InTUNE
Miller Outdoor Theatre: Beethoven 5 + Rachmaninoff
The Houston Symphony Magazine
ORCHESTRA ROSTER
Juraj Valčuha
Music Director
Roy and Lillie Cullen Chair
FIRST VIOLIN
Yoonshin Song, Concertmaster
Max Levine Chair
Vacant, Associate Concertmaster
Ellen E. Kelley Chair
Boson Mo, Assistant Concertmaster
Qi Ming, Assistant Concertmaster
Fondren Foundation Chair
Marina Brubaker
Tong Yan
MiHee Chung
Sophia Silivos
Rodica Gonzalez
Ferenc Illenyi
Si-Yang Lao
Kurt Johnson*
Christopher Neal
Sergei Galperin
Tianxu Liu+
SECOND VIOLIN
Vacant, Principal
Vacant, Associate Principal
Amy Semes
Annie Kuan-Yu Chen
Mihaela Frusina
Jing Zheng
Tianjie Lu
Anastasia Iglesias
Tina Zhang*
Yankı Karataş
Hannah Duncan
Alexandros Sakarellos
Samuel Park+
Teresa Wang+
VIOLA
Joan DerHovsepian, Principal
Wei Jiang, Acting Associate Principal
Samuel Pedersen, Assistant Principal
Paul Aguilar
Sheldon Person
Fay Shapiro
Keoni Bolding
Jimmy Cunningham
CELLO
Brinton Averil Smith, Principal
Janice H. and Thomas D. Barrow Chair
Christopher French, Associate Principal
Jane and Robert Cizik Chair
Anthony Kitai
Louis-Marie Fardet
Jeffrey Butler
Maki Kubota
Xiao Wong
Charles Seo
COMMUNITY-EMBEDDED MUSICIAN
Lindsey Baggett, Violin
ASSISTANT LIBRARIANS
Ali Verderber
Hae-a Lee
Jeremy Kreutz
DOUBLE BASS
Robin Kesselman, Principal
Timothy Dilenschneider, Associate Principal
Steven Reineke, Principal POPS Conductor
Andrés Orozco-Estrada, Conductor Laureate
Gonzalo Farias, Associate Conductor
Andrew Pedersen, Assistant Principal
Eric Larson
Burke Shaw
Donald Howey
Avery Weeks
Michael Zogaib+
FLUTE
Aralee Dorough, Principal
General Maurice Hirsch Chair
Matthew Roitstein, Associate Principal
Judy Dines
Kathryn Ladner
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Kathryn Ladner
OBOE
Jonathan Fischer, Principal
Lucy Binyon Stude Chair
Anne Leek, Associate Principal
Colin Gatwood
Adam Dinitz
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Adam Dinitz
Barbara and Pat McCelvey Chair
CLARINET
Mark Nuccio, Principal
Bobbie Nau Chair
Vacant, Associate Principal
Christian Schubert
Alexander Potiomkin
Ben Freimuth+
E-FLAT CLARINET
Vacant
Ben Freimuth+
BASS CLARINET
Alexander Potiomkin
BASSOON
Rian Craypo, Principal
Isaac Schultz, Associate Principal
Elise Wagner
Adam Trussell
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José Rios, Assistant Stage Manager
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Justin Herriford, Head Audio Engineer
Connor Morrow, Head Stage Technician
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CONTRABASSOON
Adam Trussell
HORN
William VerMeulen, Principal
Mr. and Mrs. Alexander K. McLanahan
Endowed Chair
Robert Johnson, Associate Principal
Nathan Cloeter, Assistant Principal/Utility
Brian Thomas*
Brian Mangrum
Ian Mayton
