InTune | May 2024

InTUNE

Pines of Rome + Grieg's Piano Concerto

The Music of Star Wars Adams’s El Niño

KING

Your Houston Symphony

Welcome to the Houston Symphony

Your Symphony Experience

Juraj Valčuha, Music Director

Orchestra Roster

Society Board of Trustees

Administrative Staff

Strauss Festival

Cheers to the 2023–24 Houston Symphony Event Chairs

Meet the Musician: Yankı Karataş

Programs

Pines of Rome + Grieg's Piano Concerto

The Music of Star Wars

Adams's El Niño

Our Supporters

Houston Symphony Donors

Young Associates

Corporate,

Houston

Legacy

Musician

Jesse H.

welcome to the houston symphony

Dear Music Lovers,

All of us at the Houston Symphony are delighted you’re here. We have some great concerts in store for you this month, with programming that’s really a testament to the versatility of our great musicians. We kick things off with one of our favorite guest conductors, Fabien Gabel. He’ll lead a program of music by Grieg (the Piano Concerto, with the return of pianist Alexandra Dariescu), Respighi (Fountains and Pines of Rome), and a recent work by Donghoon Shin in its Houston premiere (May 2, 4, and 5). Then, the Symphony plays John Williams’s score from Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets live to film (May 10–11). The legendary Itzhak Perlman returns for the final concert in his multi-year Artistic Partnership, In the Fiddler’s House, his tremendously enjoyable evening of traditional klezmer music (May 12). Our Principal Pops Conductor Steven Reineke brings us more John Williams, a grand evening of music from all of nine of the Star Wars films, plus excerpts from Rogue One and Solo (May 17–19). We finish the month with the Houston premiere of John Adams’s opera-oratorio El Niño, a retelling of the nativity story using a variety of texts in English and Spanish and an eclectic and inspiring musical vocabulary incorporating everything from medieval to modern. John is one of our greatest composers, and with his friend and advocate David Robertson on the podium, joined by a stellar lineup of soloists and two choruses (our great Houston Symphony Chorus among them), this promises to be an unforgettable experience (May 25–26).

As we near the end of our season—only the Strauss Festival remains in June—it’s a good time to look back on all that we’ve accomplished this year. We’ve served more than 400,000 people with our concerts, including more than 200,000 through our

Education and Community Engagement initiatives. When our musicians aren’t in Jones Hall, they’re out in the community, in a variety of settings – schools, hospitals, retirement communities, social service organizations, you name it – bringing great music to everyone. And our free and low-cost ticket programs make Jones Hall and our concerts more accessible than ever before.

We’re proud of what we contribute to our great city here at the Houston Symphony. And we’re filled with gratitude for all of you who make what we do possible. Two-thirds of our operating revenue comes from donations, and, as we near the end of our fiscal year on May 31, I hope you’ll consider supporting the Houston Symphony. And there’s more incentive than ever to do so. Every new and increased gift will be matched two-to-one, thanks to two generous $100,000 challenges from Barbara & Pat McCelvey and Janet F. Clark. That means that for every new or increased dollar you give, these amazing supporters will donate a dollar apiece, turning one dollar into three. To learn more about how you can help the Houston Symphony activate this challenge, please turn to page 57.

And of course there’s more music to come. In addition to the Strauss Festival during the first two weeks in June, we’ll be at the Hobby Center, Miller Outdoor Theatre, and the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion this summer. And we’ve announced our entire 2024–25 Season, and it’s easier than ever to subscribe. You can choose your own concerts, and subscribers save up to 25% over single-ticket buyers. I hope you’ll visit my colleagues in the lobby and subscribe today—you’ll also get access to special performances featuring incredible soloists, such as Yo-Yo Ma and Daniil Trifonov, and live-to-film events including The Empire Strikes Back and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, all performed by your magnificent Houston Symphony.

Thanks for being here, and enjoy the concert.

All my best,

Executive Director/CEO

Margaret Alkek Williams Chair

performance CALENDAR 2024 –25 SEASON

June 15

Jurassic Park in Concert

June 22 & 23

The Music of The Rolling Stones

June 28 & 29

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

September 28 & 29

Opening Weekend: Dvořák’s New World

October 4, 5 & 6

Trifonov in Concert

October 10

S S S S S S The Music of ABBA

Dvořák’s Violin Concerto

October 12 & 13

Hansel and Gretel & Don Quixote

November 1, 2 & 3

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

A Viennese Waltz Christmas

December 7 & 8

Yo-Yo Ma in Concert

December 9

Very Merry Pops

December 12, 14 & 15

Holly Jolly Holiday

December 14

S Handel's Messiah

December 20, 21 & 22

Pink Martini with China Forbes: 30th Anniversary Season

November 8, 9 & 10 S

Clap your hands, say yeah! The Great American Music Adventure

November 9

Michael Tilson Thomas Conducts Beethoven 9

November 14

Disney Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas in Concert

November 16 & 17

Bach, Mozart & Brahms

November 23 & 24

Thanksgiving Weekend: Beethoven’s Emperor Concerto

November 29, 30 & December 1

January 3, 4 & 5

An Eschenbach & Bruckner

Birthday Celebration

January 11 & 12

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban™ in Concert

January 18 & 19

Beethoven’s Violin Concerto & Tchaikovsky

January 24, 25 & 26

Viva Italia! Opera Beyond Words

February 7 & 9

Duke Bluebeard’s Castle

February 15 & 16

Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back in Concert

February 21 & 22

007: James Bond Forever

February 28, March 1 & 2

Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Missing Maestro

March 1

Hilary Hahn Plays Brahms

March 7, 8 & 9

Korngold’s Violin Concerto & Cinderella

March 14, 15 & 16

Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody & The Little Mermaid

March 21, 22 & 23

Showstoppers! Celebrating Iconic Women of Broadway

April 4, 5 & 6

La Flor: The Music of Selena

April 12 & 13

Sibelius 5 & Stravinsky

April 18 & 19

Cirque Rocks!

April 25, 26 & 27

Cirque For Kids

April 26

Beethoven 7 & Mozart

May 1, 3 & 4

Trumpet Brilliance & Boléro

May 9, 10 & 11

Stayin’ Alive: The Bee Gees & Beyond

May 16, 17 & 18

Bruce Liu Plays Chopin

May 23, 24 & 25

Juraj Valčuha Conducts Mahler 3

May 30, 31 & June 1

John Williams & Steven Spielberg: Movie Magic

June 6, 7 & 8

your symphony experience

JONES HALL

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

CONCERT DISRUPTION

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

FOOD & DRINK POLICY

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

LOST & FOUND

For lost and found inquiries, please contact Patron Experience Coordinator Freddie Piegsa during the performance. He also can be reached at freddie.piegsa@houstonsymphony.org. You also may contact Houston First after the performances at 832.487.7050

ETIQUETTE

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

CHILDREN

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

LATE SEATING

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

TICKETS

Subscribers to six or more Classical or Bank of America POPS concerts, as well as PNC Family Subscribers, may exchange their tickets at no cost. Tickets to Symphony Specials or single ticket purchases are ineligible for exchange or refund.

If you are unable to make a performance, your ticket may be donated prior to the concert for a tax-donation receipt. Donations and exchanges may be made in person, over the phone, or online.

THANK YOU to our sponsors

e n v isi o n t h e p e r f e c t p ia n o fo r y o u r h o m e

R e q ue s t a c o m p li m e n t a r y s t e i n way & s o n s g r a n d p i a n o o o r t e m p l a t e

a n d s e l e c t t h e p e r f e c t s t ei n way f o r y o ur h o m e

a 1 70 y ear l e g a c y o f c r a f t sma n s h i p & i nn o vat i o n

D i s c o v er w h y s t ei n way r e m a i n s a t t h e h e a r t o f

c u l t u r e d h o m es a r o u n d t h e w o r l d

r e q u e s t a f r e e fl o o r t e m p l at e

Pl e a s e s c a n t h e Q R C o d e o r v i s i t :

st e i n w a y c o m/ o o r - t e m p l a t e

Juraj valČuha

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

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

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

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

Music Director Roy and Lillie Cullen Chair

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

He enjoys regular collaborations with the Minnesota Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Pittsburgh Symphony, and San Francisco Symphony.

International touring with the Orchestra Sinfonica della Rai took them to the Musikverein in Vienna and Philharmonie in Berlin, Cologne, Düsseldorf, Zurich, Munich, to the Enesco Festival in Bucharest, and the Abu Dhabi Classics. With the Konzerthausorchester Berlin, he visited Riga, Vilnius, and Tallinn to mark the 100 th anniversary of the Baltic nations.

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

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

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

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

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.

ORCHESTRA ROSTER

Juraj Valčuha

Music Director

Roy and Lillie Cullen Chair

FIRST VIOLIN

Yoonshin Song, Concertmaster

Max Levine Chair

Eric Halen, Co-Concertmaster

Ellen E. Kelley Chair Boson Mo, Assistant Concertmaster

Qi Ming, Assistant Concertmaster Fondren Foundation Chair

Marina Brubaker

Tong Yan

MiHee Chung

Sophia Silivos

Rodica Gonzalez

Ferenc Illenyi

Si-Yang Lao

Kurt Johnson*

Christopher Neal

Sergei Galperin

SECOND VIOLIN

MuChen Hsieh, Principal

Teresa Wang+, Associate Principal

Amy Semes

Annie Kuan-Yu Chen

Mihaela Frusina

Jing Zheng

Tianjie Lu

Anastasia Ehrlich

Tina Zhang*

Yankı Karataş

Hannah Duncan

Tianxu Liu+

Samuel Park+

VIOLA

Joan DerHovsepian, Principal

Wei Jiang, Acting Associate Principal

Sheldon Person

Fay Shapiro

Keoni Bolding

Samuel Pedersen

Suzanne LeFevre+

Elizabeth Golofeev+

Meredith Harris+

Yvonne Smith+

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

Lindsey Baggett, violin

David Connor, double bass

Rainel Joubert, violin

ASSISTANT LIBRARIANS

Hae-a Lee

Anna Thompson

Steven Reineke, Principal POPS Conductor

Andrés Orozco-Estrada, Conductor Laureate

Gonzalo Farias, Assistant Conductor

DOUBLE BASS

Robin Kesselman, Principal

Timothy Dilenschneider, Associate Principal

Eric Larson

Andrew Pedersen

Burke Shaw

Donald Howey

Ryan Avila+

Luke Rogers+

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, Head Video Engineer

Justin Herriford, Head Audio Engineer

Connor Morrow, Head Stage Technician

Giancarlo Minotti, Audio Production Manager

CONTRABASSOON

Adam Trussell

HORN

William VerMeulen, Principal

Mr. and Mrs. Alexander K. McLanahan

Endowed Chair

Robert Johnson, Associate Principal

Nathan Cloeter, Assistant Principal/Utility

Brian Thomas

Brian Mangrum

Ian Mayton

Barbara J. Burger Chair

TRUMPET

Mark Hughes, Principal

George P. and Cynthia Woods

Mitchell Chair

John Parker, Associate Principal

Robert Walp, Assistant Principal

Richard Harris

TROMBONE

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

Luke Bryson, Principal

*on leave + contracted substitute

SOCIETY BOARD OF TRUSTEES

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

Barbara J. Burger President

Janet F. Clark Chair

Jonathan Ayre Chair, Finance

Brad W. Corson Chair, Governance & Leadership

Manuel Delgado Chair, Marketing & Communications

Evan B. Glick Chair, Popular Programming

Lidiya Gold Chair, Development

Sippi Khurana, M.D. Chair, Education

GOVERNING DIRECTORS

Jonathan Ayre

Gary Beauchamp

Eric Brueggeman

Bill Bullock

Barbara J. Burger

Mary Kathryn Campion, Ph.D.

John Cassidy, M.D.

Janet F. Clark

Lidiya Gold

Claudio Gutiérrez

William D. Hunt

Rick Jaramillo

David J. M. Key

Sippi Khurana, M.D.

John Rydman Immediate Past President

Mike S. Stude Chairman Emeritus

Paul Morico General Counsel

Barbara McCelvey Secretary

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

Rian Craypo Musician Representative

John Mangum^ Executive Director/CEO

Margaret Alkek Williams Chair

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**

Ed Schneider

Anthony Speier

William J. Toomey II

Bobby Tudor **

Betty Tutor **

Jesse B. Tutor **

Gretchen Watkins

Robert Weiner

Margaret Alkek Williams **

Joan DerHovsepian^ Musician Representative

Mark Hughes^ Musician Representative

Mark Nuccio^ Musician Representative

Sherry Rodriguez^ Assistant Secretary ^Ex-Officio

EX-OFFICIO

Brad W. Corson

Rian Craypo

Manuel Delgado

Joan DerHovsepian

Mary Fusillo

Evan B. Glick

Mark Hughes

James H. Lee

Steven P. Mach

John Mangum

Mark Nuccio

Sherry Rodriguez

Juraj Valčuha

TRUSTEES

David J. Beck

James M. Bell Jr.

Carrie Brandsberg-Dahl

Nancy Shelton Bratic

Terry Ann Brown**

Lindsay Buchanan

Ralph Burch

Dougal Cameron

John T. Cater**

Robert Chanon

Heaven Chee

Michael H. Clark

Virginia Clark

Brad W. Corson

Andrew Davis, Ph.D.

Denise Davis

Manuel Delgado

Allen Deutsch, M.D.

Tracy Dieterich

Joan Duff

Connie Dyer

Jeffrey B. Firestone

Eugene A. Fong

Aggie L. Foster

Julia Anderson Frankel

Ronald G. Franklin

Carolyn Gaidos

Evan B. Glick

Jeff Hiller

Grace Ho

Gary L. Hollingsworth

Brian James

Dawn James

I. Ray Kirk, M.D.

David Krieger

Matthew Loden

Steven P. Mach

Michael Mann, M.D.

Jack Matzer

Jackie Wolens Mazow

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

Alexander K. McLanahan**

Marilyn Miles

Aprill Nelson

Tammy Tran Nguyen

Leslie Nossaman

Edward Osterberg Jr.

