InTune — The Houston Symphony Magazine — December 2019

THE HOUSTON SYMPHONY MAGAZINE

DECEMBER 2019

SHAHAM PLAYS BRAHMS 26 + LÓPEZ WORLD PREMIERE

VERY MERRY POPS 30

December 5, 7 & 8

December 13, 14, 15 & 17

HANDEL’S MESSIAH 34

December 20, 21 & 22

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InTUNE | D E C E M B E R

2019

Programs

Shaham Plays Brahms + López World Premiere

December 5, 7 & 8 �����������������������������������������������������������������������������������26 Very Merry Pops

December 13, 14, 15 & 17 ��������������������������������������������������������������������30 Handel’s Messiah

December 20, 21 & 22 ��������������������������������������������������������������������������34

Features

Letter to Patrons ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 4 A Letter from Steven Reineke ����������������������������������������������������������������� 14 Holiday Cheers: Giving Societies and Donor Benefits �������������� 16 Houston Symphony Wine Dinner �������������������������������������������������������� 18 Spotlight: Texas Commission on the Arts �������������������������������������� 18 Event Preview: Schumann Festival ������������������������������������������������������20 Concert Preview: Sinatra’s Way with Tony DeSare ��������������������22 Virtuosos: Niccolò Paganini and Franz Liszt ���������������������������������24 Backstage Pass with Wei Jiang ��������������������������������������������������������������52

Your Houston Symphony

Your Symphony Experience . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Andrés Orozco-Estrada, Music Director . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Upcoming Broadcasts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Orchestra Roster ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������8 Society Board of Trustees ������������������������������������������������������������������������������9 Houston Symphony Chorus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Staff Listing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Our Supporters

Houston Symphony Donors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 Young Associates Council . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 Corporate, Foundation, and Government Partners ��������������������46 Houston Symphony Endowment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 Legacy Society & In Memoriam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 Education and Community Engagement Donors . . . . . . . . . 50 Musician Sponsorships . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 Learn about Andrés Orozco-Estrada’s upcoming Schumann Festival

20

InTUNE is published by the Houston Symphony.

615 Louisiana, Suite 102, Houston, TX 77002 713.224.4240 | houstonsymphony.org All rights reserved.

InTune is produced by the Houston Symphony’s Marketing and Communications department.

Calvin Dotsey. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Publications Editor Melanie O’Neill. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Publications Production & Design Elaine Reeder Mayo. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Editorial Consultant Shweiki Media. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Printing Ventures Marketing Group. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Advertising The Houston Symphony is a non-profit organization that relies on the support of our generous donors. Presenting nearly

170 concerts annually with an ensemble of 88 full-time professional musicians, the Symphony is Houston’s largest performing arts organization. We enrich the lives of hundreds of thousands through more than 1,000 annual community-based performances and inspiring classroom visits. Your support enables us to continue creating innovative and commanding musical experiences.

The activities and projects of the Houston Symphony are funded in part by grants from the City of Houston, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Texas Commission on the Arts.

The Houston Symphony currently records under its own label, Houston Symphony Media Productions, and for Pentatone and Naxos. Houston Symphony recordings are also available on the Telarc, RCA Red Seal, Virgin Classics, and Koch International Classics labels.

Cameras, Recorders, Cell Phones & Pagers

Cameras and recorders are not permitted in the hall. Patrons may not use any device to record or photograph performances. Please silence cell phones, pagers, and alarm watches and refrain from texting during performances.

All content © 2019. Contents cannot be reproduced in any manner, whole or in part, without written permission from the Houston Symphony or InTune Magazine.

LETTER TO PATRONS DECEMBER 2019

For many, the holidays are a time of traditions. In my family, it was always Christmas Eve at my grandparents’ and a big family breakfast on Christmas morning after we’d torn through gifts. But there was always room for something new, too, and we’re excited to be mixing new and old here at the Houston Symphony this month.

We start the month with a world premiere, a new symphony, Ad Astra, by Composer-in-Residence Jimmy López Bellido, on December 5, 7, and 8. We also launch our new Chamber Music Series, with that week’s guest artist, violinist Gil Shaham, playing alongside our amazing Symphony musicians at Midtown’s MATCH, on December 6.

On December 13, 14, 15, and 17, one of the great Houston Symphony holiday traditions continues with Very Merry Pops and the return of conductor Michael Krajewski, who leads the Houston Symphony and Chorus in Glad Tidings, a musical telling of the Christmas story with the Alley Theatre’s Bree Welch narrating. Our annual holiday Family concert, ’Twas the Night Before Christmas, also happens that weekend, on December 14. And our holiday programming comes to a grand conclusion when Conductor Nicholas McGegan leads the Chorus, orchestra, and a stellar cast of soloists in Handel’s “Messiah” December 20, 21, and 22.

If you are looking for memorable stocking stuffers, tickets to an upcoming Houston Symphony concert make the perfect holiday gift.

From “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” in Concert to Paganini + “Pines of Rome,” the Symphony has concerts for every music lover.

You can also give the gift of music with a contribution to our Holiday Cheers at the Houston Symphony campaign. Donations comprise two-thirds of the Symphony’s annual budget, helping us bring cheer to our community all year long. Make a donation today by visiting the table in the lobby.

Thank you for joining us—we wish you a holiday season filled with the joy of music.

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4 | Houston Symphony

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HOUSTON symphony JONES HALL FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS 615 Louisiana St. Suite 102 Houston, TX 77002

PATRON SERVICES

713.224.7575 Mon–Sat | 12 p.m.– 6 p.m. patronservices@houstonsymphony.org

GROUP SALES

713.238.1435 Mon–Fri | 9 a.m.–5 p.m. groupsales@houstonsymphony.org

ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICES 713.238.1420 Mon–Fri | 9 a.m.–5 p.m.

YOUR SYMPHONY EXPERIENCE JONES HALL

ETIQUETTE

Sixty-six foot ceilings, scarlet carpet, teakwood, and travertine marble greet visitors to Jones Hall, the home of the Houston Symphony. Opened in 1966, Jones Hall has a uniquely designed movable ceiling that enables the auditorium to shrink or expand from approximately 2,150 to 2,900 seats.

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! Brief applause between movements after an exceptional performance is always appreciated.

PRELUDE PRE-CONCERT CONVERSATIONS Led by Musical Ambassador Carlos Andrés Botero, Prelude Pre-Concert Conversations are held 45 minutes in advance of each Classical Series performance and provide interesting insights into composers and their works.

DEVICES Please silence all electronic devices before the performance. Photography and audio/video recordings of these performances are strictly prohibited.

FOOD & DRINK POLICY Encore Café offers a selection of food and drink options before performances and during intermission; we also have several bars located throughout the concert hall where you may purchase beer, wine, and mixed drinks. However, food or drinks are prohibited in the auditorium for Classical Series performances. Drinks (in plastic containers) are allowed for POPS concerts and some Symphony Specials.

LOST AND FOUND For lost and found inquiries, please contact Front of House Manager Sarah Rendón during the performance.

She also can be reached at sarah.rendon@houstonsymphony.org.

You also may contact Houston First after the performances at 832.487.7050.

CONNECT WITH US |

CHILDREN Children ages 6 and up are welcome to all Classical, POPS, and Symphony Special concerts. Children of all ages are welcome at BBVA 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 front of house manager will instruct you on when late seating is allowed.

TICKETS Subscribers to six or more Classical or POPS concerts, as well as BBVA 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.

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InTUNE — December 2019 | 5

OROZCO-ESTRADA MUSIC DIRECTOR

ROY AND LILLIE CULLEN CHAIR Energy, elegance, and spirit—these are the qualities that distinguish Andrés Orozco-Estrada as a musician. Since the 2014–15 season, he has been music director of the Houston Symphony and principal conductor of the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra. Beginning in the 2020–21 season, he will be chief conductor of the Vienna Symphony.

Andrés conducts many of the world's leading orchestras, including the Vienna Philharmonic, the Staatskapelle Dresden, the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, the Orchestre National de France, and American orchestras in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, and Chicago. He has also directed successful concerts and opera performances at the Glyndebourne and Salzburg festivals.

Highlights of the 2019–20 season include performances with the Vienna Philharmonic at the BBC Proms and the Lucerne Festival, as well as tours to China, South Korea, and Japan. In the spring, Andrés conducts his debut concert with the New York Philharmonic and returns as a guest to the rostrum of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra. In May 2020, the Dutch National Opera Amsterdam premieres a new production of Carmen under his direction. With the Houston Symphony, he presents a new two-week Schumann Festival in February featuring the composer’s symphonies, concertos, choral works, and chamber music. The same month, he conducts three concerts at the Wiener Musikverein, leading the Vienna Symphony as principal conductor designate.

Andrés is particularly committed to new concert formats in which spoken commentary and visual elements complement the music as he rediscovers known repertoire together with the audience—be it a Spotlight concert with the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra or a Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra family concert.

His CD releases at Pentatone have attracted critical praise. His Dvořák cycle with the Houston Symphony was praised by Pizzicato as a “vital Dvořák with warm colors.” With the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, recordings of Stravinsky's Firebird and The Rite of Spring were hailed as “beguiling” by Gramophone, and the same publication recently described him as “a fine Straussian” in a review of their recent recording of the Alpine Symphony from his Richard Strauss cycle.

In addition, his interpretations of all the Brahms and Mendelssohn symphonies are available on recordings.

Born in Medellín, Colombia, Andrés began his musical education with the violin. He received his first conducting lessons at 15 and began study in Vienna in 1997, where he was accepted at the prestigious University of Music and Performing Arts in the conducting class of Uroš Lajovic, a student of the legendary Hans Swarowsky. Andrés has since lived in Vienna.

6 | Houston Symphony

DECEMBER 2019 BROADCAST SCHEDULE ALL BROADCASTS AIR AT 8 P.M.

Tune in to Houston Public Media News 88.7 FM Sunday nights at 8 p.m. to hear great performances from past Houston Symphony concerts. You can also listen Wednesday nights at 8 p.m. online through Houston Public Media's digital Classical station.

December 1 | News 88.7 December 4 | Classical

December 8 | News 88.7 December 11 | Classical

December 15 | News 88.7 December 18 | Classical

December 22 | News 88.7 December 25 | Classical

December 29 | News 88.7 January 1 | Classical

RECORDED: November 23–25, 2018

RECORDED: September 27, 29 & 30, 2018

RECORDED: September 29 & October 1 & 2, 2016

RECORDED: December 7, 8 & 9, 2018

RECORDED: December 21–23, 2018

David Danzmayr, conductor Inon Barnatan, piano Suppé: Overture to The Beautiful Galatea Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 22 Brahms: Symphony No. 4

Andrés Orozco-Estrada, conductor Lucy Crowe, soprano Sasha Cooke, mezzo-soprano Toby Spence, tenor Dashon Burton, baritone Houston Symphony Chorus Betsy Cook Weber, director Dvořák: Stabat Mater

Andrés Orozco-Estrada, conductor Nicole Heaston, soprano Toby Spence, tenor Peter Rose, bass Haydn: The Creation

Very Merry Pops 2018 Steven Reineke, conductor Ali Ewoldt, vocalist Houston Symphony Chorus Betsy Cook Weber, director

Handel’s Messiah 2018 Jane Glover, conductor Ying Fang, soprano Elizabeth DeShong, mezzo-soprano Thomas Cooley, tenor Christópheren Nomura, baritone Houston Symphony Chorus Betsy Cook Weber, director

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InTUNE — December 2019 | 7

ROSTER

ORCHESTRA Andrés Orozco-Estrada Music Director Roy and Lillie Cullen Chair FIRST VIOLIN Yoonshin Song, Concertmaster Max Levine Chair Eric Halen, Co-Concertmaster Ellen E. Kelley Chair Qi Ming, Assistant Concertmaster Fondren Foundation Chair Marina Brubaker Tong Yan MiHee Chung Sophia Silivos Rodica Gonzalez Ferenc Illenyi Si-Yang Lao Kurt Johnson Christopher Neal Sergei Galperin SECOND VIOLIN MuChen Hsieh, Principal Hitai Lee Mihaela Frusina Annie Kuan-Yu Chen Jing Zheng Martha Chapman Tianjie Lu Anastasia Sukhopara Tina Zhang Boson Mo+ Amy Semes+ Katrina Bobbs Savitski*

HORN William VerMeulen, Principal Mr. and Mrs. Alexander K. McLanahan Endowed Chair Robert Johnson, Associate Principal Jesse Clevenger*, Assistant Principal Brian Thomas Nancy Goodearl Ian Mayton

FLUTE Aralee Dorough, Principal General Maurice Hirsch Chair Matthew Roitstein, Associate Principal Judy Dines Kathryn Ladner

TRUMPET Mark Hughes, Principal George P. and Cynthia Woods Mitchell Chair John Parker, Associate Principal Robert Walp, Assistant Principal Richard Harris

PICCOLO Kathryn Ladner

TROMBONE Allen Barnhill, Principal Bradley White, Associate Principal Phillip Freeman

ENGLISH HORN Adam Dinitz

CELLO Brinton Averil Smith, Principal Janice and Thomas Barrow Chair Christopher French, Associate Principal Anthony Kitai Louis-Marie Fardet Jeffrey Butler Maki Kubota Xiao Wong Charles Seo Annamarie Reader*

8 | Houston Symphony

DOUBLE BASS Robin Kesselman, Principal Timothy Dilenschneider, Associate Principal Mark Shapiro Eric Larson Andrew Pedersen Burke Shaw Donald Howey Michael McMurray

OBOE Jonathan Fischer, Principal Lucy Binyon Stude Chair Anne Leek, Associate Principal Colin Gatwood Adam Dinitz

VIOLA Wayne Brooks, Principal Mr. & Mrs. Jesse B. Tutor Legacy Society Chair Joan DerHovsepian, Associate Principal George Pascal, Assistant Principal Wei Jiang Linda Goldstein Sheldon Person Fay Shapiro Daniel Strba Jarita Ng Phyllis Herdliska

Community-Embedded Musicians David Connor, double bass Rainel Joubert, violin Patricia Quintero Garcia, violin Alexa Sangbin Thomson, viola

Steven Reineke Principal POPS Conductor Robert Franz Associate Conductor Betsy Cook Weber Director, Houston Symphony Chorus Yue Bao Conducting Fellow

CLARINET Mark Nuccio, Principal 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 Issac Schultz*, Associate Principal Elise Wagner Adam Trussell

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 Megan Conley, Principal** KEYBOARD Scott Holshouser, Principal + Rotating Chairs *Contracted Substitute ** On Leave

CONTRABASSOON Adam Trussell

Orchestra Personnel Manager Michael Gorman

Librarian Thomas Takaro

Stage Manager Stefan Stout

Assistant Orchestra Personnel Manager Position Vacant

Assistant Librarians Aspen McArthur Michael McMurray

Assistant Stage Manager José Rios

Stage Technicians Nick DiFonzo Justin Herriford Armando Rodriguez

TRUSTEES

2019–20 SEASON

SOCIETY BOARD of

PAST PRESIDENTS OF THE HOUSTON SYMPHONY SOCIETY

Executive Committee Janet F. Clark President John Rydman President-Elect Steven P. Mach Chairman Immediate Past President

Paul Morico General Counsel Mike S. Stude Chairman Emeritus

Barbara McCelvey Secretary John Mangum^ Executive Director/CEO

Evan B. Glick Chair, Popular Programming Barbara J. Burger Chair, Finance Miles O. Smith Chair, Artistic & Orchestra Affairs Brad W. Corson Chair, Governance & Leadership Viviana Denechaud Chair, Development Tracy Dieterich Chair, Community Partnerships Bobby Tudor At Large Immediate Past Chair

Mary Lynn Marks Chair, Volunteers & Special Events Billy McCartney Chair, Education William J. Toomey II President, Houston Symphony Endowment Robert Orr Chair, Strategic Planning Manolo Sánchez Chair, Marketing & Communications Jesse B. Tutor Chair, Audit

Maureen Higdon^ President, Houston Symphony League Andrés Orozco-Estrada^ Music Director Adam Dinitz^ Musician Representative Mark Hughes^ Musician Representative Mark Nuccio^ Musician Representative Christine Kelly-Weaver^ Assistant Secretary ^Ex-Officio *In Memoriam

GOVERNING DIRECTORS Farida Abjani Michael W. Adler Marcia Backus Janice Barrow ** Gary Beauchamp Bill Bullock Barbara J. Burger Janet F. Clark Brad W. Corson Viviana Denechaud Michael Doherty Terry Cheyney Sippi Khurana, M.D.

