrey & Sylvia Farb

Mrs. Christina Fontenot

Edwin Friedrichs and Darlene Clark**

Dr. and Mrs. Robert H. Fusillo

Ms. Lucy Gebhart

Wendy Germani

Alyson and Elliot Gershenson

Kathy and Albrecht Goethe

Ms. Lidiya Gold

Susan and Kevin Golden

Marcos Gonzalez

Mr. and Mrs. Herb Goodman

Julianne and David Gorte

Mr. William Gray and Mrs. Clare Fontenot-Gray

Mr. and Mrs. Gary Greaser

Mr. Mario Gudmundsson

Eric and Angelea Halen

Mr. and Mrs. Charles R. Hall

Dr. and Mrs. Carlos R. Hamilton Jr.

Mr. & Mrs. Houston Haymon

Maureen Y. Higdon**

Katherine and Archibald

Govan Hill IV

Mr. Stanley Hoffberger

Mr. and Mrs. John Homier

Mr. Daniel Irion

Laura and Rick C. Jaramillo

Mady and Ken Kades

Jane and Kevin Kremer

Mr. and Mrs. Richard Langenstein

Mr. William W. Lindley

Matthew and Kristen Loden

Mr. and Mrs. Stephen A. Lubanko

Music Director Fund

Mr. and Mrs. Peter MacGregor

Mr. and Mrs. Wallis Marsh

Mr. and Mrs. Michael L. Mason

David and Heidi Massin

Mary Ann and David McKeithan

Ms. Kristen Meneilly

Larry and Lyn Miller

Mrs. Suzanne Miller

David Mincberg & Lainie Gordon

Mr. and Mrs. Thomas L. Molloy

Denise Monteleone

Jo Ann and Marvin Mueller

Mr. and Mrs. Richard Murphy

Jessica & Erick Navas

Ms. Barbara Nussmann

Macky Osorio

Rochelle and Sheldon Oster

Mr. Joe Pacetti-De'Medici

Nancy Parra

Kusum & K. Cody Patel

Linda Tarpley Peterson

Mr. and Mrs. Arnaud Pichon

Dr. and Mrs. James L. Pool

Dr. Vanitha Pothuri

Mrs. Dana Puddy

Clinton and Leigh Rappole

Mr. and Mrs. J.B. Reimer

Mrs. Adelina Romero

Mr. and Mrs. John Ryder

Mr. Robert T. Sakowitz

Harold H. Sandstead, M.D.

Gina and Saib Saour

Lawrence P. Schanzmeyer

Dr. Mark A. Schusterman

Mr. and Mrs. Steven Schwarzbach

Mr. and Mrs. Dilanka Seimon

Becky Shaw

Mr. and Dr. Adrian D. Shelley

Arthur E. and Ellen Shelton

Leslie Siller**

Hinda Simon

Ms. Diana Skerl

Mr. and Mrs. Cooper Smith

David Smith and Elizabeth A. Fagan

Mr. Michael Smith

Richard and Mary Spies

Jeaneen and Tim Stastny

Meredith and Ralph Stone

Mr. and Ms. Kerr Taylor

Juliana and Stephen Tew

Jean and Doug Thomas

Courtney & Bill Toomey

Sal and Denise Torrisi

Dr. Brad and Mrs. Frances Urquhart

Patricia Van Allan

Dean Walker

H. Richard Walton

Nancy Ames and Danny Ward

Alton and Carolyn Warren

Ms. Katherine Warren

Dr. and Mrs. Richard T. Weiss

Dr. Robert Wilkins and Dr. Mary Ann ReynoldsWilkins

Mr. and Mrs. Dennis Williams

Mr. Frank Wilson

Jerry and Gerlind Wolinksy

Mrs. Linda Yelin

Anonymous (2)

The Houston Symphony has entered a new era with the introduction of internationally acclaimed conductor, Juraj Valčuha, as its Music Director. Valčuha’s visionary leadership will continue to elevate the orchestra’s level of artistry on the Jones Hall stage, its international reputation, and its relevance to the Houston community.