Zeljko Pavlovic

Gloria G. Pryzant

Miwa Sakashita

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

Robert M. Hermance

Gene McDavid

Janice H. Barrow

Barry C. Burkholder

Rodney H. Margolis

Jeffrey B. Early

Michael E. Shannon

Ed Wulfe

Nancy Strohmer

Mary Ann McKeithan

Ann Cavanaugh

Mrs. James A. Shaffer

Lucy H. Lewis

Catherine McNamara

Shirley McGregor Pearson

Paula Jarrett

Cora Sue Mach

Kathi Rovere

Norma Jean Brown

Barbara McCelvey

Lori Sorcic Jansen

Nancy B. Willerson

Jane Clark

Nancy Littlejohn

Donna Shen

Barbara McCelvey

Vicki West

Steven J. Williams

David J. Wuthrich

Ellen A. Yarrell

Robert Yekovich

EX-OFFICIO

John Steven Cisneros, Ed.D.

Juan Zane Crawford, Ph. D.

Kirby Lodholz

Frank F. Wilson IV

**Lifetime Trustee

Jesse B. Tutor

Robert B. Tudor III

Robert A. Peiser

Steven P. Mach

Janet F. Clark

John Rydman

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

DEVELOPMENT

Lauren Buchanan, Development Communications Manager

Alex Canales, Development Ticket Concierge

Jessie De Arman, Development Associate, Gifts and Records

Timothy Dillow, Senior Director, Development

Amanda T. Dinitz, Senior Major Gifts Officer

Vivian Gonzalez, Development Officer

Karyn Mason, Development Officer

Hadia Mawlawi, Senior Associate, Endowment and Planned Giving

Meghan Miller, Special Events Associate

Emilie Moellmer, Annual Fund Manager

Chelsea Murray, Senior Development Associate, Administration

Erika Ngo, Development Intern

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, Donor Stewardship Manager

Christina Trunzo, Director, Foundation Relations

Alexa Ustaszewski, Major Gifts Officer

EDUCATION | COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

Olivia Allred, Education and Community Engagement Coordinator

Allison Conlan, Director, Education and Community Engagement

FINANCE | ADMINISTRATION | IT | HR

José Arriaga, Systems Engineer

Henry Cantu, Finance Accountant

Kimberly Cegielski, Staff Accountant

Joel James, Director of Human Resources

Tanya Lovetro, Director of Budgeting and Financial Reporting

Jane Orosco, Database Administrator

Morgana Rickard, Controller

Gabriela Rivera, Senior Accountant

Pam Romo, Office Manager/HR Coordinator

Lee Whatley, Senior Director, IT and Analytics

MARKETING | EXTERNAL RELATIONS

Marketing and Communications

Mark Bailes, Marketing Revenue Manager

Olivia Cantrell, Content Marketing Coordinator

David Early, Marketing and External Relations Assistant

Heather Fails, Manager, Ticketing Database

Kathryn Judd, Director, Marketing

Yoo-Ell Lee, Graphics and Media Designer

Fiona Legesse-Sinha, Graphic Design Manager

Ciara Macaulay, Creative Director

Mariah Martinez, Email Marketing Coordinator

Eric Skelly, Senior Director, Communications

Alex Soares, Senior Director, Marketing

Christian Sosa, Web Experience Director 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

Becky Brown, Associate Director, Orchestra Personnel

Suré Eloff, Chorus Manager

Michael Gorman, Director, Orchestra Personnel

Julia Hall, Interim Director, Chorus

Adrian Hernandez, Artistic Operations Intern

Nick Kemp, Artistic Operations Assistant

Hae-a Lee, Assistant Librarian

Giancarlo Minotti, Audio Production Manager

Lauren Moore, Associate Director, Concert Media and Production

José Rios, Assistant Stage Manager

Brad Sayles, Senior Recording Engineer

Claudia Schmitz, Artistic Coordinator and Assistant to the Music Director

Stefan Stout, Stage Manager

Anna Thompson, Assistant Librarian

Meredith Williams, Associate Director, Concert Operations and Production

Rebecca Zabinski, Senior Director, Artistic Planning

PINES OF ROME + Grieg's piano concerto

Fabien Gabel, conductor

Alexandra Dariescu, piano

0:10 D. SHIN – Kafka's Dream I Am Left Alone The Woman and the Man Amidst a Clash of Worlds

0:30 GRIEG – Piano Concerto in A minor, Opus 16

I. Allegro Molto moderato

II. Adagio—

III. Allegro Moderato molto e marcato

INTERMISSION

0:38 RESPIGHI – Fontane di Roma (Fountains of Rome), P. 106

I. La fontana di Valle Giulia all'alba (The fountain of the Valle Giulia at dawn)—

II. La fontana del Tritone al mattino (Triton Fountain in early morning)—

III. La fontana di Trevi al meriggio (Trevi Fountain at midday)—

IV. La fontana di Villa Medici al tramonto (The fountain of the Villa Medici at sunset)

0:23 RESPIGHI – Pini di Roma (Pines of Rome), P. 141

I. I pini di Villa Borghese (The Pines of the Villa Borghese)—

II. Pini presso una catacomba (Pines Near a catacomb)—

III. I pini del Gianicolo (The Pines of the Janiculum)—

IV. I pini della via Appia (The Pines of the Appian Way)

About the Music

Thursday, May 2

Saturday, May 4

Sunday, May 5

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS

The 2023–24 Classical Season is in thanksgiving for Janice H. and Thomas D. Barrow

Catherine and Brian James Partner

Thank you to our Houston Symphony Livestream Consortium Donors: Guarantor

Barbara J. Burger

The Elkins Foundation Underwriter

Alana R. Spiwak & Sam L. Stolbun

Sponsor

John & Dorothy McDonald

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

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

Jones Hall

Jones Hall

8:00 p.m.

8:00 p.m.

Jones Hall & Livestream 2:30 p.m.

Program Insight

This weekend, the Houston Symphony welcomes the return of a frequent and much-loved guest, French conductor Fabien Gabel, for a program of colorful works rich in poetic allusions. The concert opens with a 2019 work by South Korean composer Donghoon Shin, Kafka’s Dream. Although the title refers to the German-Jewish-Bohemian author Franz Kafka (1883–1924), the piece is in fact inspired by a distinctly Kafkaesque poem by Argentinian writer Jorge Luis Borges (1899–1986). Regarding Borges, Shin notes, “For some reason, I was completely entranced by his writing—especially those pieces which demonstrate the idea of intertextuality,” or the way in which one literary work—or in this case a piece of music—can influence the way another is interpreted. After hearing this piece, listeners may never read Borges— or Kafka—in quite the same way. Next, acclaimed Romanian-British pianist Alexandra Dariescu returns to Jones Hall to interpret Grieg’s Piano Concerto. With its dramatic flair and attractive melodies inspired by Norwegian folk music, this show-stopper has been an audience favorite since its 1869 premiere. The program concludes with two tonepoems inspired by Rome, where composer Ottorino Respighi made his home. Spectacular essays in orchestration, these pieces vividly conjure images of the Eternal City’s famous sights. —Calvin Dotsey

Program Note

D. SHIN

Kafka's Dream (2018–19)

Although now based in London, Donghoon Shin was born in South Korea, where he enjoyed a childhood full of diverse musical experiences. “When I was a very young kid, my father was a really huge fan of music. Almost everything, actually, from Beethoven symphonies to rock ‘n’ roll,” Shin recalled in a 2022 interview. “I listened to almost everything. [The music] was not all very good for a young kid,” he chuckled, “but still, it was very crucial for me to become a composer in the future.”

Music, however, was not his only youthful passion. “When I was a teenager, I always dreamt of being a writer,” he said in a 2019 interview. “I was fascinated by many writers but the most important influence for me was Jorge Luis Borges [...] Through Borges‘s short stories, I’ve learnt how to mix and juxtapose disparate things to create a new meaning.”

Kafka’s Dream exemplifies this interplay of music and literature in Shin’s works. Premiered by the London Symphony Orchestra in 2019, the piece takes inspiration from Borges’s Ein Traum (A Dream), a poem in which Borges imagines the early 20th-century writer Franz Kafka dreaming about a woman—“Kafka’s lover”—and a man—“Kafka’s friend.” A curious fantasy unfolds: “The woman said to the friend: Tonight, I want you to love me. [...] The man said: If we sin, Kafka will stop dreaming us,” which he promptly does. The poem ends: “Kafka said to himself: Now that they’re gone and I’m all alone, I will stop dreaming myself.”

Although by Borges, the poem neatly combines the absurdity and anxiety that define the term “Kafkaesque.” Just as Kafka imagines the woman and the man, so does Borges imagine his fictional Kafka, suggesting a metatextual commentary on the nature of fiction itself. Typical of the vanity of authors, Borges also implicitly compares Kafka (and himself) to the God of Genesis, who wills Adam and Eve into being only to punish them for eating the forbidden fruit.

Shin in turn adds another layer of meaning through his piece, which is divided into three movements that follow one another without pause. The first, “The Woman and the Man,” opens mysteriously, fittingly recalling the musical expressionism pioneered by composers Schönberg, Webern, and Berg just as the real Kafka was writing his most famous works. It crescendos to an alarming conclusion, breaking off at the start of the second movement, “I am left alone.” The music suddenly becomes soft and still, punctuated by moments of intensity. The movement ends with an oboe solo that dies away.

The luminous clang of crotales, glockenspiel, and celesta begins the finale, “Amidst a clash of worlds.” Jo Kirkbride’s program notes for the London premiere quote Shin: “The third movement was inspired from a dream I had while I was working on the previous movements [...] In the dream, I heard the first and second movements, but in a different order and with different combinations of instruments.” Musically, that is indeed what unfolds: metaphorically, is Shin perhaps imagining an alternative ending to Borges’s poem? In another interview, Shin remarked, “I always depict a story in my music, but you don’t need to know about it. It’s just for me.”—Calvin Dotsey

Program Notes

GRIEG

Piano Concerto in A minor, Opus 16 (1868)

After studying music in Germany as a young man, Grieg returned to his native Norway, where his compatriots inspired him to create a new, Norwegian style of classical music. In 1866, he settled in Oslo and flung himself into the arduous quest of developing audiences and institutions to support the artform in a country that still had limited interest in it. With a new wife and child to support, he was hard pressed to make money by giving piano lessons and seldom had time to compose.

In the summer of 1868, he took his family on an extended holiday to visit his in-laws in Denmark. There, the creativity that had been dammed up within the 25-year-old composer at last came pouring out in the form of his piano concerto, and the premiere took place the following spring. Despite the concerto’s instant success, the perfectionistic Grieg continued to adjust it as late as 1906. From its premiere, however, audiences and pianists alike treasured its heart-on-sleeve emotions, virtuoso pianism, and unforgettable Nordic melodies.

The concerto famously begins with a timpani roll and a dramatic descent for the soloist. Woodwinds then introduce the resolute main theme of the first movement; later, the cellos introduce a meltingly beautiful, contrasting second theme. Dramatic trumpet fanfares initiate a dreamy development based on fragments of the main theme, and the following reprise of the main themes leads to an intense cadenza—an extended passage for the soloist alone. The orchestra briefly reenters, and the movement ends as it began.

The slow second movement transports listeners to a distant dreamworld with a long, yearning theme for strings. The entrance of the piano begins a tranquil contrasting section, and the soloist concludes the movement with a passionate version of the strings’ opening theme. The finale opens with a distinctive melody that recalls the Hardanger fiddle music of the halling, an athletic Norwegian folk dance. This vigorous main theme alternates with contrasting episodes, including a lyrical melody introduced by a solo flute. At the end, the halling theme is transformed, switching from duple to triple meter and from minor to major. The concerto concludes with a magnificent return of the flute theme. Influenced by Norwegian folk music, it is inflected with G-naturals in place of the expected G-sharps.

In 1869, Grieg presented his new concerto to the great composerpianist Franz Liszt, who astounded Grieg by playing it perfectly at sight. Years later, Grieg recalled “one particularly divine episode”: “In the very last measures [...] [Liszt] suddenly stopped, rose to his full height, left the piano, and with mighty theatrical steps and raised arms strode throughout the great monastery hall, literally roaring out the theme. When he got to the above mentioned G, he gestured imperiously with his arm and cried: ‘G, G, not G-sharp! Fantastic! That’s the real Swedish article!’” True, Grieg was Norwegian, but in light of the master’s excitement, the young Grieg was easily able to forgive him.

—Calvin Dotsey

Program Note

RESPIGHI

Fontane di Roma (Fountains of Rome), P. 106 (1916)

Soon after moving to Rome in 1913, Respighi made the acquaintance of two Latvian students who were sisters. They lived in the Valle Giulia, a low-lying area just northwest of the Borghese Gardens. “Near their little house, which was lonely and remote at that time, one could always hear the murmuring of a fountain,” Respighi recalled. On one occasion, one of the young women whispered to him, “Listen—how it sings!” “That was the first of the Fountains of Rome,” Respighi asserted. Though this initial inspiration came in 1913, most of the work on the piece was done in 1915–16.

In March 1917, the first performance met with a cool reception; dispirited, Respighi put the score away in a drawer. He took it out only when Toscanini, the internationally acclaimed conductor, requested a new work to conduct, and no other pieces were ready. At Toscanini’s February 1918 performance, the Fountains of Rome became Respighi’s greatest success yet, making him famous the world over.

In the published score, Respighi provided his own illustrative notes for the piece: “The first part of the poem, inspired by the fountain of Valle Giulia, depicts a pastoral landscape: droves of cattle pass and disappear in the fresh damp mists of a roman dawn.” Imitating a shepherd’s shawm, the oboe introduces a bucolic theme that is passed among the woodwinds, until the oboe doubled by a solo cello play a warmer, contrasting theme. A brief reprise of the first theme then leads to the next section. “A sudden loud and insistent blast of horns above the whole orchestra introduces the second part ‘The Triton Fountain.’ It is like a joyous call, summoning troops of naiads and tritons, who come running up, pursuing each other, and mingling in a frenzied dance between the jets of water.

