InTUNE
Miller Outdoor Theatre: Elgar's Enigma Variations
Miller Outdoor Theatre: Haydn & Dvoř ák
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Juraj valČuha
Houston Symphony Music Director Juraj Valčuha is recognized for his efortless 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 took 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 performed 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 led concerts with the RAI Orchestra, the Orchestra dell'Accademia di Santa Cecilia, the Orchestre National de France, the NDR, SWR, and the Bamberg Symphony, among others.
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
Paul Aguilar
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
Jefrey Butler
Maki Kubota
Xiao Wong
Charles Seo
Jeremy Kreutz
COMMUNITY-EMBEDDED MUSICIAN
Lindsey Baggett, 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
Avery Weeks
Ryan Avila+
FLUTE
Aralee Dorough, Principal
General Maurice Hirsch Chair
Matthew Roitstein*,
Associate Principal
Judy Dines,
Acting Associate Principal
Kathryn Ladner
PICCOLO
Kathryn Ladner
OBOE
Jonathan Fischer, Principal
Lucy Binyon Stude Chair
Anne Leek, Associate Principal
Colin Gatwood
Adam Dinitz
ENGLISH HORN
Adam Dinitz
Barbara and Pat McCelvey Chair
CLARINET
Mark Nuccio, Principal Bobbie Nau Chair
Thomas LeGrand, Associate Principal
Christian Schubert
Alexander Potiomkin
E-FLAT CLARINET
Thomas LeGrand
BASS CLARINET
Alexander Potiomkin, Tassie and Constantine S. Nicandros Chair
BASSOON
Rian Craypo, Principal
Isaac Schultz, Associate Principal
Elise Wagner
Adam Trussell
CONTRABASSOON
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
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 Grifth
Matthew Strauss
HARP
Allegra Lilly, Principal
KEYBOARD
Scott Holshouser, Principal
LIBRARIAN
Luke Bryson, Principal
*on leave + contracted substitute
ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF
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John Mangum, Executive Director/CEO, Margaret Alkek Williams Chair
Elizabeth S. Condic, Chief Financial Ofcer
Vicky Dominguez, Chief Operating Ofcer
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Kamra Kilmer, Development Gift Ofcer
Karyn Mason, Development Ofcer
Hadia Mawlawi, Senior Associate, Endowment and Planned Giving
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Christine Ann Stevens, Senior Director, Development
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Becky Brown, Associate Director, Orchestra Personnel
Suré Elof, Chorus Manager
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Julia Hall, Interim Director, Chorus
Adrian Hernandez, Artistic Operations Intern
Hae-a Lee, Assistant Librarian
Giancarlo Minotti, Audio Production Manager
Lauren Moore, Associate Director, Concert Media and Production
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Brad Sayles, Senior Recording Engineer
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Anna Thompson, Assistant Librarian
Meredith Williams, Associate Director, Concert Operations and Production
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SOCIETY BOARD OF TRUSTEES
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
Barbara J. Burger President
Janet F. Clark Chair
John Rydman Immediate Past President
Mike S. Stude Chair Emeritus
Paul Morico General Counsel
Barbara McCelvey Secretary
John Mangum^ Executive Director/CEO
Margaret Alkek Williams Chair
Jonathan Ayre Chair, Finance
Brad W. Corson Chair, Governance & Leadership
Carey Kirkpatrick Chair, Marketing & Communications
Evan B. Glick Chair, Popular Programming
Barbara McCelvey Chair, Development
Sippi Khurana, M.D. Chair, Education & Community Partnerships
GOVERNING DIRECTORS
Jonathan Ayre
Gary Beauchamp
Eric Brueggeman
Bill Bullock
Barbara J. Burger
Mary Kathryn Campion, Ph.D.
John Cassidy, M.D.
Janet F. Clark
Lidiya Gold
Claudio Gutiérrez
Rick Jaramillo
David J. M. Key
Sippi Khurana, M.D.
