ABOUT THE MUSIC
MOZART & WALK ER
LIVESTREAM OF HOUSTON SYMPHONY CONCERTS IS MADE POSSIBLE BY
Barbara J. Burger Robin Angly & Miles Smith The Albert & Ethel Herzstein Charitable Foundation
THE CLASSICAL SERIES IS SPONSORED BY
The Robert Cizik Family
THE HOUSTON SYMPHONY WOULD LIKE TO THANK OUR GENEROUS SEASON SPONSORS
Principal Corporate Guarantor Official Airline
Official Health Care Provider
The Houston Symphony is funded in part by the City of Houston through Houston Arts Alliance.
Preferred Jewelry Partner
THE HOUSTON SYMPHONY WOULD LIKE TO THANK OUR GENEROUS SERIES SPONSORS
Gold Classics
Favorite Masters
RAND G ROUP
Great Performers
POPS Series
Family Series
Donations account for two-thirds of the Houston Symphony’s annual operating budget.
ways to DONATE houstonsymphony.org/donate 713.337.8559 text MUSIC to 41444 and pledge your gift
ABOUT THE MUSIC
Selections for
HORN QUARTET P A R T I C I P AT I N G M U S I C I A N S
WILLIAM VERMEULEN PRINCIPAL HORN
BRIAN THOMAS HORN
NANCY GOODEARL HORN
IAN MAYTON HORN
ABOUT THE MUSIC
HANDEL “BLESSING AND HONOUR” FROM MESSIAH, FOR FOUR HORNS
GEORGE FRIDERIC HANDEL
COMPOSER (1685–1759) • Handel’s Messiah is an oratorio, or a religious choral work with orchestral accompaniment, that was originally intended to be performed around Easter. Today, however, most American ensembles perform this work in the Advent season leading up to Christmas. • The first performance of Messiah took place on April 13, 1742, in Dublin for a packed house. In fact, gentlemen were asked not to wear swords, and women were encouraged to wear fashions without hoops, so that the hall could accommodate more people. • Messiah is a large-scale work, and a complete performance of Messiah usually lasts nearly three hours. However, Handel wrote the entire composition in only 24 days! • This quartet for horns is an arrangement of a fugue, or a section where one instrument starts a melody and the other instruments imitate it throughout. The lyrics in the original work are: “Blessing and honour, glory and pow’r be unto him”.
ABOUT THE MUSIC
M OZ A R T AV E V E R U M C O R P U S , FOR FOUR HORNS
WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART
COMPOSER (1756–1791) • Ave Verum Corpus was composed as a motet, or a sacred vocal composition. Mozart set this piece to the Latin hymn by the same name, which translates to “Hail, true body.” • Mozart composed this piece for the Feast of Corpus Christi, a Roman Catholic celebration honoring the presence of the body of Christ in the Eucharist. • The version performed on this program is an arrangement of the vocal part for four horns.
ABOUT THE MUSIC
L . S H AW FRIPPERY NO. 7, FOR FOUR HORNS
LOWELL SHAW
COMPOSER (b. 1930) • Lowell Shaw was born in 1930 and has a diverse musical career, with a background in military bands, orchestras, composition and arranging, and as a college professor. • He wrote 40 “fripperies,” his technical studies for horn ensemble. Fond of quirky names for his works, he also wrote 19 Bipperies, 4 Tripperies, 8 Quipperies, and 13 Just Desserts for solo horn with optional string bass parts. • When asked about his use of the word “frippery,” he said, “I was looking for something to suggest the frivolous, fun, light-hearted nature of the music. The word ‘fripperies’ came to mind, and it was several years later when I finally looked up the real meaning of the word. Something about a cheap, showy bauble of little intrinsic worth was the nicest of the definitions.”
ABOUT THE MUSIC
Selections for
CEL LO DUO P A R T I C I P AT I N G M U S I C I A N S Charles Seo was appointed cellist of the Houston Symphony in 2018 at age 22. He made his solo orchestral debut at age 10 and has performed as guest soloist with the Houston Symphony and Dallas Symphony. He performed on NPR’s From the Top at age 16.
CHARLES SEO CELLO
BRINTON AVERIL SMITH PRINCIPAL CELLO JANICE AND THOMAS BARROW CHAIR
Brinton Averil Smith joined the Houston Symphony as principal cello in 2005. A passionate advocate of compelling unfamiliar repertoire, Smith recently gave the North American premieres of rediscovered work of Jean Sibelius and Alexander Zemlinsky. After completing work for a Master of Arts in Mathematics at age 19, he studied cello at the Juilliard School, receiving a Doctor of Musical Arts.