“Next there appears a solemn theme [in the trumpets and trombones borne on the undulations of the orchestra. It is the fountain of Trevi at mid-day.” The orchestra conjures images of crashing waves, creating a vast seascape: “The solemn theme, passing from the wood to the brass instruments, assumes a triumphal character. Trumpets peal: across the radiant surface of the water there passes Neptune’s chariot drawn by sea-horses, and followed by a train of sirens and tritons. The procession then vanishes while faint trumpet blasts resound in the distance. “The fourth part ‘The Villa Medici Fountain’ is announced by a sad theme [in the flute and English horn] which rises above a subdued warbling. It is the nostalgic hour of sunset.” Delicate harps and celesta accompany the scene: “The air is full of the sound of tolling bells, birds twittering, leaves rustling.” A violin solo leads to a passage that illustrates the “birds twittering” and “leaves rustling” with evocative woodwind and string solos. The flutes and piccolo depict drops of water above a reprise of the “sad theme” in the violins. “Then all dies peacefully into the silence of the night.”—Calvin Dotsey

Program Note

RESPIGHI

Pini di Roma (Pines of Rome), P. 141 (1924)

Though Respighi completed Pines of Rome during the summer of 1924, in an interview he explained that the piece had been “conceived, started, and restarted over several years.” The initial inspiration likely came in 1920 when Elsa, his wife, introduced him to children’s songs she remembered from playing in the Borghese Gardens as a little girl. Snippets of these melodies found their way into the opening movement, which depicts children “at play in the pine groves of Villa Borghese,” according to the composer’s own note. “[T]hey dance round in circles, they play soldiers, marching and fighting, they are wrought up by their own cries like swallows at evening, they come and go in swarms. “Suddenly the scene changes,” Respighi writes. “We see the shades of the pine-trees fringing the entrance to a catacomb. From the depth rises the sound of mournful psalm singing, floating through the air like a solemn hymn, and gradually and mysteriously dispersing.” Muted horns introduce melodic fragments that lead to a trumpet solo, marked “sweetly and expressively, as distant as possible.” A chanting figure then arises in the strings, gradually crescendoing to a powerful return of the trumpet melody in the trombones.

The next section begins with a gentle arabesque from the piano. “A quiver runs through the air: the pine-trees of the Janiculum stand distinctly outlined in the clear light of a full moon. A nightingale is singing.” Across the Tiber from the ancient city, the Janiculum is a hill that provides one of the best views of Rome. Traditionally, this part of the piece has been interpreted as a love scene. A solo clarinet begins a long melody marked “come in sogno”—“as if in a dream.” The scene ends with an innovative touch: a recording of a nightingale singing, evoking sunrise. Respighi continues: “Misty dawn on the Appian Way: solitary pine-trees guarding the magic landscape [...]” Begun in 312 BCE, the Appian Way was one of the Roman Republic’s most important roads; ending at the Forum, it extended through the southern half of the Italian peninsula. “[T]he muffled, ceaseless rhythm of unending footsteps” emerges as a spectral march from the depths of the orchestra. Slowly, ghosts of Rome’s past come to life in a powerful crescendo: “The poet has a fantastic vision of bygone glories: trumpets sound and, in the brilliance of the newly-risen sun, a consular army bursts forth towards the Sacred Way mounting in triumph to the Capitol.”—Calvin Dotsey

Program Bios

Fabien Gabel, conductor

Fabien Gabel is the newly appointed music director designate of the TonkünstlerOrchester, a position that begins with the 2025–26 Season. Elsewhere, he has established an international career of the highest caliber, appearing with orchestras such as the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Chicago Symphony, NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester, Oslo Philharmonic, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, Seoul Philharmonic, and Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. Praised for his dynamic style and sensitive approach to the score, he is best known for his eclectic choice of repertoire, ranging from core symphonic works to new music to championing lesser-known composers of the 19 th and the 20 th centuries.

Fabien returns as a guest this season to several orchestras, including City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Malmö Symphony Orchestra, Stavanger Symphony Orchestra, The Cleveland Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra, NDR Radiophilharmonie Hannover, Luzerner Sinfonieorchester, Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia,

Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo, Detroit Symphony, and Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra. He debuts with Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal. In Paris, he continues his work on a largescale project to record a new score for Abel Gance’s epic film Napoleon with the Orchestre National de France and Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France in a production that will appear in cinemas, online streaming, and live performances.

Having attracted international attention in 2004 as the winner of the Donatella Flick conducting competition, Fabien was assistant conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra 2004–2006. He was music director of Orchestre Symphonique de Québec 2012–2021 and Orchestre Français des Jeunes 2017–2021.

Born in Paris to a family of accomplished musicians, Fabien Gabel began playing the trumpet at age six and honed his skills at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris and at the Hochschule für Musik Karlsruhe. He played with various Parisian orchestras under prominent conductors such as Pierre Boulez, Sir Colin Davis, Riccardo Muti, Seiji Ozawa, Simon Rattle, and Bernard Haitink before embarking on his conducting career. Fabien Gabel was named Chevaliers des Arts et des Lettres by the French government in January 2020. 

Alexandra Dariescu, piano

Alexandra Dariescu, creator of The Nutcracker and I, is a pianist for the 21st century, standing out as an original voice on gender equality and championing and premiering lesser-known works. In demand as a soloist worldwide, she has performed with eminent orchestras and conductors from London to Sydney.

Alexandra opened this season for the BBC Symphony Orchestra with Sakari Oramo. A regular guest of the George Enescu International Festival, she returned alongside pianist Jean Efflam Bavouzet and the Manchester Camerata for Mozart’s double concerto. In North America, she debuted with the Indianapolis Symphony and Vancouver Symphony Orchestras, followed by her return to the Detroit Symphony Orchestra for the world premiere of James Lee III’s piano concerto Shades of Unbroken Dreams, in honor of the 60 th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech. The concerto, written for Alexandra, is a co-commission with the BBC Philharmonic and Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra. Further highlights include her return to the Houston Symphony and debuts

Program Bios

with the Copenhagen Philharmonic, Philharmonisches Staatsorchester Mainz, the Trondheim, and Wuppertal Symphony orchestras.

In 2017, Alexandra took the world by storm with her piano recital production The Nutcracker and I, an original ground-breaking multimedia performance for piano solo with dance and digital animation. For seven years, it has enjoyed international acclaim and has drawn thousands of young audiences into concert halls across the world.

She has given important premieres of neglected pieces, such as Nadia Boulanger’s Fantaisie Variée. In 2022, she made the world premiere

recording of a newly discovered piano concerto (1900) by Leokadiya Kashperova with the BBC Symphony. Further discoveries include international performances of the recently unearthed piano concerto by George Enescu and Dora Pejačević’s Phantasie concertante. She has released eight albums to critical acclaim.

Mentored by Sir András Schiff and Dame Imogen Cooper, Alexandra is a Laureate at the Verbier Festival Academy. Her recognitions include the UK Women of the Future Award, patron of Music in Lyddington, Cultural Ambassador of Romania, Officer of the Romanian Crown, Young European Leader, Cultural

Merit in the rank of Knight by the Romanian President, and Associated Member of the RNCM. 

Corporate Spotlight

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

With 220 stores throughout Texas and more than 3,400 employees, Spec’s is a true family business, run by owners John Rydman and his second-generation owner and wife, Lindy. Third-generation Lisa Lindsey, has worked with the company as well since 1995. Spec’s is known for its personal touch in many areas: selecting products for its shelves, cultivating a sense of family among its employees, providing guidance and personal service to its customers, and giving back to the communities it serves.

The music of Star wars

Steven Reineke, conductor

0:03 J. WILLIAMS – The Flag Parade from The Phantom Menace

0:05 J. WILLIAMS – Across the Stars from Attack of the Clones

0:04 J. WILLIAMS – Battle of the Heroes from Revenge of the Sith

0:03 J. WILLIAMS – The Adventures of Han from Solo: A Star Wars Story

0:02 M. GIACCHINO – The Imperial Suite from Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

0:05 J. WILLIAMS – Princess Leia's Theme from Star Wars

0:05 J. WILLIAMS – Main Title from Star Wars

0:03 J. WILLIAMS – Yoda's Theme from Star Wars

0:04 J. WILLIAMS – The Imperial March (Darth Vader's Theme) from Star Wars

INTERMISSION

0:05 J. WILLIAMS – Luke and Leia from The Star Wars Saga

0:04 J. WILLIAMS – The Forest Battle from The Star Wars Saga

0:03 J. WILLIAMS – Rey's Theme from The Force Awakens

0:03 J. WILLIAMS – March of the Resistance from Star Wars: The Force Awakens

0:04 J. WILLIAMS – The Rebellion is Reborn from The Last Jedi

0:16 J. WILLIAMS – Suite from The Rise of Skywalker I. Psalm of the Sith II. Speeder Chase III. Rey and Ben IV. The Rise of Skywalker

About the Music

Thursday, May 17

Saturday, May 18

Saturday, May 18

Sunday, May 19

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS

Underwriter

Sponsor Margaret Alkek Williams Grand Guarantor

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

Sponsor

Thank you to our Houston Symphony Livestream Consortium Donors: Guarantor

Barbara J. Burger

The Elkins Foundation Underwriter

Alana R. Spiwak & Sam L. Stolbun

Sponsor

John & Dorothy McDonald

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

Jones Hall

Jones Hall

Jones Hall & Livestream

Jones Hall

Program Insight

8:00 p.m.

2:30 p.m.

8:00 p.m.

2:30 p.m.

• After working with Steven Spielberg on Jaws, John Williams met with George Lucas, at the request of Spielberg, to discuss the score for Star Wars. Williams recalls that Lucas considered using preexisting classical music for the score, but Williams pushed for an original score.

• John Williams drew inspiration from various musical styles and composers when crafting the Star Wars score. For instance, he incorporated elements of classical music, Wagnerian opera, and even 20th-century avant-garde techniques, creating a rich and diverse sonic tapestry.

• The "Star Wars Main Theme" is one of the most recognizable pieces of film music ever composed. Its triumphant brass melody sets the tone for the entire saga and is often referred to as one of the greatest film themes of all time.

• John Williams employs leitmotifs extensively throughout the Star Wars saga. These recurring musical themes are associated with specific characters, places, or concepts, enhancing storytelling and emotional resonance.

Program Bios

Steven Reineke, conductor

Principal POPS Conductor Steven Reineke is one of North America's leading conductors of popular music. He is in his second decade 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 Orchestras.

Steven is a frequent guest conductor and can be seen on the podium with the Chicago, Philadelphia, Dallas, San Francisco, and Detroit Symphony Orchestras.

Corporate Spotlight

On stage, Steven creates and collaborates with a range of leading artists from the worlds of hip-hop, R & B, Broadway, television, and rock, including Maxwell, Common, Kendrick Lamar, Nas, Ne-Yo, Barry Manilow, Cynthia Erivo, Ben Rector, Cody Fry, Sutton Foster, Amos Lee, Dispatch, Jason Mraz, and Ben Folds, among others. In 2017, he was featured on National Public Radio'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 National Symphony Orchestra with hip-hop legend Nas performing his seminal album Illmatic on PBS's Great Performances.

As the creator of hundreds of orchestral arrangements, Steven’s work is performed worldwide and can be heard on numerous Cincinnati Pops Orchestra recordings. His symphonic works Celebration Fanfare, 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 was used to commemorate 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 perennially.

A native of Ohio, Steven is a graduate of Miami University of Ohio (2020 Alumnus Distinguished Achievement Medal), where he earned bachelor of music degrees with honors in both trumpet performance and music composition. He currently resides in New York City with his husband Eric Gabbard. 

As a celebrated member of Houston’s performing arts community for more than 100 years, the Houston Symphony is proud to partner with another local institution that has been giving back to the city for more than a century: Vinson & Elkins LLP, an international law firm with more than 700 lawyers in 11 offices worldwide.

The lawyers and business professionals at Vinson & Elkins truly believe in the value of giving back to the communities they serve and are especially proud of their long tradition of supporting the arts here where the firm was founded. Visit velaw.com for more information about the firm.

The Houston Symphony thanks Vinson & Elkins for the firm’s continued support.

Adams’s El Niño

David Robertson, conductor

*Susanna Phillips, soprano

Kelley O'Connor, mezzo-soprano

*Daniel Bubeck, *Brian Cummings,

*Nathan Medley, countertenors

*Davóne Tines, bass

1:50 J. ADAMS – El Niño: A Nativity Oratorio Part One

1. I Sing of a Maiden: L = 92-96—

2. Hail, Mary, Gracious!: Slightly slower than previous quarter notes—

3. La anunciación: L = 66—

4. For with God no thing shall be impossible: L = 96 With great intensity—

5. The babe leaped in her womb: L = 112—

6. Magnificat: N = 80

7. Now she was sixteen years old: L = 128

8. Joseph’s Dream: L = 120

9. Shake the heavens: N = 96

10. Se habla de Gabriel: L = 63 Quietly and very flexibly

11. The Christmas Star: L = 156

INTERMISSION

Houston Symphony Chorus, Julia Hall, interim director

Joshua Habermann, diction coach and guest rehearsal conductor

Treble Choir of Houston

Marianna Parnas-Simpson, founder and artistic director

*Mark Grey, sound engineer

Part Two

12. Pues mi Dios ha nacido: L = 76-82

13. When Herod heard: L = 123—

14. Woe unto them that call evil good: L = 130

15. And the star went before them: L = 96

16. The Three Kings: L = 110

17. And when they were departed: L = 96—

18. Dawn Air: N. = 76

19. And he slew all the children: L = 66—

20. Memorial de Tlatelolco: L = 96

21. In the day of the great slaughter: L = 160—

22. Pues está tiritando: L = L—

23. Jesus and the Dragons: N. = N—L = 104

24. A Palm Tree: L = 68

SPEC'S END OF SEASON CELEBRATION

About the Music

Saturday, May 25

Sunday, May 26

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS

Thank you to our Houston Symphony Livestream Consortium Donors: Guarantor

Barbara J. Burger

The Elkins Foundation Underwriter

Alana R. Spiwak & Sam L. Stolbun Sponsor

John & Dorothy McDonald

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

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

Jones Hall

Jones Hall & Livestream

Program Insight

8:00 p.m.

2:30 p.m.