Carey Kirkpatrick
Mary Lynn Marks Chair, Volunteers & Special Events
Robert Orr Chair, Strategic Planning
John Rydman Chair, Artistic & Orchestra Afairs
Jesse B. Tutor Chair, Audit
Steven P. Mach ^ Immediate Past Chair
Bobby Tudor^ At-Large Member
Heidi Rockecharlie^ President, Houston Symphony League
James H. Lee^
President, Houston Symphony Endowment
Juraj Valčuha^ Music Director, Roy and Lillie Cullen Chair
Rian Craypo Musician Representative
Joan DerHovsepian^ Musician Representative
Mark Hughes^ Musician Representative
Mark Nuccio^ Musician Representative
Sherry Rodriguez^ Assistant Secretary ^Ex-Ofcio
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
Justin Stenberg
William J. Toomey II
Bobby Tudor **
Betty Tutor **
Jesse B. Tutor **
Gretchen Watkins
Robert Weiner
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EX-OFFICIO
Brad W. Corson
Rian Craypo
Joan DerHovsepian
Evan B. Glick
Mark Hughes
James H. Lee
Steven P. Mach
John Mangum
Mark Nuccio
Heidi Rockecharlie
Sherry Rodriguez
Juraj Valčuha
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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
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Connie Dyer
Jefrey B. Firestone
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Grace Ho
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Dawn James
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Mrs. Edwin B. Parker
Miss Ima Hogg
Mrs. H. M. Garwood
Joseph A. Mullen, M.D.
Joseph S. Smith
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H. R. Cullen
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Miss Ima Hogg
Mrs. John F. Grant
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Mrs. Julian Barrows
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Mrs. Garrett R. Tucker Jr.
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Mrs. Allen W. Carruth
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Mary Louis Kister
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Mrs. Edward H. Soderstrom
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Dougal A. Cameron
Janet F. Clark
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Zeljko Pavlovic
Gloria G. Pryzant
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Robert B. Sloan, D.D., Theol.
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Quentin Smith
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Mrs. James A. Shafer
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Shirley W. Toomim
Margaret Waisman, M.D.
Fredric A. Weber
Vicki West
Steven J. Williams
David J. Wuthrich
Ellen A. Yarrell
Robert Yekovich
EX-OFFICIO
John Steven Cisneros, Ed.D.
Juan Zane Crawford, Ph.D.
Kirby Lodholz
Frank F. Wilson IV
**Lifetime Trustee
*Deceased
Jesse B. Tutor
Robert B. Tudor III
Robert A. Peiser
Steven P. Mach
Janet F. Clark
John Rydman
Dr. Susan Snider Osterberg
Dr. Kelli Cohen Fein
Vicki West
Mrs. Jesse Tutor
Darlene Clark
Beth Wolf
Maureen Higdon
Fran Fawcett Peterson
Leslie Siller
Cheryl Byington
Mary Fusillo
Featured Program
MILLER OUTDOOR THEATRE:
Elgar's Enigma variations
*Anna Rakitina , conductor
Annelle Gregory, violin
0:15 E. REID – Floodplain
0:19 GLAZUNOV – Violin Concerto in A minor, Opus 82
INTERMISSION
0:29 ELGAR – Enigma Variations, Opus 36
Theme: Andante--
Variation I (C.A.E.): L'istesso tempo
Variation II (H.D.S.-P.): Allegro
Variation III (R.B.T.): Allegretto
Variation IV (W.M.B.): Allegro di molto
Variation V (R.P.A.): Moderato--
Variation VI (Ysobel): Andantino
Variation VII (Troyte): Presto
Variation VIII (W.N.): Allegretto--
Variation IX (Nimrod): Adagio
Variation X (Dorabella): Intermezzo: Allegretto
Variation XI (G.R.S.): Allegro di molto
Variation XII (B.G.N.): Andante--
Variation XIII (* * *): Romanza: Moderato
Variation XIV (E.D.U.): Finale: Allegro
*Houston Symphony debut
About the Music
Friday, July 19
THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS
City of Houston through the Miller Theatre Advisory Board Guarantor
The Houston Symphony's Miller Outdoor Theatre concerts are endowed by The Brown Foundation, Inc. in memory of Stewart and Hanni Orton
The Houston Symphony's sound shell ceiling is made possible through the generosity of the Beauchamp Foundation and the Fondren Foundation
Miller Outdoor Theatre
Program Insight
8:30 p.m.