The purpose of the Music Director Fund is to provide leadership support to Maestro Juraj Valčuha and his artistic endeavors as Music Director. The Symphony extends our special thanks to Board President John Rydman, along with his wife, Lindy, and Spec’s Wines, Spirits & Finer Foods, for kicking off the campaign with the first gift to the fund. To join the Music Director Fund, supporters make a leadership gift of $100,000 above and beyond their annual giving.

To participate in this important effort, please contact Christine Ann Stevens, Director of Major Gifts, at christine.stevens@houstonsymphony.org or 713.337.8521.

Margaret Alkek Williams

Robin Angly & Miles Smith

Janice Barrow*

Barbara J. Burger

** Education and Community Engagement Donor * Deceased

Albert & Anne Chao

Janet F. Clark

Cullen Trust for the Performing Arts

Dr. Sippi and Mr. Ajay Khurana

Barbara and Pat McCelvey

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

Mike Stude

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 sought-after venues, private homes, and friendly neighborhood hangouts. From behind-the-scenes interactions with the musicians of the Houston Symphony to jaw-dropping 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 next era of orchestral music.

YOUNG ASSOCIATE LEADERSHIP

Kusum Patel, Chair

Carrie Brandsberg-Dahl, Vice Chair

YOUNG ASSOCIATE PREMIUM $2,500+

Christopher P. Armstrong and Laura Schaffer

Ann and Jonathan Ayre

Lauren and Mark Bahorich

Tim Ong and Michael Baugh

Kimberly and James Bell Jr.

Emily Bivona and Ryan Manser

Carrie and Sverre Brandsberg-Dahl#

Eric Brueggeman

Lindsay Buchanan#

Ryan Cantrell

Haydée del Calvo and Esteban Montero

Kendall and Jim Cross

Denise Davis

Valerie Palmquist Dieterich and Tracy Dieterich

Vicky Dominguez

Jamie Everett

Carolyn and Patrick Gaidos

Claudio J. Gutiérrez

YOUNG ASSOCIATE $1,500+

Amber Ali

Luisa Banos and Vladi Gorelik

Amanda Beatriz

Laura and William Black

Adair and Kevin Brueggeman

Greta Carlson

David Chaluh

Lincoln Chen

Megan and John Degenstein

Chante Westmoreland Dillard and Joseph Dillard

Laurel Flores#

Kallie Gallagher

Patrick B. Garvey

Amy Goodpasture

Rebecca and Andrew Gould

Nicholas Gruy

Ashley and John Horstman

C. Birk Hutchens

Mariya Idenova

Jonathan Jan

Anna Kaplan

Allegra Lilly and Robin Kesselman

Stephanie Kimbrell and Joshua Allison

Laurel Flores, Communications Chair

Jeff Hiller, Membership Chair

Elaine and Jeff Hiller#

Mariana and James O. Huff III

Carey Kirkpatrick

Joel Luks

Elissa and Jarrod Martin

Kelser McMiller#

Shane Miller

Emily and Joseph MorrelPorter Hedges LLP

Stephanie Weber and Pau Muri

Serene Lee

Kirby and David Lodholz#

Gwen and Jay McMurrey

Miriam Meriwani

Zoe Miller

David Moyer

Trevor Myers

Lee Bar-Eli and Cliff Nash

Lauren Paine

Kusum and K. Cody Patel#

Blake Plaster

Clarice Jacobson and Brian Rosenzweig

Aprill Nelson#

Maxine Olefsky and Justin Kenney

Toni Oplt and Ed Schneider

Liana and Andrew Schwaitzberg#

Nadhisha and Dilanka Seimon

Aerin and Quentin Smith#

Justin Stenberg#

Ishwaria and Vivek Subbiah

Chicovia Scott

Carlos Sierra

Leonardo Soto

Maria Spadaro

Bryce Swinford

Elise Wagner#

Alexander Webb

Genevera Allen and Michael Weylandt

Hannah Whitney

Marquis Wincher

Kristin and Leonard Wood

Owen Zhang

For more information, please contact Katie Salvatore, Development Officer & Board Liaison, at katie.salvatore@houstonsymphony.org or 713.337.8544. # Steering Committee

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, and community engagement, for Greater Houston and the Gulf Coast Region.