Barbara J. Burger Chair
Spencer Bay+
TRUMPET
Mark Hughes, Principal
George P. and Cynthia Woods
Mitchell Chair
John Parker, Associate Principal
Robert Walp, Assistant Principal
Richard Harris
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Nick Platoff, Principal
Bradley White, Associate Principal
Phillip Freeman
BASS TROMBONE
Phillip Freeman
TUBA
Dave Kirk, Principal
TIMPANI
Leonardo Soto, Principal
Matthew Strauss, Associate Principal
PERCUSSION
Brian Del Signore, Principal
Mark Griffith
Matthew Strauss
HARP
Allegra Lilly, Principal
KEYBOARD
Vacant, Principal
LIBRARIAN
Luke Bryson, Principal
*on leave + contracted substitute
PERFORMANCE CALENDAR
2025-26 se a son
O p e n i n g We e ken d : Val č u h a
C on du c t s St r av in s k y ’s Fi r eb i r d
S e pt e m b e r 1 9, 2 0* & 2 1
Eschenbach Conducts
Mozart & Bruckner
S e pt e m b e r 2 7 & 28*
K i n g f o r a D ay : T h e M u s i c o f El v i s
O c t o b e r 3 , 4* & 5
J ea n -Yve s T h i b a u d e t +
T h e T h r e e - C o r n e r e d H a t
O c t o b e r 1 0, 11* & 12
G e r s hw i n & G r i m a u d :
J a z z M e e t s Symp ho ny
O c t o b e r 1 7, 1 8* & 19
Fr o m St a g e t o S c r e e n :
B r o a d way Me e t s H o l l y woo d
O c t o b e r 3 1 , N ove m b e r 1* & 2
Fri g h t f u l l y Fu n ! A H a l l owe e n
C o n c e r t f o r K i d s
N ove m b e r 1
Shall We Dance?
N ove m b e r 8 & 9*
S N o s f e r a t u: S i le n t Fil m
w i t h L i ve O r g a n
N ov e m b e r 1 6
J o u r n ey t o L i g h t : Va l č u h a
C on du c t s S h o s t a kov i c h 1 0
N ove m b e r 2 1 , 2 2 * & 2 3
Th a nk s g i v i n g We e ken d :
Tcha i kovs k y ’s P i an o
C o n c e r t o N o . 1
N ove m b e r 28 , 2 9* & 3 0
H and e l s M es si a h
S
S
D ec e m b e r 5 , 6* & 7
J oy f u l Fa n fa r e s ! H o l i d ay
B r a s s S p ec t ac u l a r
D ec e m b e r 6 & 7
Vo c t ave: It Feels Like C h r i s t m a s
D ec e m b e r 8
Ve r y M e r r y Po p s
D ec e m b e r 11 , 1 3* & 1 4
O h , W h at Fu n ! A H o l i d ay
C o n c e r t f o r K i d s
D ec e m b e r 1 3
Mariachi Sol De Mexico de José Hernández presents: José Hernández’ Merry-Achi Christmas
Dec e m b e r 15
S S Elf i n C on c e r t
D ec e m b e r 1 9, 2 0 & 2 1 B a n k o f A m e r i c a P
A N at K i n g C o l e N ew Ye a r
See our full year calendar for even more concerts! J a n u a r y 2 , 3* & 4
*Pe r f o r m a n c e li ve s t r ea m e d
SOCIETY BOARD OF TRUSTEES
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
Barbara J. Burger
President
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Janet F. Clark^ Immediate Past Chair
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Juraj Valčuha^ Music Director Roy and Lillie Cullen Chair
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Margaret Alkek Williams Chair