ABOUT THE MUSIC
DELIBES/ G.M. BRANDIS “ S O U S L E D Ô M E É PA I S ” ( “ F L O W E R DUET”) FROM LAKMÉ, FOR TWO CELLOS
LÉO DELIBES
COMPOSER (1836–1891) • The “Flower Duet” is a duet for soprano and mezzo-soprano in the first act of Léo Delibes’s opera Lakmé, premiered in Paris in 1883. It is sung by the characters Lakmé, daughter of a Brahmin priest, and her servant Mallika, as they go to gather flowers by a river. • This duet entered pop culture in the 1980s when British Airways used one of its adaptations by English composer Howard David Blake in its commercials. You may recognize this melody from TV shows, video games and films, including the comedy Meet the Parents and horror film The Hunger starring David Bowie.
ABOUT THE MUSIC
W I E N I AW S K I / B . A . S M I T H – Y. L E O N OV I C H ETUDES-CAPRICES FOR TWO VIOLINS, ARRANGED FOR TWO CELLOS: NO. 1, NO. 4
HENRYK WIENIAWSKI
COMPOSER (1835–1880) • The Op. 18 Etudes-Caprices were originally written in 1862 for two violins as teaching materials. Although meant to be technique studies, the virtuosic, artistic quality of these works is the reason they are often played in recitals. • While these pieces were originally written for violins, you will see them performed on this concert by two cellists—one of whom, Brinton Averil Smith, helped create the arrangement. Listen for what some call “pyrotechnics” in the first cello part!
ABOUT THE MUSIC
R. GLIÈRE TEN DUOS FOR TWO CELLOS, NO. 7
REINHOLD GLIÈRE
COMPOSER (1875–1956) • Reinhold Moritsevich Glière was born in Kiev in 1874 to a musical family. His musical style is a mixture of Russian national harmonies and impressionism. • He is an important composer for cellists because his cello concerto (1946) is considered the first Soviet Russian cello concerto. Like many other concertos, it was dedicated to the prolific Russian cellist and conductor Mstislav Rostropovich. • His cello duets, composed in 1911, were dedicated to composer Rudolf Erlich and are known for their melodic richness.
ABOUT THE MUSIC
PAG A N I N I / W. T H O M A S - M I F U N E M O S É - FA N TA S I A F O R T W O C E L L O S
NICCOLÒ PAGANINI
COMPOSER (1782–1840) • Niccolò Paganini was a composer and the most well-known virtuoso violinist in the 19th century. As a composer, he is known for his virtuosic, showy pieces; as a violinist, he was known for being able to play his own works at lightning speed! • Paganini often used a form of composition called theme and variations, or a main melody that is repeated throughout the piece in various alterations. The piece on this program follows the theme and variations form. • This set of variations was composed on a stirring theme from Rossini’s tragic opera, Mose in Egitto (Moses in Egypt). In the opera, the tune is sung by Moses on the shore of the Red Sea, who prays for deliverance from Pharaoh’s pursuing army.
ABOUT THE MUSIC
WA L K E R LY R I C F O R S T R I N G S
YUE BAO
TING TSUNG AND WEI FONG CHAO FOUNDATION CONDUCTING FELLOW
Yue Bao, appointed last year to the newly created position of Conducting Fellow, serves as cover conductor for classical programs, and conducts student concerts, and other specials projects.
ABOUT THE MUSIC
WA L K E R LY R I C F O R S T R I N G S
GEORGE WALKER COMPOSER (1922–2018)
• George Walker (1922–2018) has written more than 90 pieces for solo piano, voice, winds, small ensembles, and orchestra. In addition to receiving the Pulitzer Prize for composition in 1996, he has earned dozens of other composition awards and prizes including Guggenheim, Rockefeller, and Fulbright fellowships. • The music for Lyric for Strings was written in 1946 and premiered by the students at the Curtis Institute of Music, where Walker was a student at the time. It was originally titled Lament and is dedicated to Walker’s grandmother, who died during the previous year. • You may hear similarities between the lush harmonies of Lyric for Strings and Samuel Barber’s Adagio for Strings. This is not surprising, because George Walker studied composition with Samuel Barber at the Curtis Institute of Music. • Mark Clague writes in the International Dictionary of Black Composers that George Walker “frequently draws on black musical idioms, such as spirituals, blues patterns, and jazz tropes. Walker’s music, however, is not a collage of modern styles, or an imitation, but has its own distinct voice.” • Hailed a “Trailblazing American Composer” by NPR, Walker was the first African American to win a Pulitzer Prize for Music. He was also the first African American pianist to play a recital at New York’s Town Hall, the first Black instrumentalist to perform as soloist with the Philadelphia Orchestra, and the first Black graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia.