TRUSTEES

Jonathan Ayre David J. Beck James M. Bell Jr. Devinder Bhatia, M.D. Nancy Shelton Bratic Terry Ann Brown** Eric Brueggeman Ralph Burch Justice Brett Busby Dougal Cameron John T. Cater** Michael H. Clark Virginia Clark Evan D. Collins, M.D., MBA Andrew Davis, Ph.D. Tracy Dieterich Bob Duff Joan Duff Kelli Cohen Fein, M.D. Jeffrey B. Firestone Eugene A. Fong

Rochelle Levit, Ph.D. Cora Sue Mach ** Steven P. Mach Paul M. Mann, M.D. Rodney Margolis** Jay Marks ** Mary Lynn Marks Billy McCartney Barbara McCelvey Alexander K. McLanahan ** Paul R. Morico Robert Orr John Rydman**

Kafi Slaughter Ex-Officio Miles O. Smith Tracy Dieterich Anthony Speier Evan B. Glick Mike S. Stude ** Maureen Higdon William J. Toomey II Nina McGlashan Bobby Tudor ** Gloria G. Pryzant Betty Tutor ** Manolo Sánchez Jesse B. Tutor ** Andrés Orozco-Estrada Judith Vincent John Mangum Margaret Alkek Williams ** Mark Nuccio Scott Wulfe Adam Dinitz David Wuthrich Mark Hughes Christine Kelly-Weaver

Aggie L. Foster Julia Anderson Frankel Ron Franklin Betsy Garlinger Evan B. Glick Susan A. Hansen Gary L. Hollingsworth Stephen Incavo, M.D. Brian James Tammie Johnson I. Ray Kirk, M.D. Ulyesse J. LeGrange** Carlos J. López Michael Mann, M.D. Jack Matzer Jackie Wolens Mazow Gary Mercer Marilyn Miles Shane A. Miller Janet Moore Leslie Nossaman

Scott Nyquist Edward Osterberg Jr. Gloria G. Pryzant David Pruner Tadd Pullin Floyd Robinson Miwa Sakashita Manolo Sánchez Ed Schneider Christian Schwartz Helen Shaffer ** Michael E. Shannon** Robert B. Sloan, D.D. Theol.

Jim R. Smith Tad Smith Ishwaria Subbiah, M.D. L. Proctor (Terry) Thomas III Shirley W. Toomim Margaret Waisman, M.D. Fredric A. Weber

Mrs. S. Conrad Weil Robert Weiner Vicki West Steven J. Williams Frank Wilson Ellen A. Yarrell Robert Yekovich Frank Yonish Ex-Officio Ann Ayre Jessie Woods David Flores **Lifetime Trustee

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. Robert M. Hermance Gene McDavid Janice H. Barrow Barry C. Burkholder Rodney H. Margolis Jeffrey B. Early Michael E. Shannon Ed Wulfe Jesse B. Tutor Robert B. Tudor III Robert A. Peiser Steven P. Mach

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 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 Dr. Susan Snider Osterberg Dr. Kelli Cohen Fein Vicki West Mrs. Jesse Tutor Darlene Clark Beth Wolff

PAST PRESIDENTS OF THE HOUSTON SYMPHONY LEAGUE BAY AREA Fran Strong Selma Neumann Julia Wells Dagmar Meeh Priscilla Heidbreder Harriett Small Nina Spencer Elizabeth Glenn Ebby Creden Charlotte Gaunt Norma Brady Cindy Kuenneke Helen Powell Sharon Dillard Diane McLaughlin Roberta Liston Suzanne Hicks Sue Smith

Shirley Wettling Jo Anne Mills Phyllis Molnar Pat Bertelli Emyre B. Robinson Dana Puddy Angela Buell Pat Brackett Joan Wade Yvonne Herring Deanna Lamoreux Glenda Toole Carole Murphy Patience Myers James Moore Mary Voigt Martha McWilliams

FRIENDS OF JONES HALL REPRESENTATIVES Ronald G. Franklin

Steven P. Mach

Barbara McCelvey

Robert Orr InTUNE — December 2019 | 9

CHORUS

HOUSTON SYMPHONY Betsy Cook Weber Director

Anna Diemer Chorus Manager Scott Holshouser Accompanist Tony Sessions Librarian/Stage Manager

The Houston Symphony Chorus, under the direction of Betsy Cook Weber since 2014, 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 Andrés Orozco-Estrada, Hans Graf, Christoph Eschenbach, Robert Shaw, and Helmut 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.

Betsy Cook Weber | Houston Symphony Chorus, Director Dr. Betsy Cook Weber, director of the Houston Symphony Chorus since 2014, also serves as Madison Endowed Professor of Music and director of Choral Studies at the University of Houston’s Moores School of Music.

Choirs under her direction have won important international prizes and have been featured at numerous state, regional, and national conferences. Betsy is in high demand as a conductor, clinician, adjudicator, and lecturer and has conducted performances in more than half the states in this country; internationally, she has conducted concerts in the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Poland, and Wales.

Betsy is editor of the Betsy Cook Weber Choral Series with Alliance Music Publishing. In 2013, she became the 13th person and first woman to receive the Texas Choral Directors Association’s coveted Texas Choirmaster Award. She holds degrees from the University of North Texas, Westminster Choir College, and the University of Houston.

CHORUS ROSTER | Rehearsal Conductor Julia Hall 2 Matthew Hazzard 1 Section Leaders Brianna Fernandez 2 Jillian Hughes 1, 2 George Howe 1 Stephen James 2 Doug Rodenberger 1, 2 Heidi Walton 1 Chorus Council Ramona Alms Joe Anzaldua Jonathan Bordelon Nancy Bratic Randy Eckman Brianna Fernandez Julia FitzGerald Michael Gilbert Susan Hall Jillian Hughes Stephen James Ken Mathews 10 | Houston Symphony

Very Merry Pops 1 • December 13, 14, 15 & 17 Handel’s Messiah 2 • December 20, 21 & 22

Janwin Overstreet-Goode Bill Parker Jennifer Paulson Douglas Rodenberger Tony Sessions Lee Williams Chorus Roster Steve Abercia 1 Melissa Adams 1 Wilton T. Adams 1 Josh Adler 1 Mary Ann Addis 2 Bob Alban 2 Ramona Alms 1 Kelli Amick 2 Lauren Andersen 2 Keith Anthis 1,2 Joe Anzaldua 2 Mansi Baxi 2 Justin Becker 2 Claude Bitner 2 Randy Boatright 1, 2 Criselda Bocanegra 1

Harvey Bongers 1 Abby Boone 1 Jonathan Bordelon 2 Emily Boudreaux 2 Nancy Bratic 2 Jennifer Breneman 1 Kristen Bullock 1 Brandon Bulls 1, 2 Troy Burnett 1, 2 Kimberly Butler 2 James Calvert 2 Liza Chapman 1 Tatiana Chavanelle 2 William Cheadle 1 Elizabeth Chrisman Shurtz 2 Jennifer Christian 2 Nancy Christopherson 1 Holly Churman 2 Zachary Clark 1 Evan Clawson 1 Paige Clawson 1 Nicole Colby 2 Swatara Collins 2

Brian Cook 2 Paul Dabney 2 Sylvia Dee­ 2 Anna Diemer 1 Michael Dorn 1, 2 Steve Dukes 1 Emily Eads 2 Randy Eckman 2 Paul Ehrsam 1, 2 Raul Enriquez 2 Chris Fair 1, 2 Brianna Fernandez 2 Amanda Fetter-Matthys 1 Julia FitzGerald 1 Rachel Fly 1 Jim Friedhofer 1 Adam Froelich 1, 2 Katie Fry 2 Joseph Frybert 1, 2 Chase Gaines 2 Rachel Gehman 2 Michael Gilbert 2 Rex Gillit 2

Rebecca Girardet 1 Robert Gomez 1, 2 Daniel Gorelick 2 Hannah Gronseth 2 Sandra Haggray 1 Julia Hall 2 Susan Hall 1 Jennifer Harris 2 Scott Hassett 1, 2 Matthew Hazzard 1 Matthew Henderson 1 Megan Henry 2 Tiffany Hesser 2 Holly Hinski 2 Kathleen Holder 2 Eileen Holshouser 1 Sean Holshouser 1 Mary Kate Hotaling 2 Catherine Howard 2 George Howe 1 Jillian Hughes 1, 2 Sylvia Hysong 1 Stephen James 2 La'Netha Jefferson 1 Brionne Kelly 2 Chris Kersten 2 Nobuhide Kobori 1, 2 Elizabeth Kragas 2 Kat Kunz 1

Karen Lach 1 Yoka Larasati 1 Anthony Larson 2 Brian Lassinger 1 Benjamin Luss2 Relana Luss 2 Jordan March 2 Andrew Markus 1 Page Martinez 1 Lisa Marut-Shriver 2 Ken Mathews 1, 2 Sarah McConnell 1 Scott Mermelstein 1, 2 Travis Mohle 2 Jim Moore 1 Teonna Murphy 1 Robert Nash 2 Eliza Nicholson 2 Rachael Smith Niederhauser 1 Theresa Olin 2 David Opheim 2 Alyssa Orlando 2 Janwin Overstreet-Goode 2 Marie Parisot 1 Bill Parker 1, 2 Jayna Parker Queen 1 Jennifer Paulson 1 Noah Peak 1 Sydney Peltier 1

Charnele Pendarvis-Romero 1 Allison Poe 1 Chantel Potvin 2 Julianne Preddy 1 Lauren Price 2 Elizabeth Pruett 1 Greg Railsback 1, 2 Karen Ramirez 1 Emily Reader 1 Linda Renner 1 Rachel Rentz 2 Graeme Richmond 2 Douglas Rodenberger 1, 2 Carolyn Rogan 1 Missy Roth 2 Scott Roth 2 Emily Sanders 2 Paloma Santamaría 2 Alex Schaaf 1 Gary Scullin 1 Angela Seaman 1, 2 Ben Seligson 1, 2 Tony Sessions 1, 2 Jeffrey Short 2 Jessica Simmons 1 Corey Smith 1 Lauren Smith 2 Christopher Song 1 Dewell Springer 1

Mark Standridge 2 Carol Strawn 1 Cecilia Sun 1, 2 Suzy Thacker 1 Alisa Tobin 1 Karen Tran 2 Marin Trautman 1 Lisa Trewin 1 Paul Van Dorn 1, 2 Abby Veliz 1 Mary Voigt 1, 2 ChristineVoss 1 Lori Wagner 2 Heidi Walton 1 Beth Weidler 2 Alex Weldy 1 Kat White 1 Lance Wilcox 1 Lee Williams 1, 2 David Zurawski 1

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InTUNE — December 2019 | 11

STAFF

ADMINISTRATIVE

The Houston Symphony Administrative Staff is made up of 71 full-time and part-time professionals who work diligently behind the scenes to ensure all operations within the organization are run effectively and efficiently.

This inspiring team is dedicated to bringing the great music of the Houston Symphony to our community.

SENIOR MANAGEMENT GROUP John Mangum, Executive Director/CEO,

Margaret Alkek Williams Chair Pam Blaine, Chief of Education and Community Engagement Elizabeth S. Condic, Chief Financial Officer Vicky Dominguez, Chief Operating Officer Nancy Giles, Chief Development Officer Gwen Watkins, Chief Marketing Officer Christine Kelly-Weaver, Executive Assistant/Board Liaison DEVELOPMENT Molly Simpson, Senior Director, Development Megan Carrigan, Development Associate, Gifts and Records Julie Busch, Manager, League Relations and Fundraising J. Steven Covington, Director, Endowment and Planned Giving Timothy Dillow, Director, Corporate Relations Amanda T. Dinitz, Major Gifts Officer Samuel García, Development Associate Amber Jones, Manager, Donor Stewardship Megan McIlwain, Development Associate, Institutional Giving Tyler Murphy, Development Officer, Major Giving Groups Shane L. Platt, Development Associate, Individual Giving Martin Schleuse, Senior Manager, Development Communications Jennifer Staples, Manager, Special Events Christine Ann Stevens, Major Gifts Officer Lena Streetman, Research Analyst Christina Trunzo, Director, Foundation Relations EDUCATION AND COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT Allison Conlan, Director, Education Anna Dean, Education and Community Engagement Coordinator Emily Nelson, Associate Director,

Education and Community Engagement Ana Rodriguez, Education and Community Engagement Manager FINANCE | ADMINISTRATION | IT | HR Brittany Basden, Support Engineer Robert Boyd, Budget Manager Henry Cantu, Accountant II Kimberly Cegielski, Staff Accountant Joel James, Senior HR Manager Jessica Jelinek, Database Manager Tanya Lovetro, Director, Finance Morgana Rickard, Controller Gabriela Rivera, Senior Accountant Anthony Stringer, Director, IT Ariela Ventura, Office Manager/HR Coordinator Lee Whatley, Senior Director, IT and Analytics 12 | Houston Symphony

MARKETING | COMMUNICATIONS | PATRON SERVICES Jose Arriaga, Patron Services Representative Mark Bailes, Marketing Coordinator Shelby Banda, Patron Services Representative Joshua Chavira, Patron Services Representative Calvin Dotsey, Communications Specialist Heather Fails, Manager, Ticketing Database BreeAngela Hamilton, Digital Marketing Coordinator Jenessa Howard, Patron Services Representative Kerry Ingram, Director, Digital Marketing Edgar Ivan-Morales, Patron Services Representative Kathryn Judd, Director, Marketing Melanie O’Neill, Creative Specialist John B. Pollard II, Assistant Manager, Patron Services Sarah Rendón, Front of House Manager Mireya Reyna, Publicist Vanessa Rivera, Digital Marketing Manager Ashley Rodriguez, Patron Services Senior Representative Eric Skelly, Senior Director, Communications Melissa Taylor, Graphic Designer Jenny Zuniga, Director, Patron Services OPERATIONS | ARTISTIC Yue Bao, Conducting Fellow Carlos Andrés Botero, Musical Ambassador Becky Brown, Director, Operations Stephanie Calascione, Artistic Operations Assistant Anna Diemer, Chorus Manager Jessica Fertinel, Assistant to the Music Director Michael Gorman, Orchestra Personnel Manager Aspen McArthur, Assistant Librarian Michael McMurray, Assistant Librarian Lesley Sabol, Director, Popular Programming Brad Sayles, Recording Engineer Thomas Takaro, Librarian Meredith Williams, Associate Director, Operations Rebecca Zabinski, Director, Artistic Planning

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DEAR HOUSTON SYMPHONY FAMILY MEMBER, On behalf of all the creative people who work throughout the year to bring you the Houston Symphony’s thrilling, star-studded 2019–20 Season, I’d like to wish you and your loved ones a wonderful holiday season and a prosperous 2020!

As principal POPS conductor, I’m honored to make music with your Houston Symphony and incredible guest musicians. Last month, I had a great time conducting John Williams’s masterful score of The Empire Strikes Back, and I’ll be in Houston in spirit for the annual Very Merry Pops on December 13–15, which will see the return of the incomparable Michael Krajewski.