CORPORATE PARTNERS (as of January 31, 2023)

Principal Corporate Guarantor ($250,000 and above)

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

Grand Guarantor ($150,000 and above)

ConocoPhillips**

Guarantor ($100,000 and above)

Bank of America

Boston Consulting Group*

Frost Bank

Underwriter ($50,000 and above)

Accordant Advisors*

Baker Botts L.L.P.*

Cameron Management*

Chevron**

CKP Group*

Engie**

Houston Christian University

Sponsor ($25,000 and above)

EOG Resources

The Events Company*

H-E-B/H-E-B Tournament of Champions**

Partner ($15,000 and above)

City Kitchen*

Faberge

Gorman’s Uniform Service

Supporter ($10,000 and above)

Houston First Corporation*

Macy’s**

Mark Kamin & Associates

New Timmy Chan Corporation

Benefactor ($5,000 and above)

Bank of Texas

Beck Redden LLP

BHP

Frankly Organic Vodka

Patron (Gifts below $5,000)

Amazon Baker Hughes

BeDESIGN*

Christian Dior

Gulf Coast Distillers *

Houston Public MediaNews 88.7 FM; Channel 8 PBS*

Houston Methodist* Kalsi Engineering PaperCity*

Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo**

Kinder Morgan Foundation** Kirkland & Ellis The Lancaster Hotel* Occidental** PNC**

Marine Foods Express, Ltd. Neiman Marcus* One Market Square Garage*

Jackson & Company* Locke Lord LLP

Nordstrom** Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe, L.L.P. Quantum Energy Partners

Mutiny Wine Room Russell Reynolds Associates, Inc. University of St. Thomas*

KPMG US Foundation, Inc. Mercantil ONEOK, Inc. Quantum Bass Center*

SEI, Global Institutional Group

For information on becoming a corporate partner, please contact Timothy Dillow, Director, Corporate Relations and Development Operations, at timothy.dillow@houstonsymphony.org or 713.337.8538.

KTRK ABC-13*

Shell USA, Inc.**

Rand Group, LLC*

Sewell

Truist

United Airlines* Vinson & Elkins LLP

Silver Eagle Distributors Houston, LLC

Univision Houston & Amor 06.5FM

Lockton Companies of Houston USI Southwest

Silver Eagle Beverages*

Sire Spirits

Beth Wolff Realtors

Zenfilm*

Wortham Insurance & Risk Management

Smith, Graham & Company

Stewart Title Company

TAM International, Inc.

*Includes in-kind support

**Education and Community Engagement Support

Corporate, Foundation & Government Partners

FOUNDATIONS & GOVERNMENT AGENCIES (as of January 31, 2023)

Diamond Guarantor ($1,000,000 and above)

The Brown Foundation, Inc. Houston Symphony Endowment**

Houston Symphony League

The Wortham Foundation, Inc.

The Alkek and Williams Foundation

Grand Guarantor ($150,000 and above)

Premier Guarantor ($500,000 and above) City of Houston through the Miller Theatre Advisory Board**

The Cullen Trust for the Performing Arts

Guarantor ($100,000 and above)

The Jerry C. Dearing Family Foundation

Underwriter ($50,000 and above)

Albert and Ethel Herzstein Charitable Foundation Beauchamp Foundation

The Elkins Foundation

Sponsor ($25,000 and above)

William S. & Lora Jean Kilroy Foundation

The Vivian L. Smith Foundation**

Partner ($15,000 and above)

Ruth & Ted Bauer Family Foundation**

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

Supporter ($10,000 and above)

Edward H. Andrews

The Carleen & Alde Fridge Foundation

Benefactor ($5,000 and above)

Leon Jaworski Foundation

Patron (Gifts below $5,000)