Should anyone require evidence that orchestral music provides an infinitely variable medium for expressing the broadest conceivable range of human concerns with flexibility and nuance, tonight’s program is proof positive. Two of these works, Alexander Glazunov’s Violin Concerto and Edward Elgar’s Enigma Variations, have long numbered among the more popular and successful entries in the modern orchestral canon. In the third, Floodplain, Pulitzer Prize winner Ellen Reid responds to a thoroughly modern concern: an environment in crisis.
Floodplain was originally to have been introduced in May 2020 by the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, one of three ensembles that jointly provided the commission, but the COVID-19 pandemic forced a change of plans. Additional time allowed Reid to revisit and revise the piece, in the end resulting in a work considerably different than the one she initially conceived. Using the myriad resources an orchestra provides, she evokes tranquility and turbulence by turns. “The orchestra heaves and releases,” a Los Angeles Times review noted, “like a river of sound overflowing its banks and then evaporating.”
Constructed from the same essential raw materials, Glazunov’s elegant Violin Concerto in A minor could hardly be more different in form and intent. At once conservative in form and expressive in utterance, the concerto fuses aspects of the Russian nationalism pioneered by the composers who immediately preceded him—Rimsky-Korsakov most of all—with a sure grasp of European style and substance. A prodigious, influential composer whose stature endured through two revolutions and the First World War, Glazunov is now remembered for relatively few key works, this songful, soulful concerto among them.
Elgar, Glazunov’s near-contemporary, similarly occupied a position of prestige and influence in Victorian and Edwardian-era England. Like Glazunov, Elgar found European models as persuasive as native sounds and styles, promulgated an innovative strain of conservatism, and is now remembered chiefly for a handful of works: his Pomp and Circumstance March No. 1 (ubiquitous in graduation ceremonies), Cello Concerto, and the work on tonight’s program: Variations on an Original Theme, a series of splendidly wrought, widely varied character sketches derived from an undisclosed theme—the enigma behind the work’s more familiar title.
—Steven Smith
Program Notes
E. REID
Floodplain (2022)
GLAZUNOV
Violin Concerto in A minor, Opus 82 (1904)
A floodplain is a low-lying area of land near a river whose role changes depending on precipitation and weather—it can morph from a fertile home for grasses, plant and animal life to a silty bed for the swollen river. In writing Floodplain, I was inspired by this landscape that is both lush and dangerous. Musically, I used a rhythmic figure made of sextuplets, which, unifies the work and alternatively propels it in diferent directions. I started writing Floodplain at the beginning of 2020. Once it became clear that the premiere would need to be moved due to COVID-19, I put the work on the shelf and didn’t look at it for about two years. In the interim, my concepts of unpredictability and the creative fertility found in it were fundamentally re-shaped, and Floodplain emerged as a wholly diferent work than the one I had conceived before the pandemic. —Ellen Reid
There was a time, just over a century ago, when Alexander Glazunov was a towering figure: arguably Russia’s most prodigiously gifted, successful, and influential composer. Such are the vicissitudes of passing time that his international reputation now rests on a slender handful of works, including his ballets Raymonda (1896-97) and The Seasons (1899), his Saxophone Concerto (1934), and perhaps above all his Violin Concerto (1904).
Born in St. Petersburg in 1865, Glazunov was raised in a household that recognized and nurtured his prodigious talent: his father was a book publisher and a gifted amateur violinist, his mother a pianist. Glazunov began to play piano at age eight, and was composing by 11. At 14, he began studies with Rimsky-Korsakov, the trailblazing Russian nationalist composer. In his memoir, the teacher wrote of his student, “He did not need to study much with me; he developed musically not day by day, but hour by hour.”