I’ll join the orchestra to ring in 2020 with Houston favorite Tony DeSare for Sinatra and Beyond on January 3–5. Nobody recreates the heyday of Ol’ Blue Eyes like Tony, so you’re in for a treat. We’ll also pay tribute to Nat King Cole on February 28– March 1 and Aretha Franklin on April 17–19. And I’m thrilled to reunite with the amazing Houston Symphony Chorus under the direction of Betsy Cook Weber to cap off the season with The Best of John Williams—“Star Wars” and More!

If you enjoy the POPS Series, I hope you’ll consider supporting the Holiday Cheers campaign to help the Houston Symphony attract outstanding artists; you can find information about this important effort on page 17.

As a non-profit organization, the Symphony relies on the generosity of its donors. If you’re supporting the POPS Series already, thank you so much! If you’re not, I encourage you to contact Molly Simpson, Senior Director of Development, at molly.simpson@houstonsymphony.org or 713.337.8526. Or visit houstonsymphony.org/donate-now/ to make a gift.

Thanks for letting us inspire and entertain you. I can’t wait to see you soon at Jones Hall!

Warm regards,

Steven Reineke Principal POPS Conductor

14 | Houston Symphony

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A N N U A L

F U N D

DONOR benefits With 2020 and the changes a new year always brings on the horizon, the Houston Symphony is refining the benefits we provide to our loyal annual fund donors.

If you’re a Houston Symphony donor, thank you! You play a vital role in making the orchestra’s music possible. In January, you will receive information about your updated benefits in the mail, but before the new year begins, we would like to call your attention to some of the most notable changes.

The Conductor’s Circle will continue to recognize annual fund donors of $5,000 and more. The $5,000 (Gold) level provides season-long access to the VIP Donor Green Room and complimentary valet parking. At the $10,000 (Platinum) level, you will be invited to special new experiences like donor lectures and onstage seating at selected orchestra rehearsals.

Donors at the $15,000 (Diamond) level may select to sponsor either a Houston Symphony musician or a concert weekend.

Annual Fund Donors of $2,500–$4,999 will be recognized at the Virtuoso level and will have season-long access to the Virtuoso Donor Lounge, formerly the Patron Donor Lounge, in the Jones Hall lobby. Virtuoso donors will also have access to premier reserved seating for most Houston Symphony concerts at Miller Outdoor Theatre.

If you’d like to enjoy these benefits by becoming a Houston Symphony Annual Fund donor—or if you have questions about your benefits, please contact:

GIVING SOCIETIES

FRIENDS OF THE HOUSTON SYMPHONY • $100 – $4,999

Shane Platt, Development Associate, shane.platt@houstonsymphony.org or 713-337-8559.

CONDUCTOR’S CIRCLE DIAMOND • $15,000 – $24,999

VIRTUOSO • $2,500– $4,999

OPTION 1 • MUSICIAN SPONSOR

• Access to Virtuoso Donor Lounge • One-time valet pass • One-time pass to the VIP Donor Green Room • Premier reserved seating for Houston Symphony concerts at Miller Outdoor Theatre (excluding Fourth of July) • All Director-level benefits

Conductor’s Circle Diamond members are offered the opportunity to select how their support will be recognized:

• Opportunity to sponsor a Houston Symphony Musician • Invitation for two to the Musician Sponsorship Luncheon followed by a private rehearsal • Special recognition in InTune magazine • All Conductor’s Circle Platinum-level benefits

OR

OPTION 2 • CONCERT OR GUEST ARTIST SPONSOR • Opportunity to sponsor a concert weekend or guest artist • Six tickets for sponsored concert • Special recognition in InTune magazine • All Conductor’s Circle Platinum-level benefits

CONDUCTOR’S CIRCLE PLATINUM • $10,000– $14,999 • Invitation to quarterly VIP donor lecture lunch • Invitation for two to join Houston Symphony musicians on-stage for a private rehearsal • All Conductor’s Circle Gold-level benefits

CONDUCTOR’S CIRCLE GOLD • $5,000– $9,999 • Access to VIP Donor Green Room, complimentary valet parking, and VIP Ticketing Concierge • Access to Premier Donor Seating at Jones Hall concerts • All Virtuoso-level benefits

16 | Houston Symphony

DIRECTOR • $1,000– $2,499 • Invitation for two to an exclusive Behind-the-Scenes event followed by a private rehearsal • Early bird ticket email notification • One-time pass for the Virtuoso Donor Lounge • Monthly recognition in the Houston Symphony magazine, InTune • All Principal-level benefits

PRINCIPAL • $500– $999 • Invitation for two to an exclusive season preview • Two complimentary drink coupons • All Associate Principal-level benefits

ASSOCIATE PRINCIPAL • $250– $499 • Invitation for two to a private rehearsal • All Member-level benefits

MEMBER • $100– $249 • Houston Symphony Society membership, including voting privileges at the Annual Meeting • Subscription to Symphony Notes newsletter

DON’T MISS YOUR OPPORTUNITY TO GIVE THE

DEC

JAN

FEB

MAR

06 19 14 27

HOUSTONSYMPHONY.ORG/CHAMBERMUSIC

THIS HOLIDAY SEASON.

To make your gift, visit our campaign tables in the lobby, near the round bar, or give in the following ways: ONLINE HOUSTONSYMPHONY.ORG/DONATE TEXT "MUSIC" TO 41444 CALL 713.337.8559

the PERFECT GIFT FOR YOUR WHOLE LIST SPECSONLINE.COM • 50+ STORES IN HOUSTON

HOUSTON SYMPHONY

2020 WINE DINNER & COLLECTOR’S AUCTION

SPOTLIGHT The Texas Commission on the Arts has awarded the Houston Symphony a grant of $250,000 to support its holiday programming, including the All-Strauss Thanksgiving, Very Merry Pops, the BBVA Family Series concert ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas, and Handel’s “Messiah”. TCA Commissioners approved more than $4.6 million in grants for Arts Respond Cultural District Projects for the 2020 fiscal year. These grants are offered to arts organizations in designated cultural districts—like the Houston Theater District—for projects focusing on significant cultural tourism efforts through activities, including marketing, infrastructure, and major events.

Jesse H. Jones Hall for the Performing Arts 615 Louisiana Street

Benefiting the Houston Symphony’s Education and Community Engagement

Valerie & Tracy Dieterich, Co-Chairs Carolyn Faulk & Pat Studdert, Co-Chairs Robert T. Sakowitz, Honorary Chair Robert Weiner, Collector’s Auction Chair

For further information or to purchase tables and tickets, contact Jennifer Staples, Manager, Special Events at jennifer.staples@houstonsymphony.org or 713.337.8520 or visit houstonsymphony.org/winedinner

The Symphony’s grant is one of 43 statewide in 20 cultural districts. TCA Executive Director Gary Gibbs said, “The substantial work our grantees are doing not only advances the arts in Texas, but it attracts visitors and additional dollars to our state and local economies.”

“Something special happens at the Symphony during the holidays as community members and visitors alike are invited to celebrate the season with high-quality programming designed to appeal to a diverse and broad audience,” said John Mangum, the Houston Symphony’s Executive Director/CEO and holder of the Margaret Alkek Williams Chair. “We are proud to be among the organizations selected as recipients of this TCA award that will play an instrumental role in the success of our Holiday Series.”

The Houston Symphony is grateful to TCA, as well as The Honorable Garret F. Coleman of the Texas House of Representatives and The Honorable Borris L. Miles of the Texas Senate, for supporting the arts in our home state.

18 | Houston Symphony

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InTUNE — December 2019 | 19

ANDRÉS OROZCO-ESTRADA conducts

ANGELS & DEMONS “The music of Schumann, which borders naturally upon that of Beethoven and yet at the same time is so distinct from his, opens up for us a whole world of new musical forms and strikes chords which his great predecessors had not yet touched upon.

We find in it an echo of the mysteriously deep processes of our spiritual life, of those moments of doubt and despair and striving towards the ideal to which the heart of modern man is prey.” —Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky This February, the Houston Symphony invites you to discover one of history’s most idiosyncratic geniuses: Robert Schumann.

Perhaps the archetypal Romantic composer, Schumann had an intense interest in literature and sought to create music that was uniquely poetic. Full of wild imagination, fantasy, and irony, his works feature powerful emotions, secret symbols, and cyphers— most famously, he encoded the name of the love of his life, the pianist Clara Wieck, into many pieces. Schumann’s often tortured inner-life has led to much speculation into the connection between artistic genius and mental illness, but ultimately, his music speaks to the power of art to heal the troubled soul. A pivotal figure in the history of music, Schumann profoundly influenced Brahms, Tchaikovsky, and future generations of composers, forever changing the way we think about what music is and what it can be.

Featuring performances from Music Director Andrés OrozcoEstrada and renowned guest artists Benjamin Grosvenor and Alisa Weilerstein, this festival explores Schumann’s wide-ranging creativity through his symphonies, concertos, choruses, chamber music, and songs. Lectures and other events give festival-goers the opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of the man, his times, and the hidden meanings of his fascinating music.

Visit houstonsymphony.org/schumann for tickets and more information.

The Schumann Festival is made possible thanks to the generous support from the Houston Symphony Endowment, The Humphreys Foundation, Bobby & Phoebe Tudor, and Drs. M.S. & Marie-Luise Kalsi.

20 | Houston Symphony

EVENT CALENDAR

06 08

GALLERY TOUR + PERFORMANCE: SCHUMANN & ROMANTIC ART* THE MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS, HOUSTON • 6 P.M. LECTURE: SCHUMANN, BIPOLAR DISORDER & THE CREATIVE PROCESS* JONES HALL • 5 P.M. • PRESENTED BY DR. RICHARD KOGAN HOUSTON SYMPHONY JONES HALL • 8 P.M. Benjamin Grosvenor, piano SCHUMANN Symphony No. 1 SCHUMANN Piano Concerto SCHUMANN Symphony No. 2

09

HOUSTON SYMPHONY JONES HALL • 2:30 P.M. Benjamin Grosvenor, piano SCHUMANN Symphony No. 3 SCHUMANN Piano Concerto SCHUMANN Symphony No. 4

13

CHORAL PERFORMANCE: INTIMATE SONGS & GRAND CHORUSES* JONES HALL • 8 P.M. HOUSTON SYMPHONY CHORUS

Betsy Cook Weber, director Scott Holshouser, piano Schumann’s songs have an emotional and expressive power unmatched in all of music, and you’ll hear some of his most exquisite works.

14

CHAMBER MUSIC* ZILKHA HALL AT THE HOBBY CENTER • 7:30 P.M. Alisa Weilerstein, cello Celebrate Valentine’s Day with an evening of passionate chamber music by Robert and Clara Schumann, featuring cellist Alisa Weilerstein with Houston Symphony musicians.

15

HOUSTON SYMPHONY JONES HALL • 8 P.M. Alisa Weilerstein, cello SCHUMANN Symphony No. 3 SCHUMANN Cello Concerto SCHUMANN Symphony No. 4

16

HOUSTON SYMPHONY JONES HALL • 2:30 P.M. Alisa Weilerstein, cello SCHUMANN Symphony No. 1 SCHUMANN Cello Concerto SCHUMANN Symphony No. 2 *Events do not include the full orchestra InTUNE — December 2019 | 21

concert PREVIEW JANUARY 3, 4 & 5 | JONES HALL

SINATR A’S WAY TONY DESARE SINGS FRANK SINATRA’S GREATEST HITS

On January 3, 4, and 5, the Houston Symphony begins the new year with Sinatra and Beyond, a program featuring pianist, crooner, and Houston favorite Tony DeSare. Senior Director of Communications Eric Skelly recently spoke with Tony about performing with orchestras, the legacy of “Ol’ Blue Eyes,” and more.

Visit houstonsymphony.org/sinatra for tickets and more information.

Eric Skelly: When did you start working with symphony orchestras?

Tony DeSare: Even though my passion is for jazz piano and singing, I grew up playing violin and was concertmaster of my high school orchestra. Performing with a symphony was an aspiration of mine ever since I started to get serious about music. My first opportunity came when I played the Dakota jazz club in Minneapolis. The artistic director from the Minnesota Orchestra was there and gave me a shot. Then, conductor Jack Everly hired me to be part of his big Irving Berlin revue as a member of a five-person cast. Since then, I’ve had the privilege of working with scores of orchestras; it’s my favorite thing I do now.

ES: How does the process of putting together a show with a full orchestra compare to working with a jazz orchestra or combo?

TD: An orchestra pops show requires a lot more planning and attention to detail, most obviously because everyone needs something compelling to play on stage.

The textures and sounds available in the symphony palette are so complex and beautiful; you have to find the right approach to best serve both a song and the strengths of a traditional orchestra. I work with great arrangers and also arrange some of the material myself, so I know that really what makes a show is the quality of the arrangements.

ES: Can you recall your earliest memories of Frank Sinatra and encountering his music?

TD: Well, as a child I knew him as the old guy in the tux who sang “New York, New York.” It wasn’t until my mid-teens that I truly discovered the greatness of his art. My mom brought home a CD of Frank Sinatra in his peak 1950s Capitol Records era. It changed my life. I was captivated by everything…the sound of his voice certainly, but also the quality of the arrangements, the songs, and even how great those old recordings sounded. I was hooked from then on.

Don’t miss Sinatra and Beyond on January 3, 4, and 5!

Visit houstonsymphony.org for tickets and more information.

22 | Houston Symphony

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classical PREVIEW

Detail from Franz Liszt Fantasizing at the Piano (1840)

by Josef Dannhauser. From left to right: George Sand, Niccolò Paganini, Gioachino Rossini, Franz Liszt, and Marie d’Agoult.

VIRTUOSO Hadelich Plays Paganini | Gerstein Plays Liszt Next month, the Houston Symphony features two remarkable guest artists in some of the repertoire’s most staggeringly difficult works. On January 9, 11, and 12, Augustin Hadelich plays Paganini’s Violin Concerto No. 1 as part of Paganini + “Pines of Rome,” and on January 30 and February 1 and 2, pianist Kirill Gerstein plays two virtuoso pieces by Liszt as part of our Beethoven 7 program. Learn how these composers revolutionized music as our guest artists share their experiences with these breathtaking works. Visit houstonsymphony.org for tickets and more information.

One of the undeniable thrills of live music is witnessing incredible feats of virtuoso skill. Anyone who has ever picked out a tune on a piano or guitar knows how difficult it is to play even simple music well; when the world’s best soloists dazzle the ears with flawlessly executed fingerwork that seems to 24 | Houston Symphony

defy the laws of physics and anatomy, a palpable electricity runs through the hall. Such displays have been a feature of musical performance since time immemorial, but 200 years ago two revolutionary composers set the modern standards of virtuoso technique that continue to challenge musicians and delight audiences: Paganini and Liszt.

THE DEVIL WENT DOWN TO GENOA

Today, mastery of Paganini’s fiendish music is a necessity for all violin soloists, and the composer’s technical fireworks are sure to impress in the hands of Augustin Hadelich, one of the leading violinists on the world’s stages today.

“I grew up in Italy, so I’ve always felt a particularly strong connection to Paganini’s music,” Augustin explained. “I love the lyrical, singing themes that sound like they’re straight out of Italian opera.” Born the son of a Genoese dock worker,

Niccolò Paganini (1782–1840) displayed remarkable musical talent from a young age. He went from one violin teacher to another, mastering what they had to teach him until he outstripped them all, and he began to write music for the violin that was so difficult no one else could play it. In the 1820s, he began touring internationally, astonishing his audiences with violin playing that seemed supernatural— even demonic—to some.

“Niccolò Paganini was the world’s first rock star,” Augustin noted. “Wherever he went, outlandish rumors were already spreading. Was it true he murdered the lover of his wife?