Good things are worth waiting for. When the Houston Symphony originally invited American maestro David Robertson to lead performances of John Adams’s El Niño in March 2020, no one could have predicted the global pandemic that would reach Houston just as rehearsals were about to begin. Now, more than four years later, we are delighted to bring Robertson and the originally planned cast of stellar soloists back to Jones Hall to perform this major contemporary masterpiece—no small feat, given these artists’ busy schedules. It would be difficult to imagine a better set of interpreters for this piece. Robertson, who has received critical praise for his commitment to new music and his adventurous programming during his long tenure with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, has been a steadfast champion of Adams’s music, recording several of the composer’s works. Star singers Susanna Phillips and Kelley O’Connor have both frequently performed at the Metropolitan Opera, and Adams wrote the title role of his The Gospel According to the Other Mary for O’Connor. Similarly, Davóne Tines originated the role of Ned Peters in Adams’s 2017 opera Girls of the Golden West, and countertenors Daniel Bubeck and Brian Cummings sang in the world premiere of El Niño in 2000. Nathan Medley made his professional debut in 2012 in John Adams’s The Gospel According to the Other Mary and has since made a specialty of Adams’s music. Without question the most successful living American composer of operas and concert music, Adams himself is no stranger to Houston. He memorably conducted his own work, City Noir, with the Houston Symphony here at Jones Hall in 2014, and his breakthrough opera Nixon in China received its world premiere down the street at Houston Grand Opera in 1987.

—Calvin Dotsey

Program Note

J. ADAMS

El Niño (1999)

In 1999, the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris commissioned John Adams to compose a new piece for chorus and orchestra that would celebrate the dawning millennium. Inspired by both the birth of a new era and memories of becoming a father, Adams composed “an oratorio about birth in general and about the Nativity in specific,” as he related in his autobiography, Hallelujah Junction. The Christmas story is one of history’s central birth narratives, and it has been treated in music many times—Bach’s Christmas Oratorio and Part the First of Handel’s Messiah provide two famous examples.

Adams, however, seems to have been keen to retell this familiar tale in a way that would allow listeners to discover it anew, focusing on its mystical and miraculous aspects. Together with his frequent collaborator, theater director Peter Sellars, Adams compiled a libretto from a diverse array of sources, including traditional biblical passages, apocrypha, and Spanish-language poetry from Mexico, Chile, and Nicaragua. Appearing both in English translation and the original Spanish, these poems seem suited to Adams’s approach; with their echoes of the magical realism that pervaded Spanish-language literature of the Western hemisphere in the 20th century, they lend a fresh perspective to this age-old story.

Regarding the work’s title, Adams wrote, “My first impetus was to call this oratorio about birth How Could This Happen?, a phrase I’d found in one of the traditional church antiphons sung on Christmas Eve. But as the Hispanic theme grew and took center place, I changed the title to El Niño.” Literally translated as “the Boy,” El Niño is a traditional name in Latin America for both the Christ child and a stormy meteorological phenomenon that occurs around Christmastime in the Pacific Ocean approximately every four years. “I thought that the advent of the Christ child had caused its own kind of spiritual storm, blowing away the corruption and cynicism of the previous world order and offering a new and radically altered vision in its place,” Adams explained.

The oratorio is divided into two parts: the first relates the annunciation and the birth of Jesus, while the second includes the three wise men, the massacre of the innocents, and the flight into Egypt. The opening number, “I Sing of a Maiden,” displays many hallmarks of Adams’s musical style. Overlapping layers of pulsating rhythmic patterns drift through the score over slowly changing harmonies, creating a trance-like atmosphere. The unique scoring of El Niño is also immediately apparent as Adams includes a pair of guitars, perhaps a nod to the music of Latin America. The glistening texture that results may be an example of word painting: the text, an anonymous English poem, compares the Christ child to “the dew in April that falleth on the grass.”

The next number, “Hail, Mary, Gracious!,” is based on text from a 14th-century English “mystery play”—a medieval version of a Christmas pageant. A trio of countertenors represents the angel Gabriel as he tells Mary she is to bear God’s child. The unique sound of the countertenors’ voices emphasizes the otherworldly nature of this encounter. At the end of the number, a synthesizer enters, adding an electronic timbre to El Niño’s mysterious soundscape.

Program Notes

J. ADAMS

El Niño (1999)

The third number sets the first of four poems by Mexican author Rosario Castellanos (1925–1974). Though most of the oratorio’s texts are presented in English, all of Castellanos’s poems appear in the original Spanish, and her meditations appear at key moments throughout El Niño. In this case, the poem narrates the Virgin Mary’s inner monologue as she reflects on her miraculous pregnancy. The following three numbers (based on the Gospel of Luke) lead to an intense, operatic scene in which Joseph discovers Mary’s pregnancy: the text of “Now she was sixteen years old” comes from the Gospel of James, an apocryphal text dating from the late second century that details the life of Mary, while “Joseph’s Dream” is drawn from the writings of Martin Luther. This climaxes with “Shake the Heavens,” a baritone aria which invites direct comparison with Handel’s setting of the same biblical text in Messiah. After Castellanos’s introspective “Se Habla de Gabriel,” Part One of El Niño ends with “The Christmas Star,” a combination of poems by the Nobel Prize-winning Chilean poet Gabriela Mistral (1889–1957) and the medieval abbess Hildegard of Bingen (1098–1179). Mistral’s image of a girl running with a star that sets the world on fire becomes a powerful metaphor for the birth of Jesus.

Part Two begins with a gentle lullaby based on a poem by Sor Juana Inésde la Cruz (1648–1695), the Mexican intellectual prodigy and nun. Like those of Castellanos, her verses remain in Spanish. Biblical texts then narrate the perfidious King Herod’s paranoia, the visit of the three wise men, and the massacre of the innocents. These accounts are also elaborated with poems by the Nicaraguan Rubén Dario (1867–1916) and the Chilean Vicente Huidobro (1893–1948), culminating with Castellanos’s “Memorial de Tlatelolco.” The inclusion of this intense poem draws a parallel between Herod’s slaughter of the infants of Bethlehem and an infamous 1968 incident in which government forces killed hundreds of student protestors in Mexico City. After this violent episode, El Niño ends peacefully by following Mary, Joseph, and the baby Jesus on their flight into Egypt. After the playful “Pues está tiritando” (text by Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz), the apocryphal Gospel of PseudoMatthew illustrates two miraculous scenes: the baby Jesus tames dragons and commands a palm tree to bend so that Mary might eat of its fruit. El Niño ends with verses by Castellanos, a prayer sung by a children’s chorus. —Calvin Dotsey

Program Bios

David Robertson, conductor

David Robertson–conductor, artist, composer, thinker, American musical visionary–occupies the most prominent podiums in opera, orchestral, and new music. He is a champion of contemporary composers, and an ingenious and adventurous programmer.

David has served in numerous artistic leadership positions, including chief conductor and artistic director of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, a transformative 13-year tenure as music director of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, positions with the Orchestre National de Lyon and BBC Symphony Orchestra, and as a protégé of Pierre Boulez, the Ensemble InterContemporain. He appears with the world’s great orchestras, including the New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Vienna Philharmonic, Czech Philharmonic, São Paulo State Symphony Orchestra, Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, and many major ensembles and festivals on five continents.

In 2023, David made his first return to Sydney, and will begin a three-year tenure as the inaugural creative partner of the Utah Symphony and Opera. Since his 1996 Metropolitan Opera debut, he has conducted a breathtaking range of Met projects, including the 2019–20 Season opening premiere production of Porgy and Bess, for which he shared a Grammy Award, Best Opera Recording, in March 2021. In 2022, he conducted the Met Opera revival of the production, in addition to making his Rome Opera debut conducting Janáček’s Káťa Kabanová.

David is a Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres of France, and is the recipient of numerous artistic awards. He serves on the Tianjin Juilliard Advisory Council, complementing his role as director of conducting studies, distinguished visiting faculty of The Juilliard School, New York. In the 2023–24 Season, in addition to the Houston Symphony, he conducts the Seattle Symphony, Royal Danish Orchestra, Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, Deutsches Symphonie Orchester-Berlin, the Minnesota Orchestra, The Philadelphia Orchestra, and the New York Philharmonic, among others. 

Susanna Phillips, soprano

Alabama-born soprano Susanna Phillips is one of today’s most sought-after singing actors and recitalists. She is a recipient of The Metropolitan Opera’s 2010 Beverly Sills Artist Award. Known for her sparkling portrayal of Musetta in La bohème, Susanna has sung at the Met as Musetta, Pamina, Donna Anna, Rosalinde, Antonia/Stella, Micaëla, Donna Elvira, and most recently in her role debut as Mimi. Role highlights at the Met under James Levine include Fiordigili, which The New York Times called a “breakthrough night,” and Clémence in the Met premiere of Kaija Saariaho’s L’amour de Loin. She was a featured artist in the Met’s Summer Recital Series.

In 2005, Susanna won four of the world’s leading vocal competitions: Operalia (First Place and Audience Prize), the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, the MacAllister Awards, and the George London Foundation Awards Competition. She has also claimed the top honor at the Marilyn Horne Foundation Competition, and has won first prizes from the American Opera Society Competition and the Musicians Club of Women in

Program Bios

Chicago. She has received grants from the Santa Fe Opera and the Sullivan Foundation, and is a graduate of Lyric Opera of Chicago’s Ryan Opera Center. She holds bachelor and master of music degrees from The Juilliard School.

This season, Susanna joins Boston Baroque for Donna Anna in Don Giovanni and the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra for Beethoven Nine. She joins both Music of the Baroque and Oratorio Society of New York for the Mozart Requiem and Bach Magnificat, and returns to OSNY for Beethoven Nine and Mahler Two. Additionally, she presents recitals with Myra Huang, Gloria Chein, and Anthony McGill at Dallas Chamber Music Society, Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, and Spivey Hall in Atlanta, among other venues.

Last season, she returned to the Metropolitan Opera for role debut as Mimi in La Bohème. She joined the Dallas Symphony for Mendelssohn's Lobgesang and the Utah Symphony for Elijah with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Other concert and recital engagements included Strauss's Vier letzte Lieder, a recital with True Concord at the Tuscon Desert Song Festival, Vaughan Williams's Sea Symphony, and a recital with Chamber Music Northwest. 

Kelly O'Connor, mezzosoprano

Possessing a voice of uncommon allure, the Grammy Award-winning mezzo-soprano Kelley O'Connor is one of the most compelling performers of her generation. She is internationally acclaimed equally in the pillars of the classical music canon–from Beethoven and Mahler to Brahms and Ravel–as she is in new works of modern masters, from Adams and Dessner to Lieberson and Talbot.

In the 2023–24 Season, Kelley performs with the Houston Symphony in John Adams’s El Niño led by David Robertson, and brings Peter Lieberson’s Neruda Songs to concerts with the New World Symphony under the baton of Stéphane Denève, with the Omaha Symphony and Music Director Ankush Bahl, and with the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra led by Johannes Fritzsch. She performs as a soloist in Mahler’s Second Symphony with the Kansas City Symphony Orchestra with Music Director Michael Stern and in the composer’s Third Symphony with the San Francisco Symphony conducted by Music Director Esa-Pekka Salonen. She also joins the Dallas Symphony Orchestra and Music Director Fabio Luisi for Schmidt’s seldom-performed Das

Buch mit sieben Siegeln. Additional performances of the season include Messiah with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Mozart’s Requiem with the Oregon Symphony under the direction of Music Director Michael Danzmayr. A vibrant chamber music schedule this season includes concerts in the Bay Area with the New Century Chamber Orchestra and recitals with pianist Myra Huang at the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival and with pianist Robert Spano at Chamber Music in Napa Valley.

John Adams wrote the title role of The Gospel According to the Other Mary for Kelley; she has performed the work, both in concert and in the Peter Sellars fully staged production, under the batons of John Adams, Gustavo Dudamel, Grant Gershon, Gianandrea Noseda, Sir Simon Rattle, and David Robertson. She has sung the composer’s El Niño with Vladimir Jurowski and the London Philharmonic Orchestra and continues to be the eminent living interpreter of Peter Lieberson’s Neruda Songs, having given this moving set of songs with Christoph Eschenbach and the National Symphony Orchestra, and with Bernard Haitink and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, among many others. 

Program Bios

Daniel Bubeck, countertenor

Daniel Bubeck, countertenor 1, has earned an international reputation on both opera and concert stages in repertoire ranging from Bach and Handel to John Adams. He has performed in major halls throughout the world, including Carnegie Hall, the Concertgebouw, English National Opera, Barbican Centre, Konzerthaus-Berlin, Théâtre Musical de Paris-Châtelet, English National Opera, Avery Fischer Hall, Walt Disney Hall, and festivals in Lucerne, Adelaide, Beijing, Chicago, and Cincinnati. He has sung with the London Symphony Orchestra, BBC Symphony, London Philharmonic, Berlin Philharmonic, Tokyo Symphony, Moscow National Symphony Orchestra, Netherlands Radio Orchestra, Estonian National Philharmonic, Concerto Köln, Cleveland Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, Boston Symphony, St. Louis Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, Orchestra of St. Luke’s, American Bach Soloists, Carmel Bach Festival, Dallas Bach Society, and Haymarket Baroque, under such conductors as Gustavo Dudamel, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Vladimir Jurowski, Kent Nagano, David

Robertson, Sir Simon Rattle, Robert Spano, Christopher Hogwood, and Nicholas McGegan.

Career highlights include the premieres, recordings, and more than 50 performances of John Adams’s El Niño and The Gospel According to the Other Mary ; the American premiere of Lost Objects by David Lang, Julia Wolfe, and Michael Gordon; Oberon in Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Hawaii Opera Theater); Vivaldi cantatas recorded for Sony Classical; Frammenti di un’opera barocca perduta by Robert Moran; the premiere of Infinite Movement ; a multi-media oratorio by Shara Nova and Matthew Ritchie; and the soundtrack of the Warner Brothers thriller, I am Legend. Daniel holds doctoral and master’s degrees in voice and is on the vocal faculty of the University of North Texas, Denton. 

Brian Cummings, countertenor

Brian Cummings, countertenor 2, made his professional debut in the premiere of John Adams’s El Niño in Paris and sang the premiere of Adams’s The Gospel According to the Other Mary in 2012 with the

Los Angeles Philharmonic under Gustavo Dudamel. He has appeared in performances of these pieces throughout the world, including Carnegie Hall, English National Opera, the London Philharmonic, BBC Symphony, Estonian National Philharmonic, Netherlands Radio Orchestra (in Amsterdam, Strasbourg, and Cologne), Cleveland Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, the Adelaide Festival, the Tokyo Symphony, Ravinia Festival, Cincinnati May Festival, and the Spoleto Festival USA. He has worked under leading conductors: Esa-Pekka Salonen, Robert Spano, David Robertson, Sir Simon Rattle, John Adams, Tõnu Kaljuste, and Kent Nagano.

