InTune | June + July 2023

InTUNE

Miller Outdoor Theatre: Beethoven Symphony No. 7

Miller Outdoor Theatre: Prokofiev Symphony No. 7

Miller Outdoor Theatre: Star-Spangled Salute

welcome to the houston symphony

Dear Music Lovers,

Welcome to the Houston Symphony’s Truist Summer Symphony Nights at Miller Outdoor Theatre. This year, Miller celebrates its 100 th anniversary. The Houston Symphony has been performing here since August 21, 1940. On that night, then-Music Director Ernst Hoffmann led 45 members of the Houston Symphony—all that would fit on the Miller stage at the time—in a program of popular classics, including the waltz Wine, Women, and Song by Johann Strauss, Jr.; the “Dance of the Hours” from La Gioconda; Wagner’s Tannhäuser Overture; and Sibelius’s Finlandia

That first concert had been a gamble, a $600 wager, to be exact—the cost of the musicians and production for a night at Miller all those years ago. Hubert Roussel had written a column about this new venture in the Houston Post, and N.D. Naman, a financier and long-standing supporter of classical music in the city, offered a check for $1,000 to cover the costs, as well as anything unexpected that might come up.

The gamble was a smashing success. More than 15,000 people showed up, and a summer tradition was born. That audience also donated an additional $800 to support the venture. Then, as now, the concerts were free, supported in large part by philanthropy.

This summer, we have some incredible concerts planned. Our four classical programs feature some of the cornerstones of the repertoire—symphonies and concertos by Beethoven, Gershwin, and Prokofiev—conducted by a group of exciting young conductors, all making their Symphony debuts, and played by soloists from around the world and from your own Houston Symphony. And, after a three-year, pandemic-induced hiatus, we’re back for our StarSpangled Salute on the Fourth of July!

I want to thank Truist for returning as sponsor of Summer Symphony Nights this year. And if you’d like to follow the inspiring example of that Miller audience from the Symphony’s first performance, I invite you to text “MUSIC” to 41444 and make a donation to support your Houston Symphony. Our free community engagement and education programming—of which our Miller series is a crown jewel—serves more than 200,000 Houstonians each year. Thank you for being here, and for helping to make what we do possible.

All my best,

Executive Director/CEO

Margaret Alkek Williams Chair

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone™ in Concert

July 14, 15 & 22

Star Wars: A New Hope in Concert

July 28 & 29

Blockbuster Broadway with Norm Lewis

September 22 & 23

Ravel’s Daphnis and Chloe

September 29 & 30

Ravel’s Daphnis and Chloe

October 1

Lang Lang

October 6

Seong-Jin Cho Plays Ravel

October 7 & 8

Barber’s Violin Concerto + Duke Ellington

October 13, 14 & 15

GO NOW!

A Tribute to The Moody Blues

October 27, 28 & 29

Halloween Spooktacular for Kids

October 28

Valčuha Conducts Rachmaninoff

November 10, 11 & 12

Valčuha Conducts Ravel’s La valse

November 17, 18 & 19

“I Will Survive”—Diva Legends

November 24, 25 & 26

Andrés Returns

December 1, 2 & 3

Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas

December 9 & 10

Duke Ellington’s Nutcracker

December 12

Handel’s Messiah

December 15, 16 & 17

Very Merry POPS

December 20, 21, 22 & 23

Holly Jolly Holiday

December 23

Swingin’ Sinatra:

A New Year’s Celebration

January 5, 6 & 7

Mendelssohn’s Scottish Symphony + Yoonshin Song

January 12, 13 & 14

Takemitsu + Brahms’s Requiem

January 19, 20 & 21

Víkingur Ólafsson Plays Bach

January 28

Jazz, Love & Gershwin: A Century of Rhapsody in Blue

February 2, 3 & 4

Get Up and Dance!

February 3

Perlman Conducts Tchaikovsky 5

February 8, 10 & 11

Eschenbach Conducts Bruckner 8

February 24 & 25

At Last! A Tribute to Etta James

March 1, 2 & 3

Valčuha Conducts Mahler 6

March 15, 16 & 17

Mozart + Beethoven’s Eroica

March 22, 23 & 24

Romeo and Juliet +

Dvořák’s Cello Concerto

March 29 & 30

21st Century Broadway

April 5, 6 & 7

I’m a Superhero!

April 6

Carmina burana

April 26, 27 & 28

Pines of Rome +

Grieg’s Piano Concerto

May 2, 4 & 5

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets™ in Concert

May 10 & 11

Itzhak Perlman: In the Fiddler’s House

May 12

The Music of Star Wars

May 17, 18 & 19

Adams’s El Niño

May 25 & 26

An Alpine Symphony

June 1 & 2

Salome in Concert

June 7 & 9

Classical Series

Bank of America POPS Series

S Summer & Specials

PNC Family Series

houstonsymphony.org

713.224.7575

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

SECOND VIOLIN

MuChen Hsieh, Principal

Amy Semes

Annie Kuan-Yu Chen

Mihaela Frusina

Jing Zheng

Martha Chapman*

Tianjie Lu

Anastasia Ehrlich

Tina Zhang

Boson Mo

Teresa Wang+

Samuel Park+

VIOLA

Joan DerHovsepian, Principal

Wei Jiang, Acting Associate Principal

Sheldon Person

Fay Shapiro

Keoni Bolding

Samuel Pedersen

Meredith Harris+

CELLO

Brinton Averil Smith, Principal

Janice H. and Thomas D. 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

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

STAGE PERSONNEL

Stefan Stout, Stage Manager

José Rios, Assistant Stage Manager

Nicholas DiFonzo, Justin Herriford, and Connor Morrow, Stage Technicians

Giancarlo Minotti, Recording Assistant

CONTRABASSOON

Adam Trussell

HORN

William VerMeulen, Principal

Mr. and Mrs. Alexander K. McLanahan

Endowed Chair

Robert Johnson, Associate Principal

Nathan Cloeter, Assistant Principal

Brian Thomas

Brian Mangrum

Ian Mayton

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

Allegra Lilly, Principal

KEYBOARD

Scott Holshouser, Principal

LIBRARIAN

Jeanne Case, Principal

*on leave + contracted substitute

THANK YOU to our sponsors

SEASON SPONSORS

SERIES SPONSORS

Juraj valČuha

Roy and Lillie Cullen Chair

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 first guest conductor of the Konzerthausorchester Berlin. From 2016–2022, he was Music Director of the Teatro di San Carlo, Naples. 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

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 took 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 conducted 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

SOCIETY BOARD OF TRUSTEES

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

Barbara J. Burger President

Janet F. Clark Chair

John Rydman Immediate Past President

Mike S. Stude Chairman Emeritus

Paul Morico General Counsel

Barbara McCelvey Secretary

John Mangum^ Executive Director/CEO

Margaret Alkek Williams 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

Mary Lynn Marks Chair, Volunteers & Special Events

Robert Orr Chair, Strategic Planning

Ed Schneider Chair, Community Partnerships

John Rydman Chair, Artistic & Orchestra Affairs

Jesse B. Tutor Chair, Audit

Steven P. Mach ^ Immediate Past Chairman

Bobby Tudor^ At-Large Member

Mary Fusillo^ 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

Sherry Rodriguez^ Assistant Secretary ^Ex-Officio

GOVERNING DIRECTORS

Jonathan Ayre

Gary Beauchamp

Eric Brueggeman

Bill Bullock

Barbara J. Burger

Janet F. Clark

Lidiya Gold

Claudio Gutiérrez

William D. Hunt

Rick Jaramillo

Sippi Khurana, M.D.