As of June 1, 2025
Carey Kirkpatrick
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EX-OFFICIO
Joan DerHovsepian
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Wei Jiang
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Juraj Valčuha
TRUSTEES
Christopher Armstrong
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Grace Ho
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Dawn James
Matthew Kades
I. Ray Kirk, M.D.
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Tim Ong
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Mrs. Edwin B. Parker
Miss Ima Hogg
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Miles O. Smith**
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Tad Smith
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EX-OFFICIO
Alejandro Gallardo
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Frank F. Wilson IV
**Lifetime Trustee
*Deceased
Barbara McCelvey Fredric Weber
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Fran Fawcett Peterson
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ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF
LEADERSHIP GROUP
Gary Ginstling, Executive Director/CEO
Margaret Alkek Williams Chair
Elizabeth S. Condic, Chief Financial Officer
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DEVELOPMENT
Sarah Bhalla, Development Officer
Lauren Buchanan, Development Communications Manager
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Community-Embedded Musicians (CEM):
Lindsey Baggett, Lead CEM
Lucinda Chiu, CEM Teaching Artist
David Connor, CEM Teaching Artist
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Rainel Joubert, CEM Teaching Artist
Bianca Lozano, CEM Teaching Artist
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SUMMER SYMPHONY NIGHTS
AT MILLER OUTDOOR THEATRE PRESENTED BY
July 12 July 18 July 19
The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires + Prokofiev 5
Romeo and Juliet + Shostakovich 5
Mendelssohn’s Scottish Symphony
Presenting Sponsor
Featured Program
MILLER OUTDOOR THEATRE:
Beethoven 5 + Rachmaninoff
Gonzalo Farias, conductor
*Janice Carissa , piano
0:05 C. SIMON – Four Black American Dances IV. Holy Dance: Mysteriously
0:23 RACHMANINOFF – Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Opus 43
INTERMISSION
0:30 BEETHOVEN – Symphony No. 5 in C minor, Opus 67
I. Allegro con brio II. Andante con moto III. Allegro-IV. Allegro
*Houston Symphony debut
Friday, July 11
About the Music Program Insight
THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS
City of Houston through the Miller Theatre Advisory Board Guarantor
The Houston Symphony’s Miller Outdoor Theatre concerts are endowed by The Brown Foundation, Inc. in memory of Stewart and Hanni Orton
The Houston Symphony’s sound shell ceiling is made possible through the generosity of the Beauchamp Foundation and the Fondren Foundation
Miller Outdoor Theatre
8:30 p.m.
Tonight, the Houston Symphony kicks off its Summer Symphony Nights at Miller Outdoor Theatre with a performance led by Associate Conductor Gonzalo Farias. Winner of the esteemed Claudio Arrau International Piano Competition, this Chilean-born polymath also completed a Ph.D. focused on the study of cybernetics.
Gonzalo begins the program with a new work by American composer Carlos Simon, the “Holy Dance” from his Four Black American Dances. Composed for the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 2023, the work is inspired by the ecstatic “praise breaks” of Pentecostal religious traditions. Indonesian pianist and rising star Janice Carissa then takes center stage in Rachmaninoff’s beloved Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini. A fiendishly difficult work, the Rhapsody takes its main theme from the Caprice No. 24 of Niccolò Paganini, a revolutionary 19 th-century violin virtuoso who allegedly sold his soul to the devil in exchange for his musical skill.
The program concludes with Beethoven’s famous Symphony No. 5. Composed amid the turmoil of the Napoleonic Wars, this symphony changed music history with its prototypical “darkness to light” trajectory, which would inspire composers for centuries to come. If you enjoy this concert, be sure to come see Gonzalo’s Classical Series debut at Jones Hall in November. —Calvin Dotsey
Program Notes
SIMON
Four Black American Dances, IV. Holy Dance: Mysteriously (2022)
As with many celebrated Black American musicians, Carlos Simon’s musical life began in the church. In his case, the connection to spirituality runs deep within his family: his father, grandfather, and greatgrandfather were all ministers, and his initial exposure to music appears to have been guided by theological considerations: “I grew up listening and playing Gospel music. In fact, my parents only allowed my siblings to listen to Gospel music; anything else was forbidden.” On another occasion, he noted that although there was “No rap or hip-hop [...] We could throw a little jazz in there.”
Born in Washington D.C., he moved to Georgia when his father “began pastoring a small congregation church in Atlanta in 1996.” Simon recalled, “It was so small that there was no one to play piano on Sundays. At age 10, my parents enlisted me to play on Sundays and I began taking lessons.” Simon’s first teacher taught him to play music by ear, an approach which necessarily teaches many fundamentals of composing. “It wasn’t long after that I started writing and teaching songs to the congregation.” He first learned to read and write music when he enrolled as an undergraduate at Morehouse College. “I went into the [music] program thinking I’d be a concert pianist, but I hated practicing,” Simon recalled. “I was taking music theory. My teacher noticed I was doing exceptionally well in part-writing and suggested I try composition.”