Did he really learn to play in jail on an instrument with only one string? Had he really sold his soul to the devil? Paganini never told these stories himself; he had others spread his legend, the wilder the better. He would arrive at his concerts in a black carriage, dressed in all black, a tall, thin, mysterious figure. He practiced secretly so no one could copy his techniques.”

All of Paganini’s famous technical feats are on full display in his Violin Concerto No. 1, which Augustin will play with the Houston Symphony. “There is a lot of virtuoso entertainment here,” he said. “Difficult double-stop runs of all kinds, harmonics (a high-pitched way of playing that sounds like whistling), the ‘ricochet’ bow technique in the last movement, which involves throwing the bow on the string and having it rebound on its own, kind of like bouncing a ball.

In one of the most feared moments in the violin repertoire, the violinist even plays harmonics in double stops!”

Beneath all the virtuoso pyrotechnics, Paganini’s music is also exceptionally well-crafted. Rossini once declared that if Paganini had chosen to write opera instead of violin music, he would have “knocked out all of us.” Augustin remarked, “While the virtuoso writing is memorable and a lot of fun, the reason why I keep coming back to Paganini and have endured so many long practice sessions is the beauty of his music!”

LISZTOMANIA

What Paganini did for the violin, Franz Liszt did for the piano. “Without exaggeration, everything in modern piano writing—starting with the 19th century piano technique and beyond—was either invented by Liszt or was an elaboration of a seed planted in his works,” explained world-renowned pianist Kirill Gerstein. “The pianistic textures of Ravel, Rachmaninoff, Debussy, Prokofiev, Mussorgsky, and others all grow from the seeds of Liszt’s piano writing. We are all branches and leaves of Liszt’s tree.”

Like Paganini, Liszt (1811–1886) displayed extraordinary talent as a child. He made his Vienna concert debut at 11, and is reported to have impressed Beethoven with his playing. It was only after witnessing a performance by Paganini in Paris in 1832, however, that he determined to revolutionize piano music by becoming the greatest pianist of his age.

In a virtuoso feat of his own, Kirill will perform not one, but two of Liszt’s most challenging works for orchestra: his

Piano Concerto No. 1 and Totentanz (Dance of Death). While Paganini always denied the rumors that dogged him throughout his life, Liszt seems to have embraced the demonic element of virtuoso performance.

Totentanz in particular seems to have been designed to frighten and delight Liszt’s contemporaries much in the way scary movies do today.

The piece is based on the Dies irae, a famous medieval chant from the traditional Catholic mass for the dead.

“The Dies Irae is deeply ingrained in our cultural psyche,” Kirill explained. “Numerous compositions quote it, but we might encounter it in movie scores as well. Liszt writes a brilliant set of variations on this chant. Nobody did the demonic and macabre the way Liszt could.” If the devilish character of the piece was meant to frighten listeners, the solo part has certainly struck fear into the hearts of many a pianist with its seemingly death-defying passagework.

But Liszt was more than a flamboyant showman: his music was also strikingly innovative, as his First Piano Concerto demonstrates. Unconventionally, the concerto melds the separate movements of a traditional concerto into one, and imaginatively transforms its opening melody in innumerable guises. “Bartók admired the structural inventiveness of this piece,” Kirill said. “Liszt combines showy virtuosity, theatrical effects, and original musical experimentation.” Aware of his concerto’s originality, Liszt famously sang the concerto’s main theme to the words “Das versteht ihr alle nicht, haha!”—“No one will understand this, haha!” Today, however, the piece is an audience favorite for its stirring melodies and, of course, its astonishing virtuosity.

—Calvin Dotsey Don’t miss Paganini + “Pines of Rome” and Beethoven 7 this January! Visit houstonsymphony.org for tickets and more information.

InTUNE — December 2019 | 25

FEATURED PROGRAM

SHAHAM PLAYS BRAHMS + LÓPEZ WORLD PREMIERE Thursday Saturday Sunday

December 5 December 7 December 8

8:00 p.m.

8:00 p.m.

2:30 p.m.

Jones Hall

Andrés Orozco-Estrada, conductor Gil Shaham, violin

J. López Bellido

Did you know?

*Symphony No. 2 (Ad Astra)

I Voyager

II Apollo: L = 67

III Hubble: L = 64

IV Challenger: N. = 78

V Revelation: L = 60 I N T E R M I S S I O N

Brahms

Violin Concerto in D major, Opus 77

I Allegro non troppo II Adagio

III Allegro giocoso, ma non troppo vivace

*World première, Houston Symphony commission

26 | Houston Symphony

ca. 36

• Over the course of its 106-year history, the Houston Symphony has commissioned and premiered works by many renowned composers, including Alan Hovhaness, John Adams, Joan Tower, Gabriela Lena Frank, and John Corigliano.

Shaham Plays Brahms | Program Biographies

RAND G ROUP

Program BIOGRAPHIES

GREAT PERFORMERS SERIES

These performances are generously supported in part by:

Andrés Orozco-Estrada | conductor

Grand Guarantor Rochelle & Max Levit

Please see Andrés Orozco-Estrada's biography on page 6.

Gil Shaham | violin

These concerts are part of the Margaret Alkek Williams Sound + Vision Series, which is also supported by The Cullen Trust for the Performing Arts Endowed Fund for Creative Initiatives.

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

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

LUKE RATRAY

Support for the commission of Jimmy López Bellido’s Ad Astra comes from the “Campaign for a Sound Future” Fund for new works in honor of Winifred Safford Wallace

Gil Shaham is one of the foremost violinists of our time: his flawless technique, combined with his inimitable warmth and generosity of spirit, has solidified his renown as an American master. He is sought after throughout the world for concerto appearances with leading orchestras and conductors and regularly gives recitals and appears with ensembles on the world’s greatest concert stages and at the most prestigious festivals.

Highlights of recent years include a recording and performances of J.S. Bach’s complete sonatas and partitas for solo violin and recitals with his long-time duo partner pianist, Akira Eguchi. He regularly appears with the Berlin Philharmonic; Boston and Chicago Symphony Orchestras; San Francisco Symphony; Israel Philharmonic Orchestra; Los Angeles and New York Philharmonics; and Orchestre de Paris. He serves multi-year residencies with the orchestras of Montreal, Stuttgart, and Singapore.

Gil has more than two dozen concerto and solo CDs to his name, earning multiple Grammys, a Grand Prix du Disque, Diapason d’Or, and Gramophone Editor’s Choice. His most recent recording in the 1930s Violin Concertos series, Vol. 2, was nominated for a Grammy Award.

Gil Shaham was awarded an Avery Fisher Career Grant in 1990, and in 2008, he received the coveted Avery Fisher Prize. In 2012, he was named Instrumentalist of the Year by Musical America. He plays the 1699 “Countess Polignac” Stradivarius and lives in New York City with his wife, violinist Adele Anthony, and their three children.

Shaham Plays Brahms is generously underwritten by Rochelle and Max Levit, members of the Houston Symphony family for more than 30 years. Rochelle serves as a governing director of the Symphony’s Board of Trustees and is a member of the Artistic and Orchestra Affairs Committee. In recent seasons, Max and Rochelle have supported the orchestra’s concerts with Itzhak Perlman, Emanuel Ax, Daniil Trifonov, Kirill Gerstein, Yefim Bronfman, and Javier Perianes. They also sponsor First Violinist Sergei Galperin and support the Symphony’s special events. The Levits are especially excited by the Symphony’s artistic direction under the leadership of Andrés Orozco-Estrada. The Houston Symphony thanks the Levits for making these performances possible.

InTUNE — December 2019 | 27

Program BIOGRAPHIES , continued

FRANCIEL BRAGA

Jimmy López Bellido | composer-in-residence An “undeniably exciting composer” (Opera News) with “a brilliant command of orchestral timbres and textures” (The Dallas Morning News), and “a virtuoso mastery of the modern orchestra” (The New Yorker), Jimmy López Bellido has created works performed by leading orchestras around the world and in prestigious venues such as Carnegie Hall, the Sydney Opera House, the Lepzig Gewandhaus, the Kennedy Center, Vienna’s Musikverein, and the Konzerthaus Berlin. His works have also been featured at Nordic Music Days, the 2010 Summer Youth Olympics in Singapore, and the Aspen, Tanglewood, and Grant Park music festivals.

Fiesta!, one of his most famous works, has received more than 90 performances worldwide, making it one of the most performed contemporary orchestral works. Bel Canto, based on Ann Patchett’s bestselling novel, is a full-length opera commissioned by Lyric Opera of Chicago as part of the Renée Fleming initiative. It premiered in December 2015 to wide critical acclaim and was broadcast nationwide on PBS’s Great Performances.

Jimmy recently completed Dreamers, an oratorio he wrote in collaboration with Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Nilo Cruz for Ana María Martínez, Esa-Pekka Salonen, and the Philharmonia Orchestra of London. A new album with Miguel Harth-Bedoya and the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra was released in the summer (MSR Classics). He is published by Filarmonika Music Publishing.

Jimmy is composer-in-residence at the Houston Symphony through the 2019–20 Season.

Program NOTES Symphony No. 2 (Ad Astra) Jimmy López Bellido (b. 1978)

For millennia, the stars have awakened both a profound sense of humility and a feeling of infinite expansion when seen by human eyes. Ad Astra is an homage to humanity’s spirit of exploration, told through iconic NASA missions that forever changed our understanding of our place in the universe. Commissioned by the Houston Symphony (Andrés Orozco-Estrada, music director), this work is dedicated to the people of NASA, whose bravery and vision continue to inspire humanity’s most ambitious dreams.

Voyager, the first of this symphony’s five movements, starts with a solo vibraphone conveying the words “Ad Astra” in Morse code. At the initiative of Carl Sagan, the Latin phrase “per aspera ad astra” (“through hardship to the stars”) was embedded in the golden records onboard the Voyager space probes. The last two words of this phrase serve as a rhythmic motif, permeating the whole movement and gaining increasing significance as the symphony unfolds.

The second movement tells the story of the Apollo program.

From its inception to the tragic loss of life of Apollo 1, the awe-inspiring television broadcast of Apollo 8 (in which the crew read verses from Genesis), and the historic first moonwalk of Apollo 11, this movement walks us through one of humanity’s greatest adventures. The glass harmonica with its eerie overtones plays a central role, evoking the moon’s barren yet inviting landscape.

The opening of the third movement represents the bumpy beginnings of the Hubble Space Telescope through jolting phrases and the sound of a wind machine. After an ingenious repair mission, this incredibly complex and sophisticated piece of machinery goes on to make remarkable discoveries, including numerous stars, nebulae, galaxies, exoplanets, and the age of our universe.

The emotional core of the piece lies within its fourth movement, Challenger. The Space Shuttle Challenger carried nine successful missions before that fateful morning when seven crewmembers lost their lives shortly after liftoff. The music attempts to capture what people were thinking and feeling in their hearts that day—the months leading up to the tragedy were filled with anticipation, so I have tried to convey that up to the very end.

In the fifth movement, Revelation, we are now in the future; the Voyager space probes are now nothing more than time capsules. When all hope is thought to be lost, our radio telescopes detect a signal: one of the probes is found by intelligent beings (represented by offstage trumpets) who decode our “per aspera ad astra” message,

28 | Houston Symphony

Shaham Plays Brahms | Program Notes

prompting a dialogue with a civilization other than our own for the first time. The message we exchange is one of the 55 audio-recorded greetings contained within the golden record: “Salvete quicumque estis; bonam erga vos voluntatem habemus, et pacem per astra ferimus” (“Greetings to you, whoever you are; we have good will towards you and bring peace across space”). Countless civilizations appear before our eyes as a new era begins. —Jimmy López Bellido The Instruments: 3 flutes (2 doubling piccolo), 3 oboes (1 doubling English horn), 3 clarinets (1 doubling bass clarinet, 1 doubling E-flat clarinet), 3 bassoons (1 doubling contrabassoon), 4 horns, 6 trumpets (1 doubling piccolo trumpet), piccolo trumpet, 3 trombones (1 doubling contrabass trombone), tuba, timpani, percussion, harp, celesta, and strings

Violin Concerto in D major, Opus 77 Johannes Brahms (1833–1897)

Born in 1831 to a Hungarian-Jewish family, Joseph Joachim was a child prodigy who became one of the great violinists of the 19th century. At age 12, he made his London solo debut with Beethoven’s Violin Concerto and all but single-handedly revived this long-forgotten masterpiece. When Brahms met Joachim in 1853, the two became lifelong friends, united by their shared musical values. Brahms began composing his Violin Concerto for Joachim during the summer of 1878 and collaborated closely with him throughout its genesis. The concerto that emerged would be one of the great works for the instrument.

The first movement opens with a simple phrase in the style of a horn call, evoking an idyllic, pastoral atmosphere. The harmony shifts as the oboe continues the melody, turning toward darker, more dissonant harmonies. Strident octaves wrest the music back to a blazing restatement of the horn call theme, beginning a transitional passage. Above a timpani roll, the woodwinds prepare to introduce the expected lyrical second theme, but the harmonies darken, leading to a menacing, staccato theme instead. The music becomes stormy, and the soloist makes a dramatic entrance.

Leading back to the opening theme, the soloist expands and reinterprets the ideas presented thus far. This time, however, the solo violin introduces the “missing” second theme: a singing, beautiful melody. The menacing staccato theme then builds to a turbulent orchestral passage. The soloist reenters to begin a developmental section that becomes more intense as it progresses, leading to a reprise of the movement’s main ideas. Near the end of the movement, the orchestra builds to a grand pause. A cadenza—an extended passage for the soloist alone—ensues. In a gesture of great respect, Brahms let Joachim write his own cadenza, which has since remained

standard for soloists. In the tranquil coda, the opening theme takes on a sunset hue as the soloist plays it for the last time.

The music then accelerates to a thrilling conclusion.

The second movement, a slow Adagio, begins with a serenade for woodwinds; the oboe takes the lead in this nocturne with a simple, pastoral melody before the solo violin enters with a variation of its own. A brief transition then leads to a contrasting central section. Throughout this moving passage, the soloist almost seems to speak through music. The movement ends with a return to the opening melody; this time the oboe gracefully alternates phrases with the solo violin.

Many commentators have noted the “Hungarian” style of the finale—likely a nod to Joachim’s native land. Its footstomping main theme alternates with contrasting episodes, including one in which the music seamlessly slips from duple to triple meter. Another metrical slight-of-hand begins the movement’s coda as the main theme returns in a lively 6/8.

The invigorating triplets and virtuoso runs gradually wind down before the concerto ends with powerful final chords.

For several years after the premiere, Brahms withheld the concerto from publication to give Joachim exclusive access to the concerto, but even after the concerto was published, Joachim remained its only interpreter for some time.

Though the solo part is very difficult, the concerto eschews showy, virtuoso passages; throughout, technique is always at the service of expression rather than an end in itself. The orchestra also plays a more prominent role than was typical at the time, giving the concerto a “symphonic” quality.

It is perhaps for these reasons the concerto initially failed to catch on. The violinist Pablo de Sarasate, for instance, remarked, “I don’t deny that it’s fairly good music, but does anyone imagine […] that I’m going to stand on the rostrum, violin in hand, and listen to the oboe playing the only tune in the adagio?” Likewise, the conductor Josef Hellmesberger quipped that the piece was “a concerto not for, but against the violin.” Bronislaw Hubermann (one of the first violinists, other than Joachim, to take up the concerto) responded that it was “for violin against orchestra—and the violin wins!” In the end, it is precisely its “symphonic” qualities that helped the concerto stand the test of time; in a way, the work is a manifesto for the values of musical integrity and substance both Brahms and Joachim stood for. Today the piece is a cornerstone of the repertoire, and one of the most satisfying of all violin concertos. —Calvin Dotsey The Instruments: 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 2 trumpets, timpani, and strings

InTUNE — December 2019 | 29

FEATURED PROGRAM

VERY MERRY POPS Friday Saturday Sunday Tuesday

December 13 December 14 December 15 December 17

8:00 p.m.