The Lubrizol Foundation

The Scurlock Foundation

City of Houston through Houston Arts Alliance

The Cullen Foundation

The Hearst Foundation**

The Humphreys Foundation MD Anderson Foundation National Endowment for the Arts

The Houston Arts Combined Endowment Fund

The Fondren Foundation Houston Symphony Chorus Endowment

LTR Lewis Cloverdale Foundation

The William Stamps Farish Fund

William E. & Natoma Pyle Harvey Charitable Foundation**

The Hood-Barrow Foundation

The Schissler Foundation

The Vaughn Foundation

George & Mary Josephine Hamman Foundation

Petrello Family Foundation

The Radoff Family Foundation

For information about becoming a foundation or government partner, please contact Christina Trunzo, Director, Foundation Relations, at christina.trunzo@houstonsymphony.org or 713.337.8530.

The C. Howard Pieper Foundation

Texas Commission on the Arts**

John P. McGovern Foundation** The Powell Foundation**

The Pierce Runnells Foundation

Sterling-Turner Foundation Strake Foundation**

Keith & Mattie Stevenson Foundation

**Education and Community Engagement Support

Houston Symphony Endowment

The Houston Symphony Endowment is organized and operated exclusively for the benefit of the Houston Symphony Society. Your contributions to the Endowment ensure the financial sustainability of your orchestra now and for generations to come.

A named endowed fund is a wonderful way to honor a loved one or to celebrate you and your family’s passion for the Houston Symphony. Named funds may be permanently established within the Houston Symphony Endowment with a minimum contribution of $250,000. Your fund can be designated for general purposes or specific interests.

One of the most impactful funds you can create is an Endowed Orchestra Chair. Opportunities to endow an Orchestral Chair begin at $1,000,000. Endowing a chair provides the Houston Symphony with funds to attract, retain, and support musicians of the highest caliber.

For more information about how you may support the Houston Symphony 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.

TRUSTEES

James H. Lee, President

David Krieger

ENDOWMENT FUNDS $250,000+

Janice H. and Thomas D. Barrow Chair

Brinton Averil Smith, Principal Cello

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

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

Lynn Mathre

Scott Wise

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

Joan and Marvin Kaplan Fund

Ellen E. Kelley Chair

Eric Halen, Co-Concertmaster

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

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

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

The Micijah S. Stude Special Production Fund

Bobby and Phoebe Tudor Fund

Margaret Alkek Williams Chair

John Mangum, Executive Director/CEO

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

William Dee Hunt

Jerome Simon

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 $100,000+ (as of January 31, 2023)