ABOUT THE MUSIC
M OZ A R T QUARTET FOR OBOE AND STRINGS
P A R T I C I P AT I N G M U S I C I A N S
JONATHAN FISCHER PRINCIPAL OBOE
SOPHIA SILIVOS FIRST VIOLIN
JOAN DERHOVSEPIAN ACTING PRINCIPAL VIOLA
CHRISTOPHER FRENCH ASSOCIATE PRINCIPAL CELLO
ABOUT THE MUSIC
M OZ A R T QUARTET FOR OBOE AND STRINGS
WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART
COMPOSER (1756–1791) • Mozart was 24 when he wrote this quartet in 1781. He spent most of the year busy composing and rehearsing his opera Idomeneo in Munich, and this quartet was one of the few other pieces he wrote during that time period. • Mozart wrote this quartet for Friedrich Ramm, principal oboist in the Elector of Bavaria’s orchestra. Ramm was an outstanding musician and was recognized for his virtuosity, beautiful tone and expressive playing, so Mozart highlights those qualities for the oboe in this work. Listen to the soulful, song-like melody in the oboe in the Adagio movement and the virtuosic passages in the first and third movements. • While Mozart included the oboe in many of his compositions, this quartet, written for oboe, violin, viola, and cello, is the only chamber piece he wrote for the oboe. Although it is a chamber piece, which usually features instruments somewhat equally, the oboe takes the spotlight so often that it sometimes resembles a concerto. • Featured musician: Jonathan Fischer joined the Houston Symphony principal oboe in 2012. A native of South Carolina, Fischer now enjoys living in the Heights with his dog, a Louisiana Catahoula mix named Banjo. He teaches at the University of Houston’s Moores School of Music.
MUSICIAN BIOS YUE BAO
TING TSUNG AND WEI FONG CHAO FOUNDATION CONDUCTING FELLOW Conductor Yue Bao serves as conducting fellow of the Houston Symphony. In May 2019, she completed a two-year tenure as the Rita E. Hauser Conducting Fellow at the Curtis Institute of Music, closely working with Maestro Nézet-Séguin during her studies in Philadelphia. At Curtis, she was active as both a conductor and assistant, working with Michael Tilson Thomas, Osmo Vänskä, Gilbert Varga, Giancarlo Guerrero, and Miguel HarthBedoya. Yue was the Bruno Walter Memorial Foundation Conducting Fellow at the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music in 2019. In 2018, she served as the David Effron Conducting Fellow at the Chautauqua Music Festival, where her concerts with the Festival Orchestra received major accolades from audiences and musicians. Prior to her time at Curtis, in 2015, she served as a conducting fellow at the Eastern Music Festival under Gerard Schwarz. She has worked extensively in the United States and abroad. She served as an assistant for the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra under JoAnn Falletta and David Lockington (2015–17), making her conducting debut with Buffalo in 2016. Yue has also assisted Vänskä at the Minnesota Orchestra and Varga at the St. Louis Symphony. Recent appearances include the Shanghai Opera Symphony Orchestra, the Xiamen Philharmonic Orchestra, and the New Symphony Orchestra. Equally at home with both symphonic and operatic repertoire, her credits include Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin, Bizet’s Carmen, Kurt Weill’s Mahagonny: Ein Songspiel, and Gian Carlo Menotti’s The Medium. She is also active as a pianist, recently playing for a production of Les contes d’Hoffmann by Jacques Offenbach at the National Centre for the Performing Arts. Along with her Artist Diploma from The Curtis Institute of Music, she holds Bachelor of Music degrees in orchestral conducting and collaborative piano from the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, and a Master of Music degree in orchestral conducting from the Mannes School of Music.
MUSICIAN BIOS SOPHIA SILIVOS FIRST VIOLIN
Musician Sponsored by Janice Borrow Sophia Silivos, violin, has been a member of the Houston Symphony since 1992. Silivos began her career as first violinist of the Dakota quartet and then was named principal second violinist of the New Mexico Symphony. She has performed as soloist with the Houston Symphony and served as Associate Concertmaster for the 2005–06 season. An ardent proponent of chamber music, Silivos has appeared with ensembles throughout the United States and has performed live for public radio stations in Chicago, Houston, and Minneapolis. Here in Texas, she appears regularly with the Greenbriar Consortium and the Foundation for Modern Music; she is a featured violinist for the St. Cecilia concert series. She has served on the faculties of the University of Houston and Augustana college, teaches privately, and gives master classes. In the summer of 2007, Silivos was an invited participant in a three-week tour of China, giving master classes and performing recitals and solos with orchestra.