Having completed his Symphony No. 1 by age 16, Glazunov came to the attention of a wealthy benefactor, Mitrofan Belyayev, who supported the young composer and a handful of peers with concerts and publishing. Via Belyayev, Glazunov was able to travel widely, observing and absorbing continental European styles and techniques that enabled him to forge a compelling synthesis. Glazunov’s style was conservative even by the standards of his day, but never less than polished, proficient, and personable.
Alongside a compositional output comprising eight symphonies and the start of a ninth, five concertos, seven string quartets, and considerably more, Glazunov developed further prominent roles as a conductor, an academic administrator, and a teacher who numbered among his foremost students Dmitri Shostakovich. He retained his primacy in Russian music through the revolutions of 1905 and 1917, and worked to reorganize the Saint Petersburg Conservatory, of which he was director, after World War I. He finally moved abroad in 1928, touring Europe and the United States until poor health compelled him to settle in Paris,
Program Notes
GLAZUNOV
Violin Concerto in A minor, Opus 82 (1904)
where he died in 1936.
Glazunov composed his Violin Concerto in A minor in 1904, and dedicated the work to violinist Leopold Auer, who played the premiere in St. Petersburg in 1905—the very year the composer became director of the Conservatory, and the peak of his creativity and fame. Mischa Elman, Auer’s prodigiously gifted teenage student, was entrusted with the concerto’s London premiere, later in 1905, and presented its U.S. premiere with the Russian Symphony Orchestra at Carnegie Hall in 1910.
Fashioned in three movements played without pause, the concerto provides its soloist with ample opportunity for technical display, but emphasizes lyricism throughout. The opening Moderato is dark and sweet, like Mendelssohn sung with a Russian accent. That movement flows directly into an even dreamier melody played on the G string, richly embellished with harp and horns; an animated interlude prefaces a recapitulation of themes from the preceding movement. A solo cadenza composed by Glazunov leads directly into the final movement, a buoyant Allegro with a folksy melody certain to linger in the listener’s ear long after the applause fades. —Steven Smith
ELGAR
Enigma Variations, Opus 36 (1899)
By October 1898, Edward Elgar was 41 years old and through much struggle had built himself a reputation as a regional composer of choral music. Still, he was largely unrecognized by the larger musical world and had to rely on giving music lessons to earn his daily bread. Frustratingly, he only seemed to receive commissions for light, occasional pieces rather than for the grand symphonies he yearned to compose.
Despondent after a long day of teaching violin, he sat down at the piano one evening and began to improvise. Elgar later recalled, “suddenly my wife interrupted by saying: ‘Edward, that’s a good tune.’ I awoke from the dream: ‘Eh! tune, what tune!’ And she said, ‘Play it again, I like that tune.’ I played and strummed, and played, and then she exclaimed: ‘That’s the tune.’”
Thinking of their friend Hew David Steuart-Powell, an amateur pianist, Elgar playfully varied the theme, imitating runs Powell would play to warm up at the piano, albeit “chromatic beyond H. D. S.-P.’s liking.” Soon, he began creating variations inspired by other friends, much to his wife Alice’s delight. What started as a lark would become Elgar’s Enigma Variations, his breakthrough masterpiece. The “Enigma” nickname stems from the presence of that word above the original theme in the composer’s manuscript score. What the “enigma” is has never been discovered, let alone its solution.
Elgar dedicated the work “to my friends pictured within,” and in all, the original theme would be followed by 14 variations depicting Elgar’s wife, friends, a bulldog, and the composer himself. The friends were originally only identified by initials, nicknames, and music depictions, but this enigma, however, has long since been solved, as their identities are now
Program Notes
ELGAR
Enigma Variations, Opus 36 (1899)
well-known. Elgar once cryptically noted: “The Enigma I will not explain – its ‘dark saying’ must be left unguessed [...] through and over the whole set another and larger theme ‘goes,’ but is not played….”