Dr. and Mrs. George J. Abdo

Priscilla R. Angly

Jonathan and Ann Ayre

Myra W. Barber

Janice Barrow*

Jim Barton

James Bell

Joe Anne Berwick*

Joan H. Bitar, MD

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

Farida Abjani

Dr. Antonio Arana*

Mr. and Mrs. Jeffrey B. Aron

George* and Betty Bashen

Dorothy B. Black*

Kerry Levine Bollmann

Ermy Borlenghi Bonfield

Zu Broadwater

Dr. Joan K. Bruchas* and Mr. H. Philip Cowdin*

Mr. Christopher and Mrs. Erin Brunner

Eugene R. Bruns

Cheryl and Sam* Byington

Sylvia J. Carroll

Dr. Robert N. Chanon

William J. Clayton and Margaret A. Hughes

Mr. and Mrs. Byron Cooley

The Honorable* and Mrs. William Crassas

Dr. Lida S. Dahm

Leslie Barry Davidson

Susan Feickert

Ginny Garrett

Mr. and Mrs. Harry H. Gendel

Michael B. George

Mauro H. Gimenez and Connie A. Coulomb

Bill Grieves*

Mr. Robert M. Griswold

Randolph Lee Groninger

Andria N. Elkins

Jean and Jack* Ellis

The Aubrey* and Sylvia Farb Family

Helen Hudspeth Flores*

Eugene Fong

Mrs. Aggie L. Foster

Stephen and Mariglyn Glenn

Evan B. Glick

Jo A. and Billie Jo Graves

Mario Gudmundsson

Deborah Happ and Richard Rost

Marilyn and Bob Hermance

Dr. Charles and Tammie Johnson

Dr. Rita Justice

Mr. and Mrs. U. J. LeGrange

Joella and Steven P. Mach

Martha and. Alexander Matiuk

Michelle and Jack Matzer

Claudio J. Gutiérrez

Mr. and Mrs. Jerry L. Hamaker

Gloria L. Herman*

Timothy Hogan and Elaine Anthony

Dr. Gary L. Hollingsworth

Dr. Edward J. and Mrs. Patti* Hurwitz

Dr. Kenneth Hyde

Brian and Catherine James

Barbara and Raymond Kalmans

Dr. James E. and Betty W. Key

Dr. and Mrs. I. Ray Kirk

Mrs. Frances E. Leland

Samuel J. Levine

Mrs. Lucy Lewis

Sandra Magers

David Ray Malone and David J. Sloat

Mr. and Mrs. Rodney H. Margolis

Jay and Shirley* Marks

James G. Matthews

Mary Ann and David McKeithan

Dr. Tracey Samuels and Mr. Robert McNamara

Mr. and Mrs. D. Bradley McWilliams

Dr. and Mrs. Malcolm L. Mazow

Bill and Karinne McCullough

Muffy and Mike McLanahan

Dr. Georgette M. Michko

Dr. Robert M. Mihalo*

Mr. and Mrs. Marvin H. Mueller

Drs. John and Dorothy Oehler

Gloria G. Pryzant

Constance E. Roy

Donna Scott

Charles and Andrea Seay

Mr. and Mrs. James A. Shaffer

Michael J. Shawiak

Jule* and Albert* Smith

Louis* and Mary Kay Snyder

Ronald Mikita* & Rex Spikes

Catherine Jane Merchant*

Marilyn Ross Miles and Stephen Warren Miles Foundation

Sidney and Ione Moran

Janet Moynihan*

Richard and Juliet Moynihan

Gretchen Ann Myers

Patience Myers

John N. Neighbors* in memory of Jean Marie Neighbors

Mr.* and Mrs. Richard C. Nelson

Bobbie Newman

John and Leslie Niemand

Leslie Nossaman

Dave G. Nussmann*

John Onstott

Macky Osorio

Edward C. Osterberg Jr.

Mr. and Mrs. Edmund and Megan Pantuliano

Imogen “Immy”

Papadopoulos

Christine and Red Pastorek

Peter* and Nina Peropoulos

Linda Tarpley Peterson

Sara M. Peterson

Darla Powell Phillips

Jenny and Tadjin Popatia

Geraldine Smith Priest

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

Mike and Anita* Stude

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 (2)

Dana Puddy

Patrick T. Quinn

Lila Rauch

Ed and Janet Rinehart

Mr. Floyd W. Robinson

Walter Ross

Dr. and Mrs. Kazuo Shimada

Lisa and Jerry Simon

Tad and Suzanne Smith

Sherry Snyder

Marie Speziale

Emily H. and David K. Terry

Stephen G. Tipps

Steve Tostengard, in memory of Ardyce Tostengard

Jana Vander Lee

Bill and Agnete Vaughan

Dean B. Walker

Stephen and Kristine Wallace

Geoffrey Westergaard

Nancy B. Willerson

Jennifer R. Wittman

Lorraine and Ed* Wulfe

David and Tara Wuthrich

Katherine and Mark Yzaguirre

Anonymous (8) *Deceased

Musician Sponsorships

Donors at the Sponsorship Circle level and above are provided the opportunity to be recognized as sponsoring a Houston Symphony Musician.

For more information, please contact Christine Ann Stevens, Director of Major Gifts, at christine.stevens@houstonsymphony.org or 713.337.8521.