Carey Kirkpatrick

Kenny Kurtzman

Cindy Levit

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**

Anthony Speier

William J. Toomey II

Bobby Tudor **

Betty Tutor **

Jesse B. Tutor **

Gretchen Watkins

Robert Weiner

Margaret Alkek Williams **

EX-OFFICIO

Mary Fusillo

Brad W. Corson

Manuel Delgado

Joan DerHovsepian

Evan B. Glick

Mark Hughes

James H. Lee

Steven P. Mach

John Mangum

Mark Nuccio

Sherry Rodriguez

Ed Schneider

Adam Trussell

Juraj Valčuha

TRUSTEES

David J. Beck

James M. Bell Jr.

Carrie Brandsberg-Dahl

Nancy Shelton Bratic

Terry Ann Brown**

Lindsay Buchanan

Ralph Burch

Dougal Cameron

John T. Cater**

Robert Chanon

Michael H. Clark

Virginia Clark

Evan D. Collins, M.D., MBA

Brad W. Corson

Andrew Davis, Ph.D.

Denise Davis

Manuel Delgado

Tracy Dieterich

Connie Dyer

Joan Duff

Jeffrey B. Firestone

Eugene A. Fong

Aggie L. Foster

Julia Anderson Frankel

Ronald G. Franklin

Carolyn Gaidos

Evan B. Glick

Gary L. Hollingsworth

Brian James

I. Ray Kirk, M.D.

David Krieger

Ulyesse J. LeGrange**

Matthew Loden

Steven P. Mach

Michael Mann, M.D.

Jack Matzer

Jackie Wolens Mazow

Alexander K. McLanahan**

Marilyn Miles

Aprill Nelson

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

Tammy Tran Nguyen

Leslie Nossaman

Edward Osterberg Jr.

Zeljko Pavlovic

Gloria G. Pryzant

Miwa Sakashita

Ed Schneider

Andrew Schwaitzberg

Helen Shaffer**

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

Jim R. Smith

Miles O. Smith**

Quentin Smith

Mike S. Stude **

Ishwaria Subbiah, M.D.

Shirley W. Toomim

Margaret Waisman, M.D.

Fredric A. Weber

Vicki West

Steven J. Williams

David J. Wuthrich

Ellen A. Yarrell

EX-OFFICIO

John Steven Cisneros, Ed.D

Juan Zane Crawford

Kirby Lodholz

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

Jesse B. Tutor

Robert B. Tudor III

Robert A. Peiser

Steven P. Mach

Janet F. Clark

John Rydman

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

Dr. Susan Snider Osterberg

Dr. Kelli Cohen Fein

Vicki West

Mrs. Jesse Tutor

Darlene Clark

Beth Wolff

Maureen Higdon

Fran Fawcett Peterson

Leslie Siller

Cheryl Byington

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

Alex Canales, Development Ticket Concierge

Timothy Dillow, Senior Director, Development

Amanda T. Dinitz, Senior Major Gifts Officer

Zitlaly Jimenez, Annual Fund Manager

Karyn Mason, Development Officer

Hadia Mawlawi, Senior Associate, Endowment and Planned Giving

Meghan Miller, Special Events Associate

Emilie Moellmer, Development Associate, Gifts & Records

Chelsea Murray, Senior Development Associate, Administration

Tim Richey, Director, Individual Giving

Sherry Rodriguez, Corporate Relations Manager & Board Liaison

Katie Salvatore, Development Officer

Christine Ann Stevens, Senior Director, Development

Lena Streetman, Manager, Research and Development Operations

Stacey Swift, Director, Special Events

Sarah Thompson, Institutional Giving Associate

Christina Trunzo, Director, Foundation Relations

Alexa Ustaszewski, Major Gifts Officer

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

Olivia Allred, Education and Community Engagement Coordinator

Jarrett Bastow, Education Manager

Pam Blaine, Chief of Education and Community Engagement

Allison Conlan, Director, Community Engagement Marketing and Communications

Mark Bailes, Marketing Revenue Manager

Olivia Cantrell, Content Marketing 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

Mariah Martinez, Email Marketing Coordinator

Eric Skelly, Senior Director, Communications Patron Services

Freddie Piegsa, Patron Experience Coordinator

Ashlan Walker, 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

Suré Eloff, Chorus Manager

Michael Gorman, Orchestra Personnel Manager

Nick Kemp, Artistic Operations Assistant

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

Most Iconic Residences

Luxury Living In The Heart of Houston’s Theater District

A one-of-a-kind living experience from studio residences to sky-high penthouses that balance modern luxury and classic comfort.

marketsquaretower.com

Leasing office: 713.777.7000

June 6-24, 2023 at the Moores School of Music

Sharon Ley Lietzow Piano Series

Tuesdays, 7:30 pm, Dudley Recital Hall

• June 6 Vadym Kholodenko Recital

• June 13 Awadagin Pratt Recital

• June 20 Amy Yang Recital

Faculty Chamber Music Series

Thursdays, 7:30 pm, Dudley Recital Hall

• June 8, 15, 22

Festival Orchestra Series

Saturdays, 7:30 pm, Moores Opera House

• June 10 Franz Anton Krager, conductor Vadym Kholodenko, piano soloist

• June 17 Gerard Schwarz, conductor

• June 24 Andrew Grams, conductor Mitchell–Hogg Competition Winner, soloist

Cynthia Woods Mitchell–Ima Hogg

Young Artist Competition Final Round

• Sunday, June 11, 2 pm, Dudley Recital Hall

Featured Program

MILLER OUTDOOR THEATRE: Beethoven symphony no. 7

*Vinay Parameswaran, conductor Sergei Galperin, violin

0:11 A. CLYNE – This Midnight Hour

0:07 BLOCH – Baal Shem, Suite for Violin and Orchestra

II. Nigun (Improvisation)

0:10 RAVEL – Tzigane for Violin and Orchestra

INTERMISSION

0:36 BEETHOVEN – Symphony No. 7 in A major, Opus 92

I. Poco sostenuto—Vivace

II. Allegretto

III. Presto—Assai meno presto—Presto

IV. Allegro con brio

*Houston Symphony debut

Presented By:

About the Music

Friday, June 30 Miller Outdoor Theatre

8:30 p.m.