8:00 p.m.

2:30 p.m.

7:30 p.m.

Jones Hall

Michael Krajewski, conductor *Bree Welch, narrator Houston Symphony Chorus Betsy Cook Weber, director *Houston Symphony debut

Arr. C. Ridenhour S. Amundson Arr. M. Wilberg J. Wilde-D. Konecky/ J. Gray A. Silvestri/ G. Fry L. Richman Anderson R. W. Smith

We Wish You a Merry Christmas On Christmas Day The First Nowell Light the Candles of Freedom When Christmas Comes to Town from The Polar Express Ho! Ho! Ho! Sleigh Ride Jingle Bells Forever I N T E R M I S S I O N

R. A. Bass

Glad Tidings I The Journey to Bethlehem: Andante amabile II The Birth of Jesus: Andante semplice III The Shepherds: Andante—Brisk martial tempo IV The Wise Men: Moderato misterioso—Allegro marziale V The Nativity: Andante con moto VI One Solitary Life, Epiphany: Andante con calore VII Peace and Good Will: Andante amabile

30 | Houston Symphony

Did you know?

• The Houston Symphony commissioned Glad Tidings for Very Merry Pops in December 2004, when it was first performed. The idea for the piece came from former Principal Pops Conductor Michael Krajewski, who returns to conduct it for these concerts.

• The Houston Symphony's holiday tradition of Very Merry Pops concerts was started by Michael Krajewski in December 2000. These concerts comprise our 20th annual Very Merry Pops.

Very Merry Pops | Program Biographies

Program BIOGRAPHIES These performances are generously supported in part by: Grand Guarantor

Sponsor Joella & Steven P. Mach

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

Founded in 1920 and headquartered in Houston, Occidental is one of the largest U.S. oil and gas exploration and production companies and the No. 1 producer in the Permian Basin of West Texas and New Mexico. Occidental conducts its business in a manner that safeguards the environment, protects the safety and health of employees and neighboring communities, and upholds high standards of social responsibility.

Occidental is committed to being a Partner of Choice® everywhere it operates.

Michael Krajewski | conductor Known for his entertaining programs and clever humor, Michael Krajewski is a much sought after conductor of symphonic pops. He is principal pops conductor of the Jacksonville Symphony and previously served as principal pops conductor of the Houston Symphony and Atlanta Symphony Orchestra as well as music director of The Philly Pops.

As a guest conductor, Michael has performed with The Cleveland and Philadelphia Orchestras; the Boston and Cincinnati Pops; the San Francisco, Baltimore, Detroit, Indianapolis, Seattle, Dallas, St. Louis, Pittsburgh, and National symphony orchestras; and numerous other orchestras across the United States. In Canada, he has led Ottawa’s National Arts Centre Orchestra, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony, and the Edmonton and Winnipeg Symphony Orchestras.

Other international appearances include performances in Dublin and Belfast with the Ulster Orchestra as well as performances with the Hong Kong Philharmonic, the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra, the Iceland Symphony Orchestra, and Spain’s Bilbao Symphony Orchestra.

Michael is the conductor of the video Silver Screen Serenade with violinist Jenny Oaks Baker that aired worldwide on BYU Broadcasting. On recordings, he has led the Houston Symphony on two holiday albums: Glad Tidings and Christmas Festival. His collaborative programs have included such artists as flutist James Galway, mezzo Marilyn Horne, pianist Alicia de Larrocha, guitarist Ángel Romero, and pop artists Rufus Wainwright, Jason Alexander, Roberta Flack, Judy Collins, Art Garfunkel, Wynonna Judd, Kenny Loggins, Ben Folds, Doc Severinsen, Patti Austin, Sandi Patty, Ann Hampton Callaway, Chicago, Preservation Hall Jazz Band, The Chieftains, Pink Martini, Rockapella, Cirque de la Symphonie, The Doo Wop Project, Classical Mystery Tour, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, and The Midtown Men. With degrees from Wayne State University in Detroit and the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, Michael furthered his training at the Pierre Monteux Domaine School for Conductors. He was a Dorati Fellowship Conductor with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and later served as that orchestra’s assistant conductor. He was resident conductor of the Florida Orchestra, and for 11 years, served as music director of the Modesto Symphony Orchestra. Michael lives in Orlando, Florida, with his wife, Darcy. When not conducting, he enjoys travel, photography, and solving crossword puzzles.

Occidental is a generous supporter of the Houston Symphony and its industry-leading High School Residency program.

InTUNE — December 2019 | 31

Program BIOGRAPHIES , continued

Bree Welch | narrator

A Prosecco f or every occasi on.

Celebr ate!

These concerts mark Bree Welch’s Houston Symphony debut.

A graduate of the Old Globe Master of Fine Arts in Acting program, Bree was directed by former artistic director of the Royal Shakespeare Company Adrian Noble in King Lear, Inherit the Wind, The Madness of George III, and As You Like It. Other Old Globe performances include The Taming of the Shrew, Richard III, The Winter’s Tale, The Two Gentlemen of Verona, The Country Wife, and Dividing the Estate.

Houston credits include Crimes of the Heart and A Christmas Carol with the Alley Theatre; Who’s Holiday! (one-woman show), The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, Who Am I This Time? (& Other Conundrums of Love), and Rabbit Hole with Stages Repertory Theatre; Henry V, Antigone, and The Triumph of Love with Classical Theatre Company; The Revolutionists and The Secretary with Main Street Theater; Hamlet, The Tempest, Love’s Labour’s Lost, Titus Andronicus, Julius Caesar, Cymbeline, Romeo and Juliet, and Measure for Measure with the Houston Shakespeare Festival; and Miracle on 34th Street, The Odd Couple, Enchanted April, and The Heiress with Unity Theatre.

Work in Europe includes As You Like It, Mary Stuart, Twelfth Night, Cymbeline, Into the Woods, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Macbeth with the Prague Shakespeare Company. She also participated in the U.S. tour of the Prague Shakespeare Company’s Twelfth Night and Macbeth at Main Street Theater. She played Mrs. Elton in a staged reading at Lincoln Center of the musical Jane Austen’s Emma, A Musical Romantic Comedy, directed by Tony Award-winner Jeff Calhoun. Television and film credits include The Ottoman Lieutenant (with Ben Kingsley), Crossing Lines (Netflix), Dinner with Strangers, and Hitmen.

Bree is a graduate of the University of Houston School of Theatre and Dance.

32 | Houston Symphony

a v a ilable at

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Your Values.

Your Influence.

Your Legacy.

Our Advice.

From left: Shelitha Smodic, Maureen Phillips, Tom Williams, Leah Bennett, Donnie Roberts, Susan Wedelich, Katie Slater

Westwood Wealth Management | Houston 10000 Memorial Drive, Suite 650, Houston, Texas 77024 | T 713.683.7070 westwoodgroup.com

FEATURED PROGRAM

HANDEL’S MESSIAH Friday Saturday Sunday

December 20, 2019 8:00 p.m.

December 21, 2019 8:00 p.m.

December 22, 2019 2:30 p.m.

Nicholas McGegan, conductor Sherezade Panthaki, soprano *Diana Moore, mezzo-soprano Benjamin Butterfield, tenor *Hadleigh Adams, bass-baritone Houston Symphony Chorus, Betsy Cook Weber, director *Houston Symphony debut

34 | Houston Symphony

Jones Hall

Handel

Messiah ca. 2:20

Part the First 1. Symphony: Grave—Allegro moderato 2. Accompagnato (tenor): Comfort ye, my people: Larghetto e piano 3. Air (tenor): Ev’ry valley shall be exalted: Andante 4. Chorus: And the Glory of the Lord: Allegro 5. Accompagnato (bass-baritone): Thus saith the Lord of Hosts 6. Air (mezzo-soprano): But who may abide the day of His coming?: Larghetto—Prestissimo 7. Chorus: And He shall purify the sons of Levi: Allegro Recitative (mezzo-soprano): Behold, a virgin shall conceive— 8. Air (mezzo-soprano) and Chorus: O thou that tellest good tidings to Zion:

Andante 9. Accompagnato (bass-baritone): For behold, darkness shall cover the earth: Andante larghetto— 10. Air (bass-baritone): The people that walked in darkness: Larghetto 11. Chorus: For unto us a Child is Born: Andante allegro 12. Pifa: Larghetto e mezzo piano Recitative (soprano): There were shepherds abiding in the field— 13. Accompagnato (soprano): And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them: Andante— Recitative (soprano): And the angel said unto them— 14. Accompagnato (soprano): And suddenly, there was with the angel: Allegro— 15. Chorus: Glory to God in the Highest: Allegro 16. Air (soprano): Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion: Allegro Recitative (mezzo-soprano): Then shall the eyes of the blind be open’d— 17. Duet (soprano and mezzo-soprano): He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: Larghetto 18. Chorus: His yoke is easy, His burthen is light: Allegro

I N T E R M I S S I O N

These performances are generously supported in part by: Grand Guarantor

The printed music for Handel’s Messiah was donated by the Edith F. Bondi Foundation in memory of Edith F. Bondi and Great Uncle, Conductor Simon Parmet.

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

Part the Second 19. Chorus: Behold the Lamb of God: Largo 20. Air (mezzo-soprano): He was despised and rejected: Largo 21. Chorus: Surely, He hath borne our griefs: Largo e staccato 22. Chorus: And with His stripes we are healed: Alla breve, moderato 23. Chorus: All we like sheep have gone astray: Allegro moderato 24. Accompagnato (tenor): All they that see Him laugh Him to scorn: Larghetto 25. Chorus: He trusted in God: Allegro 26. Accompagnato (tenor): Thy rebuke hath broken His heart: Largo 27. Arioso (tenor): Behold, and see if there be any sorrow: Largo e piano 28. Accompagnato (tenor): He was cut off out of the land of the living 29. Air (tenor): But Thou didst not leave His soul in Hell: Andante larghetto 30. Chorus: Lift up your heads, O ye gates: A tempo ordinario 34a. Air (soprano): How beautiful are the feet: Larghetto 36. Air (bass-baritone): Why do the nations so furiously rage together?: Allegro— 37. Chorus: Let us break their bonds asunder: Allegro e staccato Recitative (tenor): He that dwelleth in Heaven— 38. Air (tenor): Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron: Andante 39. Chorus: Hallelujah: Allegro Part the Third 40. Air (soprano): I know that my redeemer liveth: Larghetto 41. Chorus: Since by man came death: Grave—Allegro 42. Accompagnato (bass-baritone): Behold, I tell you a mystery 43. Air (bass-baritone): The trumpet shall sound: Pomposo, ma non allegro 47. Chorus: Worthy is the Lamb that was slain: Largo—Amen: Allegro moderato

InTUNE — December 2019 | 35

Nicholas McGegan | conductor

Sherezade Panthaki | soprano

As he embarks on his sixth decade on the podium, Nicholas McGegan—long hailed as “one of the finest baroque conductors of his generation” (The Independent) and “an expert in 18th-century style” (The New Yorker)—is recognized for his probing and revelatory explorations of music of all periods. The 2019–20 season marks the final year of his 34-year tenure as music director of Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra and Chorale. He is also principal guest conductor of the Pasadena Symphony.

Soprano Sherezade Panthaki's international success has been fueled by superbly honed musicianship, “shimmering sensitivity” (Cleveland’s The Plain Dealer), a “radiant” voice (The Washington Post), and vividly passionate interpretations, “mining deep emotion from the subtle shaping of the lines” (The New York Times). An acknowledged star in the early-music field, Sherezade has ongoing collaborations with leading early music interpreters, including Nicholas McGegan, Simon Carrington, Matthew Halls, and Masaaki Suzuki, with whom she made her New York Philharmonic debut. A recent performance with Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra and conductor McGegan was described as “a breathtaking combination of expressive ardor, tonal clarity, technical mastery and dramatic vividness” (San Francisco Chronicle).

Best known as a baroque and classical specialist, Nicholas’s approach—intelligent, infused with joy, and never dogmatic—has led to appearances with many of the world’s major orchestras. At home in opera houses, he shone new light on close to 20 Handel operas as the artistic director and conductor at the Göttingen International Handel Festival for 20 years and the Mozart canon as principal guest conductor at Scottish Opera in the 1990s. At the same time, he was principal conductor of the Drottningholm Opera in Sweden.

Nicholas’s prolific discography includes more than 100 releases spanning five decades. Having recorded more than 50 albums of Handel, he has explored the depths of the composer’s output through recordings of a dozen of his oratorios and close to 20 of his operas. Under its own label, Philharmonia Baroque Productions, Philharmonia has released almost a dozen acclaimed albums of Handel, Scarlatti, Vivaldi, Brahms, Haydn, Beethoven, and more. Since the 1980s, Nicholas has released more than 20 recordings with Hungary’s Capella Savaria on the Hungaroton label, the latest being Haydn’s Symphonies 79, 80, and 81. He has also released two recent albums with the Swedish Chamber Orchestra: Josef Mysliveček’s Complete Music for Keyboard with soloist Clare Hammond and an album of early horn concertos with soloist Alec Frank-Gemmill.

Born in England, Nicholas was educated at Cambridge and Oxford. He is an honorary professor at the Georg-August University in Göttingen and was also given an honorary doctorate of music at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. In 2010, he was made an Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire “for services to music overseas.” He was also awarded the Verdienstkreuz (am bande) from Niedersächsen, Germany, in 2011.

36 | Houston Symphony

DAVID FUNG

LAURA BARISONZI

Program BIOGRAPHIES

Sherezade’s 2019–20 orchestral season includes returns to both the Houston Symphony and Minnesota Orchestra (Messiah) and the Bach Festival Society of Winter Park (Brahms’s Requiem) and performances with Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, St. Thomas Church in New York, and Santa Fe Pro Musica (Telemann’s Passion Cantata). This season, she also rejoins the viol consort Parthenia for an “Elizabethan Christmas” program and returns to Boston Early Music Festival for an overseas trip to Bremen, performing the role of Ellenia in Graupner’s Antiochus und Stratonica. In recital, Sherezade will be featured at Caramoor Summer Music Festival in “Love and Revenge: The Baroque Diva” with The Helicon Ensemble.

Sherezade has performed repertoire well beyond the music of the Renaissance and Baroque, including Orff’s Carmina Burana with the Houston Symphony, John Tavener’s The Last Discourse with Orchestra of St. Luke’s, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with American Classical Orchestra, and Rachmaninoff’s Vocalise and Strauss lieder at the Bari International Music Festival.

Sherezade holds an artist diploma from the Yale School of Music and a master’s degree from the University of Illinois.

Handel’s Messiah | Program Biographies

English mezzo-soprano Diana Moore is lauded on both sides of the Atlantic for her “emotional depth” (The Guardian), “thrilling” technical bravura (Gramophone), and “rich, evocative sound” (San Francisco Chronicle). She enjoys a varied and international career of opera, oratorio, and concert performances and is a popular soloist at many major music festivals.

Diana’s tall and graceful stature has made her the ideal trouser-role performer. With conductor Nicholas McGegan and Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, she performed the role of Medoro in Handel’s Orlando in an acclaimed American tour at the Ravinia Festival, Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall, and the Tanglewood Music Festival. Recent concert engagements include Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony and selections from Mahler’s Des Knaben Wunderhorn with Royal Northern Sinfonia and Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius at Royal Albert Hall and Winchester, Ely, Gloucester, and York Minster Cathedrals.

As a recording artist, Diana is a soloist on the premiere recording of Scarlatti’s La Gloria di Primavera with Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, which was selected as an Editor’s Choice recording in Gramophone. Her recording of Handel’s Parnasso in festa with The King’s Consort and conductor Matthew Halls won the Stanley Sadie Handel Recording Prize. Her latest album is Handel’s Messiah with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, released in fall 2018.