Dr. Saúl and Ursula Balagura Charles Seo, Cello

Janice Barrow*

Sophia Silivos, First Violin

Gary and Marian Beauchamp/ The Beauchamp Foundation

Martha Chapman, Second Violin

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

Ralph Burch

Robin Kesselman, Principal Double Bass

Barbara J. Burger

Andrew Pedersen, Double Bass

Mary Kathryn Campion, PhD 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

Assistant Principal Viola

Virginia A. Clark

Christian Harvey, Shepherd School-Houston

Symphony Brown Foundation CommunityEmbedded Fellow

Roger and Debby Cutler

Tong Yan, First Violin

Joan and Bob Duff

Robert Johnson, Associate Principal Horn

Steve and Mary Gangelhoff

Judy Dines, Flute

Stephen and Mariglyn Glenn

Christian Schubert, Clarinet

Evan B. Glick

Tong Yan, First Violin

Suzan and Julius Glickman

Thomas LeGrand, Associate Principal Clarinet and E-flat Clarinet

Mr. and Mrs. Fred L. Gorman

Christopher French, Associate Principal Cello

Mark and Ragna Henrichs

Donald Howey, Double Bass

Gary L. Hollingsworth and Kenneth J. Hyde

Robert Walp, Assistant Principal Trumpet

Drs. M.S. and Marie-Luise Kalsi

Eric Halen, Co-Concertmaster

Joan Kaplan

Mark Nuccio, Principal Clarinet

Dr. Sippi and Mr. Ajay Khurana

David Connor, Double Bass –Community-Embedded

Musician

Dr. and Mrs. I. Ray Kirk

John C. Parker, Associate Principal Trumpet

Rochelle* and Max Levit

Sergei Galperin, First Violin

Cora Sue and Harry* Mach

Joan DerHovsepian, Acting Principal Viola

Joella and Steven P. Mach

Eric Larson, Double Bass

Mrs. Carolyn and Dr. Michael Mann

Ian Mayton, Horn

Mr. and Mrs. Rodney H. Margolis

Eric Halen, Co-Concertmaster

Mr. and Mrs. J. Stephen Marks

Brian Del Signore, Principal Percussion

Mr. Jay Marks

Sergei Galperin, First Violin

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

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

Gloria and Joe Pryzant

Matthew Strauss, 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

Mrs. Sybil F. Roos

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

Margaret and Joel Shannon

Rainel Joubert, Violin–Community-Embedded Musician

Tad and Suzanne Smith

Marina Brubaker, First Violin

Alana R. Spiwak and Sam L. Stolbun

Wei Jiang, Acting Associate Principal Viola

Mike Stude

Brinton Averil Smith, Principal Cello

Bobby and Phoebe Tudor

Bradley White, Acting Principal Trombone

Judith Vincent

Matthew Roitstein, Associate Principal Flute

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

Position Open, Harp

Robert G. Weiner and Toni Blankman

Anastasia Ehrlich, Second Violin

Vicki West

Rodica Gonzalez, First Violin

Steven and Nancy Williams

MiHee Chung, First Violin

Jeanie Kilroy Wilson and Wallace S. Wilson

Xiao Wong, Cello

Nina and Michael Zilkha

Kurt Johnson, First Violin

This has been an exciting season at the Symphony! With the arrival of Music Director and Roy and Lillie Cullen Chair Juraj Valčuha, the orchestra has never sounded better. Renewing your gift to the annual fund today ensures that this season not only celebrates this new era but continues our tradition of artistic brilliance. When you give to the Symphony, your support helps us:

• Attract and retain the world’s finest talent to our orchestra.

• Perform dynamic in-person Classical, Bank of America POPS, PNC Family, and Special concerts on stage at Jones Hall at an extraordinary level of artistic excellence.

• Continue presenting our digital content, including livestream performances of Classical and Bank of America POPS series concerts.

• Continue to grow our industry-leading Education & Community Engagement initiatives, serving even more people across the Greater Houston area.

• And much more!

IT’S A NEW ERA AT THE HOUSTON SYMPHONY!