Many have since sought a tune that can be played simultaneously with the “Enigma” theme. A number of suggestions have been put forth, including “God Save the Queen,” “Auld Lang Syne,” and “Rule Britannia.” Elgar encouraged such speculation, but he rejected all proposed solutions. If there were indeed a hidden melody, he took the secret to his grave. Others have suggested that the enigma refers to a more abstract idea such as friendship, creative inspiration, or even Elgar himself. Fortunately, one does not need to know the solution to the enigma in order to enjoy the music, as the audience at the premiere thoroughly did on June 19, 1899. The piece made him internationally famous and continues to be treasured for its ingenuity and heartfelt emotions.
—Calvin Dotsey
Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back in Concert
Feb. 21 & 22, 2025 | Jones Hall
Experience the ultimate surround sound as you watch The Empire Strikes Back on the giant screen at Jones Hall, with John Williams’s unforgettable score performed live by the Houston Symphony.
Program Bios
JoAnn Falletta, conductor
Multiple Grammy Award-winning conductor JoAnn Falletta serves as Music Director of the Buffalo Philharmonic, Music Director Laureate of the Virginia Symphony, Principal Guest Conductor of the Brevard Music Center, and Conductor Laureate of the Hawaii Symphony. She was named one of the 50 great conductors of all time by Gramophone Magazine and ASCAP has honored her as “a leading force for music of our time.”
As Music Director of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, Falletta became the first woman to lead a major American orchestra. She has guest-conducted over 100 orchestras in North America, and many of the most prominent orchestras in Europe, Asia, and South America. She is a leading recording artist for Naxos, and has won two individual Grammy Awards, for Richard Danielpour’s The Passion of Yeshua with the BPO and Spiritualist by Kenneth Fuchs with the London Symphony. Her Naxos recording of John Corigliano’s Mr. Tambourine Man with the BPO received two Grammys. Her Scriabin recording
with the BPO was nominated for a 2024 Grammy for Best Orchestral Performance.
Falletta is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and has served by Presidential appointment as a Member of the National Council on the Arts. She has conducted over 1,600 orchestral works by more than 600 composers, including over 135 works by women composers, and over 150 premieres.
After earning her bachelor’s degree at Mannes School of Music, Falletta received master’s and doctoral degrees from The Juilliard School.
Annelle Gregory, violin
American violinist and violist
Annelle K. Gregory is a laureate of international competitions, concert soloist, and recording artist. She is the first prize and Audience Choice Award winner of the 2017 National Sphinx Competition and laureate of the 2013 Stradivarius International Violin Competition.
Annelle’s love of Russian music has led her to discover and revive forgotten works of great Russian composers, presenting these works in concert and in recordings. In 2017, she released the first CD of Rachmaninoff's complete violin/piano works, recorded with pianist Alexander Sinchuk (Bridge Records). Her most recent CD, Russian Music for Solo Violin and Orchestra with conductor Dmitry Yablonsky and the Kiev Virtuosi Symphony Orchestra was released by Naxos in 2019.
As a soloist, Annelle has performed with the symphonies of Houston, Detroit, Chicago Sinfonietta, Kiev Virtuosi, San Diego, New Jersey, Nashville, and Philadelphia, working alongside such conductors as Mei-Ann Chen, Andrew Grams, Lawrence Loh, Ken-David Masur, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, John Morris Russell, Thomas Wilkins, Dmitry Yablonsky, and Xian Zhang. She has performed in such venues as
Program Bios
Carnegie Hall and Walt Disney Hall, as well as abroad in Azerbaijan, England, Germany, Guadeloupe, Portugal, Russia, Spain, and Ukraine. She has been featured on BBC, NPR, KUSC, and WQXR radios as well as on German television and PBS.