He sang the title role of Handel's Giulio Cesare with Opera Fuoco under David Stern and has collaborated with director Timothy Nelson in the roles of David in Charpentier's David et Jonathas, Hamor in Handel's Jephtha, and Iarbo/Corebo in Cavalli's Didone. He appeared as a soloist at the Washington and Bloomington Early Music Festivals. He has sung with Paul Hillier’s Theatre of Voices and the Pro Arte Singers and can be heard on their recordings for Harmonia Mundi as well as the recording and DVD of El Niño and two recordings of The Gospel According to the Other Mary. He has sung regularly with ensembles such as Les Arts Florissants, Opera Fuoco, Ensemble Entheos, and Les Muses Galantes. Brian studied Early Music Vocal Performance at Indiana University with Paul Elliott, Paul Hillier, and Nigel North. 

Program Bios

Nathan Medley, countertenor

Nathan Medley, countertenor 3, has emerged as one of the leading new-generation countertenors, with notable international success. He has sung at English National Opera, Barbican Centre, Carnegie Hall, Philharmonie di Paris, Kölner Philharmonie, La Salle Pleyel, Palais de Musique Strasbourg, Het Concertgebouw, the Lucerne Festival, Avery Fisher Hall, and Walt Disney Concert Hall. Recent performances have brought him to the Boston Early Music Festival, Berlin Philharmonic, Cleveland Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, London Symphony, the Netherlands Radio Orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, St. Louis Symphony, Chicago’s Ravinia Festival, the Cincinnati May Festival, Opera Omaha, Pacific MusicWorks, Mercury Baroque, Seraphic Fire, Indianapolis Baroque Orchestra, Cincinnati Collegium, Miami Bach Society, Dayton Bach Society, and Dallas Bach Society.

Nathan made his professional debut in 2012 in John Adams’s The Gospel According to the other Mary with the Los Angeles Philharmonic under Gustavo Dudamel, recorded for Duetsche Grammophon and recorded again

by the Berlin Philharmonic under Sir Simon Rattle. He returned to Los Angeles for Peter Sellars’s staging of this work, which toured to Switzerland and Lincoln Center, and again in 2015 for the U.S. premiere of Olga Neuwirth’s Hommage á Klaus Nomi, conducted by John Adams. He made his English National Opera debut in Adams’s The Gospel According to the other Mary, staged by Sellars. In 2016, he premiered a song cycle, The Cross of Snow, by John Harbison for countertenor and gamba consort with Chicago’s Second City Musick. He is a founding member the ensemble, Echoing Air. 

Davóne Tines, baritone

Davóne Tines, heralded as an artist "changing what it means to be a classical singer” (The New Yorker) and “[one] of the most powerful voices of our time” (Los Angeles Times), is a pathbreaking artist whose work encompasses a diverse repertoire, ranging from early music to new commissions by leading composers, while exploring the social issues of today. A creator, curator, and performer at the intersection of many histories, cultures, and aesthetics, he is engaged in work

that blends opera, art song, spirituals, contemporary classical, gospel, and protest songs to tell a deeply personal story of perseverance connecting to all of humanity.

Davóne is a musician who takes full agency of his work, devising new programs and pieces from conception to performance. He reflects this ethos in his Recital No. 1: MASS, an examination of the liturgy, comparing Western European, African American, and 21st-century traditions; as well as in his orchestral creations: Concerto No. 1: SERMON, a work he premiered with the Philadelphia and BBC Symphony Orchestras; and Concerto No. 2: ANTHEM, premiered with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Davóne has also premiered operas by today’s leading composers, including John Adams, Terence Blanchard, and Matthew Aucoin; and his concert appearances include performances of works ranging from Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony to Kaija Saariaho’s True Fire. This season, he makes his Metropolitan Opera debut performing in John Adams’s El Niño

He is Brooklyn Academy of Music’s artist-in-residence and Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra & Chorale’s first-ever creative partner. He recently served as artist-in-residence at Detroit Opera—an appointment that culminated in his performance in the title role of Anthony Davis’s X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X in spring 2022. Davóne is featured on the Grammy-nominated world premiere recording of the opera released on BMOP/sound in 2022. He is a member of AMOC and co-creator of The Black

Program Bios

Clown, a music theater experience commissioned and premiered by American Repertory Theater. He is Musical America’s 2022 Vocalist of the Year, a winner of the 2020 Sphinx Medal of Excellence, and the recipient of the 2018 Emerging Artists Award from Lincoln Center. Davóne is a graduate of The Juilliard School and Harvard University. 

Treble Choir of Houston

The Treble Choir of Houston at Christ Church Cathedral is an acclaimed ensemble of young women grades six through 12 that provides outstanding musical training in a nurturing environment. Coming from widely diverse backgrounds, these young women are united in their pursuit of musical excellence.

The Choir’s mission is to help each singer realize her full potential as a person and as a musician. The Treble Choir motto is: Helping young women to find their voice.

Founded in 2006 by Marianna Parnas-Simpson, the ensemble performs widely in the community and serves as the resident children’s choir at Christ Church Cathedral (Episcopal), Houston. Some of the Choir’s performance highlights include

featured performances in Carnegie Hall; the International Choral Festival in Powell River, British Columbia; and the Washington National Cathedral. The Choir was named a finalist of the 2021 American Prize National Competition in Youth Choirs Division. Treble Choir is extremely proud of its annual collaboration with the Grammy Award-winning Houston Chamber Choir and the opportunities this collaboration created, including the annual Christmas at the Villa De Matel concert and the recording of Bob Chilcott’s cantata Circlesong, a CD released and distributed internationally by Signum Classics label. 

Marianna Parnas Simpson, founder and artistic director

Marianna Parnas-Simpson graduated with a master’s degree in choral conducting from the St. Petersburg State Conservatory, Russia. She founded the awardwinning St. Petersburg Girls’ Choir, Kamerton, which she directed for ten years before coming to the United States.

Since 1999, Marianna has taught at Parker Elementary School, a

Houston ISD magnet school for music, where she created the choral program that grew from 30 to 250 students, grades one through five. In 2005, she was named Teacher of the Year.

In 2006, Marianna founded the Treble Choir of Houston, a youth ensemble for young women, grade six through 12, whose mission is “Helping Young Women Find Their Voice.” From 2008 to 2010, she served as artistic director of the American Boychoir summer program in Princeton, New Jersey.

Marianna’s choirs have been selected to perform at many prestigious national and international festivals and conventions, including the International Choral Festival Kathaumixw, American Choral Directors Association National Convention, Texas Music Educators Conventions, Organization of American Kodaly Educators, and American Guild of Organists Conventions. Her choirs were winners of the American Prize National Competition (Youth Choir Division), were featured at Carnegie Hall, and performed with the Houston Symphony.

Marianna is in high demand as a clinician and guest conductor, offering masterclasses in the United States and abroad. She was recently appointed children’s choir conductor and clinician for the American Kodaly Educators national convention. Additionally, she is a founding member of the Grammy Award-winning Houston Chamber Choir and has recorded six internationally distributed CDs. For the recent recording, Circlersong, which featured

Program Bios

Mark Grey, sound engineer

Mark Grey is an Emmy Awardwinning sound designer and composer who made history as the first sound designer for the New York Philharmonic (On the Transmigration of Souls, 2002, Houston Chamber Choir and the Treble Choir of Houston, Marianna appeared in dual roles as singer and conductor. She is married to internationally recognized choral conductor Robert Simpson. 

Corporate Spotlight

which also won the Pulitzer Prize in Music) and The Met Opera (Doctor Atomic, 2008; Nixon in China, 2011; Death of Klinghoffer, 2014; The Merry Widow, 2015; Bluebeard’s Castle/Iolanta, 2015; L’Amour de Loin, 2016). As the resident sound designer for the Park Avenue Armory in New York City, his sound design credits include St. Matthew Passion (Sellars/Rattle/Berlin Phil), Doppelganger, Euphoria, Assembly, The Shape of Things, and Deep Blue Sea, among several others.

As a composer, his grand opera, Frankenstein, recently premiered at La Monnaie in Brussels, and his mobile chamber opera, Birds in The Moon, premiered with the New York Philharmonic in 2021. Mark has had several commissions from the Atlanta Symphony and Los Angeles Philharmonic. He has collaborated with composer John Adams and several others for

more than three decades. His sound designs have been heard throughout most major concert halls, HD simulcast theaters, and opera houses worldwide. 

Houston Methodist is one of the nation’s leading health systems and academic medical centers. The health system consists of seven hospitals: Houston Methodist Hospital, its flagship academic hospital in the Texas Medical Center, six community hospitals and one long-term acute care hospital throughout the Greater Houston metropolitan area.

Houston Methodist Center for Performing Arts Medicine provides specialized access to the nation’s most comprehensive group of medical professionals, who provide preventive, diagnostic, specialty, and emergency care to performing artists from around the world. The center oversees one of the nation's most comprehensive approaches to the integration of the performing and visual arts into the hospital environment, clinical therapy that utilizes the arts in support of patient goals, and research that harnesses the broadest potential of the arts in therapy, rehabilitation, and human performance. Houston Methodist is the official health care provider for the Houston Symphony.

B n & Raised EST. 1962

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houston symphony chorus

Julia Hall

Interim Director

Suré Eloff

Chorus Manager

Scott Holshouser

Pianist

Tony Sessions

Librarian/Stage Manager

The Houston Symphony Chorus is the official choral unit of the Houston Symphony and consists of highly skilled and talented volunteer singers. Over the years, members of this historic ensemble have learned and performed the world’s great choral-orchestral masterworks under the batons of Juraj Valčuha, Andrés Orozco-Estrada, Hans Graf, Christoph Eschenbach, Robert Shaw, and Helmuth Rilling, among many others.

In addition, the Chorus enjoys participating in the Houston Symphony’s popular programming under the batons of conductors such as Steven Reineke and Michael Krajewski. Recently, the ensemble sang the closing subscription concerts with the Prague Symphony Orchestra in the Czech Republic.

Singers are selected for specific programs for which they have indicated interest. A singer might choose to perform in all 45 concerts, as was the case in a recent season, or might elect to participate in a single series. The Houston Symphony Chorus holds auditions by appointment and welcomes inquiries from interested singers.

JULIA HALL

Julia C. Hall is the retired chair of the vocal music department at Kinder High School for the Performing and Visual Arts. In addition to her duties as the primary HSPVA voice instructor, she conducted the Concert Singers, Treble Choir, Chorale, and HSPVA Madrigal Singers. Before returning to HSPVA, her high school alma mater, Julia taught at Lamar High School, Episcopal High School, and Memorial Middle School. Currently, Julia maintains a private voice studio and teaches private voice at Tomball Memorial High School. She is an active clinician and adjudicator.

In 1986, Julia joined the Houston Symphony Chorus. She has also sung in the Houston Chamber Choir and Houston Masterworks Chorus with Dr. Craig Hella Johnson. She returned to the HSC in 2015 and was named a rehearsal conductor for Dr. Betsy Cook Weber in 2016. She prepared the chorus for the 2019 Andrea Bocelli concert and assisted in the preparations of Messiah, John Williams POPS concert, Verdi Requiem, among others. In August 2023, she was appointed HSC Assistant Director and prepared the chorus for the 2023 Holiday POPS.

Julia has conducted two invited choirs at the Texas Music Educators Association Convention: in 2011, with the Memorial Advanced Treble Choir, and in 2017 with the HSPVA Treble Chorus. In 2022, the HSPVA Chorale placed as first runner-up in American Classics Celebration of Excellence, and in 2023, they won first place in this prestigious competition.

A life-long Episcopalian, Julia has been an active Episcopal church musician in several Diocese of Texas churches, as a staff singer, Director of Music, and children’s choir director. Additionally, she served on the Episcopal Diocese of Texas Music Commission for many years. She had the honor of co-conducting the Diocese of Texas Diocesan choir in a tour to the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., and in 2023, she conducted the Diocesan Choral Festival.

Julia earned her Bachelor of Music Education, cum laude, from the University of St. Thomas where she studied voice with Diane Tobola, and her Master of Music, choral conducting, from the University of Houston’s Moores School of Music. She is a member of Phi Kappa Phi and Pi Kappa Lambda honor societies, Texas Music Educators Association, Texas Choral Directors Association, American Choral Directors Association, and Texas Music Adjudicators Association.

CHORUS ROSTER

Adrian Covarrubias

Allison Arnold

Amanda Fetter-Matthys

Andrea Trabanino •

Ariella Perlman •

Ashley Sorensen •

Ayden Adler

Benedict Tri Nguyen

Benjamin K. Luss •*

Beth Anne Weidler

Bill Parker •

Bob Alban

Carol Strawn

Carolyn Rogan •

Catherine Howard

Chris Fair

Christin Abbott •

Christine Donley •

Coltyn Collins

Criselda Bocanegra •*

Crystal Lynn White

Daniel Gorelick •

Danielle Charvoz

David Kolacny Jr. •

David M. Opheim

David Weiser

David Wellborn

DJ Hampton •

Dean Leake •

Denise Johnson

Dewell Springer •

Douglas Rodenberger •

Dylan Marcus Rivera

Elizabeth Kragas

George Howe •

Georgia Elgohary

Grace Roman •

Grace Zeinieh

Greg Railsback •

Hannah Brewton •

Ian Wayne Fetterley

James K. Moore

Janwin Overstreet-Goode •

Jennifer Breneman •

Jennifer S. Paulson

Jiapei Yang Li

Jillian Hughes •*

Jonathan Bordelon •*

Jonatan Reyes •

Joseph S. Frybert

Justin Becker

Kat Kunz

Kathleen Holder •

Keith Anthis •

Kelsie Andrews •

Ken Mathews

Kenny Oh

Kevin Do •

Lance Thomas Wilcox •

Lauren Lawson

Lauren Price

Leanna Elkins

Lee Estes Williams •

Linda Renner

Lisa Marut-Shriver

Lisa Rai Trewin

Lyndsay Rodriguez •

Madison Blanco

Mansi Baxi

Mark Anstrom •

Mark Standridge

Marta Salazar •

Mary Ann Addis

MaryKate Hotaling •

Matthew Carmerus •

Melisa Gultan •

Melissa Miles

Michael Dorn •

Michael Glen Gilbert •

Missy Roth

Nancy Christopherson

Nancy Shelton Bratic

Natalie White

Nathan Lazenberry •

Nobuhide Kobori

Paul Ehrsam

Paul Van Dorn •

Rachel Gehman

Randy Boatright •

Rex Gillit •

Robert Lee Gomez • Robert Nash •

Sarah Blumhardt •

Scott Mermelstein

Stephen James •

Steve Dukes

Suré Eloff •

Susan Hall

Suzanne Thacker

Sylvia J. Hysong •

Theresa Olin •

Tiffany Sau •

Tony Sessions •

Violaine Cornu •

William K. (Bill) Cheadle

• Chamber Chorus * Section Leader

Our Donors

Annual Support

The Houston Symphony gratefully acknowledges those who support our artistic, educational, and community engagement programs through their generosity to our Annual Fund and Special Events. For more information, please contact Tim Richey, Director, Individual Giving, at tim.richey@houstonsymphony.org or 713.337.8531.