As he pursued further studies at Georgia State University and the University of Michigan, he developed a personal voice which combines influences from the classical repertoire—and especially the rich body of classical music composed by Black Americans—with popular American genres with Black roots. Over the past decade, he has emerged as one of the most frequently performed and commissioned American composers of his generation.
Although Simon has written a number of works which grapple with the weighty history of Black Americans, from Requiem for the Enslaved (2021) to brea(d)th (a 2023 work memorializing George Floyd), his music is also frequently permeated with expressions of joy and an optimism rooted in his religious faith. “This goes back to my upbringing and hearing my dad preach,” Simon explained. “It was always, how can you help these people? How can you serve? Yes, we can talk about the struggle. We can talk about what’s bad and what ails you. But ultimately, how can we get out of this? What is the antidote? What is the thing that will help you come out of the struggle?”
These themes of spirituality and celebration are apparent in “Holy Dance,” the finale of Four Black American Dances, which Simon composed in 2023 for the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Simon explained that the movement draws inspiration from various Pentecostal Christian denominations “known for their exuberant outward expressions of worship. The worship services in these churches will often have joyous dancing, spontaneous shouting, and soulful singing.” The dance opens with the upper strings and marimba playing a series of notes “as fast as possible” in an improvisatory, unsynchronized way, mimicking “the sound of a congregation ‘speaking in tongues,’” according to Simon. “Often
Program Notes
SIMON
Four Black American Dances, IV. Holy Dance: Mysteriously (2022)
RACHMANINOFF
Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Opus 43 (1934)
referred to as a ‘praise break,’ the music propels forward continuously with the trombone section at the helm. The section moves to a climactic ending with the plagal ‘Amen’ cadence.” —Calvin Dotsey
After fleeing the Russian revolution in 1917, Rachmaninoff would compose only six pieces. Having lost nearly everything, he instead pursued a career as a piano virtuoso in order to better provide for his family. Fortunately, he found some time for composition during the summer of 1934. The 61-year-old composer worked “literally from morn to night” on his Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, a masterpiece that would achieve immediate success.
A few years later, Rachmaninoff provided the celebrated choreographer Michel Fokine with a scenario for a ballet based on the Rhapsody, explaining how it could tell the story of the Paganini’s legendary deal with the devil and love for a woman. Consisting of 24 variations on Paganini’s theme, the Rhapsody begins with a short introduction that leads not to the theme, but to the first variation: a bare outline of Paganini’s melody. When the violins and piano then play the theme, Rachmaninoff tells us, “Paganini himself makes his first appearance…” The following variations reflect Paganini’s legendary skill with the soloist’s virtuoso display. The music then slows, and we hear the piano play the Dies Irae, a medieval chant describing the apocalypse. Rachmaninoff ingeniously worked it into the variations, saying “All variations on the Dies Irae would be for the evil spirit…there can be a dialogue with Paganini during his theme as it merges with the Dies Irae.”
One of the ensuing demonic variations features the strings playing col legno (with the wood of the bow), an especially creepy effect. “Variation 11,” which begins softly with tremolo strings, “is the transition to the realm of love,” he continues. “Variation 12,” a slow, graceful minuet with delicate pizzicato accompaniment, “is the first appearance of the woman…from the 11th variation to the 18th—these are the love episodes.” These variations have many different characters, from the heroism of the 14th variation to the tenderness of the 18th , the most famous variation. Emerging as a piano solo after a dark and mysterious passage, this love theme is in fact closely derived from an inversion of Paganini’s original melody. “Variation 19 is the triumph of Paganini’s art, his diabolic pizzicato,” Rachmaninoff continues.
The tension increases as the soloist executes ever more astonishing feats, until Paganini “appears for the last time at the 23rd variation— the first 12 bars,” when the orchestra abruptly takes over Paganini’s theme from the soloist. The Rhapsody ends with “the triumph of his conquerors,” a grotesque parody of the Dies Irae. While Paganini might have met his downfall, the piano soloist gets the last laugh, concluding the work with a wink and a smile.