To make a gift to the Annual Fund, visit houstonsymphony.org/donate or scan here:

For more information about the Annual Fund, contact Tim Richey, Director of Individual Giving, at Tim.Richey@houstonsymphony.org or at 713.337.8531.

LEGACY SOCIETY

When you include the Houston Symphony Endowment in your will or estate plans, you create a level of sustainability that ensures beautiful music for future generations. We will celebrate your generosity by inviting you to join the Legacy Society where you will join friends who share your passion for the orchestra and want to have a meaningful impact on the future of your Houston Symphony.

To become a member of the Legacy Society, let the Houston Symphony know we are included in your estate plans!

If you’re like us, the Houston Symphony has become a part of your extended family. The joy of attending performances, being involved as patrons, and developing lifelong friendships has enriched our lives. When you join the Legacy Society, you’ll be joining a growing group of friends dedicated to ensuring great classical music continues for the Houston community.

There are many ways to create an estate gift, but a few of the most popular include naming the Houston Symphony Endowment as a beneficiary of your:

• Will or Living Trust

• Life Insurance Policy

• Charitable Remainder Trust

• IRA or other Qualified Retirement Plan

• Donor Advised Fund

As a Legacy Society member, you will enjoy extra benefits that enhance your Symphony experience, including:

• Recognition (if desired) in our monthly InTune Magazine and on the Legacy Society website

• An invitation to the annual Legacy Society Luncheon

• Admission to the Houston Symphony’s Patron Lounge

• VIP ticketing services

Please contact Hadia Mawlawi at 713.337.8532 or Hadia.Mawlawi@HoustonSymphony.org for more information on creating your legacy gift and becoming a member of the Legacy Society or scan here to request information

DISCLAIMER: You may find that including bequest in your estate planning provides tax and income benefits to you and your family. Before you decide on your gift, please consult your own legal and financial advisors. The information on this page does not constitute legal or tax advice.

Betty and Jesse Tutor Legacy Society Chairs

Meet the musician:

KEONI BOLDING

Viola

Hometown: Telford, Pennsylvania

Hi everyone!

Even though music is all I ever think about, I actually come from a family of software programmers and dairy goat farmers. My younger brother plays cello, and I love jamming with him when we’re both back at home on our family’s Pennsylvania farm. When I’m not playing music I like to hike, swim, rock climb, go to museums, and play disc golf.

How did you get started playing your instrument?

I saw a violinist on TV when I was three and asked my parents if they could buy me a violin. When they said no, I asked my grandmother who said yes on the condition that it was all right with my parents. Naturally, I lied to her and said it was. So one day I came home from Grandma’s house with an itsy bitsy 1/16th size violin. Years later in college, I began really craving that rich inner voice in string quartets, and my life as a violist began.

What concert are you looking forward to performing the most this season?

Rachmaninoff’s Third Piano Concerto without a doubt. I was playing as a substitute in the back of the New York Phil’s viola section that week in March of 2020 when COVID-19 swallowed the country whole. On that infamous Thursday, the concert was cancelled several hours before showtime, and we never performed the piece. So I cannot wait to dive back into that rapturous counterpoint in January!

What is your favorite piece of music?

This is an impossibly tough question for me since I am someone who falls head over heels in love with a new piece every other week. If I had to pick only one, I suppose it would have to be Schoenberg’s ‘ Transfigured Night.’ This work is staggeringly brilliant, but so heartfelt as well. It certainly has claimed an enduring special place in my heart.

Outside of classical music, what genre of music is your favorite?

Looking at my Spotify “wrapped,” it has contemporary jazz, garage rock, neo r&b, bossa nova, indie soul, rap & hip hop, chill wave, folk, psychedelic rock, world music, and probably a lot more. I’m gonna have to call a massive multi-way tie.

Practicing violin at age 5 in my favorite Buzz Lightyear pajamas.

My parents, brother, and grandma on the family farm last winter in Telford, PA.

Houston Symphony

Jones Hall – 615 Louisiana Street houstonsymphony.org