JOAN DERHOVSEPIAN
ACTING PRINCIPAL VIOLA Musician Sponsored by Cora Sue and Harry Mach Joan DerHovsepian, viola, became a member of the Houston Symphony in 1999 after serving two seasons as Principal Viola of the Charleston Symphony Orchestra in South Carolina. She is an instructor at Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music and was a member of the prize-winning Everest String Quartet, which performed throughout the United States and Canada. She performs each summer at the Grand Teton Music Festival in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and at the Peninsula Music Festival in Door County, Wisconsin.
MUSICIAN BIOS BRINTON AVERIL SMITH
PRINCIPAL CELLO JANICE AND THOMAS BARROW CHAIR Musician Sponsored by Mike S. Stude Cellist Brinton Averil Smith continues to win rave reviews for virtuosic performances with musical ideals rooted in the golden age of string playing. His debut recording of Miklós Rózsa’s Cello Concerto with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra won widespread international critical acclaim, with Gramophone praising Smith as a “hugely eloquent, impassioned soloist,” and his recording of the chamber music of Fauré with Gil Shaham was chosen by numerous critics as one of the year’s best albums. A passionate advocate of compelling unfamiliar repertoire, Smith recently gave the North American premieres of rediscovered works of Jean Sibelius and Alexander Zemlinsky. Smith’s performances, hailed as “stunningly beautiful” by the American Record Guide, have been broadcast on CBS’s Sunday Morning and on the radio throughout the United States, including American Public Media’s Performance Today and SymphonyCast. Smith has appeared regularly as a soloist with the Houston Symphony since joining the orchestra as Principal Cellist in 2005. Prior to this appointment, he was the first musician chosen by Lorin Maazel to join the New York Philharmonic and was Principal Cellist of the San Diego and Fort Worth Symphonies. As a chamber musician, Smith has collaborated with artists including Yo-Yo Ma, Gil Shaham, Cho-Liang Lin, James Ehnes, Lynn Harrell, Sarah Chang, Dawn Upshaw, and members of the Beaux Arts Trio and the Guarneri, Emerson, Juilliard, Cleveland, and Berg quartets. Smith is also a faculty member of the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University and Aspen Music Festival. The son of a mathematician and a pianist, Smith was admitted to Arizona State University at age 10, where he took courses in mathematics, music, and German. At age 17, Smith completed a Bachelor of Arts in Mathematics. He then became a student of Eleonore Schoenfeld at the University of Southern California, where he was also a teaching assistant in the mathematics department, and completed work for a Master of Arts in Mathematics at age 19. He subsequently studied with the renowned cellist Zara Nelsova at The Juilliard School, where he received a Doctor of Musical Arts, disserting on the playing of Emanuel Feuermann. Smith resides in Houston with his wife, pianist Evelyn Chen, their daughter, Calista, and two slightly evil, but kind-hearted dogs. For further information, please visit www. brintonaverilsmith.com
MUSICIAN BIOS CHRISTOPHER FRENCH
ASSOCIATE PRINCIPAL CELLO Musician Sponsored by Mr. & Mrs. Fred L. Gorman and Lila Rauch Christopher French is the associate principal cellist of the Houston Symphony. Before joining the orchestra in 1986, he held titled positions in both the Shreveport Symphony Orchestra and the Honolulu Symphony. French is the seventh of a full octave of musical siblings. He enjoys performing with the Bad Boys of Cello, the alter ego of the Houston Symphony cello section. The Bad Boys have played in homeless shelters and elementary schools in an effort to eliminate the classist misconceptions about classical music. French is a graduate of North Park University in Chicago, where he won the Performance Award. In addition to three concerto performances with the Houston Symphony, he has appeared on the Chamber Players series, and with Da Camera of Houston and the Greenbriar Consortium. He participates in the Mainly Mozart Festival in San Diego, Music in the Mountains in Durango, Colorado, and the Grand Teton Music Festival in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. French teaches orchestral repertoire at Rice University.