As of April 30, 2024

$100,000+

Gary and Marian Beauchamp/ The Beauchamp Foundation

Drs. Dennis & Susan Carlyle

Jane and Robert* Cizik

Gardenia Foundation

Virginia A. Clark**

Joan and Bob Duff

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Max Levit

Cora Sue and Harry* Mach**

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$25,000+

Farida Abjani

Dr. Angela R. Apollo

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Dr. Gudrun H. Becker

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Eric D. Brueggeman

Mr. and Mrs. Thomas L. Elsenbrook

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$15,000+

Nina K. Andrews**

Anne Morgan Barrett

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Terry Ann Brown

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Roger and Debby Cutler

Valerie Palmquist Dieterich and Tracy Dieterich

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Connie Dyer

Sidney Faust

Eugene Fong

Elia Gabbanelli

Steve and Mary Gangelhoff

$150,000+

Barbara J. Burger

Janet F. Clark

Dr. Sippi and Mr. Ajay Khurana**

Beth Madison

Bobbie Nau

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

$50,000+

Edward and Janette Blackburne**

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Mary Kathryn Campion & Stephen Liston

Anne & Albert Chao

Aggie L. Foster & Steve Simon

Stephen & Mariglyn Glenn

Gary L. Hollingsworth & Kenneth J. Hyde

Mr. and Mrs. Bashar Kalai

Cindy E. Levit

Mr. and Mrs. J. Stephen Marks

Mike Stude

Bobby and Phoebe Tudor

Margaret Alkek Williams

Evan B. Glick

Mr. Daniel Irion

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

Dr. Charles Johnson & Tammie Johnson

Mr. and Mrs. Parker Johnson

Cheryl Boblitt and Bill King

Mr. and Mrs. David B. Krieger

Mr. & Mrs. U. J. LeGrange

Joella & Steven P. Mach**

Mrs. Carolyn and Dr. Michael Mann

Barry and Rosalyn Margolis Family**

Clare Attwell Glassell

Suzan & Julius Glickman

Mr. & Mrs. Fred L. Gorman

Claudio J. Gutiérrez

Mr. and Mrs.* Jerry L. Hamaker

Claudia & David Hatcher

Mark & Ragna Henrichs

Carol and Charlie Herder

Mrs. James E. Hooks

Catherine and Brian James

Rebecca & Bobby Jee

Gwen & Dan Kellogg

Dr. & Mrs. I. Ray Kirk**

Ms. Nancey G. Lobb

Cindy Mao and Michael Ma

Education and Community Engagement Donor

Deceased

Mr. & Mrs. Rodney H. Margolis

John & Dorothy McDonald

Muffy and Mike McLanahan

Dr. Miguel & Mrs. Valerie Miro-Quesada

Katie and Bob Orr / Oliver Wyman

Mr. David Peavy and Dr. Stephen McCauley

Revati Puranik

Laurie A. Rachford

Ed & Janet Rinehart

Mr. Glen A. Rosenbaum

Susan D. Sarofim

Donna Scott and Mitch

John L. Nau III

Ms. Leslie Nossaman

Robin Angly & Miles Smith

Alana R. Spiwak & Sam L. Stolbun

Tina Raham Stewart in memory of Jonathan Stewart

Terry Thomas

Shirley W. Toomim

Hallie A. Vanderhider

Robert G. Weiner & Toni Blankmann

Stephen and Kristine Wallace**

Glassman

Kathy & Ed Segner

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Ellen A. Yarrell** Anonymous

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

Toni A. Oplt and Ed Schneider

Mr. & Mrs. James A. Shaffer

Tad & Suzanne Smith

Drs. Carol & Michael Stelling

Sterling-Turner Foundation

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

Jay & Gretchen Watkins

Dede Weil

Kirin and Joe Wells

Ms. Terri L. West

Vicki West

Larry & Lori Williams

Our Donors

$10,000+

Gail and Louis Adler

Marcie & Nick Alexos

Edward H. Andrews III

Mr. and Mrs. David J. Beck

Mr. and Mrs. Sverre

Brandsberg-Dahl

Mr. and Mrs. Mark A. Brueggeman

Lindsay Buchanan

Ralph Burch

Dr. Robert N. Chanon

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

Coneway Family Foundation

Brad and Joan Corson

Andrew Davis & Corey Tu

Dr. Alex Dell

$5,000+

Dr. & Mrs. George J. Abdo

John and Pat* Anderson

Mr. Tom Anderson

Lilly and Thurmon Andress

Dr. & Mrs. Jeffrey B. Aron

Mr. Jeff Autor

Mr. Theodore H. Barrow

Mrs. Bonnie Bauer

Kimberly and James Bell

Joan H. Bitar, MD

Mr. & Mrs. Michael E. Bowman

Mrs. Vada Boyle

James and Judy Bozeman

Mr. Chester Brooke and Dr. Nancy Poindexter

Barbara A. Brooks

Ms. Deborah Butler

Kori and Chris Caddell

Marilyn Caplovitz

Tatiana and Daniel Chavanelle

Barbara A. Clark & Edgar A. Bering

Donna M. Collins

Evan and Carin Collins

Mr. & Mrs. Byron Cooley

Ms. Miquel A. Correll

Ms. Elisabeth DeWitts

Jeanette and John DiFilippo

Kathy and Frank Dilenschneider

Ms. Cynthia Diller*/**

The Ensell Family

Mr. Parrish N. Erwin Jr.

Paula & Louis Faillace

Kelli Cohen Fein & Martin Fein

Ms. Ursula H. Felmet

Dr. Richard Fish and Marie Hoke Fish

Mr. & Mrs. Robert J. Franco

Bill & Diana Freeman

Mr. Alejandro E. Gallardo

Dr. Eugenia C. George

Vicky Dominguez

Drs. Rosalind and Gary Dworkin

Mrs. Mary Foster & Mr. Don DeSimone

Ron Franklin & Janet Gurwitch

Mr. and Mrs. Patrick Gaidos

Nancy D. Giles

Grace Ho and Joe Goetz

Jo A. & Billie Jo Graves

Sandy and Don Harris

Ms. Katherine Hill

Ms. Dawn James

Marzena and Jacek Jaminski

Dr. Rita Justice

Dr. James E. and Betty W. Key

Amy Goodpasture

Mr. Mark Grace and Mrs. Alex Blair

The Greentree Fund

Mr. David Grzebinski

Kathryn and Kirk Hachigian

Mary N. Hankey

Deborah Happ & Richard Rost

Mr. & Mrs. Frank Herzog

Maureen Y. Higdon

Mrs. Ann G. Hightower

Katherine and Archibald Hill

Mr. and Mrs. Jeffrey Hiller

Steve and Kerry Incavo

Mr. Michael Jang

Dr. and Mrs. Joseph Jankovic

Stephen Jeu and Susanna Calvo

Phil and Josephine John

Beverly Johnson

Mr. and Mrs. John F. Joity

Debbie & Frank Jones

Ms. Linda R. Katz

Carey Kirkpatrick

Mr. Mark Klitzke and Dr. Angela Chen

Dr. William and Alice Kopp

Mr. Kenneth E. Kurtzman

James Lassiter

Mr. Steve Lee

Golda Anne Leonard

Richard Loewenstern

Ms. Tama Lundquist

Alison and Ara Malkhassian

Ms. Kathy McCraigh

Carol and Paul McDermott

Mrs. Cathy McNamara

Mr. Stephen Mendoza

Mrs. Anna Mergele

Dr. and Mrs. Jack Moore

Jo Ann and Marvin Mueller

Aprill Nelson

Education and Community Engagement Donor * Deceased

Mr. and Mrs. Calvin Leeke

Marilyn G. Lummis

Mr. and Mrs. Michael L. Mason

Mr. and Mrs. Alexander Matiuk

Dr. and Mrs. Malcolm L. Mazow

Terry & Kandee McGill

The Carl M. Padgett Family

Mr. and Mrs. Robert Pastorek

Mr. Zeljko Pavlovic

Robert K. Rogerson

Lori Harrington and Parashar Saikia

Dr. & Mrs. Robert B. Sloan

Houston Christian

University

Mr. and Mrs. Jim R. Smith

Anthony and Lori Speier

Richard & Mary Spies

Mr. and Mrs. Karl Strobl

Drs. Ishwaria & Vivek Subbiah

Mrs. Marguerite M. Swartz

Ms. Barbara E. Williams

Mr. & Mrs. Tony Williford

Doug and Kay Wilson

Ms. Beth Wolff

Robert and Michele Yekovich

Nina and Michael Zilkha

Anonymous

Bobbie Newman

Katherine & Jonathan Palmer

Kusum and K. Cody Patel

Michael P. and Shirley Pearson

Mr. Robert J. Pilegge

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

Heather & Chris Powers

Tim and Katherine Pownell

Darla and Chip Purchase

Edlyn & David Pursell

Cris & Elisa Pye

Kathryn and Richard Rabinow

Radoff Family

Dr. and Mrs. George H. Ransford

Vicky & Michael Richker

Jill and Allyn Risley

Dr. Douglas and Alicia Rodenberger

Linda & Jerry Rubenstein

Garry and Margaret Schoonover

Susan and Ed Septimus

Laura & Mike Shannon

Mr. & Mrs. Charles O. Shearouse

Donna and Tim Shen

Mr. & Mrs. Steven Sherman

Mr. and Mrs. Lance Smith

Mr. and Mrs. Quentin Smith

Mr. and Mrs. George Sneed

Sam & Linda Snyder

Elizabeth and Alan Stein

The Strake Foundation

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

David and Robin Walstad

Ms. Joann E. Welton

Dr. Robert Wilkins and Dr. Mary Ann ReynoldsWilkins

Nancy B. Willerson**

Doug Williams and Janice Robertson

Ms. Tara Wilson

Woodell Family Foundation

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

Mrs. Lorraine Wulfe

Trish and Steve Yatauro

Erla & Harry Zuber

Anonymous (8)

Our Donors

$2,500+

James S. Adams

Dr. Julia Andrieni and Dr. Rob Phillips**

Rick Ankrom and Jay Hooker

Candida Aversenti

Ms. Jacqueline Baly

Mr. and Mrs. Stephen J. Banks

Consurgo Sunshine

Tatyana and Edward Baumgartner

Drs. Henry & Louise Bethea

Mr. and Mrs. Stephen Bickel

Mr. Gerald Bodzy and Mrs. Lesley Bodzy

George Boerger

Mr. Russell Boone

Margery Anderson and Farhad Bozorgmehr

Mr. Sonny Brandtner

Joe Brazzatti

Jane and Ron Brownlee

Mr. and Mrs. Laurence Burns

Justice Brett and Erin Busby

David Bush

Cheryl & Sam* Byington

Margot & John Cater

Drs. David A. Cech and Mary R. Schwartz

Mr. Per Staunstrup Christiansen

Lynn Coe

Mr. and Mrs. J. Carlton Cook

Ms. Sandra Cooper

Mrs. Myriam Degreve

Joseph and Rebecca Demeter

Dr. and Mrs. Allen Deutsch

Colleen DiFonzo-Lewis

Mrs. Edward N. Earle

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

Sparkle Ellison

$1,000+

Rolaine Abramson

Stephen Carroll

Dr. and Mrs. Joseph V. Penn

Del Olmo Alvaz Family

Joan and Stanford Alexander

Mr. Ramsay M. Elder

Mr. & Mrs. David M. Balderston

Ms. Jacqueline Baly

Mr. Frederick Fargo

John Meltzer

Tatyana and Edward Baumgartner

Mr. and Mrs. Clarke Bean

Ms. Linda C. Murray

Mr. and Mrs. Justin Becker

Catherine Bratic & Mike Benza

Mr. Russell Kampe

Mrs. Ginger Blanton

Mr. and Ms. David M. Balderston

Aubrey* & Sylvia Farb

Mr. and Mrs. Tyson Faust

Mr. and Mrs. David French

Dr. and Mrs. Robert H. Fusillo

Ms. Leslie Gassner

Wm. David George Ph.D.

Jill Gildroy

Dr. Michael Gillin and Ms. Pamela Newberry

Kathy & Albrecht Goethe

Ms. Lidiya Gold

Julianne & David Gorte

Rebecca and Andrew Gould

Cortney Guebara

Ms. Lilac Guzman

Mr. and Mrs. Charles R. Hall

Dr. & Mrs. Carlos R. Hamilton Jr.

Barbara and Christopher Hekel

Richard and Arianda Hicks

Mr. Stanley Hoffberger

Mr. and Mrs. John Homier

Mr. and Mrs. R. O. Hunton

C. Birk Hutchens

Mr. and Mrs. Rick C. Jaramillo

Mrs. Blanca Jolly

Mady & Ken Kades

Ms. Mandy Kao

Anna Kaplan

Kathryn L. Ketelsen

Hoole & Kramr CPAs -

Samantha and Chris Kramr

Jane & Kevin Kremer

Kirk Kveton

Stephanie and Richard Langenstein

Ms. Deborah Laws

Dr. Hilary Beaver & Dr. Andrew Lee

Evelyn Leightman

Mr. William W. Lindley

Ms. Cyndi Bohannon

Mr. Rex Naden

Helene Booser

Patricia K. Boyd

Mr. Donald J. Tindall

Dallas Rowden

Dr. Kimberly Ruona

Dr. and Mrs. Larry Brenner

Ms. Helen Harding & Dr. Patrick Briggs

Claire Brooks

Mr. and Mrs. Mark A. Brueggeman

Dr. Fred Buckwold

Mrs. Mary S. Siegele

Dr. John Oehler and Dr. Dorothy Oehler

Mr. Roberto Orlandi

Vicki Buxton

Marion & Bill Calvert

Mr. Joseph L. Campbell Jr.