—Calvin Dotsey
Program Notes
BEETHOVEN
Symphony No. 5 in C minor, Opus 67 (1804)
Beethoven lived during an era of extraordinary violence and upheaval: the Napoleonic Wars. But battles were not only fought around Beethoven; with regard to his music, perhaps the most important struggle was within himself. Just as Beethoven was winning a reputation as the leading composer in Vienna, he was faced with a terrible fate: slow, progressive hearing loss that would render him completely deaf by the end of his life. In 1802, Beethoven contemplated suicide, writing, “It was only my art that held me back. Oh, it seemed impossible to me to leave this world before I had produced all that I felt capable of producing…” This crisis marked a major turning point in his musical style; he took the musical language he had inherited, tore it apart, and put it back together again, determined to write music that could chart the course from despair to victory.
Of all his works, the Fifth Symphony best exemplifies Beethoven’s new, “heroic” style. Though sketches for the symphony can be traced to 1804, Beethoven truly set to work on the piece in late 1807, completing it in early 1808. It has since become one of music history’s best known works, but it would have sounded strange and new to Beethoven’s contemporaries.
In the Fifth Symphony, Beethoven creates a narrative arc over the course of its four movements that leads from the darkness of the opening to the triumph of the finale. The first movement begins with perhaps the four most famous notes in all music. Traditionally interpreted as “fate knocking at the door,” this iconic opening idea forms the basis of the entire symphony; Beethoven constructs his grand musical forms from simple building blocks, making the music gripping and coherent. The opening idea soon cascades throughout the orchestra until the horns expand on it, introducing a new, softer theme in the violins.
This more hopeful melody is derived from the opening idea, but turned upside-down; in a way, it is its mirror image. The opening returns and the main ideas of the movement are repeated, leading to a turbulent development. As the development progresses, the music becomes weaker, as if dying away, until the opening idea makes a powerful reappearance. The oboe plays a brief, poignant solo before the other main ideas of the movement are reprised.
In the end, the fateful opening idea ultimately prevails. The slower second movement begins with a ruminative melody in the violas and cellos, to which the woodwinds and violins respond with consoling phrases. A brighter, more optimistic theme emerges in the clarinets and bassoons, but it is interrupted by uncertain, questioning music in the violins. Turning away from these doubts, the theme resumes resplendently in the brass. These two themes alternate and are varied with each appearance, growing more complex as the movement unfolds.
After a brief, misty introduction, the third movement begins with a grim march based on the rhythm of the four notes that began the symphony. A contrasting middle section banishes the oppressive mood of the march with an upsurge of life; when the march returns, it appears in a weakened form featuring pizzicato strings.
Program Notes
BEETHOVEN
Symphony No. 5 in C minor, Opus 67 (1804)
The final movements are linked by a mysterious bridge that crescendos to the triumphant entrance of the trombones, which mark the beginning of the finale. Beethoven presents a series of soaring, triumphant themes, leading to a final, stormy development. Suddenly, the music slows and becomes quieter as the weakened version of the march from the third movement reappears. The uplifting main themes of the movement are then reprised in preparation for an extended, jubilant coda.
—Calvin Dotsey
Program Bio
Gonzalo Farias, conductor
An engaging orchestral conductor, award-winning pianist, and passionate educator, Gonzalo Farias is the Associate Conductor of the Houston Symphony. In an ever-changing world, Gonzalo’s desire is to establish music-making as a way of rethinking our place in society by cultivating respect, trust, and cooperation among all people in our community.
Gonzalo Farias served previously as the Associate Conductor of the Kansas City Symphony, the Associate Conductor of the Jacksonville Symphony, the Assistant Conductor of the Virginia Symphony Orchestra, and Conducting Fellow at the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. Praised for his “clear, engaging” style “with a lyrical, almost Zen-like
quality,” Farias has been established “as a focused, musical artist who knows what he wants and how to get it—with grace and substance.” As former Music Director of the Joliet Symphony Orchestra, Farias embraced the city of Joliet and its Hispanic residents of the greater Chicago area with pre-concert lectures, Latin-based repertoire, and a unique side-by-side bilingual narration of Bizet’s Carmen
Farias was recently selected to conduct at the esteemed Bruno Walter National Conductor Preview, the most important showcase for conductors in America. Designed by the League of American Orchestras, the National Conductor Preview chooses the most promising talents in the world for their podium gift and commitment to the future of American orchestras. Farias was also appointed by the National Endowment for the Arts as a reviewing member for the Grant for Art Projects, judging applications from diverse music
institutions to support the latest and most important artistic endeavors in the US.