CHARLES SEO CELLO
Cellist Charles Seo was appointed cellist of the Houston Symphony in the summer of 2018 at age 22. Previously, he served as principal cellist in the Colburn Orchestra. Charles, who made his solo orchestral debut at age 10, has performed as guest soloist with the Houston Symphony, Dallas Symphony Orchestra, and San José Chamber Orchestra. He is silver medalist of the 2014 Irving M. Klein International String Competition and bronze medalist of the 2014 Stulberg International String Competition. In 2013, he was the gold medalist of the Houston Symphony League Concerto Competition, the Lynn Harrell Concerto Competition, the Schmidbauer International Competition, and the 30th Pasadena Showcase House Instrumental Competition. Charles performed Sarasate’s Zigeunerweisen with Christopher O’Riley on NPR’s From the Top. Charles has collaborated with cellists Lynn Harrell, Robert deMaine, Clive Greensmith, Wolfgang Emanuel Schmidt, David Geringas, Steven Isserlis, Jian Wang, Myung-wha Chung, Lluís Claret, Li-Wei Qin, Bion Tsang, and Laurence Lesser. He holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the Colburn School, where he studied with Ronald Leonard and Greensmith.
MUSICIAN BIOS
JONATHAN FISCHER
PRINCIPAL OBOE LUCY BINYON STUDE CHAIR Musician Sponsored by Nancy Peiser Jonathan Fischer joined the Houston Symphony as principal oboe in September 2012 and was invited to join the faculty of the University of Houston in September 2014. Prior to his appointment with the Houston Symphony, Fischer served as associate principal oboe with the San Francisco Symphony for nine seasons. He has also held positions with The Cleveland Orchestra, the Lyric Opera of Chicago, Grant Park Orchestra, Santa Fe Opera, Canadian Opera Company, Savannah Symphony, and the New World Symphony. Fischer has performed as a guest principal with many of the nation’s leading orchestras including the Boston, Chicago, and Baltimore Symphony Orchestras, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the St. Louis and Atlanta Symphonies, and the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra. He has performed as a soloist with the Houston Symphony, Grant Park Symphony, New World Symphony, and the San Francisco Symphony. Fischer currently teaches at the University of Houston’s Moores School of Music and Texas Music Festival. He has taught and performed at the Aspen Music Festival and the Oberlin Conservatory. He has given masterclasses at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, the San Francisco Conservatory, Rice University, and University of Michigan, and has been a coach at the New World Symphony. He holds a degree from the Curtis Institute of Music, where he studied with Richard Woodhams. A native of South Carolina, Fischer now enjoys living in the Heights with his dog, a Louisiana Catahoula mix.
WILLIAM VERMEULEN
PRINCIP AL HORN MR. & MRS. ALEXANDER K. MCLANAHAN ENDOWED CHAIR Musician Sponsored by Muffy and Mike McLanahan Hailed as “one of today’s superstars of the international brass scene,” William VerMeulen leads a varied musical life of soloist, orchestral principal, chamber musician, master teacher, and music publisher. VerMeulen has been principal horn of the Houston Symphony since 1990 and has performed as a guest principal horn with the Chicago Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Cincinnati Symphony, St. Louis Symphony, Pittsburgh Symphony, and St. Paul Chamber Orchestra. Prior to joining the Houston Symphony, he was employed with the orchestras of Columbus, Honolulu, and Kansas City.