Diana’s charismatic vocal quality and training place her firmly within the fine heritage of English mezzo-sopranos.

She is committed to celebrating the music and musicians of her homeland and has built a reputation as a leading exponent of English song. In 2007, she devised A Celebration of Kathleen Ferrier—Her Life, Letters & Music to honor that legendary English singer, a program that has been endorsed by the Kathleen Ferrier Society.

Visit dianamooremezzo.com and schwalbeandpartners.com/ diana-moore-mezzo-soprano to learn more.

Benjamin Butterfield | tenor

UNIVERSITY OF VICTORIA

THERESA PEWAL

Diana Moore | mezzo-soprano

Praised by The New York Times as “clarion-voiced and vibrant,” Benjamin Butterfield is known for his performances throughout North America, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. He has performed with many of the world’s leading conductors, including Sir Andrew Davis, James Conlon, Nicholas McGegan, Charles Dutoit, Leonard Slatkin, Bramwell Tovey, Seiji Ozawa, Bernard Labadie, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Jeffrey Thomas, Trevor Pinnock, Bruno Weil, and Marc Minkowski.

In recent seasons, Benjamin has made multiple appearances with the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra and orchestras in Houston, Baltimore, Nashville, St. Louis, and Vancouver. He performs regularly with The Bach Choir of Bethlehem and in his hometown of Victoria, British Columbia.

Recent performance highlights include performances with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, American Classical Orchestra, Utah Symphony, Kansas City Symphony, San Diego Symphony, Orchestre Symphonique de Québec, Orchestre Lyrique de Montréal, and Victoria Symphony. He has also appeared with the Pacific Baroque Festival (under conductor Marc Destrubé), Luminous Voices, the Elgin Symphony Orchestra, and the Yellow Barn chamber music festival. As an interpreter of opera, he recently portrayed the role of Mime in Das Rheingold with Pacific Opera and was stage director for Gianni Schicchi at the Amalfi Coast Music & Arts Festival.

Other operatic roles include Grimoaldo in Rodelinda and Jupiter in Semele with Pacific Opera Victoria, Frère Massée in Saint François d’Assise with Kent Nagano and the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, Tamino in The Magic Flute with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, and Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni with Calgary Opera.

A prolific recording artist, Benjamin has recently recorded the St. John Passion with The Bach Choir of Bethlehem (Analekta), the Rhein transcription of Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde for Yellow Barn, and a sixth CD of Ukrainian art song for the Ukrainian Art Song Project in Toronto. He has also been featured in Messiah on ZDF at the Händel-Festspiele Halle with Trevor Pinnock and The English Concert.

In 2018, Benjamin was named a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, the country’s highest academic honor. As professor, head of voice, and co-head of performance for the School of Music at the University of Victoria, he was the 2015 recipient of the university’s Craigdarroch Award for Excellence in Artistic Expression.

InTUNE — December 2019 | 37

Program BIOGRAPHIES , continued

Program NOTES

Hadleigh Adams | bass-baritone

Messiah

New Zealand baritone Hadleigh Adams has been featured in Opera News magazine as a Sound Bites artist and has received international acclaim for his performances on stage and in concert. Over the past season, Hadleigh has performed with Pittsburgh Opera, London’s Philharmonia Orchestra, Cincinnati Opera, Oakland Symphony, San Francisco Symphony, Michigan Opera Theatre, Colorado Symphony, and Opera Omaha. He has performed repeatedly with the San Francisco Opera, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and the San Francisco Symphony. Later this season, he performs with the American Bach Soloists and the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra.

Following his formal studies, Hadleigh made his debut at London’s Royal National Theatre singing the role of Christ in Jonathan Miller’s staged production of Bach’s St. Matthew Passion to critical acclaim. He performed in concert at London’s St Martin-in-the-Fields, the London Song Recital series, and Wigmore Hall. He then joined the Merola Opera Program at the San Francisco Opera, where he became an Adler Fellow, the first New Zealander to hold the position.

During his two-year tenure with the company, Hadleigh appeared in more than 75 main stage performances and more than 20 concert performances.

In 2015, Hadleigh made his New York debut in R. B. Schlather’s production of Handel’s Orlando at Whitebox. This production, conducted by Geoffrey McDonald, won praise from critics for its visceral, modern treatment of the work.

The New York Times wrote: “A muscular stud in head-to-toe skin-tight leather...Overseeing all is the magician Zoroastro, sung by Hadleigh Adams with a dark yet flexible bass and a glowering presence.”

Hadleigh began his operatic education at The University of Auckland, gaining a Bachelor of Music with first class, first division honours. After completing his Master of Music at the New Zealand School of Music, he joined the New Zealand Opera as a company artist. In 2009, he relocated to Australia as the inaugural Gertrude Johnson Scholar at The Opera Studio, Melbourne. He then received a full scholarship to London’s Guildhall School of Music and Drama, where he studied with Rudolf Piernay and Janice Chapman, gaining a Master of Music with distinction and completing the opera program with first class, first division honours.

Visit hadleighadams.com to learn more.

38 | Houston Symphony

George Frideric Handel (1685-1759) Backstory Though German by birth, George Frideric Handel won fame as London’s leading composer of Italian opera, but by 1741, opera was waning in popularity. Just as Handel’s finances were becoming precarious, Charles Jennens, an ardent admirer of Handel’s music, sent him a text compiled of favorite bible verses, hoping it would inspire a piece of music that would “excell all his former Compositions, as the Subject excells every other Subject. The Subject…is Messiah.”

Handel composed the initial draft of Messiah in just 24 days and then accepted an invitation to present a series of concerts in Dublin. Messiah was first performed there as the grand finale of this concert series on April 13, 1742, and became an instant classic. Handel donated the proceeds from the premiere to local charities, and upon his subsequent return to London, he devoted himself to composing other biblically-inspired works for the rest of his life.

Handel’s Style Messiah is an oratorio, a grand work for soloists, chorus, and orchestra usually inspired by a biblical story. In Handel’s day, vocal agility in singing was highly prized. Fast passages of vocal fireworks are known as coloratura, Italian for “coloring.” Messiah is full of many challenging coloratura passages for both the soloists and chorus.

Another hallmark of Handel’s style is his mastery of counterpoint, the art of weaving different melodies together simultaneously. In Messiah, counterpoint is most clearly on display in fugues. One can always recognize a fugue by the way it begins: the main melodic idea first appears alone, then in each of the other parts one by one, creating an increasingly complex texture. The first fugue in Messiah appears in the instrumental overture after a stately introduction.

Word painting occurs when music depicts the literal meanings of the words being sung. One famous example appears in the tenor’s air “Ev’ry valley shall be exalted.” On the word “exalted,” Handel writes a long coloratura that gradually rises. Thus, the melody is exalted along with the valleys. This is just one of many examples of word painting to be discovered in Messiah.

Recitatives, Airs, and Choruses Messiah is divided into pieces of music that can be categorized into three main types: recitatives, airs, and choruses.

The simplest type is the recitative. Derived from the same root as the English word “recite,” recitative is a kind

Handel’s Messiah | Program Notes

of sing-speaking often used for narration. The musical accompaniment allows Handel to heighten the effect of the words. Recitatives are normally written for a soloist accompanied by a small group of instruments. When a recitative is accompanied by the full ensemble, Handel calls it an accompagnato. One example is the opening “Comfort ye my people” for tenor.

The second kind is the air. Airs are more melodic than recitatives and usually have only a few words that are repeated as the music evolves. In Messiah, airs allow the soloists to reflect on the biblical narrative with great emotion. Occasionally, an air will feature two soloists, in which case it is called a duet. Songs often have an A-B-A structure, in which identical outer sections surround a contrasting middle section. One example is the mezzosoprano’s air “But who may abide the day of his coming?”

The last type is the chorus. Handel’s choral numbers display great variety and range from simple, direct statements to complex fugues.

Highlights Messiah is divided into three parts: Part the First focuses on prophesies of the birth of Jesus and the Christmas story; Part the Second on Jesus’ death and resurrection; and Part the Third on his reign in heaven and the coming of the kingdom of heaven on earth.

In addition to the numbers mentioned above, one especially vivid sequence in Part the First depicts the annunciation to the shepherds. The scene begins with an instrumental Pifa. A bagpipe-like drone conjures images of an evening in the countryside with shepherds watching their flocks.

In the following accompagnato for soprano, the violins begin a shimmering accompaniment, perhaps depicting heavenly light or the fluttering of angels’ wings. After the angel delivers the good news, the chorus, in the guise of a multitude of angels, sings “Glory to God.”Amid the many expressive numbers in Part the Second, two choruses stand out. “And with His stripes we are healed” is a dramatic fugue that would later influence Mozart when he wrote the Kyrie to his Requiem. Of course, the most famous number in Messiah is the famed “Hallelujah Chorus,” a celebration of the resurrection of Jesus which concludes Part the Second.

Part the Third features a theatrical accompagnato for the bass soloist, “Behold, I tell you a mystery,” which relates the resurrection of the dead at the end of the world as described

by St. Paul. The following air, “The trumpet shall sound,” appropriately features a trumpet solo in reference to the last trumpet on judgment day. The final chorus is a glorious fugue on just one word: “Amen.” —Calvin Dotsey The Instruments: 2 oboes, bassoon, 2 trumpets, timpani, harpsichord, organ, and strings

Oratorio TEXT Messiah

George Frideric Handel Part the First

1. Symphony (Overture) 2. Accompagnato (tenor) Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplish'd, that her iniquity is pardon'd.

The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness: Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. (Isaiah 40:1-3) 3. Air (tenor) Ev'ry valley shall be exalted, and ev'ry mountain and hill made low, the crooked straight, and the rough places plain. (Isaiah 40:4) 4. Chorus And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed.

And all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.

(Isaiah 40:5) 5. Accompagnato (bass-baritone) Thus saith the Lord, the Lord of Hosts: Yet once, a little while, and I will shake the heav'ns and the earth, the sea and the dry land, and I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come. (Haggai 2:6-7) The Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to His temple; ev'n the messenger of the Covenant, whom ye delight in, behold, He shall come, saith the Lord of Hosts. (Malachi 3:1) 6. Air (mezzo-soprano) But who may abide the day of His coming, and who shall stand when He appeareth?

For He is like a refiner's fire. (Malachi 3:2) 7. Chorus And He shall purify the sons of Levi, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness. (Malachi 3:3) Recitative (mezzo-soprano) Behold! a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, (Isaiah 7:14) and shall call his name Emmanuel: God with us.

(Matthew 1:23)

40 | Houston Symphony

8. Air (mezzo-soprano) and Chorus O thou that tellest good tidings to Zion, get thee up into the high mountain, O thou that tellest good tidings to Jerusalem, lift up thy voice with strength, lift it up, be not afraid, say unto the cities of Judah: Behold your God! O thou that tellest good tidings to Zion, arise, shine, for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. (Isaiah 40:9; Isaiah 60:1)

15. Chorus Glory to God in the highest, and peace on earth, good will towards men! (Luke 2:14)

9. Accompagnato (bass-baritone) For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and His glory shall be seen upon thee. And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.

(Isaiah 60:2-3)

Recitative (mezzo-soprano) Then shall the eyes of the blind be open'd, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then shall the lame man leap as a hart, and the tongue of the dumb shall sing. (Zechariah 35:5-6)

10. Air (bass-baritone) The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light. And they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined. (Isaiah 9:2) 11. Chorus For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given, and the government shall be upon His shoulder, and His Name shall be called: Wonderful, Counsellor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace!

(Isaiah 9:6)

16. Air (soprano) Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion, shout, O daughter of Jerusalem, behold, thy King cometh unto thee. He is the righteous Saviour, and He shall speak peace unto the heathen.

(Zechariah 9:9-10)

17. Duet (soprano and mezzo-soprano) He shall feed His flock like a shepherd, and He shall gather the lambs with His arm; and carry them in His bosom, and gently lead those that are with young. (Isaiah 40:11) Come unto Him all ye that labour, come unto Him that are heavy laden, and He will give you rest. Take His yoke upon you, and learn of Him, for He is meek and lowly of heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls. (Matthew 11:28-29) 18. Chorus His yoke is easy, His burthen is light.

(Matthew 11:30)

12. Pifa (Pastoral Symphony)

I

Recitative (soprano) There were shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.

(Luke 2:8)

Part the Second

13. Accompagnato (soprano) And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them and the glory of the Lord shone round about them, and they were sore afraid. (Luke 2:9)

20. Air (mezzo-soprano) He was despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief.

(Isaiah 53:3)

Recitative (soprano) And the angel said unto them: Fear not; for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day, in the city of David, a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. (Luke 2:10-11)

He gave his back to the smiters, and His cheeks to them that plucked off the hair, He hid not His face from shame and spitting. (Isaiah 50:6)

14. Accompagnato (soprano) And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heav'nly Host praising God, and saying: (Luke 2:13)

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E

R

M

I

S

S I

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19. Chorus Behold the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sin of the world. (John 1:29)

21. Chorus Surely, He hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon Him. (Isaiah 53:4-5)

Handel’s Messiah | Oratorio (Text)

22. Chorus And with His stripes we are healed.

(Isaiah 53:5) 23. Chorus All we like sheep have gone astray, we have turned ev'ry one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all.

(Isaiah 53:6) 24. Accompagnato (tenor) All they that see Him, laugh Him to scorn; they shoot out their lips, and shake their heads, saying: (Psalm 22:7) 25. Chorus He trusted in God that He would deliver Him, let Him deliver Him, if He delight in Him. (Psalm 22:8) 26. Accompagnato (tenor) Thy rebuke hath broken His heart; He is full of heaviness. He looked for some to have pity on Him, but there was no man, neither found He any to comfort Him. (Psalm 69:21, Anglican Book of Common Prayer) 27. Arioso (tenor) Behold, and see if there be any sorrow like unto His sorrow? (Lamentations 1:12) 28. Accompagnato (tenor) He was cut off out of the land of the living; for the transgressions of Thy people was He stricken. (Isaiah 53:8) 29. Air (tenor) But Thou didst not leave His soul in hell; nor didst Thou suffer Thy Holy One to see corruption.

(Psalm 16:10) 30. Chorus Lift up your heads, O ye gates, and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors, and the King of Glory shall come in!

Who is this King of Glory?

The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle.

Lift up your heads, O ye gates, and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors, and the King of Glory shall come in!

Who is this King of Glory?

The Lord of Hosts. He is the King of Glory.

(Psalm 24:7-10) 34a. Air (soprano) How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things. (Romans 10:15)

36. Air (bass-baritone) Why do the nations so furiously rage together, why do the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth rise up, and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against His Anointed. (Psalm 2:1-2) 37. Chorus Let us break their bonds asunder, and cast away their yokes from us. (Psalm 2:3)

47. Chorus Worthy is the Lamb that was slain, and hath redeemed us to God by His blood, to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing.

Blessing and honor, glory and pow'r be unto Him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb, for ever and ever. (Revelation 5:12-13)

Recitative (tenor) He that dwelleth in heaven shall laugh them to scorn, the Lord shall have them in derision.

(Psalm 2:4) 38. Air (tenor) Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron, Thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel.

(Psalm 2:9) 39. Chorus Hallelujah, for the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth, Hallelujah! (Revelation 19:6) The Kingdom of this world is become the Kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign for ever and ever.

(Revelation 11:15) King of Kings, and Lord of Lords.

(Revelation 19:16) Part the Third 40. Air (soprano) I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that He shall stand at the latter day upon the earth, and tho' worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God. (Job 19:25-26) For now is Christ risen from the dead, the firstfruits of them that sleep.