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS

Program Insight

City of Houston through the Miller Theatre Advisory Board Guarantor

The Houston Symphony's Miller Outdoor Theatre concerts are endowed by The Brown Foundation, Inc. in memory of Stewart and Hanni Orton

The Houston Symphony's sound shell ceiling is made possible through the generosity of the Beauchamp Foundation and the Fondren Foundation

The Houston Symphony is truly an ensemble of virtuosos, and it is always an exciting event when one of our musicians steps into the spotlight. This evening, the Houston Symphony’s own violinist Sergei Galperin takes a solo turn in a program of rhythmic, dancing works led by American conductor Vinay Parameswaran. Composed in 2015, Anna Clyne’s This Midnight Hour has swept through the world’s concert halls with music inspired by the poetry of Juan Ramón Jiménez and Charles Baudelaire. Galperin then takes the stage in two virtuoso showpieces for violin and orchestra. The "Nigun" from Bloch’s Baal Shem Suite evokes the ecstatic sound world of music from the Hasidic Jewish tradition, while Ravel’s Tzigane draws inspiration from the irresistible music of the Roma people. The program concludes with Beethoven’s sunny Seventh Symphony, each movement of which is based on a single, characteristic rhythm. The symphony’s haunting "Allegretto" has become especially famous, frequently underscoring dramatic scenes in films and television programs such as Westworld, X-Men: Apocalypse, and The King’s Speech. —Calvin Dotsey

Program Notes

A. CLYNE

This Midnight Hour (2015)

The opening to This Midnight Hour is inspired by the character and power of the lower strings of l’Orchestre national d’Île-de-France. From here, it draws inspiration from two poems—one by Charles Baudelaire and another by Juan Ramón Jiménez. Whilst it is not intended to depict a specific narrative, my intention is that it will evoke a visual journey for the listener. —Anna Clyne

Program Notes

BLOCH

Baal Shem, Suite for Violin and Orchestra, II. Nigun (Improvisation) (1923)

Born in Switzerland, Ernst Bloch began his musical studies in Geneva before continuing in Brussels, where in addition to composition he studied violin performance with Eugène Ysaÿe. As Bloch matured as a composer, he increasingly drew inspiration from his Jewish heritage, developing a unique musical voice. In 1916, he relocated to New York and soon attained a teaching position at the Mannes School of Music. In 1920, he became the founding director of the Cleveland Institute of Music. Composed in 1923, his Baal Shem Suite dates from this period and was written for his friend and fellow Swiss musician, the violinist André de Ribaupierre.

According to Bloch’s daughter, Suzanne, “The Baal Shem pieces [...] were disapproved of by many of Bloch's friends. They felt that he was slipping.” Presumably, they disapproved of the lighter, more popular style of Baal Shem relative to the serious, intellectual style Bloch typically employed. Not everyone viewed the work this way, however; Suzanne Bloch notes, “Bloch dedicated the work to the memory of his mother, who, though having had little knowledge of serious music, would have understood these pieces and liked their titles,” and “He enjoyed telling the story of his visit to the office of Carl Fischer who was to be the publisher of the music. After he and Ribaupierre had finished playing the Suite, Fischer got up excitedly, slapped Bloch on the back and exclaimed, ‘Now, Bloch, you are improving and really getting somewhere.’” Indeed, although originally conceived for violin and piano, the work proved so popular that Bloch orchestrated it in 1939.

Although Baal Shem consists of virtuoso showpieces of a popular character, Bloch was staunch in defending its musical integrity, and the work draws deep inspiration from the composer’s Jewish roots. The title derives from Baal Shem Tov, meaning “Master of the Good Name,” an honorific applied to Israel ben Eliezer (c.1700–1760), a charismatic faith healer and the founder of the Hasidic movement. Eliezer famously preached an ecstatic, mystical interpretation of Judaism and advocated connecting with the divine through music and dance. Throughout Baal Shem, his character and the rich musical tradition he inspired provided fodder for Bloch’s imagination.

The second movement of Baal Shem, " Nigun" is frequently excerpted as a stand-alone piece. “Nigun” is Hebrew for melody, but, in the words of scholar Andrew Knapp, “in the specifically Hasidic context, it refers to a highly distinctive genre of songs, [...] the purpose of which is to transport both performer and listener to transcendental realms of spirituality.” Although some nigunim can be vocal, they frequently use nonsense syllables like scat singing in jazz. Structurally, Bloch’s Nigun follows an ABA pattern: true to the piece’s subtitle, it opens with free, expressive music in the style of an improvisation. The middle section features more structured, tuneful melodies introduced by woodwinds then developed by the soloist. A varied reprise of the opening improvisatory music then returns, dying away to a transfixing ending. —Calvin Dotsey

Program Notes

RAVEL

Tzigane for Violin and Orchestra (1924)

During the early 1920s, Maurice Ravel made several concert tours to England. Following one of his public appearances in July 1922, there was a private musicale where the composer met the young Hungarian violinist, Jelly d’Arányi, who was the grand-niece of famed 19th-century violinist Joseph Joachim. Ravel scholar Arbie Ornstein recounts a story told by Gaby Casadesus, that Ravel repeatedly asked the violinist to play gypsy melodies—all night long; in fact, until the exhausted partygoers finally went home at 5 a.m.!

The seed of Ravel’s Tzigane was evidently sown in his mind that night, though this gypsy rhapsody did not take shape until two years later. Like many of Ravel’s orchestral compositions, Tzigane originated with a keyboard accompaniment. Later that year, it was transcribed into the orchestral version heard tonight.

The piece opens with a long, slow, guttural solo passage, the first half of which is played on the low G string of the violin. It continues through a gauntlet of other technical challenges before the tempo picks up speed and the orchestra joins. Several of the thematic ideas presented in the opening violin solo are taken up and modified during later sections. The work comes to its climax in a long perpetual-motion coda.

—Carl R. Cunningham

BEETHOVEN

Symphony No. 7 in A major, Opus 92 (1811–12)

Begun in the autumn of 1811, Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony was completed by the following summer and premiered to great public acclaim in December 1813; it has enjoyed remarkable popularity ever since.

Among the most high-spirited of Beethoven’s works, the symphony is notable for the prominent role rhythm plays throughout: characteristic rhythmic motifs pervade each movement. In this regard, Beethoven’s pupil Carl Czerny suggested the composer was inspired by the metrical patterns of Classical poetry. Alternatively, Wagner declared this symphony “the apotheosis of the dance.” Commentators have also noted its often-rustic character; perhaps Beethoven was influenced by his concurrent project of arranging Scottish, Irish, and Welsh folksongs at the behest of Edinburgh-based publisher George Thomson.

The first movement begins with a portentous introduction: after a series of opening chords, powerful rising scales alternate with a lyrical melody introduced by the oboe. The introduction fades away on a repeated note, which soon articulates the jiglike rhythm that dominates the rest of the movement. Creating a pastoral atmosphere, the flute introduces a dancing main theme. Listen for the grand pauses Beethoven uses to mark important turning points in the music.

Perhaps the most enthralling of all Beethoven’s symphonic movements, the following “Allegretto” has always made a profound impression. Three years after the Symphony’s premiere, one critic wrote that it “speaks inwardly even to those who have no training in music; by means of its naïveté and a certain secret magic it irresistibly overcomes them […]” After a mysterious introductory chord in the woodwinds, the lower strings intone the incantatory rhythm that continues throughout. As more instruments enter, this idea grows in power, until the woodwinds

Program Notes

BEETHOVEN

Symphony No. 7 in A major, Opus 92 (1811–12)

Program Bios

introduce a more lyrical, contrasting theme. These two ideas alternate, reaching a climax and fading away.

In the third movement, a playful opening section alternates with a slower, songlike theme that may have been based on an Austrian pilgrim’s hymn. The festive finale has a direct connection with Beethoven’s aforementioned folksong project; at the end of his arrangement of the Irish folksong “Save me from the grave and wise,” Beethoven appended a short coda that bears a striking resemblance to the main theme of this movement. Interestingly, the song’s final verse contains the lines “Hence with wisdom, dull and drear,/And welcome folly and adventure:/Cease my song—a sound I hear/ The planxty [a dance tune] comes—the dancers enter.” Perhaps the finale is this merry dance. —Calvin Dotsey

where he was assistant conductor from 2018 and promoted to associate conductor in 2021. During this period, he conducted many concerts each season at Severance Hall, Blossom Music Festival, and on tour.