Annelle was awarded the 2017 Isaac Stern Award and has received scholarships from the Musical Merit Foundation and the League of Allied Arts. Other awards include first prizes in the 2017 Grand Prize Virtuoso International Competition, the 2017 NANM National Strings Competition, the 2017 Beverly Hills National Auditions, the 2016 American Protégé International Concerto Competition, and the
2012 NAACP ACT-SO National Strings Competition. After graduating from high school with honors at age 16, Annelle graduated first in her class, summa cum laude, from USC’s Thornton School of Music with departmental honors, and she became the first music performance major to win the Discovery Scholar Prize. She then studied at the Moscow Conservatory International School for two summers. Her teachers have included Michael and Irina Tseitlin, Glenn Dicterow, and Alexander Kirov. www.AnnelleViolin.com
Cirque rocks!
April 25, 26 & 27, 2025 | Jones Hall
Witness breathtaking feats by the world’s greatest Cirque artists, paired with iconic classic rock anthems by Journey, Heart, Styx, The Eagles, Aerosmith, and more.
Featured Program
MILLER OUTDOOR THEATRE:
HAYDN & DVOŘÁK
*Dionysis Grammenos, conductor
Charles Seo, cello
0:13 COLERIDGE-TAYLOR – Ballade in A minor, Opus 33
0:25 HAYDN – Cello Concerto in C major, Hob. VIIb: 1
I. Moderato
II. Adagio
III. Finale: Allegro molto
INTERMISSION
0:34 DVOŘ ÁK – Symphony No. 8 in G major, Opus 88
I. Allegro con brio
II. Adagio
III. Allegretto grazioso—Molto vivace
IV. Allegro, ma non troppo
*Houston Symphony debut
About the Music
Saturday, July 20 Miller
THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS
City of Houston through the Miller Theatre Advisory Board Guarantor
The Houston Symphony's Miller Outdoor Theatre concerts are endowed by The Brown Foundation, Inc. in memory of Stewart and Hanni Orton
The Houston Symphony's sound shell ceiling is made possible through the generosity of the Beauchamp Foundation and the Fondren Foundation
Program Insight
8:30 p.m.
The program you’ll hear tonight includes two works at the heart of the classical-music repertoire, as well as one less familiar piece that surely warrants inclusion in the canon.
The Afro-British composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, nicknamed the “Black Mahler” by admiring musicians in New York, had plenty to prove as a gifted young artist only 23 years old when he was received a commission from a prestigious British festival—at the behest of Elgar, the lion of Victorian composers, no less. Coleridge-Taylor’s Ballade in A minor shows a fiery imagination and a sure grasp of orchestral resources: qualities that made the composer a popular and influential figure until his premature death at age 37.
Franz Joseph Haydn is so widely known as “Papa Haydn” that one can forget this eminent, prolific Classical-era master was once a young composer out to prove himself. Haydn wrote his Cello Concerto No. 1 in C during the early years of his service as court composer to the vastly wealthy Esterházy family. Composing for his friend Joseph Franz Weigl, principal cellist of his Esterházy Orchestra, Haydn crafted an efficiently elegant concerto emblematic of the Classical model: two buoyant outer movements surrounding a more lyrical and contemplative centerpiece. Presumed lost until its rediscovery in a Prague museum in 1961, the concerto has been a staple work for cellists ever since.
The Symphony No. 8 in G by Antonín Dvoř ák, in contrast, is not the work of an ambitious young man, but of an established, assured master at the height of his international fame. Dvoř ák wrote the symphony in 1889 to mark his election to the Bohemian Academy of Science, Literature, and Arts, and conducted the premiere himself in February 1890. Unlike the stormy Seventh Symphony that came before it, Dvoř ák’s Eighth is a joyous, folksy celebration. —Steven Smith
Program Notes
COLERIDGE-TAYLOR
Ballade in A minor, Opus 33 (1898)
HAYDN
Cello Concerto in C major, Hob. VIIb: 1 (1765)
A precocious talent who entered London’s Royal College of Music as a violinist at age 15, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor met with swift success when he took up composition. Born in 1875 to a Sierra Leonean father studying medicine in London and a British mother, Coleridge-Taylor had shown a music aptitude at an early age. He was trained by the esteemed Anglo-Irish composer Charles Villiers Stanford, published his first composition, the choral work In thee, O Lord, at 16, and completed his Symphony in A at 20.