(1 Corinthians 15:20) 41. Chorus Since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.

For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. (1 Corinthians 15:21-22) 42. Accompagnato (bass-baritone) Behold, I tell you a mystery; we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be chang'd, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet.

(1 Corinthians 15:51-52) 43. Air (bass-baritone) The trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be rais'd incorruptible, and we shall be chang'd.

(1 Corinthians 15:52) InTUNE — December 2019 | 41

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Drs. Ishwaria & Vivek Subbiah Georgeta Teodorescu & Bob Simpson Susan & Andrew Truscott

Kirby & David Lodholz Brian McCulloch & Jeremy Garcia Charyn McGinnis & Michelle Stair Emily & Joseph Morrel Porter Hedges LLP Aprill Nelson Blake Plaster Kimberly & Evan Scheele Liana & Andrew Schwaitzberg

Nadhisha & Dilanka Seimon Maggie Sheridan Molly Simpson & Patrice Abivin Aerin & Quentin Smith Leonardo Soto Mark Stadnyk & Amanda Hassler Katherine Thomasson & Michael Talbot Elise Wagner Gwen Watkins

For more information, please contact: Tyler Murphy, Development Officer, Major Giving Groups, 713.337.8536.

InTUNE — December 2019 | 45

Corporate, Foundation, & Government PARTNERS The Houston Symphony is proud to recognize the leadership support of our corporate, foundation, and government partners that allow the orchestra to reach new heights in musical performance, education, and community engagement, for Greater Houston and the Gulf Coast Region.

CORPORATE PARTNERS Principal Corporate Guarantor  $250,000 and above *Spec’s Wines, Spirits & Finer Foods / Spec’s Charitable Foundation Grand Guarantor  $150,000 and above BBVA ConocoPhillips *Houston Public Media— News 88.7 FM; Channel 8 PBS *KTRK ABC-13 Phillips 66 *Oliver Wyman Guarantor  $100,000 and above Bank of America BB&T *Houston Methodist Kalsi Engineering *PaperCity Shell Oil Company *Tenenbaum Jewelers *United Airlines Underwriter  $50,000 and above *Baker Botts L.L.P. *Cameron Management Chevron ENGIE *The Events Company Exxon Mobil Corporation Frost Bank

(as of November 1, 2019)

Houston Baptist University Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo Kirkland & Ellis *The Lancaster Hotel Occidental Palmetto Partners Ltd./The Robert and Janice McNair Foundation *Rand Group, LLC Vinson & Elkins LLP

Partner  $15,000 and above Anadarko Petroleum Corporation *City Kitchen Fifth Third Bank *Glazier’s Distributors Gorman’s Uniform Service Independent Bank Laredo Construction, Inc. Locke Lord LLP Lockton Companies of Houston USI Southwest

Sponsor  $25,000 and above *Bright Star EOG Resources H-E-B/H-E-B Tournament of Champions IberiaBank *Jackson and Company Marine Foods Express, Ltd. *Neiman Marcus *One Market Square Garage Sidley Austin LLP SPIR STAR, Ltd. The University of Texas, MD Anderson Cancer Center Wells Fargo

Supporter  $10,000 and above *Abraham’s Oriental Rugs CenterPoint Energy Emerson Greenberg Traurig, LLP *Houston First Corporation Macy’s Mitsubishi Corporation (Americas) Nordstrom *Silver Eagle Distributors Triten Corporation White & Case LLP *Zenfilm

CORPORATE MATCHING GIFTS Aetna Foundation, Inc. Akzo Nobel Inc. Albemarle Corporation Allstate Insurance Company American International Group (AIG) Ameriprise Financial, Inc. Aon Foundation Bank of America BBVA BHP Billiton BP/Matching Fund Programs Caterpillar Matching Gifts Program Chevron Matching Gifts Program CITGO Petroleum Corporation ConocoPhillips Company Dominion Energy Foundation Matching Gift Program

Benefactor  $5,000 and above Barclay’s Wealth and Investment Management Beck Redden LLP Louis Vuitton Randalls Russell Reynolds Associates, Inc. *University of St. Thomas Wortham Insurance and Risk Management Patron  Gifts below $5,000 Amazon Baker Hughes Bering’s Beth Wolff Realtors Kinder Morgan Foundation Mercantil ONEOK, Inc. *Quantum Bass Center SEI, Global Institutional Group Smith, Graham & Company Stewart Title Company TAM International, Inc. * Includes in-kind support

(as of November 1, 2019)

Eli Lilly and Company Emerson Electric Company, Inc. ExxonMobil Matching Gift Program Fannie Mae Corporation FMC Corporation Freeport-McMorRan Copper & Gold Inc. General Electric General Mills, Inc. Goldman Sachs Halliburton Company Hewlett Packard IAC Interactive IBM Corporation ING Financial Services Intermec Johnson & Johnson JPMorgan Chase & Co.

LyondellBasell Industries Macy's, Inc. (Macy's and Bloomingdale's) Merrill Lynch Microsoft Corporation Motiva Enterprises, LLC Murphy Oil Corporation NACCO Industries Neiman Marcus Group, Inc. Northern Trust Occidental Petroleum Phillips 66 Plains All American Pipeline PNC Bank PricewaterhouseCoopers Prudential Financial Inc. Regions Shell Oil Company Southwestern Energy

Spectra Energy SPX Corporation Texas Instruments The Boeing Company Matching Program The Coca-Cola Company Thomson Reuters TransCanada Pipelines Limited Transocean Offshore Deepwater Drilling Inc. Travelers Companies, Inc. UBS Union Pacific Walt Disney Company Westlake Chemical Williams Companies, Inc.

For more information, please contact: Timothy Dillow, Director, Corporate Relations, at timothy.dillow@houstonsymphony.org or 713.337.8538.

46 | Houston Symphony

FOUNDATIONS & GOVERNMENT AGENCIES Diamond Guarantor  $1,000,000 and above The Brown Foundation, Inc. Houston Symphony Endowment Houston Symphony League The Wortham Foundation, Inc. Premier Guarantor  $500,000 and above City of Houston and Theater District Improvement, Inc. The Cullen Trust for the Performing Arts Albert and Ethel Herzstein Charitable Foundation The C. Howard Pieper Foundation Grand Guarantor  $150,000 and above City of Houston through the Miller Theatre Advisory Board The Cullen Foundation The Jerry C. Dearing Family Foundation The Hearst Foundations

Houston Endowment MD Anderson Foundation Texas Commission on the Arts Guarantor  $100,000 and above The Elkins Foundation The Humphreys Foundation Underwriter  $50,000 and above The Fondren Foundation Houston Symphony Chorus Endowment League of American Orchestras’ Futures Fund LTR Lewis Cloverdale Foundation John P. McGovern Foundation The Robert and Janice McNair Foundation / Palmetto Partners Ltd. The Powell Foundation The Robbins Foundation

(as of November 1, 2019)

Sponsor  $25,000 and above Beauchamp Foundation National Endowment for the Arts The William Stamps Farish Fund Partner  $15,000 and above Edward H. Andrews Foundation Ruth & Ted Bauer Family Foundation The Melbern G. & Susanne M. Glasscock Foundation The Hood-Barrow Foundation Barbara Bush Literacy Foundation Houston Symphony League Bay Area The Schissler Foundation The Vivian L. Smith Foundation The Vaughn Foundation

Supporter  $10,000 and above The Carleen & Alde Fridge Foundation William E. & Natoma Pyle Harvey Charitable Foundation Petrello Family Foundation Radoff Family Foundation Anonymous Benefactor  $5,000 and above Leon Jaworski Foundation The Scurlock Foundation Keith & Mattie Stevenson Foundation Strake Foundation Patron  Gifts below $5,000 The WC Handy Foundation The Lubrizol Foundation

For more information, please contact: Christina Trunzo, Director, Foundation Relations at christina.trunzo@houstonsymphony.org or 713.337.8530.

To make your gift, visit our campaign tables in the lobby, near the round bar, or give in the following ways: DON’T MISS YOUR OPPORTUNITY TO GIVE THE

ONLINE HOUSTONSYMPHONY.ORG/DONATE TEXT "MUSIC" TO 41444 CALL 713.337.8559

THIS HOLIDAY SEASON.

Houston Symphony ENDOWMENT The Houston Symphony Endowment is a separate non-profit organization that invests contributions to earn income for the benefit of the Houston Symphony Society.

TRUSTEES

William J. Toomey II, President Gene Dewhurst

James Lee Lynn Mathre

Jerry Simon Scott Wise

An endowed fund can be permanently established within the Houston Symphony Society through a direct contribution or via a planned gift such as a bequest. The fund can be designated for general purposes or specific interests.

For more information, please contact: Steven Covington, Director of Endowment and Planned Giving, at steven.covington@houstonsymphony.org or 713.337.8532.

ENDOWMENT FUNDS $100,000 + Accenture (Andersen Consulting) Fund AIG American General Fund M.D. Anderson Foundation Fund Mr. & Mrs. Philip Bahr Fund Janice H. & Thomas D. Barrow Fund Ronald C. Borschow Fund The Brown Foundation Guest Pianist Fund The Brown Foundation’s Miller Outdoor Theatre Fund in memory of Hanni & Stewart Orton Margarett & Alice Brown Endowment Fund for Education Lawrence E. Carlton, M.D. Endowment Fund for Youth Programs Jane & Robert Cizik Fund The Janet Clark Fund Cooper Industries, Inc. Fund The Cullen Foundation Maestro’s Fund The Cullen Trust for the Performing Arts Fund for Creative Initiatives DuPont Corporation Fund Elkins Charitable Trust Agency Fund The Margaret & James A. Elkins Foundation Fund Virginia Lee Elverson Trust Fund William Stamps Farish Fund Dr. Kelli Cohen Fein & Martin J. Fein Fund Richard P. Garmany Fund for the Houston Symphony League Concerto Competition Jo A. & Billie Jo Graves Fund George & Mary Josephine Hamman Foundation Fund The William Randolph Hearst Endowed Fund for Education Programs General & 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 Houston Arts Combined Endowment Fund The Houston Symphony Chorus Endowment Fund Mr. & Mrs. Marvin Kaplan Fund

Ann Kennedy & Geoffrey Walker Fund Rochelle & Max Levit Fund Mary R. Lewis Fund for Piano Performance Mach Family Audience Development Fund Mr. & Mrs. Rodney H. Margolis Fund Mr. & Mrs. J. Stephen Marks Fund/ The Marks Charitable Foundation Marian & Speros Martel Foundation Fund Speros P. Martel Fund Barbara & Pat McCelvey Fund The Menil Foundation Fund Monroe Mendelsohn Jr. Estate George P. & Cynthia Woods Mitchell Summer Concerts Fund Sue A. Morrison & Children Fund National Endowment for the Arts Fund Stewart Orton Fund Papadopoulos Fund C. Howard Pieper Foundation Nancy & Robert Peiser Fund Fayez Sarofim Guest Violinist Fund through The Cullen Trust for the Performing Arts Selma S. Neumann Fund Spec’s Charitable Foundation Salute to Educators Concert Fund The Micajah S. Stude Special Production Fund Estate of Mr. Walter W. Sapp Fund The Schissler Foundation Fund Mr. & Mrs. William T. Slick Jr. Fund Dorothy Barton Thomas Fund Bobby & Phoebe Tudor Fund Mr. & Mrs. Jesse B. Tutor Fund Dede & Connie Weil Fund The Wortham Foundation Classical Series Fund endowed in memory of Gus S. & Lyndall F. Wortham The Wortham Foundation Fund

Visit our website at houstonsymphony.org/endowment for a complete listing of Endowment Funds.

48 | Houston Symphony

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.

CRESCENDO CIRCLE $100,000 + Dr. & Mrs. George J. Abdo Priscilla R. Angly Janice Barrow James Barton James Bell Joe Brazzatti Terry Ann Brown Mary Kathryn Campion & Stephen Liston Drs. Dennis & Susan Carlyle Janet F. Clark Mr. William E. Colburn Darrin Davis & Mario Gudmundsson Harrison R.T. Davis

Andria N. Elkins Jean & Jack* Ellis The Aubrey & Sylvia Farb Family Eugene Fong Mrs. Aggie L. Foster Michael B. George Stephen & Mariglyn Glenn Evan B. Glick Jo A. & Billie Jo Graves Bill Grieves Jacquelyn Harrison & Thomas Damgaard Dr. Rita Justice Mr. & Mrs. U. J. LeGrange

Ms. Nancey G. Lobb Joella & Steven P. Mach Bill & Karinne McCullough Mr. & Mrs. Alexander K. McLanahan Dr. & Mrs.* Robert M. Mihalo Sue A. Morrison & children in memory of Walter J. Morrison Mr. & Mrs. Marvin H. Mueller Drs. John & Dorothy Oehler Gloria G. Pryzant Donna Scott Charles & Andrea Seay Michael J. Shawiak Jule* & Albert Smith

Mr. & Mrs. Louis J. Snyder Mr. Rex Spikes Mike & Anita* Stude Mr. & Mrs. Jesse B. Tutor Elba L. Villarreal Margaret Waisman, M.D. & Steven S. Callahan, Ph.D. Mr. & Mrs. Fredric A. Weber Robert G. Weiner Vicki West in honor of Hans Graf Susan Gail Wood Jo Dee Wright Ellen A. Yarrell Anonymous (2)

Farida Abjani Mr. & Mrs. Jeffrey B. Aron Myra W. Barber Daniel B. Barnum George* & Betty Bashen Dr. Joan Hacken Bitar Dorothy B. Black Kerry Levine Bollmann Ermy Borlenghi Bonfield James & S. Dale Brannon Zu Broadwater Joan K. Bruchas & H. Philip Cowdin* Mr. Christopher & Mrs. Erin Brunner Eugene R. Bruns Cheryl & Sam Byington Sylvia J. Carroll Dr. Robert N. Chanon William J. Clayton & Margaret A. Hughes Mr. & Mrs. Byron Cooley The Honorable & Mrs. William Crassas Dr. Lida S. Dahm Leslie Barry Davidson Judge & Mrs.* Harold DeMoss Jr. Susan Feickert Ginny Garrett Mr. & Mrs. Harry H. Gendel Mauro H. Gimenez & Connie A. Coulomb Mr. Robert M. Griswold Randolph Lee Groninger

Claudio J. Gutierrez Mr. & Mrs. Jerry L. Hamaker Mrs. Gloria Herman Marilyn & Robert M. Hermance Timothy Hogan & Elaine Anthony Dr. Gary L. Hollingsworth Dr. Edward J. & Mrs. Patti Hurwitz Dr. Kenneth Hyde Brian & Catherine James Barbara & Raymond Kalmans Dr. & Mrs. Ira Kaufman, M.D. John S. W. Kellett Ann Kennedy & Geoffrey Walker Dr. James E. & Betty W. Key Dr. & Mrs. I. Ray Kirk Mrs. Frances E. Leland Samuel J. Levine Mrs. Lucy Lewis E. W. Long Jr. Sandra Magers David Ray Malone & David J. Sloat Mr. & Mrs. Rodney H. Margolis Jay & Shirley* Marks James G. Matthews Mr. & Mrs. John H. Matzer III Dr. & Mrs. Malcolm L. Mazow Mary Ann & David McKeithan Dr. Tracey Samuels & Mr. Robert McNamara Mr. & Mrs. D. Bradley McWilliams Catherine Jane Merchant

Dr. Georgette M. Michko Marilyn Ross Miles & Stephen Warren Miles Foundation Shane A. Miller Katherine Taylor Mize Ione Moran Sidney Moran Richard & Juliet Moynihan Gretchen Ann Myers Patience Myers Mr. John N. Neighbors, in memory of Jean Marie Neighbors Mr. & Mrs. Richard C. Nelson Bobbie Newman John & Leslie Niemand Leslie Nossaman Dave G. Nussmann John Onstott Macky Osorio Edward C. Osterberg Jr. Mr. & Mrs. Edmund & Megan Pantuliano Imogen “Immy” Papadopoulos Christine & Red Pastorek Peter & Nina Peropoulos Sara M. Peterson Darla Powell Phillips Geraldine Smith Priest Dana Puddy Patrick T. Quinn Lila Rauch

Ed & Janet Rinehart Mr. Floyd W. Robinson Evie Ronald Walter Ross Mr. & Mrs. James A. Shaffer Dr. & Mrs. Kazuo Shimada Lisa & Jerry Simon Tad & Suzanne Smith Sherry Snyder Marie Speziale Emily H. & David K. Terry Stephen G. Tipps Steve Tostengard, in memory of Ardyce Tostengard Jana Vander Lee Bill & Agnete Vaughan Dean B. Walker Stephen & Kristine Wallace David M. Wax* & Elaine Arden Cali Geoffrey Westergaard Nancy B. Willerson Jennifer R. Wittman Lorraine & Ed* Wulfe David & Tara Wuthrich Katherine & Mark Yzaguirre Edith & Robert Zinn Anonymous (6)

In MEMORIAM

*Deceased

We honor the memory of those who in life included the Houston Symphony Endowment in their estate plans. Their thoughtfulness and generosity will continue to inspire and enrich lives for generations to come.