Vinay

Parameswaran, conductor

Internationally recognized for his energetic presence, imaginative programming, and compelling musicianship, Vinay Parameswaran is one of the most exciting and versatile young conductors on the podium today.

Highlights of the 2022–23 Season include his debut with the Charlotte Symphony and return appearances with the Nashville Symphony and Rochester Philharmonic orchestras. He also conducted a series of education concerts with the Chicago Symphony. In the 2021–22 Season, he concluded five seasons with the Cleveland Orchestra,

During his three seasons as associate conductor of the Nashville Symphony, Vinay led more than 150 performances, which included his subscription debut with the orchestra in 2016 –17, conducting works by Gabriella Smith, Grieg, and Prokofiev. Other highlights have included debuts with the Pittsburgh Symphony, Detroit Symphony, National Symphony, North Carolina Symphony, and Milwaukee Symphony orchestras.

Equally at home in both symphonic and operatic repertoire, Vinay has led performances of Mozart’s The Magic Flute and Donizetti’s The Elixir of Love with Curtis Opera Theater. In Cleveland, he has assisted Franz Welser-Möst on productions of Verdi’s Otello, Janáček’s The Cunning Little Vixen, Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde, and Strauss’s Ariadne auf Naxos.

A native of the San Francisco Bay Area, Vinay graduated with honors from Brown University with bachelor’s degrees in music and political science. At Brown, he began his conducting studies with Paul Phillips. He received an artist diploma in conducting from the Curtis Institute of Music, where he studied with Otto-Werner Mueller as the Albert M. Greenfield Fellow. He was a conducting fellow at the Tanglewood Music Center and a recipient of a Career Assistance Award by the Solti Foundation U.S. in May 2021. 

Sergei Galperin, violin

A native of Moscow, Russia, Sergei Galperin began violin studies at

Program Bios

age five and soon gave his first public performance in the Concert Hall of the Moscow Conservatory.

After his studies at the Moscow Conservatory, Sergei received his bachelor and master’s degrees from The Juilliard School, where he was a full scholarship student in the class of Dorothy DeLay and Hyo Kang. He earned artist diplomas from Indiana University and Peabody Conservatory.

Sergei made his American solo orchestral debut in 1982 at age 16, playing the Wieniawski Violin Concerto with the Symphony Orchestra of New York at Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Hall. He has also performed as a soloist with the Houston Symphony in its Educational and POPS Series, as well as with the Indiana University, Aspen Symphony, and Dallas Festival Orchestras.

As a winner of Artist International auditions, Sergei made his New York solo recital debut in 1988 at the Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall. After winning New York's National Arts Club Competition in 1987, he was featured in recital on live ABC and PBS news shows. Subsequently, he appeared in recital at Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully and Merkin Concert Halls. In 1993, he won an honorable mention award as a finalist of a prestigious Concert Artist Guild competition in New York.

A first violinist of the Houston Symphony, Sergei has served as concertmaster for the Rochester Philharmonic, as well as the Adelaide Symphony in Australia. Before coming to Houston, Sergei was a member of the Pittsburgh Symphony and has worked with

the Chicago and Baltimore symphony orchestras; Grant Park, Aspen, and Grand Teton festival orchestras; A. Schneider String Seminar; and Taos Chamber Music Festival. He has toured in Australia, Malaysia, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Brazil, Argentina, and Europe, including festivals in Lucerne, Berlin, Vienna, Copenhagen, and Edinburgh. In the United States, he has performed at Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center, in addition to venues in Boston, Chicago, Pittsburgh, Houston, Philadelphia, and many others.

Sergei has served as a faculty member at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, the University of St. Thomas, and the Indiana University School of Music. 

Featured Program

MILLER OUTDOOR THEATRE: Prokofiev Symphony No. 7

0:05 L. BOULANGER – D'un matin de printemps (Of a Spring Morning), LB 41C

0:31 GERSHWIN – Piano Concerto in F

I. Allegro

II. Adagio—Andante con moto

III. Allegro agitato

INTERMISSION

0:31 PROKOFIEV – Symphony No. 7 in C-sharp minor, Opus 131

I. Moderato

II. Allegretto

III. Andante espressivo

IV. Vivace

*Houston Symphony debut

Presented By:

About the Music

Saturday, July 1

Miller Outdoor Theatre

8:30 p.m.

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS

Program Insight

City of Houston through the Miller Theatre Advisory Board Guarantor

The Houston Symphony's Miller Outdoor Theatre concerts are endowed by The Brown Foundation, Inc. in memory of Stewart and Hanni Orton

The Houston Symphony's sound shell ceiling is made possible through the generosity of the Beauchamp Foundation and the Fondren Foundation

This evening, British conductor Alpesh Chauhan makes his Houston Symphony debut at Miller Outdoor Theatre with a diverse program of 20th-century classics. One of the most gifted composers of her generation, Lili Boulanger suffered from a lifelong illness, tragically passing away at the age of just 24. The lovely Of a Spring Morning is one of her last completed works. Pianist Clayton Stephenson then joins the orchestra for his Houston Symphony debut with Gershwin’s jazzy Concerto in F, which opens with the swinging rhythms of the Charleston. The program concludes with Prokofiev’s final masterpiece, his Symphony No. 7. Initially conceived as a symphony for children, this magical work recalls Prokofiev’s scores for Peter and the Wolf and the ballet Cinderella with its enchanting melodies. —Calvin Dotsey

Program Notes

L. BOULANGER

D'un matin de printemps (Of a Spring Morning), LB 41C (1917)

Music history has no shortage of great composers who died too young, but perhaps the dearest loss of this kind was Lili Boulanger. Born into an extraordinarily musical family (her father won the Prix de Rome, France’s most prestigious prize for composers, in 1835, and her sister, Nadia, was also a gifted composer who became an influential composition teacher), Lili was recognized as a great musical talent by age two; by three, however, her health troubles had already begun with a case of bronchial pneumonia. Despite a weakened immune system and chronic ill health, in 1913 she made history by becoming the first female composer to win the Prix de Rome, following in her father’s footsteps. Over the course of her brief life, she developed a remarkable individual voice as a composer, producing dozens of exquisite pieces that continue to enchant listeners today.

Program Notes

L. BOULANGER

D'un matin de printemps (Of a Spring Morning), LB 41C (1917)

Composed from 1917 to 1918, D’un matin de printemps (Of a Spring Morning) is one of her last completed works. Together with its companion piece, D’un soir triste (Of a Sad Evening) it was simultaneously conceived in three different versions: for piano and solo instrument (violin or flute for the matin, cello for the soir), for piano trio, and for orchestra.

Despite the composer’s failing health, the piece is full of life. Its limpid main theme first appears as a flute solo; this main idea alternates with two contrasting episodes. The first features a languid melody in the violins that builds to a passionate climax; the second, a more tranquil theme for the cellos. —Calvin

Dotsey

GERSHWIN

Piano Concerto in F (1925)

Amid a busy schedule of composing hit Broadway and West End musicals, George Gershwin found time to fulfill a commission for a new Piano Concerto in 1925. He had made a name for himself in the concert hall only the year before with his epochal fusion of jazz and classical music, Rhapsody in Blue. Regarding his new concerto, Gershwin said, “Many persons had thought that the Rhapsody was only a happy accident. Well, I went out, for one thing, to show them that there was plenty more where that had come from.”