In 1898, Coleridge-Taylor received a commission from the Three Choirs Festival, then and now a prestigious annual event. The festival initially had approached Edward Elgar, the most eminent composer of the Victorian era. “I am sorry I am too busy to do so,” Elgar replied. “I wish, wish, wish you would ask Coleridge-Taylor to do it. He still wants recognition, and he is far and away the cleverest fellow going amongst the young men.”
What the festival received was the Ballade in A minor, Op. 33, a brash, buoyant orchestral work filled with wild energy and compelling lyricism. This piece and another published the same year, Hiawatha’s Wedding Feast—part of a larger work, Scenes from “The Song of Hiawatha” helped propel the young composer to global renown.
Confronted on occasion with racial prejudices that prevented him from conducting his own works, Coleridge-Taylor nevertheless pursued a successful international career. On his first visit to the United States in 1904, he conducted the Coleridge-Taylor Choral Society, the nation’s first African-American concert choir, which had taken its name in honor of the composer later termed “the Black Mahler” by admiring orchestral musicians in New York.
As a composer and as a champion of rights for Black Britons and Americans, Coleridge-Taylor continued to make enormous strides until his premature death of pneumonia in 1912, at age 37. —Steven Smith
Although it is one of the most performed Cello Concertos today, for many years Haydn’s Cello Concerto in C major was lost. It was only rediscovered in 1961 at the National Museum in Prague, likely having been unplayed for 196 years. The concerto was written during Haydn’s years as vice Kapellmeister at the court of the Esterhazy princes. Such was the Esterhazys’ wealth that the family employed a small orchestra, which included the superb cellist Joseph Weigl. Haydn composed this concerto for Weigl in 1765. The concerto is one of Haydn’s most melodic works. Each movement begins with an orchestral introduction that prepares the way for the soloist, and each movement also contains a cadenza in which the orchestra stops playing and the cellist plays a solo. The concerto follows the usual fast-slow-fast movement pattern typical of the era. —Calvin Dotsey
Program Notes
DVOŘ ÁK
Symphony No. 8 in G major, Opus 88 (1890)
Antonín Dvoř ák’s career boomed when he was in his 40s, and his success enabled him to buy property in the Czech countryside. He had a farm building converted into a house as his summer retreat. It contained one room set up as a studio, and Dvoř ák tucked himself away in the summer of 1889 to compose his Symphony No. 8. His rural surroundings may have helped inspire the symphony’s freshness and lyricism. For instance, sunny flute solos whose free-as-a-bird feel almost amount to tone-painting. Regardless of any extra-musical urges, Dvoř ák wanted to break free of music’s “usual, universally applied and recognized forms,” he said.
His Symphony No. 8 bears out his words, especially in its first movement. Even though the symphony’s overall key is G major, it begins in G minor, as cellos, clarinets and French horns intone a pensive, yearning melody. Unlike many symphonies’ opening gambits, this isn’t the first movement’s main theme; rather, it stands apart. A jaunty flute solo moves the music to G major, and the orchestra forgets the cello melody for a while as cheeriness takes hold. The orchestra cuts loose lustily, and after it transforms the flute’s solo into a jubilant proclamation, the strings bring a few moments of coziness. A buoyant woodwind tune perks the music up again, and another woodwind melody leads to a new burst of excitement. But when that dies down, the melancholy cello theme returns. When the flute replies this time, it can’t banish the shadows. The music grows restless, and a storm breaks out, driven in part by a fierce transformation of the flute’s tune. The climax comes as the trumpets cry out the cello theme above churning, fortissimo strings. After that catharsis, the winds help bring back warmth and vigor, and the movement sweeps to an exuberant close.