Mr. Thomas D. Barrow George Bashen Paul M. Basinski W. P. Beard William Carson Biggs Ronald C. Borschow Mrs. H. Raymond Brannon Anthony Brigandi Lawrence E. Carlton, M.D. Mrs. Albert V. Caselli Robert Cizik Lee Allen Clark William J. & Patricia S. Cunningham Fredell Lack Eichhorn Jack Ellis Mrs. Robin A. Elverson Frank R. Eyler Dr. & Mrs. Larry L. Fedder

Helen Bess Fariss Foster Christine E. George Lila-Gene George Mr. & Mrs. Keith E. Gott John Wesley Graham Dorothy H. Grieves Mrs. Marcella Levine Harris Gen. & Mrs. Maurice Hirsch Miss Ima Hogg Burke & Octavia Holman David L. Hyde Dr. Blair Justice Mr. Max Levine Dr. Mary R. Lewis Mrs. L. F. McCollum Betty & Gene McDavid Mr. & Mrs. Charles E. McKerley Doretha Melvin

Monroe L. Mendelsohn Jr. Mr. Ronald Mikita Robert Austin Moody Mrs. Janet Moynihan Arthur Newman Constantine S. Nicandros Hanni Orton Stewart Orton, Legacy Society co-founder Dr. Michael Papadopoulos Robert A. Peiser Miss Louise Pearl Perkins Mary Anne H. Phillips Mr. Howard Pieper Clive Runnells, in memory of Nancy Morgan Runnells Ugo di Portanova Mr. Charles K. Sanders

Walter W. Sapp, Legacy Society co-founder J. Fred & Alma Laws Lunsford Schultz Ms. Jean R. Sides Lola Sinclair Blanche Stastny John K. & Fanny W. Stone Richard H. Stork Dorothy Barton Thomas Dr. Carlos Vallbona Mr. Harry C. Wiess Mrs. Edward Wilkerson Daisy S. Wong / JCorp Ed Wulfe Anonymous (1)

InTUNE — December 2019 | 49

Education & Community Engagement DONORS The Houston Symphony acknowledges those individuals, corporations, and foundations that support our education and community engagement initiatives. Each year, these activities impact the lives of more than 97,000 children and students and provide access to our world-class orchestra for more than 150,000 Houstonians free of charge.

Principal Guarantor $250,000+



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

Guarantor

$100,000+



BBVA The Jerry C. Dearing Family Foundation City of Houston through the Miller Theatre Advisory Board The Hearst Foundations, Inc. Houston Symphony Endowment Mr. John N. Neighbors

Underwriter



$50,000+

The Elkins Foundation ENGIE Exxon Mobil Corporation League of American Orchestras’ Futures Fund Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo The John P. McGovern Foundation The Robert & Janice McNair Foundation The Powell Foundation Mr. & Mrs. William K. Robbins Jr./ The Robbins Foundation Shell Oil Company

Sponsor



$25,000+

Chevron Houston Symphony Hispanic Leadership Council Wells Fargo

Partner



$15,000+

Anadarko Petroleum Corporation Ruth and Ted Bauer Family Foundation Barbara Bush Literacy Foundation The Melbern G. and Susanne M. Glasscock Foundation H-E-B Tournament of Champions Houston Symphony League Houston Symphony League Bay Area Macy’s Occidental Vivian L. Smith Foundation Mr. Jay Steinfeld & Mrs. Barbara Winthrop Ellen A. Yarrell in memory of Virginia S. Anderson and in honor of Cora Sue Mach 50 | Houston Symphony

Supporter



$10,000+

CenterPoint Energy George & Mary Josephine Hamman Foundation Mitsubishi Corporation (Americas) William E. & Natoma Pyle Harvey Charitable Trust Nancy & Robert* Peiser Nordstrom

Donor



$1,000+

Lilly & Thurmon Andress Diane & Harry Gendel Kinder Morgan Foundation Cora Sue & Harry Mach Karinne & Bill McCullough Tricia & Mark Rauch Hazel French Robertson Education & Community Residency Strake Foundation Texas Commission on the Arts

Support by Endowed Funds Education and Community programs are also supported by the following endowed funds, which are a part of the Houston Symphony Endowment: Margarett & Alice Brown Endowment Fund for Education Spec’s Charitable Foundation Salute to Educators Concert Fund The Brown Foundation’s Miller Outdoor Theatre Fund in honor of Hanni & Stewart Orton The William Randolph Hearst Endowed Fund for Education Programs Lawrence E. Carlton, M.D. Endowment Fund for Youth Programs Richard P. Garmany Fund for Houston Symphony League Concerto Competition Houston Symphony Ima Hogg Competition Endowed Fund Selma S. Neumann Fund

Support for Symphony Scouts Cora Sue & Harry Mach in honor of Roger Daily’s 13 years of service as Director of the Houston Symphony’s Education and Community Programs

Support for the CommunityEmbedded Musicians Initiative The Community-Embedded Musicians Initiative is supported in part by a generous grant from the American Orchestras’ Futures Fund, a program of the League of American Orchestras made possible by funding from the Ann & Gordon Getty Foundation.

The Houston Symphony residency at Lewis Elementary is presented in part

by BBVA and the BBVA Foundation. We are also thankful to HISD and these lead supporters of the CommunityEmbedded Musician program: Robert and Janice McNair Foundation National Endowment for the Arts Spec’s Wines, Spirits and Finer Foods / Spec’s Charitable Foundation Mr. Jay Steinfeld & Mrs. Barbara Winthrop H-E-B Tournament of Champions

MUSICIAN SPONSORSHIPS Annual Fund Donors at the Diamond Level and above are provided the opportunity to be recognized as a Houston Symphony Musician Sponsor. For more information, please contact Tyler Murphy, Development Officer, Major Giving Groups, at tyler.murphy@houstonsymphony.org or 713.337.8536.

Janice Barrow Sophia Silivos, First Violin Gary & Marian Beauchamp Martha Chapman, Second Violin Nancy & Walter Bratic Christopher Neal, First Violin Mr. Gordon J. Brodfuehrer Maki Kubota, Cello Ralph Burch Robin Kesselman, Principal Double Bass Barbara J. Burger Andrew Pedersen, Double Bass Dr. M.K. Campion Rodica Gonzalez, First Violin Drs. Dennis & Susan Carlyle Louis-Marie Fardet, Cello Jane & Robert Cizik Qi Ming, Assistant Concertmaster Janet F. Clark MuChen Hsieh, Principal Second Violin Mr. Michael H. Clark & Ms. Sallie Morian George Pascal, Assistant Principal Viola

Dr. Gary L. Hollingsworth & Dr. Kenneth J. Hyde Robert Walp, Assistant Principal Trumpet Drs. M.S. & Marie-Luise Kalsi Eric Halen, Co-Concertmaster The Joan & Marvin Kaplan Foundation Mark Nuccio, Principal Clarinet Dr. & Mrs. I. Ray Kirk Linda Goldstein, Viola Mr. & Mrs. U. J. LeGrange Thomas LeGrand, Associate Principal Clarinet Rochelle & Max Levit Sergei Galperin, First Violin Cora Sue & Harry Mach Joan DerHovsepian, Associate Principal Viola Joella & Steven P. Mach Eric Larson, Double Bass Mrs. Carolyn & Dr. Michael Mann Ian Mayton, Horn Mr. & Mrs. Rodney H. Margolis Eric Halen, Co-Concertmaster Mr. & Mrs. J. Stephen Marks Brian Del Signore, Principal Percussion

Scott & Judy Nyquist Sheldon Person, Viola

Mr. & Mrs. Jesse B. Tutor Daniel Strba, Viola

Susan & Edward Osterberg MiHee Chung, First Violin

Ms. Judith Vincent Matthew Roitstein, Associate Principal Flute

Mr. & Mrs. Jonathan E. Parker Nancy Goodearl, Horn Nancy & Robert* Peiser Jonathan Fischer, Principal Oboe Dave & Alie Pruner Matthew Strauss, Percussion Gloria & Joe Pryzant Matthew Strauss, Percussion Ron & Demi Rand Annie Chen, Second Violin Lila Rauch Christopher French, Associate Principal Cello Sybil F. Roos Mark Hughes, Principal Trumpet Mr. Glen A. Rosenbaum Aralee Dorough, Principal Flute Linda & Jerry Rubenstein Brian Del Signore, Principal Percussion

Roger & Debby Cutler Tong Yan, First Violin

Jay & Shirley* Marks Sergei Galperin, First Violin

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

Leslie Barry Davidson & W. Robins Brice Colin Gatwood, Oboe

Michelle & Jack Matzer Kurt Johnson, First Violin

Mr. & Mrs. James A. Shaffer Eric Halen, Co-Concertmaster

Dr. & Mrs. Malcolm L. Mazow Rodica Gonzalez, First Violin

Laura & Michael Shannon Rian Craypo, Principal Bassoon

Barbara & Pat McCelvey Adam Dinitz, English Horn

Tad & Suzanne Smith Marina Brubaker, First Violin

Kelli Cohen Fein & Martin Fein Ferenc Illenyi, First Violin

Mr. & Mrs. Alexander K. McLanahan William VerMeulen, Principal Horn

Alana R. Spiwak & Sam L. Stolbun Wei Jiang, Viola

Mr. & Mrs. Russell M. Frankel Aralee Dorough, Principal Flute

Martha & Marvin McMurrey Rodica Gonzalez, First Violin

Stephen & Mariglyn Glenn Christian Schubert, Clarinet

Dr. Robert M. Mihalo Brian Thomas, Horn

Evan B. Glick Tong Yan, First Violin

Rita & Paul Morico Elise Wagner, Bassoon

Mr. & Mrs. Fred L. Gorman Christopher French, Associate Principal Cello

Mr. & Mrs. Robert E. Nelson Mihaela Frusina, Second Violin

Joan & Bob Duff Robert Johnson, Associate Principal Horn Scott Ensell & Family Donald Howey, Double Bass

Bobbie Newman Rodica Gonzalez, First Violin

Margaret Waisman, M.D. & Steven S. Callahan, Ph.D. Mark Griffith, Percussion Stephen & Kristine Wallace Allen Barnhill, Principal Trombone Mr. & Mrs. Fredric A. Weber Megan Conley, Principal Harp Robert G. Weiner & Toni Blankman Anastasia Sukhopara, Second Violin Vicki West Rodica Gonzalez, First Violin Steven & Nancy Williams MiHee Chung, First Violin Jeanie Kilroy Wilson & Wallace S. Wilson Xiao Wong, Cello Mr. & Mrs. C. Clifford Wright Jr. Jarita Ng, Viola Lorraine & Ed* Wulfe Dave Kirk, Principal Tuba Nina & Michael Zilkha Kurt Johnson, First Violin *deceased

Mr. & Mrs. Robert R. Springob, Laredo Construction, Inc. Mihaela Frusina, Second Violin Mike Stude Brinton Averil Smith, Principal Cello Susan H. Thompson George Pascal, Associate Principal Viola Bobby & Phoebe Tudor Bradley White, Associate Principal Trombone

InTUNE — December 2019 | 51

Meet Wei Jiang, viola Born in Wuhan, China, Wei Jiang began studying violin with his father at age 5, then studied viola after being admitted to the prestigious Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing. Immediately upon graduating with the highest honors, Jiang became the youngest person to be appointed to a teaching position at the Conservatory. During his five-year tenure at the Central Conservatory, Jiang toured extensively with his string quartet in Asia and Europe. He was a founding member of the Eclipse Ensemble, a unique performing group that showcased music by contemporary Chinese composers.

Jiang came to the United States in 1996 to further his musical training at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music and later at the University of Maryland. In 1999, he joined the Houston Symphony. He is a member of the Fidelis String Quartet, which made its Carnegie Hall debut in 2005, and is often featured in chamber music concerts throughout the city and state. He frequently collaborates with his wife, pianist Sherry Cheng, in performances of chamber music and new music. In his spare time, he enjoys playing tennis with his family, traveling, and the simple pleasures of life.

This season marks your 20th year with the Houston Symphony. Would you like to share any memories?

The most memorable day was the day I won the job to be a violist in the Houston Symphony. My dear friend and colleague Joan DerHovsepian won her position on the same day. Don Howey and Eric Larson also joined the Symphony that year. It’s wonderful to have become close friends with the same people you met on the first day of the job. Joan and I also married our wonderful spouses that year. So 1999 was a very special year indeed.

What is a notable highlight of your career?

In 2008, I performed Paul Hindemith’s Der Schwanendreher with the Houston Chamber Orchestra at the Hobby Center. This is one of my all-time favorite pieces of music; I love the vivid colors and images it evokes. It’s a fascinating journey brought to life with music.

What does music mean to you?

Because I sometimes find it difficult to express myself through words, my true self is revealed through my music-making. Last year, I lost my dear friend, former Houston Symphony CFO Danny Granados, to cancer. We made a lot of good music together. I wanted to say goodbye to him, thank him for his friendship, and pay tribute to his life, but I would never have been able to get up in front of all the people at the funeral to give a eulogy.

Instead, I had the honor of playing the beautiful melody of “Amazing Grace” with the Fidelis Quartet at his funeral. I expressed all I wanted to say to him through that performance. Whether it’s a simple melody, the Verdi Requiem, a Strauss tone poem, or a Mahler symphony, music can be at the same time human and transcendent.

What hobbies and interests do you have outside of music?

Tennis, tennis, tennis. My whole family plays tennis. I play mixed doubles with my wife as well as singles and men’s doubles. My son plays high school varsity tennis. My daughter will be playing tournaments soon. We have a ton of fun playing tennis as a family and with friends and colleagues.

52 | Houston Symphony

Top: My professional headshot Second: On top of the Pyramid of the Moon at Teotihuacán, Mexico Third: The tennis family, in our element (by Jason Herbst) Fourth: Houston Symphony Class of 1999 (by Eric Arbiter)

I like doing oil paintings of the animals that live in our building. Then I can give them away as a small token of kindness to my neighbors.

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Independent Living | Assisted Living | Memory Care Skilled Nursing | Rehabilation 713.660.5000 • BrazosTowers.org 4141 S Braeswood Blvd, Houston, TX 77025 Brazos Towers at Bayou Manor and its sister property, The Hallmark, are the senior living communities of Brazos Presbyterian Homes, Inc. Brazos Presbyterian Homes, Inc. serves older adults of all faiths, regardless of race, color, sex, national origin, age or handicap, except as limited by state and federal law.

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