The 27-year-old Gershwin performed the solo part himself at the world premiere with the New York Symphony. The World reported, “The truth is that George Gershwin is a genius […] He alone actually expresses us. He is the present, with all its audacity, impertinence, its feverish delight in its motion, its lapses into rhythmically exotic melancholy.”

After a percussive opening gesture, the concerto begins with the longshort rhythms of the Charleston, which Gershwin meant to evoke “the young, enthusiastic spirit of American life.” The pianist then enters with a more introspective, lyrical theme. These two main ideas are developed throughout a movement marked by sudden, mercurial changes of mood and tempo. The pianist’s initial theme makes a soaring return in the strings near the end.

The second movement approaches the intimate world of chamber music, featuring solos for trumpet, oboe, flute, and violin in addition to those for the piano. Described by Gershwin as “almost Mozartian in its simplicity” and possessed of “a poetic, nocturnal tone,” the main theme takes the form of a bluesy solo for muted trumpet accompanied by a trio of clarinets. This main theme alternates with two contrasting episodes: the first is a faster, more playful one that begins when the piano enters; the second introduces a singing “big tune” in the strings.

For the finale, Gershwin created what he called “an orgy of rhythms,” a showcase for the pianist’s virtuoso technique. The driving repeated notes of the toccata-like main theme alternate with reminiscences of themes from the first and second movements, culminating in a grand return of the lyrical theme the soloist first played at the beginning of the concerto.

—Calvin Dotsey

Program Notes

PROKOFIEV

Symphony No. 7 in C-sharp minor, Opus 131 ( 1952)

As a student, Prokofiev delighted in shocking his professors at the St. Petersburg Conservatory with daring harmonies and percussive rhythms. At the same time, he displayed a gift for lyrical melodies, full of a strange, new beauty. Prokofiev’s burgeoning career was derailed, however, by the revolutions of 1917. Like many artists, he left Russia, but the time he spent abroad was often frustrating. Although he composed many masterpieces during this period, they did not always meet with success. After a series of successful tours to the Soviet Union, Prokofiev made the fateful decision to return with his family in 1936.

Despite the hazards of Soviet artistic life, his first decade back in Russia proved productive, yielding many pieces that remain cornerstones of the repertoire. In 1948, however, his music was effectively banned without any coherent explanation under the infamous Zhdanov Doctrine, a wideranging policy of artistic repression. The composer suffered multiple heart attacks and his health never fully recovered, even after the ban was lifted.

Completed in July 1952, Prokofiev’s Seventh Symphony is one of his final works. Originally, he envisioned the piece as a symphony for children, perhaps in the vein of Peter and the Wolf. As he worked on the piece, he abandoned this intent and transformed the work into a fullfledged symphony, which nevertheless retains a childlike atmosphere. Stylistically, the symphony recalls the fairytale world of Prokofiev’s music for the ballet Cinderella. Amid the harsh realities of life in Soviet Russia, perhaps the composer retreated into a world of fantasy and nostalgia for his final masterpiece.

The symphony opens with a haunting, once-upon-a-time melody in the violins. This leads to a second, contrasting theme: one of Prokofiev’s soaring tunes rises from the depths of the orchestra. A curious idea in the oboe and glockenspiel follows. These three ideas are developed and recapitulated, leading to an understated coda. The second movement, a charming series of whirling waltzes, features ever-shifting moods and colors (listen for the childish, nose-thumbing grace notes in the trumpet). The tempo slows for the third movement, an affecting "Andante espressivo." Full of Prokofiev’s arch sense of humor, the finale launches into a tune of irrepressible gaiety that alternates with contrasting episodes, including a march fit for toy soldiers. The music then crescendos to an astonishing return of the soaring second theme from the first movement. A mysterious coda brings the symphony to a quiet, enchanting ending.

At least, that was what Prokofiev intended. At this time, authorities expected symphonies to have loud, unambiguously joyful endings to reflect the supposed utopian conditions of life in the Soviet Union. Succumbing to pressure, Prokofiev grudgingly rewrote the ending, but today the original version is most often performed. Plagued by ill health, Prokofiev passed away on March 5, 1953, at age 62. Little notice was given to his passing, however, as Stalin died the same day.

—Calvin Dotsey

Program Bios

Alpesh being named Newcomer of the Year in the 2021 International Opera Awards. Other notable opera titles include Shostakovich’s Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, West Side Story, and Turandot.

Alpesh Chauhan, conductor

British conductor Alpesh Chauhan is principal guest conductor of the Düsseldorfer Symphoniker, associate conductor of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, and music director of Birmingham Opera Company. Recent and forthcoming highlights include the Los Angeles Philharmonic; the Houston, Seattle, and BBC Symphonies; Atlanta, National, Hallé, and Melbourne Symphony Orchestras; Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin; London Philharmonic Orchestra; and Accademia di Santa Cecilia.

Alpesh enjoys collaborations with distinguished soloists such as Hilary Hahn, Nicola Benedetti, Colin Currie, Pablo Ferrández, Veronika Eberle, Ilya Gringolts, Benjamin Grosvenor, Stephen Hough, Johannes Moser, and Karen Cargill, among others. Following his outstanding debut in 2015, he was appointed principal conductor of Filarmonica Arturo Toscanini in Parma, Italy, and performed and recorded much of the great symphonic repertoire, including a complete cycle of Brahms’s symphonies.

Birmingham Opera Company’s 2019 production of Shostakovich’s Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, directed by the late Sir Graham Vick, was a triumph and led to

A keen advocate of music education for young people, Alpesh is a patron of Awards for Young Musicians, a UK charity supporting talented young people from disadvantaged backgrounds on their musical journeys. He has also worked with ensembles such as the National Youth Orchestra of Scotland and the symphony orchestra of the Royal Northern College of Music. He conducted the 2015 BBC Ten Pieces film, which brought the world of classical music into secondary schools across the United Kingdom and received a distinguished BAFTA award.

Born in Birmingham, Alpesh studied cello under Eduardo Vassallo at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester before continuing at the RNCM to pursue the prestigious Master’s Conducting Course. He studied with Stanislaw Skrowaczewski and was mentored by Andris Nelsons and Edward Gardner in his post as assistant conductor of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra from 2014 to 2016. He was honored to receive an OBE in HRH The Queen's New Year's Honours in January 2022 for Services to the Arts. 

Clayton Stephenson, piano

Growing up in New York City, Clayton Stephenson found musical inspiration in community programs. As he describes it, the “3rd Street Music School jumpstarted my music education; the Young People’s Choir taught me phrasing and voicing; the Juilliard Outreach Music Advancement Program introduced me to formal and rigorous piano training, which enabled me to get into Juilliard Pre-College; the Morningside Music Bridge validated my talent and elevated my self-confidence; the Boy’s Club of New York exposed me to jazz; and the Lang Lang Foundation brought me to stages worldwide and transformed me from a piano student to a young artist.”