The Adagio begins meditatively, as the strings’ quiet introduction gives way to a gentle duet for clarinets. Then the music breaks out of its shell. The winds launch into a soaring melody that exudes sweetness, and the solo violin supplies a gleaming reply. The orchestra adds a ringing afrmation, but soon, turbulence intrudes. The soaring tune reappears, and serenity reigns. The mellow, flowing third movement hints at a waltz’ lilt, and an interlude complements that with one of Dvoř ák’s most delicious melodies. A trumpet fanfare opens the finale, a set of variations on a glowing, optimistic theme introduced by the cellos. Excitement quickly takes hold. A glittering flute solo adds its sunshine, and the music overflows with gusto. After the strings serve notice that the theme embraces eloquence, too, the excitement returns. —Steven Brown
Program Bios
Dionysis Grammenos, conductor
Greek conductor Dionysis Grammenos first established himself internationally as a clarinetist, winning a place on the 2013–14 ECHO Rising Stars program, which led to performances with major orchestras in some of the world’s most prestigious venues. As a conductor, he is regularly praised for his instinctive musicianship, the clarity and efficiency of his conducting, and his proficiency for shaping the sound of the orchestra.
In 2016, he received a Conducting Fellowship at Aspen Music Festival and since this time has conducted widely both in the concert hall and opera pit, including a last-minute invitation at the Megaron Athens to conduct the London Philharmonic Orchestra in a performance of Brahms 4, receiving acclaim from players and audience. This performance with the Houston Symphony marks his U.S. debut.
In recent seasons, Dionysis has conducted orchestras from Vienna to Thailand, with soloists such as Khatia Buniatishvili, Renaud Capuçon, Daniel Ottensamer, and Anna Fedorova.
Passionate about opera, he made
his opera conducting debut in Würzburg with Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi, after assisting with productions at Canadian Opera Company. In 2021–22, he was principal conductor of English Touring Opera’s production of Puccini’s La bohème; and in 2023, he made a successful debut at Nevill Holt conducting Rossini’s La Cenerentola.
Dionysis is founder and artistic director of the Greek Youth Symphony Orchestra (GYSO). Under his leadership, the GYSO joined the European Federation of National Youth Orchestras and was invited to perform at the opening concert of the Young Euro Classic Festival at the Berlin Konzerthaus, and was re-invited in 2023. Orchestra in Residence at the Megaron in Athens, the GYSO will perform at Carnegie Hall in November 2024, under Dionysis’s direction.
Trained as a clarinetist at the University of Music “Franz Liszt” in Weimar, in 2008, he won the Grand Prix d’Eurovision from the European Broadcasting Union as well as the title European Young Musician of the Year, the first wind player to receive this title. He studied conducting at the Würzburg Music University. In 2018, he was selected for the European Young Leaders program, which aims to engage the most promising talents in initiatives destined to shape Europe’s future.
Charles Seo, cello
Cellist Charles Seo was appointed cellist of the Houston Symphony in the summer of 2018 at age 22. Previously, he served as principal cellist in the Colburn Orchestra. Charles, who made his solo orchestral debut at age 10, has performed as guest soloist with the Houston Symphony, Dallas Symphony Orchestra, and San José Chamber Orchestra.
He is silver medalist of the 2014 Irving M. Klein International String Competition and bronze medalist of the 2014 Stulberg International String Competition. In 2013, he was gold medalist of the Houston Symphony League Concerto Competition, the Lynn Harrell Concerto Competition, the Schmidbauer International Competition, and the 30 th Pasadena Showcase House Instrumental Competition. Charles performed Sarasate’s Zigeunerweisen with Christopher O’Riley on NPR’s From the Top Charles has collaborated with cellists Lynn Harrell, Robert deMaine, Clive Greensmith, Wolfgang Emanuel Schmidt, David Geringas, Steven Isserlis, Jian Wang, Myung-wha Chung, Lluís Claret, Li-Wei Qin, Bion Tsang, and Laurence Lesser. He holds a bachelor of music degree from the Colburn School, where he studied with Ronald Leonard and Clive Greensmith.
Juraj Valčuha, Music Director