Dorothy E.F. Caram, Ed.D

Mr. & Mrs. Terry Carius

Matthew and Kristen Loden

Kirby and David Lodholz

Mr. and Mrs. Stephen A. Lubanko

Mr. & Mrs. Peter MacGregor

Ms. Mary Marquardsen

David and Heidi Massin

William D. & Karinne

McCullough

Mary Ann & David McKeithan

Mr. & Mrs. D. Bradley McWilliams

Stephen & Marilyn Miles

Larry and Lyn Miller

David and Jamie Ming

Ginni and Richard Mithoff

David R. Moore

Amanda Morgan

Richard & Juliet Moynihan

Stephanie Weber and Paul Muri

Mr. & Mrs. Richard Murphy

Mr. and Mrs. Geoffrey B. Newton

Ms. Barbara Nussmann

Macky Osorio

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

Nancy Parra

George & Elizabeth Passela

Mrs. Fran Fawcett Peterson

Linda Tarpley Peterson

Roland and Linda Pringle

Mrs. Dana Puddy

Mr. & Mrs. Florante Quiocho

Mr. Juan Carlos Quiroga

Clinton and Leigh Rappole

Dr. Michael and Janet Rasmussen

Dr. and Mrs. William H. Reading MD

Mr. and Mrs. David Reeves

Mr. & Mrs. J.B. Reimer

Mr. and Mrs. Nicholas Rockecharlie

Dr. and Mrs. Franklin Rose

Mr. and Mrs. Bryan Ruez

Mr. & Mrs. John Ryder

Mr. Robert T. Sakowitz

Harold H. Sandstead, M.D.

Lawrence P. Schanzmeyer

Mr. Tony W. Schlicht

Dr. Mark A. Schusterman

Ms. Becky V. Shaw

Mr. and Dr. Adrian D. Shelley

Mr. Carlos Sierra

Leslie Siller

Hinda Simon

Georgiana Stanley

Jeaneen and Tim Stastny

Mr. Bill Stubbs

Dr. and Mrs. Van W. Teeters

Emily H. & David K. Terry

Juliana and Stephen Tew

Musicians of the Houston Symphony Inc.

Jean and Doug Thomas

Courtney & Bill Toomey

Sal and Denise Torrisi

Patricia Van Allan

H. Richard Walton

Nancy Ames and Danny Ward

Alton and Carolyn Warren

Dr. and Mrs. Richard T. Weiss

Ms. Dena Winkler

Mr. and Mrs. Patrick H. Wood III

Scott and Lori Wulfe

Mrs. Linda Yelin

Mr. and Mrs. Charles Zabriskie

Anonymous (4)

Mr. Theodore Carpenter and Mrs. Stephanie Harrison

Mr. and Mrs. Peter Ferenz

Ann M. Cavanaugh

Mr. F. Martin Caylor

Mr. and Mrs. Christopher Frautschi

Mr. Per Staunstrup Christiansen

Mr. Ning Fu

Dr. Carmen Bonmati and Mr. Ben Conner

Mr. and Mrs. Michael F. Cook

Mr. Doug D. Perley

Mr. and Mrs. James L. Cross

Mr. Carl R. Cunningham

Mrs. Rochelle Cyprus

Dr. Tarek Dammad

Ms. Anna M. Dean

Ms. Elena Delaunay

Mr. and Mrs. Manuel Delgado

Mr. Gary A. Shiba

Ms. Cynthia Diller

Mr. and Mrs. Arnold M. Miller Jr.

Mr. and Mrs. James P. Dorn

T. Michael Dossey

Ramsay M. Elder

Mr. Stephen Elison

Annette and Knut Eriksen

Mr. Ted Powell

Mr. and Mrs. Bruce Ference

Peter Joseph Ferenz

Larry Finger

Mr. and Mrs. Harvey O. Fleisher

Marilyn and Theodore Flick

Mr. and Mrs. James C. Flores

Jeannine and Patrick Flynn

Mr. & Mrs. Christopher Frautschi

Mrs. Sharon Jamison

Edwin Friedrichs & Darlene

Clark

Mrs. and Mr. Susie Raizner

Donn Fullenweider

Our Donors

$1,000+

Mr. and Ms. Piotr Galitzine

Pepe Garcia

Thomas & Patricia Geddy

Mr. & Mrs. Harry Gendel

Alyson & Elliot Gershenson

Mr. and Mrs. James Robin

Susan and Kevin Golden

Helen B. Wils & Leonard A.

Goldstein

Mrs. and Mr. Janet Beall

Ms. Debra McCoy

Catherine Green

Mr. and Mrs. Risher Randall

Mr. and Mrs. Charles H.

Gregory

Mrs. Tami A. Grubb

Ms. Shirley Graham

Richard & Stella Guerra Nelson

Dr. Patrick Briggs and Ms. Helene Harding

Susan and Dick Hansen

Mr. and Mrs. Franklin J. Harberg Jr.

W. Russel Harp and Maarit K. Savola-Harp

Dr. Mary P. McElroy

Sheila Heimbinder

Mr. & Mrs. Rex Hemme

Dean & Beth Hennings

Mr. and Mrs. William B. Rawl

Susan Hodge & Mike Stocker

Dr. Holly Holmes

Dr. Vicki Huff & Dr. Eric Boerwinkle

Mr. and Mrs. R. O. Hunton

Mariya Idenova

Mr. Craig Ignacio

Mr. Victor E. Serrato

Mr. and Mrs. James P. Dorn

Sharon Jamison

Mr. Martin J. Gambling

Mr. & Mrs. Judith Oliver

Francene Young and Ken Jones

Ms. Pamela Mencin

Russell Kampe

Dr. and Mrs. Arthur L. Beaudet

Mr. Javier Del Olmo

Lynda and Frank Kelly

Mr. and Mrs. Joe Greenberg

Mr. & Mrs. William H. Knull III

Marcia & Douglas Koch

Mrs. Judy Koehl

Mr. E. D. Griffith and Ms. Louise Richman

Mr. and Mrs. Dennis D. Ritter Jr.

NATHALIE ROFF

Ms. Maudeen F. Eccles

Mr. Erik Gronfor and Ms. Joan DerHovsepian

Ms. Margaret Lincoln

Mr. and Ms. Jordan Buss

Robert J. Lorio

Tony and Judy Lutkus

Ms. Lauren Bustos

Ms. Renee Margolin

Mr. and Mrs. Robert J. Heisler

Mr. John M. Arnsparger and Ms. Susan Weingarten

Mr. and Mrs. Mansel M. Rubenstein

Mary Ann & David McKeithan

Patricia McMahon and Joseph F. McCarthy

The Honorable Stella GuerraNelson

Pam McVeigh

Ernie and Martha McWilliams

Ms. Kristen Meneilly

Mr. and Ms. Dom Beveridge

Mr. and Mrs. Bruce H. Harkness

Mr. and Dr. Ian Sack

Dr. and Mrs. Ramon L.

Sanchez

Mrs. Jean Mintz

Mr. and Mrs. Richard S. Moen

Gerry Montalto

Marguerite and Abraham Moreno

Mr. F. Martin Caylor

Mr. Ellison Scudder

Daniel & Karol Musher

Alan & Elaine Mut

Mr. and Mrs. Michael Seago

Jessica & Erick Navas

Mr. & Mrs. Robert E. Nelson

Mr. and Mrs. Randolph J. Ney

Phong Patrick Nguyen

Leslie & John Niemand

Mr. and Mrs. Anthony J. Nocella

Ms. Kathryn O'Brien

Mrs. Lynda G. Seaman

Ms. Rachel Lloyd

Mr. Richard Sepulveda and Ms. Angelica Garza

John and Kathy Orton

Rochelle & Sheldon Oster

Mr. and Mrs. Marc C. Paige

Mr. and Mrs. Douglas Walt

Mr. and Mrs. Raul Pavon

Mr. Lee Kesselman

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

Mrs. Fran Fawcett Peterson

Linda Tarpley Peterson

Grace and Carroll Phillips

Ms. Adrienne Bond

Dr. and Mrs. James L. Pool

Dick Evans and Gloria Portela

Mr. and Mrs. Tony and Judy Lutkus

Mr. and Mrs. Paul Shack

Mr. and Mrs. William B. Rawl

Patricia Richards

Kathryn Ritcheske

Mr. Richard P. Steele and Ms. Mary J. McKerall

Carolyn Rogan

Ms. Regina J. Rogers

Mrs. Adelina Romero

Mr. and Mrs. James G. Theus

Drs. Alex & Lynn Rosas

Mr. Brent Corwin

Jill and Milt Rose

Ms. Suzy Till-Helfand

Rosemarie and Jeff Roth

Mrs. Susan A. Hirtz

Mr. & Mrs. Gregory Rozenfeld

Mr. Robert J. Lorio

Kent Rutter and David Baumann

Lisa Rydman

Ms. Renee Margolin

Ms. Lijda Vellekoop

Ramon and Chula Sanchez

Mr. and Mrs. Carl W. Sandlin

Mr. Tony W. Schlicht

Mrs. Lynda G. Seaman

Nicole & Julian Seiguer

Mr. and Mrs. Dilanka Seimon

Ms. Heidi Seizinger

Ms. Katherine Wildman

Victor E. Serrato

Mr. & Mrs. Paul Shack

Ms. Diana Skerl

Mr. and Mrs. David Smith

Lawrence Smith

Mr. and Mrs. Thomas S. Smith

Mr. & Mrs. William A. Smith

The Snook Family

Betty and Gerry Stacy

Ms. Claudia Standiford

Richard P. Steele and Mary J. McKerall

Kimberly & David Sterling

Bill Stevens

Mr. Hugh Ryan

Amy Sutton and Gary Chiles

Ms. Betsy Mims and Mr. Howard D. Thames

Mr. & Mrs. James G. Theus

Mr. Aaron J. Thomas & Mrs. Jennifer Chang

Suzy Till

Mari Moore

Mr. and Mrs. Timothy J. Unger

Mr. and Mrs. William Van Wie

Mr. James Walker

Dr. John Chung and Dr. Anna Chen

Ms. Tammi Warfield

Ms. Constance Holderer Roy

Terence & Kathryn

Washington

Leone Buyse and Michael Webster

Dr. & Mrs. Brad Wertman

Ms. Katherine Warren

Ms. Amy E. Whitaker

Ms. Heather Humphrey

Douglas and Carolynne White

Mr. and Mrs. James Collins

Carlton Wilde

Mr. Jessie Woods

Bridget & Brooke Williams

Mr. and Mrs. Dennis Williams

Rev. B.T. & Dr. Robin Williamson

Dr. Alice Gates and Dr. Wayne Wilner

Mr. Joseph H. Cooper

Larry and Susan Wilson

Mr. Jim Winget

Jennifer R. Wittman

Jerry & Gerlind Wolinsky

Mr. Jessie Woods

Thomas Yarbrough

Melinda & Alan Young

Mr. & Mrs. Edward R. Ziegler

Anonymous (1)

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

YAC - CONDUCTOR'S CIRCLE

Carrie and Sverre BrandsbergDahl#

Eric Brueggeman

Lindsay Buchanan#

Heaven Chee

Vicky Dominguez

YAC - VIRTUOSO CIRCLE

Christopher P. Armstrong and Laura Schaffer

Lauren and Mark Bahorich

Charlotta Elizabeth Barø-Hill

Tim Ong and Michael Baugh

Emily Bivona and Ryan Manser

Haydée del Calvo and Esteban Montero

YAC ($1,500-$2,499)

Kendrick Alridge

Amber Ali

Fiona Anklesaria

Luisa Banos and Vladi Gorelik

Mandy Beatriz

Adair and Kevin Brueggeman

David Chaluh

Lincoln Chen

Megan and John Degenstein

Aurelia and Jeffrey Detwiler

Chante Westmoreland Dillard and Joseph Dillard

Evin Ashley Erdoğdu

($5,000+)

Andria N. Elkins

Carolyn and Patrick Gaidos

Roya Gordon

Claudio Gutiérrez

Lori Harrington and Parashar Saikia

($2,500-$4,999)

Xandro Canales

Ryan Cantrell

Denise and Brandon Davis

Laurel Flores#

Veronica Juarez

Allegra Lilly and Robin Kesselman#

Kirby and David Lodholz#

Laurel Flores, Communications Chair

Jeff Hiller, Membership Chair

Elaine and Jeff Hiller#

Carey Kirkpatrick

Amanda Lenertz and Chadd Mikulin

Elissa and Jarrod Martin

Joshua McDonald

Aprill Nelson#

Liana and Andrew Schwaitzberg#

Aerin and Quentin Smith#

Justin Stenberg#

Ishwaria and Vivek Subbiah

Kelser McMiller#

Gwen and Jay McMurrey

David R. Moore

Sergio Morales

Emily and Joseph MorrelPorter Hedges LLP

Stephanie Weber and Paul Muri

Maxine Olefsky and Justin Kenney

Kusum and K. Cody Patel#

Carlos Sierra

Melanie Smith

Kristin and Leonard Wood

Owen Zhang

Adam Ewald

Florence Francis

Kallie Gallagher

Patrick B. Garvey

Amy Goodpasture

Rebecca and Andrew Gould

Nicholas Gruy

Kendall and Chris Hanno

Ashley and John Horstman

C. Birk Hutchens

Mariya Idenova

Jonathan T. Jan

Anna Kaplan

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

Lina Liu

Marisa and Tandy Lofland

Joel Luks

Miriam Meriwani

Shane A. Miller

Zoe Miller

David Moyer

Trevor Myers

Lee Bar-Eli and Cliff Nash

Lauren Paine

Blake Plaster

Anna Robshaw

Clarice Jacobson and Brian Rosenzweig

Chicovia Scott

Tim Sesby

Leonardo Soto

Bryce Swinford

Elise Wagner#

Alexander Webb

Kathy Zhang-Rutledge and Mack Wilson

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 April 30, 2024)

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*

Houston Christian University Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo**

Sponsor ($25,000 and above)

EOG Resources

The Events Company* ExxonMobil

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

Partner ($15,000 and above)

Beam Suntory City Kitchen* Faberge

Supporter ($10,000 and above)

American Tank and Vessel, Inc.