Clayton now studies in the Harvard-New England Conservatory dual degree program, pursuing a bachelor’s degree in economics at Harvard and a master’s degree in piano performance at the New England Conservatory under Wha Kyung Byun. His accolades along the way have been bountiful: his appearance at the 2022 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition was lauded for his “extraordinary narrative and poetic gifts” and performances that were “fresh, incisive and characterfully alive”

Program Bios

(Gramophone), earning him a spot among the finalists. He has also been named a 2022 Gilmore Young Artist, 2017 U.S. Presidential Scholar in the Arts, Jack Kent Cooke Young Artist, Gheens Young Artist, and Young Scholar of the Lang Lang International Music Foundation. He also took home a jury discretionary award at the 2015 Cliburn International Junior Piano Competition and Festival. Recent and upcoming highlights of Clayton’s burgeoning career include appearances at Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris; Kissinger Sommer Festival; BeethovenFest Bonn; Ravinia Festival; Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall; Calgary Philharmonic; Chicago Sinfonietta; Colour of Music Festival; and the Fort Worth,

Louisville, and North Carolina Symphony Orchestras. On the 69 th U.N. Day, Clayton played with the International Youth Orchestra at the United Nations General Assembly Hall. He also appeared in the “GRAMMY® Salute to Classical Music” Concert at Carnegie’s Stern Auditorium. 

THE MUSIC OF QUEEN

JULY 7 & 8

STAR WARS: A NEW HOPE IN CONCERT

JULY 28 & 29

SCAN HERE FOR TICKETS

Tuesday, July 4

Miller Outdoor Theatre

8:30 p.m.

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS

About the Music Program Insight

• The Fourth of July celebrates the adoption of the Declaration of Independence by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, formally declaring the 13 American colonies as an independent nation.

• Francis Scott Key wrote the lyrics for “The Star-Spangled Banner” in 1814 while he was detained on a British ship near Baltimore, although the song was not officially adopted as the national anthem of the United States until 1931.

City of Houston through the Miller Theatre Advisory Board Guarantor

The Houston Symphony's Miller Outdoor Theatre concerts are endowed by The Brown Foundation, Inc. in memory of Stewart and Hanni Orton

The Houston Symphony's sound shell ceiling is made possible through the generosity of the Beauchamp Foundation and the Fondren Foundation

• Aaron Copland's Fanfare for the Common Man was commissioned by conductor Eugene Goossens as part of a series of fanfares dedicated to the American war effort. Copland’s intent was to honor and uplift the common man, celebrating his courage and strength.

• An epic and monumental composition, Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture has become a staple for many Fourth of July concerts across America. However, Tchaikovsky disliked the piece saying it lacked artistic merit.

• Composing more than 100 military marches, John Phillip Sousa is known as the “Military March King.” The Liberty Bell is among some of his best-known marches, along with The Star and Stripes Forever, Semper Fidelis, The Thunderer, and The Washington Post.

Program Bios

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 between news segments. In 2018, Steven led the same orchestra and

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. 

Jimmie Herrod, vocalist

With “a voice like a beacon of hope” (Seattle Times), vocalist Jimmie Herrod brings singular power and expressivity to his globe-trotting career as a singer, songwriter, and entertainer.

Jimmie first came to worldwide prominence as a finalist on the NBC nationally broadcast television show, America’s Got Talent, earning the rare “Golden Buzzer” recognition from actress Sofia Vargara and returning the following year on the AGT AllStars series. As a solo artist, Jimmie has appeared to critical and audience acclaim with the National Symphony Orchestra at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and with the San Francisco Symphony and Oregon Symphony, including as a featured soloist for the globally televised PBS Joni Mitchell Songbook concert at The Kennedy Center, where he shared the stage with musical luminaries Renée Fleming, Lalah Hathaway, Raul Midón, and Aoife O’Donovan.

Traversing numerous musical styles and genres in many languages, including jazz, pop, funk, and his own original songs, Jimmie has headlined concerts at the The Luxor Theater (Las Vegas), New Jersey’s South Orange Performing Arts Center,

Program Bios

and Portland’s Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, and has, since 2017, toured with world-pop band Pink Martini as a featured vocalist.

Jimmie is an alum of the Cornish College of the Arts and Portland State University. With two EP’s under his belt–his debut Falling in Love and Learning and 2022’s Elated–Jimmie’s singular style and unique voice are poised to make an ever larger impact in the world of music and entertainment. He is thrilled to make his Houston Symphony debut with these performances. 

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Marilyn Caplovitz

Tatiana and Daniel Chavanelle

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

Darleen & Jack Christiansen

Barbara A. Clark & Edgar A. Bering

Donna M. Collins

Evan and Carin Collins

Mr. & Mrs. Byron Cooley

Ms. Miquel A. Correll

Ms. Elisabeth DeWitts

Jeanette and John DiFilippo

Kathy and Frank Dilenschneider

Ms. Cynthia Diller

Drs. Rosalind and Gary Dworkin

Mr. Parrish N. Erwin Jr.