MUSICIAN BIOS
VerMeulen has been an artist of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and participates as a performer and on faculty with the finest music festivals and chamber music presenters, among which include the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Aspen Music Festival, Music@Menlo, Banff Centre, Da Camera of Houston, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Joshua Bell and Friends, Tanglewood, Sarasota Music Festival, Strings Music Festival, Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, Orcas Island Chamber Music Festival, New World Symphony, Domaine Forget, Chamber Music Northwest, and the Sun Valley Summer Symphony where he also serves as principal horn. VerMeulen has performed to critical acclaim on four continents as a soloist and chamber musician and is a popular artist at International Horn Society Symposiums where he was a member of the advisory council. He serves as a board member of the International Horn Competition of America. Along with the dozens of orchestral recordings in his discography are numerous solo and chamber recordings, including the complete Mozart Horn Concerti with Christoph Eschenbach and the Houston Symphony, Texas Horns featuring the Dallas and Houston horn sections, and The Christmas Horn which features VerMeulen combined with his students from Rice University, conducted by Dale Clevenger. He has recorded live the Brahms Trio Op. 40, Mozart Quintet K.407, Beethoven Septet, Ravel Tombeau de Couperin for wind quintet, Schubert Octet, Spohr Nonet, Ligeti Bagatelles, and the Bach Brandenburg Concerto No. 1. A champion of new music, VerMeulen has had numerous pieces written for him including concerti by esteemed American composers Samuel Adler, Pierre Jalbert, Tony DiLorenzo, and the horn cantata Canticum Sacrum by Robert Bradshaw. He recorded the Canto XI by Samuel Adler for a CD called First Chairs. Among his awards and honors, VerMeulen received first prize at the 1980 International Horn Society Soloist Competition and the Shapiro Award for Most Outstanding Brass Player at the Tanglewood Festival. Regarded as one of the most influential horn teachers of all time, VerMeulen is a professor of horn at the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University and brass artist-in-residence at the Royal Conservatory of Music’s Glenn Gould School. His students perform in numerous major orchestras throughout the world including the New York Philharmonic, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Israel Philharmonic, Canadian Brass, Cleveland Orchestra, and the San Francisco, Cincinnati, Montreal, St. Louis, Toronto, Detroit, Dallas, and Houston Symphonies. Over 250 positions of employment have been offered to his students. In 1985, he was invited to the White House to receive a Distinguished Teacher of America Certificate of Excellence from President Reagan and the White House Commission on Presidential Scholars. VerMeulen received his training from Dale Clevenger at Northwestern University and the Interlochen Arts Academy and is founder and president of VerMeulen Music, L.L.C., which offers music and products for horn players worldwide at www. vermeulenmusic.com VerMeulen is married to Houston Opera and Ballet violinist Sylvia VerMeulen, and they have two lovely children, Michael and Nicole. In his rare free time, he enjoys having good friends over to share in his passion for fine cooking and wine.
MUSICIAN BIOS BRIAN THOMAS HORN
Second horn of the Houston Symphony since 1995, Brian Thomas is a native of Minneapolis and was influenced by his musical family and the rich artistic environment of his hometown. Both of his parents were cellists, and his father played with the Minnesota Orchestra for 50 seasons before his recent retirement. Brian took up the horn at an early age and was guided by mentor Dave Kamminga to Northwestern University, where he studied with Chicago Symphony hornists Norman Schweikert and Dale Clevenger. He proceeded on to positions in the orchestras of Louisville, Columbus, and Syracuse before assuming his current position in Houston. Thomas has performed with the orchestras of Minnesota, Cincinnati, and San Diego and played for many years in both the Colorado Music Festival in Boulder and the Skaneateles Festival in upstate New York. He has been second horn in the prestigious Sun Valley Summer Symphony since 1999 and is a frequent guest artist at Rice’s Shepherd School of Music. Thomas was recently an artist-in-residence at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas. He has also performed with the Scottish band The Rogues and recorded a CD and a live DVD with the group. Brian is an avid road cyclist, enjoys the artistic and technical aspects of high-end audiophile equipment, and nourishes his soul with Celtic music. He shares his home in the suburbs of Houston with his lovely wife, Victoria, and six grateful rescue cats.
NANCY GOODEARL HORN
Musician Sponsored by Mr. & Mrs. Jonathan E. Parker Nancy Goodearl, a member of the Houston Symphony since 1981, received a Bachelor of Music in Performance from the Eastman School of Music, and a Master of Music in Performance from Northwestern University. Since 1987, she has been a member of the Grand Teton Music Festival Orchestra in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. She has performed with many orchestras, including the Houston Ballet Orchestra, the Houston Grand Opera Orchestra, the Dallas Symphony, and the Sun Valley Summer Symphony in Idaho. Goodearl has performed extensively in recitals and chamber music ensembles throughout the Houston area, including brass and woodwind quintets from the Houston Symphony and faculty brass and woodwind quintets from the University of Houston. She also performs with the Monarch Brass Ensemble, a large brass ensemble of women from around the country affiliated with the International Women’s Brass Conference. In addition to performing, she enjoys coaching high school horn sections and teaching privately. She is a former faculty member of the University of Houston Moores School of Music, the Texas Music Festival, and the American Festival of the Arts.
MUSICIAN BIOS
IAN MAYTON HORN
Musician Sponsored by Mrs. Carolyn and Dr. Michael Mann Ian Mayton, a native of Durham, North Carolina, was appointed fourth horn of the Houston Symphony by Music Director AndrÊs Orozco-Estrada in November 2014. Mayton has performed with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra and the North Carolina Symphony. After completing his Bachelor of Music degree at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Mayton spent a year in the Master of Music program at Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music studying with William VerMeulen.