During the summers, Farias has worked with Jaap Van Zweden and
Johannes Schlaefli at the Gstaad Menuhin Festival in Switzerland as well as with Neeme and Paavo Järvi at the Pärnu Music Festival. In the United States, he was a two-time recipient of the prestigious Bruno Walter Memorial Conducting Scholarship at the Cabrillo Music Festival and named “Emergent Conductor” by Victor Yampolsky at the Peninsula Music Festival. He also attended the Pierre Monteux Festival where he received the Bernard Osher Scholar Prize. Out of 566 applicants and 78 countries, he was chosen as one of 24 finalists in the prestigious 2018 Malko Conducting Competition with the Danish National Symphony Orchestra. Hailed by the Gramophone magazine critics, Farias offered one of the “most fluent, honest, open-hearted, and pointed performances.”
Farias was born in Santiago de Chile, where he began his piano studies at age five. He earned his bachelor’s degree at the P.C. University of Chile and then continued his graduate piano studies at the New England Conservatory as a full-scholarship student of Wha-Kyung Byun and Russell Sherman. He has won first
Program Bio
prize at the Claudio Arrau International Piano Competition and awards at the Maria Canals and Luis Sigall Piano Competitions. As a conductor, Farias attended the University of Illinois working with Donald Schleicher, the Peabody Conservatory with Marin Alsop, and worked privately with Larry Rachleff and Otto-Werner Mueller.
Besides having a fond love for piano, chamber, and contemporary music, Farias is a passionate supporter of second-order cybernetics as a way to help understand communication and how complex systems organize, coordinate, and interconnect with one another. This includes the interdependent and recursive nature of musical experiences, in which performers and audiences alike interact, respond, and co-create each other’s space. His final Doctoral thesis “Logical Predictions and Cybernetics” explores the case of Cornelius Cardew’s The Great Learning, to redefine music activity as a self-organized organization. In addition to that, he has a warm affection for his formal studies of Zen Buddhism, which has been a major influence on his approach to music and life.
Janice Carissa, piano
A Gilmore Young Artist and winner of Salon de Virtuosi, Janice Carissa has “the multicolored highlights of a mature pianist” (Philadelphia Inquirer) and “strong, sure hands” (Voice of America) that “convey a vivid story rather than a mere showpiece” (Chicago Classical Review). Her artistry has been showcased at an array of renowned stages, including the Sydney Opera House, Carnegie Hall, the United Nations, the Kennedy Center, Jay Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park, and the Saratoga Performing Arts Center.
Following her Philadelphia Orchestra debut at age 16, Janice has since performed with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and the Pittsburgh, San Diego, Nashville, Kansas City, Delaware, Amarillo, Des Moines, Knoxville, and Jakarta symphonies, among others. Highlights of the 2025–26 season include concerto appearances with the Minnesota Orchestra, Houston Symphony, ProMusica Chamber Orchestra of Columbus, Jackson (MI) Symphony, and Florida Orchestra, as well as a solo recital at
Pepperdine University and a duo with cellist Sterling Elliott for Capital Region Classical.
Janice’s passion for chamber music has led her to performances with Bravo! Vail where she was a piano fellow, the Brooklyn Chamber Music Society, and Jupiter Chamber Concert Series; collaborations with Vadim Gluzman, Miriam Fried, Paul Neuebauer, Lucy Shelton, Marcy Rosen, David Shifrin, Jennifer Cano, and Peter Wiley, among other distinguished musicians; and appearances at Marlboro, North Shore, Ravinia, Caramoor, and Kneisel Hall festivals.
Born in Indonesia, Janice left there in 2013 to enter the Curtis Institute of Music with a full scholarship from Gerry and Marguerite Lenfest, where she was a pupil of Gary Graffman. She went on to earn a Master of Music at The Juilliard School where she studied with Robert McDonald. When away from the piano, Janice is an avid foodie and loves going on strolls with her camera.
Juraj Valčuha, Music Director