Paula & Louis Faillace

Kelli Cohen Fein & Martin Fein

Ms. Ursula H. Felmet

Ron Franklin & Janet Gurwitch

Nancy D. Giles

Mr. and Mrs.* Jerry L. Hamaker

Ms. Katherine Hill

Marzena and Jacek Jaminski

Marilyn G. Lummis

Mr. and Mrs. Ransom C. Lummis

Mr. and Mrs. Michael L. Mason

Dr. and Mrs. Malcolm L. Mazow

John & Dorothy McDonald

Terry & Kandee McGill

Dr. Miguel & Mrs. Valerie Miro-Quesada

Ms. Leslie Nossaman

The Carl M. Padgett Family

Mr. and Mrs. Robert Pastorek

Mr. Zeljko Pavlovic

Lila Rauch

Robert K. Rogerson

Toni Oplt & Ed Schneider

Mr. & Mrs. James A. Shaffer

Dr. & Mrs. Robert B. Sloan

Houston Christian University

Mr. and Mrs. Jim R. Smith

Mr. and Mrs. Karl Strobl

Drs. Ishwaria & Vivek Subbiah

Mrs. Marguerite M. Swartz

Cecilia and Luciano

Vasconcellos

David and Robin Walstad

Mr. & Mrs. Tony Williford

Doug and Kay Wilson

Ms. Beth Wolff**

Scott and Lori Wulfe

Mr. And Mrs. Edward R. Ziegler

Nina and Michael Zilkha

Anonymous

Dr. Richard Fish and Marie Hoke Fish

Mr. & MrsRobert J. Franco

Bill & Diana Freeman

Edwin Friedrichs & Darlene Clark

Mr. and Mrs. Patrick Gaidos

Ms. Eugenia C. George

Grace Ho and Joe Goetz

Mr. Mark Grace and Mrs. Alex Blair

Jo A. & Billie Jo Graves

The Greentree Fund

Mr. David Grzebinski

Mary N. Hankey

Deborah Happ & Richard Rost

Mr. & Mrs. Frank Herzog

Mrs. Ann G. Hightower

Katherine and Archibald Hill

Steve and Kerry Incavo

Mr. Michael Jang

Dr. and Mrs. Joseph Jankovic

Stephen Jeu and Susanna Calvo

Phil and Josephine John

Beverly Johnson

Dr. Charles Johnson & Tammie Johnson

Mr. and Mrs. John F. Joity

Debbie & Frank Jones

Dr. Rita Justice

Ms. Mandy Kao

Ms. Linda R. Katz

Carey Kirkpatrick

Mr. Mark Klitzke and Dr. Angela Chen

Dr. William and Alice Kopp

Mr. Kenneth E. Kurtzman

Mr. Steve Lee

Mr. and Mrs. Calvin Leeke

Golda Anne Leonard

Matthew and Kristen Loden

Richard Loewenstern

Ms. Tama Lundquist

Alison and Ara Malkhassian

Mr. and Mrs. Alexander Matiuk

Ms. Kathy McCraigh

Ms. and Mr. Carol McDermott

John & Dorothy McDonald

Mr. & Mrs. William B. McNamara

Mr. Stephen Mendoza

Dr. and Mrs. Jack Moore

Rita and Paul Morico

Aprill Nelson

Bobbie Newman

Mr. and Mrs. Geoffrey B. Newton

Jenni and Todd Olges

Katherine & Jonathan Palmer

Kusum and K. Cody Patel

Mr. and Mrs. Raul Pavon

Mr. Robert J. Pilegge

Dr. and Mrs. Taj Popatia

Mr. & Mrs. Christopher Powers

Tim and Katherine Pownell

Edlyn & David Pursell

Cris & Elisa Pye

Kathryn and Richard Rabinow

Dr. and Mrs. George H. Ransford

Vicky & Michael Richker

Jill and Allyn Risley

Mr. & Mrs. George A. Rizzo Jr.

Dr. Douglas and Alicia Rodenberger

Linda & Jerry Rubenstein

Susan D. Sarofim

Garry and Margaret Schoonover

Susan and Ed Septimus

Laura & Mike Shannon

Donna and Tim Shen

Mr. & Mrs. Steven Sherman

Mr. and Mrs. Lance Smith

Mr. and Mrs. Quentin Smith

Sam & Linda Snyder

Richard & Mary Spies

Elizabeth and Alan Stein

Mr. & Mrs. Hans Strohmer

Susan L. Thompson

Carol and Eric Timmreck

Nanako & Dale Tingleaf

Pamalah* and Stephen Tipps

Dr. Brad and Mrs. Frances Urquhart

Mr. and Mrs. David Vannauker

Nancy B. Willerson**

Ms. Barbara E. Williams

Doug Williams and Janice Robertson

Loretta & Lawrence Williams

Ms. Tara Wilson

Woodell Family Foundation

Mrs. Lorraine Wulfe

Erla & Harry Zuber

Anonymous (7)

Our Donors

$2,500+

Pat and John Anderson

Mr. Tom Anderson

Ms. Julia Andrieni

Rick Ankrom

Mr. and Mrs. Stephen J. Banks

Dr. and Mrs. Edward Baumgartner

Drs. Henry & Louise Bethea

Mr. and Mrs. Stephen Bickel

Mr. and Mrs. Gerald W. Bodzy

George Boerger

Mr. Russell Boone

Mr. Matt Brams and Mrs. Alice Mao

Joe Brazzatti

Jane and Ron Brownlee

Justice Brett and Erin Busby

Mr. David N. Bush

Cheryl & Sam* Byington

Greta Carlson

Margot & John Cater

Drs. David A. Cech and Mary R. Schwartz

Mr. Steve Carroll & Ms. Rachel Dolbier

Dr. and Dr. Stephen Chen

Mr. Per Staunstrup Christiansen

Lynn Coe

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

Mrs. Edward N. Earle

David and Carolyn Edgar

Mr. John Egbert and Ms. Kathy Beck

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

Aubrey* & Sylvia Farb

Mrs. Christina Fontenot

Mr. and Mrs. David French

Ms. Leslie Gassner

David George Ph.D.

Wendy Germani

Kathy & Albrecht Goethe

Ms. Lidiya Gold

Susan and Kevin Golden

Marcos Gonzalez

Mr. & Mrs. Herb Goodman

Amy Goodpasture

Julianne & David Gorte

Mr. William Gray and Mrs. Clare Fontenot-Gray

Cortney Guebara

Eric and Angelea Halen

Mr. and Mrs. Charles R. Hall

Dr. & Mrs. Carlos R. Hamilton

Jr.

Mr. & Mrs. Houston Haymon

Barbara and Christopher Hekel

Richard and Arianda Hicks

Mr. and Mrs. John Homier

Mr. and Mrs. R. O. Hunton

C. Birk Hutchens

Mariya Idenova

Mr. Daniel Irion

Mady & Ken Kades

Anna Kaplan

Kathryn L. Ketelsen

Jane & Kevin Kremer

Connie Kwan-Wong

Stephanie and Richard Langenstein

Ms. Debra Laws

Dr. Hilary Beaver & Dr. Andrew Lee

Mrs. Evelyn Leightman

Mrs. Raquel Lewis

Music Director Fund

Mr. William W. Lindley

Mr. and Mrs. Stephen A. Lubanko

Mr. & Mrs. Peter MacGregor

Ms. Tina Maddox

Ms. Marquardsen

Mr. and Mrs. Wallis Marsh

David and Heidi Massin

Mary Ann & David McKeithan

Ms. Kristen Meneilly

Stephen & Marilyn Miles

Larry and Lyn Miller

Mr. David Ming

Ginni and Richard Mithoff

Mr. & Mrs. Thomas L. Molloy

Denise Monteleone

Richard & Juliet Moynihan

Jo Ann and Marvin Mueller

Mr. & Mrs. Richard Murphy

Mr. & Mrs. Robert E. Nelson

Ms. Barbara Nussmann

Macky Osorio

Rochelle & Sheldon Oster

Nancy Parra

George and Elizabeth Passela

Michael P. and Shirley Pearson

Linda Tarpley Peterson

Dr. and Mr. Vanitha Pothuri

Roland and Linda Pringle

Mrs. Dana Puddy

Mr. and Mrs. Florante Quiocho

Clinton and Leigh Rappole

Dr. Michael and Janet Rasmussen

Mr. and Mrs. David Reeves

Mr. & Mrs. J.B. Reimer

Mrs. Diane Roederer

Mrs. Adelina Romero

Mr. & Mrs. John Ryder

Mr. Robert T. Sakowitz

Harold H. Sandstead, M.D.

Gina & Saib Saour

Lawrence P. Schanzmeyer

Mr. Tony W. Schlicht

Dr. Mark A. Schusterman

Mr. and Mrs. Steven Schwarzbach

Mr. and Mrs. Dilanka Seimon

Ms. Becky V. Shaw

Arthur E. and Ellen Shelton

Carlos Sierra

Leslie Siller**

Hinda Simon

Ms. Diana Skerl

David Smith and Elizabeth A. Fagan

Mr. and Mrs. David Smith

Georgiana Stanley

Jeaneen and Tim Stastny

Mr. and Mrs. Keith Stevenson

Mr. William W. Stubbs

Dr. and Mrs. Van W. Teeters

Emily H. & David K. Terry

Juliana and Stephen Tew

Jean and Doug Thomas

Courtney & Bill Toomey

Sal and Denise Torrisi

Patricia Van Allan

Dean Walker

H. Richard Walton

Nancy Ames and Danny Ward

Alton and Carolyn Warren

Dr. and Mrs. Richard T. Weiss

Dr. Robert Wilkins and Dr. Mary Ann ReynoldsWilkins

Mr. Frank Wilson

Mr. and Mrs. Steve Yatauro

Mrs. Linda Yelin

Robert and Michele Yekovich Anonymous (3)

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, Senior Director, Development at christine.stevens@houstonsymphony.org or 713.337.8521.