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

Christian Dior

KPMG US Foundation, Inc.

Houston Methodist*

Kalsi Engineering Oliver Wyman* PaperCity*

Kinder Morgan Foundation** Kirkland & Ellis

The Lancaster Hotel* Nexus Health Systems Oxy**

PNC**

Rémy Martin Sewell

Neiman Marcus*

One Market Square Garage*

Rand Group, LLC*

Silver Eagle Distributors Houston, LLC

Gorman’s Uniform Service Jackson & Company*

New Timmy Chan Corporation

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

University of St. Thomas*

Volume Social Club*

Mercantil ONEOK, Inc.

Nippon Steel North America, Inc.

Quantum Bass Center*

SEI, Global Institutional Group

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

KTRK ABC-13*

Shell USA, Inc.**

Silver Eagle Beverages Truist

Univision Houston & Amor 106.5FM

Vinson & Elkins LLP

Lockton Companies of Houston USI Southwest

Quantum Energy Partners

Sire Spirits

Beth Wolff Realtors

Vivaldi Music Academy Zenfilm*

Wortham Insurance & Risk Management

SERCA Wines*

Smith, Graham & Company

Soren Pedersen Catering & Events*

Stewart Title Company

TAM International, Inc.

* Includes in-kind support

**Education and Community Engagement Support

Corporate, Foundation & Government Partners

FOUNDATIONS & GOVERNMENT AGENCIES (as of April 30, 2024)

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 Foundation

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 Trust for the Performing Arts

The Hearst Foundation**

The Humphreys Foundation

MD Anderson Foundation

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

Barbara J. Burger Chair

Ian Mayton, Horn

The Brown Foundation Guest Pianist Fund

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

Margarett and Alice Brown Fund for Education

Janet F. Clark Fund

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 Ajay Khurana

Lynn Mathre Scott Wise

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

General Maurice Hirsch Chair

Aralee Dorough, Principal Flute

Houston Symphony Chorus Fund

Joan and Marvin Kaplan Fund

Ellen E. Kelley Chair

Eric Halen, Co-Concertmaster

Max Levine Chair

Yoonshin Song, Concertmaster

Mary R. Lewis Fund for Piano Performance

M.D. Anderson Foundation Fund

Mary Lynn and Steve Marks Fund

Barbara and Pat McCelvey Fund

Mr. and Mrs. Alexander K. McLanahan Endowed Chair

William VerMeulen, Principal Horn

Monroe L. Mendelsohn Jr. Fund

George P. and Cynthia Woods Mitchell Summer Concerts Fund

Bobbie Nau Chair

Mark Nuccio, Principal Clarinet

C. Howard Pieper Foundation Fund

Walter W. Sapp Fund, Legacy Society Co-Founder

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

The Schissler Foundation Fund

Spec’s Charitable Foundation Salute to Educators Concert Fund

The Micijah S. Stude Special Production Fund

Bobby and Phoebe Tudor Fund

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

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

Zarine Meherwan Boyce

James* and S. Dale Brannon

Walter and Nancy Bratic

Joe Brazzatti

Terry Ann Brown

Mary Kathryn Campion and Stephen Liston

Drs. Dennis and Susan Carlyle

Janet F. Clark

Virginia A. Clark

Mr. William E. Colburn

Elizabeth DeWitts

Andria N. Elkins

Jean and Jack* Ellis

Farida Abjani

Dr. Antonio Arana*

Mr. and Mrs. Jeffrey B. Aron

George* and Betty Bashen

Ann Baker Beaudette*

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

David Neal Bush

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

Karl A. Dahm

Dr. Lida S. Dahm

Leslie Barry Davidson

Susan Feickert

Ginny Garrett

Mr. and Mrs. Harry H. Gendel

Christine E.* and Michael B. George

Mauro H. Gimenez and Connie A. Coulomb

Bill Grieves*

$100,000+ (as of April 30, 2024)

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

Dr. James E. and Betty W. Key

Carey Kirkpatrick

Calvin and Helen Leeke

Mr.* and Mrs. U. J. LeGrange

Joella and Steven P. Mach

Martha and. Alexander Matiuk

Michelle and Jack Matzer

Mr. Robert M. Griswold

Randolph Lee Groninger

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. 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*

Dr. and Mrs. Malcolm L. Mazow

Barbara and Pat McCelvey

Bill and Karinne McCullough

Muffy and Mike McLanahan

Dr. Georgette M. Michko

Dr. Robert M. Mihalo*

Alfred Cameron Mitchell*

Mr. and Mrs. Marvin H. Mueller

Drs. John and Dorothy Oehler

Gloria G. Pryzant

Dr. Douglas and Alicia Rodenberger

Constance E. Roy

Donna Scott

Charles and Andrea Seay

Mr. and Mrs. James A. Shaffer

Michael J. Shawiak

Jule* and Albert* Smith

Louis* and Mary Kay Snyder

Ronald Mikita* & Rex Spikes

David and Helen Stacy

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

Susan and Edward Osterberg

Mr. and Mrs. Edmund and Megan Pantuliano

Christine and Red Pastorek

Peter* and Nina Peropoulos

Linda Tarpley Peterson

Sara M. Peterson

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

Geraldine Smith Priest*

Dana Puddy

Patrick T. Quinn

Lila Rauch*

Liz Kierum Regenscheid

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 (3)

Ed and Janet Rinehart

Mr. Floyd W. Robinson

Walter Ross*

Dr. and Mrs. Kazuo Shimada

Leslie Siller

Lisa and Jerry Simon

Jean Stinson*

Tad and Suzanne Smith

Sherry Snyder

Marie Speziale

Emily H. and David K. Terry

Douglas Thomas

Stephen G. Tipps

Ann K. Tornyos

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 April 30, 2024)

Dr. Angela Apollo

Scott Holshouser, Principal Keyboard

Dr. Saúl and Ursula Balagura

Charles Seo, Cello

Gary and Marian Beauchamp/ The Beauchamp Foundation

Eric Larson, Double Bass

Nancy and Walter Bratic

Christopher Neal, First Violin

Mr. Gordon J. Brodfuehrer

Maki Kubota, Cello

Mr. Robert Bunch and Ms. Lilia Khakimova

Alexander Potiomkin, Bass Clarinet and Clarinet

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

Colin Gatwood, Oboe

Virginia A. Clark

Lindsey Baggett, ViolinCommunity-Embedded Musician

Roger and Debby Cutler

Tong Yan, First Violin

Mike and Debra Dishberger

Phillip Freeman, Bass Trombone

Joan and Bob Duff

Robert Johnson, Associate Principal Horn

Andria N. Elkins

Colin Gatwood, Oboe

Aggie L. Foster & Steve Simon

Mihaela Frusina, Second Violin

Steve and Mary Gangelhoff

Judy Dines, Flute

Stephen and Mariglyn Glenn

Christian Schubert, Clarinet

Evan B. Glick

Fay Shapiro, Viola

Suzan and Julius Glickman

Thomas LeGrand, Associate

Principal Clarinet and E-flat Clarinet

Mr. and Mrs. Fred L. Gorman

Christopher French, Associate Principal Cello

Mark and Ragna Henrichs

Donald Howey, Double Bass

Carol and Charlie Herder

Nathan Cloeter, Assistant Principal/Utility Horn

Gary L. Hollingsworth and Kenneth J. Hyde

Robert Walp, Assistant Principal Trumpet

Mrs. James E. Hooks

Burke Shaw, Double Bass

Drs. M.S. and Marie-Luise

Kalsi

Eric Halen, Co-Concertmaster

Joan & Marvin Kaplan

Foundation/The Kaplan, Brooks, and Bruch Families

Mark Nuccio, Principal Clarinet

Dr. 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

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

Dr. Miguel & Mrs. Valerie MiroQuesada

Leonardo Soto, Principal

Timpani

Rita and Paul Morico

Elise Wagner, Bassoon

Scott and Judy Nyquist

Sheldon Person, Viola

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

MiHee Chung, First Violin

Mr. and Mrs. Jonathan E. Parker

Jeffrey Butler, Cello

Mr. David Peavy and Dr. Stephen McCauley

Jeremy Kreutz, Cello

Gloria and Joe Pryzant

Matthew Strauss, 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

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

Larry & Lori Williams

Samuel Pedersen, Viola

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

Jesse H. Jones Hall Renovation Donors

Thank you to our Donors. We are grateful to the generous donors who have contributed $43,650,000 to date toward our $60 million goal.

(As of April 30, 2024)

$10 MILLION+

Nancy and Charles Davidson

$5 MILLION+

The Brown Foundation, Inc.

The City of Houston / Houston First Corporation

Margaret Alkek Williams

$1 MILLION+

Janice H. Barrow

The Robert and Jane Cizik Family

Janet F. Clark

ConocoPhillips

The Cullen Foundation

The Cullen Trust for the Performing Arts

FRIENDS OF JONES HALL

M.D. Anderson Foundation

Anne and Albert Chao

Mr. & Mrs. J. Stephen Marks

Beverly and James Postl

The Elkins Foundation

Houston Endowment

Barbara and Pat McCelvey

The Shirley and David Toomim Family

The Wortham Foundation, Inc.

Vivian L. Smith Foundation

Bobby and Phoebe Tudor

Mr. and Mrs. Jesse B. Tutor

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

Music Director Fund

The Houston Symphony has entered a new era with the introduction of internationally acclaimed conductor, Juraj Valčuha, as our Music Director. The purpose of the Music Director Fund is to provide leadership support to allow Maestro Valčuha to realize his artistic vision.

To join the Music Director Fund, supporters make a leadership gift of $100,000 above and beyond their annual giving. To participate, 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*

Barbara J. Burger

Albert & Anne Chao

Jane and Robert* Cizik

Janet F. Clark

Cullen Trust for the Performing Arts

Gardenia Foundation

Cindy Levit

Barbara & Pat McCelvey

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

Mike Stude

STRINGS OF SUPPORT

THE HOUSTON SYMPHONY RELIES ON GIFTS FROM DONORS LIKE YOU FOR MORE THAN 2/3 OF OUR ANNUAL OPERATING BUDGET.

As we complete another season of world-class music making and prepare to embark on another, this is a time for all members of the Houston Symphony community to come together in support of our city’s orchestra! As we near the end of our fiscal year, please consider making a gift to the Annual Fund before May 31st.

This season the Houston Symphony has provided hundreds of concerts at Jones Hall through our Classical Series, Bank of America POPS Series, PNC Family Series, Student and Community Concerts, and many more. Your support is instrumental to our ability to:

• Ensure artistic excellence with world-class music and artists in our city.

• Provide opportunities for students to attend live performances and learn about music in their classrooms.

• Enable the Symphony to engage even more members of our community (and beyond!) through livestreams of performances, free performances at venues around Houston, industry-leading educational programs for children, and so much more!

Because of you, the Symphony is able to serve our community with world-class programming thoughtfully designed to reflect the diversity of our population and to create an enduring impact in our community and make extraordinary musical experiences available for all.

Give the gift of music by donating to the Annual Fund today!

Cheers to the 2023–24 Houston Symphony Event Chairs

Behind every dazzling Houston Symphony special event, there is a hardworking and dedicated event chair that makes it all happen. Our fabulous chairs work with Houston Symphony staff for months to plan and execute our events—from championing the event in the Houston community to selecting and approving even the smallest details. The Houston Symphony would like to recognize and thank the 2023–24 Season special event chairs for all they have done to ensure our events are a success.

So far, the 2023–24 Season special events have raised more than $2.3 million for the Symphony’s Education and Community Engagement initiatives. The funds raised from these events are critical to the Symphony as we continue to grow our free and low-cost music education programs, interactive musical events, and community concerts that serve thousands of Houstonians. Please join us in thanking these wonderful event chairs for their commitment to the Houston Symphony!

Mariglyn & Stephen Glenn Opening Night Concert and Gala Chairs

Deborah Laws & Christine Johnson Symphony Ball Auction Co-Chairs

John & Lindy Rydman and Lisa Rydman Lindsey* of Spec’s Wines, Spirits and Finer Foods Vintage Virtuoso Chairs

Dr. Charles & Tammie Johnson and Drs. Alice Mao Brams & Matt Brams Symphony Ball Chairs

Nancy & Bryan Ruez Wine Dinner Chair

Gina Saour, Carolyn Mohsenzadeh*, Jerry Saour*, and Francesca Saour* Magical Musical Morning Chairs

*not pictured

Jack Matzer pictured with wife, Michelle Matzer Collector’s Auction Chair

Courtesy of Gittings

FRIDAY, MAY 24

Q&A 7:00PM | CONCERT 7:30PM

SHEPHERD SCHOOL OF MUSIC AT RICE UNIVERSITY

Joey Roukens

St. John Flynn

Meet the musician: YANKI KARATAŞ “

Section Second Violin

Hometown: Istanbul, Turkey

Hi everyone! I was born and raised in Turkey (Türkiye), and moved to the US in 2014. I’m currently finishing up a fellowship with the New World Symphony in Miami Beach, and beyond thrilled to be joining the Houston Symphony!

How did you get started playing your instrument?

My parents initially signed me up for piano lessons at a newly opened conservatory in my home city, after I apparently figured out how to play some soap opera jingles by ear on a toy piano. However, my piano career was short lived when I was told my hands were too small, so I was given a violin. I did not envision violin becoming my path at that age, but something about the process of getting better on this instrument grew on me as I got older.

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

I’m very much looking forward to performing Mahler’s 3rd Symphony with Maestro Valčuha next season! Mahler has this ability to capture every emotion imaginable within the same piece of music in such pure and intense forms. Performing Mahler is always a powerful and meaningful experience for me.

What is your favorite piece of music?

It’s so difficult to answer, as it changes pretty much every week, but it has to be something with a choir, so either Beethoven’s 9th Symphony or Mahler’s 2nd. Human voices can be so powerful.

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

I’ve been obsessed with progressive rock from such a young age as to me it resembles the form and development of classical music in so many ways. I also enjoy funk and jazz.

Scan here to read the full interview

My parents and brother visiting my husband and I during Thanksgiving week.

Me with my first violin teacher at age 8.

with Yankı Karataş!

Juraj Valčuha, Music Director