Margaret Alkek Williams

Robin Angly & Miles Smith

Janice Barrow*

Gary and Marian Beauchamp/The Beauchamp Foundation

Barbara J. Burger

Albert & Anne Chao

Jane and Robert* Cizik

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

Kirby Lodholz, 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

Emily Bivona and Ryan Manser

Carrie and Sverre Brandsberg-Dahl#

Eric D. Brueggeman

Lindsay Buchanan#

Haydée del Calvo and Esteban Montero

Ryan Cantrell

Denise and Brandon Davis

Vicky Dominguez

Andria Elkins

Carolyn and Patrick Gaidos

Claudio J. Gutiérrez

Elaine and Jeff Hiller#

Carey Kirkpatrick

YOUNG ASSOCIATE $1,500+

Amber Ali

Fiona Anklesaria

Luisa Banos and Vladi Gorelik

Amanda Beatriz

Adair and Kevin Brueggeman

David Chaluh

Lincoln Chen

Megan and John Degenstein

Chante Westmoreland Dillard and Joseph Dillard

Laurel Flores#

Florence Francis

Kallie Gallagher

Patrick B. Garvey

Amy Goodpasture

Rebecca and Andrew Gould

Nicholas Gruy

Lori Harrington and Parashar Saikia

Ashley and John Horstman

C. Birk Hutchens

Mariya Idenova

Jonathan T. Jan

Anna Kaplan

Kirby and David Lodholz#

Marisa and Tandy Lofland

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

Laurel Flores, Communications Chair

Jeff Hiller, Membership Chair

Allegra Lilly and Robin Kesselman#

Joel Luks

Elissa and Jarrod Martin

Kelser McMiller#

Gwen and Jay McMurrey

Emily and Joseph MorrelPorter Hedges LLP

Stephanie Weber and Paul Muri

Aprill Nelson#

Maxine Olefsky and Justin Kenney

Kusum and K. Cody Patel#

Liana and Andrew Schwaitzberg#

Aerin and Quentin Smith#

Justin Stenberg#

Ishwaria and Vivek Subbiah

Kristin and Leonard Wood

Owen Zhang

Miriam Meriwani

Shane A. Miller

David Moyer

Trevor Myers

Lee Bar-Eli and Cliff Nash

Lauren Paine

Blake Plaster

Clarice Jacobson and Brian Rosenzweig

Chicovia Scott

Carlos Sierra

Leonardo Soto

Bryce Swinford

Elise Wagner#

Alexander Webb

Marquis Wincher

# 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 May 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)

Amerapex 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)

Accordant Advisors*

Houston First Corporation*

Marine Foods Express, Ltd.**

Mark Kamin & Associates

Benefactor ($5,000 and above)

Beck Redden LLP

Russell Reynolds Associates, Inc.

Patron (Gifts below $5,000)

Amazon Avatar Innovations

Baker Hughes

BeDESIGN*

Christian Dior

KTRK ABC-13*

Houston Methodist* Kalsi Engineering Oliver Wyman*

Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo**

Kinder Morgan Foundation** Kirkland & Ellis

The Lancaster Hotel*

Nexus Health Systems Oxy**

Neiman Marcus*

One Market Square Garage* Rand Group, LLC* Silver Eagle Distributors Houston, LLC

Jackson & Company* Lockton Companies of Houston

New Timmy Chan Corporation

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

Quantum Energy Partners

University of St. Thomas*

Wortham Insurance & Risk Management

Gulf Coast Distillers * KPMG US Foundation, Inc.

Mercantil ONEOK, Inc.

Quantum Bass Center*

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

PaperCity* Shell USA, Inc.**

PNC** Rémy Martin

Sewell

Silver Eagle Beverages*

Truist

United Airlines*

Univision Houston & Amor

06.5FM

Vinson & Elkins LLP

USI Southwest

Sire Spirits

Beth Wolff Realtors

Zenfilm*

SEI, Global Institutional Group

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 May 31, 2023)

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

The Brown Foundation, Inc. Houston Symphony Endowment**

Premier Guarantor ($500,000 and above)

The Alkek and Williams Foundation

Grand Guarantor ($150,000 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)

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

Partner ($15,000 and above)

Ruth & Ted Bauer Family Foundation**

William E. & Natoma Pyle Harvey Charitable Foundation**

The Hood-Barrow Foundation

Supporter ($10,000 and above)

Edward H. Andrews

The Carleen & Alde Fridge Foundation

George & Mary Josephine Hamman Foundation

Benefactor ($5,000 and above)

Leon Jaworski Foundation

Patron (Gifts below $5,000)

The Lubrizol Foundation

The Scurlock Foundation

Houston Symphony League

The Wortham Foundation, Inc.

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

William S. & Lora Jean Kilroy Foundation

The Vivian L. Smith Foundation**

The Schissler Foundation Sterling-Turner Foundation The Vaughn Foundation

The C. Howard Pieper Foundation

Texas Commission on the Arts**

John P. McGovern Foundation**

The Powell Foundation**

The William Stamps Farish Fund

Petrello Family Foundation

The Pierce Runnells Foundation Strake Foundation**

The Radoff Family Foundation

Keith & Mattie Stevenson 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.

**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

William Dee Hunt

Lynn Mathre

Jerome Simon

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

Mr. and Mrs. Jesse B. Tutor Endowed 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

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 May 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

Claudio J. Gutiérrez

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

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

Catherine Jane Merchant*

Michelle and Jack Matzer

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

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

Christine and Red Pastorek

Peter* and Nina Peropoulos

Linda Tarpley Peterson

Sara M. Peterson

Jenny and Tadjin* Popatia

Geraldine Smith Priest

Dana Puddy

Patrick T. Quinn

Lila Rauch*

Ed and Janet Rinehart

David and Helen Stacy

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)

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)

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 Alexa Ustaszewski, Major Gifts Officer, at alexa.ustaszewski@houstonsymphony.org or 713.337.8534.

(As of May 31, 2023)

Dr. Angela Apollo

Scott Holshouser, Principal Keyboard

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

Mike and Debra Dishberger

Phillip Freeman, Bass Tombone

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

Fay Shapiro, Viola

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

Mrs. James E. Hooks

Burke Shaw, Double Bass

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

Cindy E. Levit

Adam Trussell, Bassoon and Contrabassoon

Rochelle* and Max Levit

Sergei Galperin, First Violin

Cora Sue and Harry* Mach

Joan DerHovsepian, Principal Viola

Joella and Steven P. Mach

Eric Larson, Double Bass

Mrs. Carolyn and Dr. Michael Mann

Ian Mayton, Horn

Cindy Mao and Michael Ma

Si-Yang Lao, First Violin

Mr. and Mrs. Rodney H.

Margolis

Eric Halen, Co-Concertmaster

Mr. and Mrs. J. Stephen Marks

Brian Del Signore, Principal Percussion

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

Mr. David Peavy and Mr. Stephen McCauley

Jeremy Kreutz, 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

Mr. & Mrs. Jesse B. Tutor

Joan DerHovsepian, Principal Viola

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

Allegra Lilly, 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

Jones Hall – 615 Louisiana Street

houstonsymphony.org