2024–25 Dementia Center Performance Series: Music as a Bridge to Memory
Next Month at the Symphony
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Programs
Beethoven 7 & Mozart
Trumpet Brilliance & Boléro
Stayin’ Alive: The Bee Gees & Beyond
Bruce
POPS Artist Sponsorship
Young Associates Council
Livestream & Recording Studio Consortium Donors
Legacy Society
Jesse H. Jones Hall Renovation Donors
Corporate, Foundation, & Government Partners
welcome to the houston symphony
Dear Music Lovers,
As we near the end of our 2024–25 Season and the close of our fiscal year, I want to express my deep gratitude for your ongoing support of the Houston Symphony. Your generosity allows us to bring these world-class performances to life all season long. Donations account for more than half of our annual operating budget, and every gift, no matter the size, helps ensure that we can continue to offer exceptional music and community engagement programs that benefit our great city. For more information on how you can make a direct impact, please turn to page 81.
Our May concerts begin with a powerful program led by conductor Matthias Pintscher, featuring Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7. The program also includes Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 20 in D minor, with Cédric Tiberghien making his Houston Symphony debut. His skill and passion will bring a new layer of depth to this dramatic concerto. Takemitsu’s introspective Twill by Twilight opens this concert exploring the full range of human emotion.
Next, we present a thrilling concert combining the bold sound of trumpet with Ravel’s iconic Boléro Conducted by Domingo Hindoyan, this performance features trumpeter Pacho Flores, whose electrifying playing showcases the unique energy of the instrument, and cuatro player Héctor Molina. All three artists are making their Houston Symphony debuts in this celebration of Latin America, including Arturo Márquez’s fiery Concierto de Otoño and Paquito D’Rivera’s jazzy Venezuelan Concerto, culminating in Boléro’s hypnotic repetition and explosive climax—a powerful finish to an unforgettable program.
For a lively celebration, don’t miss Stayin’ Alive: The Bee Gees & Beyond. Created by Principal POPS Conductor Steven Reineke, this concert brings the timeless hits of the Bee Gees and other disco legends to life. Featuring the return of Rajaton, the Finnish vocal ensemble known for their exceptional harmonies, this high-energy performance will have you dancing in your seat as we celebrate a transformative musical era.
Later in May, we highlight the incredible talent of our own musicians in the closing chamber music concert of the season. This intimate performance showcases our musicians in a diverse range of works for small ensembles, capping a fantastic year of chamber performances and celebrating the talent that makes our orchestra so special.
We also have the pleasure of welcoming rising star pianist Bruce Liu for his Houston Symphony debut. Under the baton of Music Director Juraj Valčuha, Liu will perform Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 1, showcasing the lyricism and virtuosity that define the composer’s legacy. The program also includes Walker’s Icarus in Orbit and Schumann’s Symphony No. 2, offering a captivating contrast of styles and emotions.
Finally, we conclude the month with Mahler’s monumental third symphony. Conducted by Valčuha, this epic work will be performed by the Houston Symphony joined by mezzo-soprano Marina Prudenskaya, the Houston Symphony Chorus, and the Houston Children’s Chorus. Mahler’s symphony is both grand and intimate, making it the perfect piece to close the 2024–25 Classical Season in spectacular fashion.
Thank you once again for being a part of the Houston Symphony family. We look forward to welcoming you to Jones Hall in June for the conclusion of our Bank of America POPS Series and the kickoff to our Summer Sounds Series, presented by Stella Artois, offering great music and unforgettable experiences all summer long.
With warmest regards,
Gary Ginstling
Executive Director/CEO
Margaret Alkek Williams Chair
CALENDAR
Beethoven 7 & Mozart
May 1, 3 & 4
Trumpet Brilliance & Boléro
May 9, 10 & 11
Stayin’ Alive:
The Bee Gees & Beyond
May 16, 17 & 18
Chamber Music: Musician Showcase
May 18
HOUSTON SYMPHONY LEAGUE
Bruce Liu Plays Chopin
May 23, 24 & 25
Juraj Valčuha Conducts
Mahler 3
May 30, 31 & June 1
John Williams & Steven
Spielberg: Movie Magic
June 6, 7 & 8
Andrea Bocelli In Concert
June 12 • Toyota Center
50th Anniversary: Jaws In Concert
June 20
Disney and Pixar’s Up in Concert
June 21 & 22
Harry Potter and the Goblet of FireTM in Concert
June 27, 28 & 29
The Music of Journey
July 26 • The Hobby Center
DO YOU HAVE A PASSION FOR THE HOUSTON SYMPHONY? ARE YOU LOOKING FOR OPPORTUNITIES TO VOLUNTEER?
Formed in 1937, the Houston Symphony League is an organization dedicated to supporting the Houston Symphony and its educational enrichment of our city. For more than 80 years, members of the League have devoted their time to raising funds for the orchestra, volunteering at Symphony Education and Community Engagement programs, organizing and serving on committees for Symphony special events, and planning social events and other activities for members.
PERFORMANCE CALENDAR
2025-26 se a son
O p ening We ekend :
Val č uh a C onduc t s Str av ins k y ’s Fir eb ir d
S eptemb er 19, 20* & 2 1
Eschenbach Conducts Mozart & Bruckner
S eptemb er 2 7 & 28*
K ing for a D ay : T h e Mus ic of Elv is
O c tob er 3 , 4* & 5
Jea n -Yves T hibaud et + T he T hr ee- C orne r ed H at
O c tob er 1 0, 11* & 12
G er s hw in & G rim aud : Ja z z M e et s Sympho ny
O c tob er 17, 18* & 19
Fr om St a g e t o S c r e en : B r oad way Me et s H oll y woo d
O c tob er 3 1 , N ovemb er 1* & 2
Frig ht full y Fun! A H a llowe en C onc er t for K ids
N ovemb er 1
Shall We Dance?
N ovemb er 8 & 9*
Journ ey t o L ig ht : Va l č uh a C onduc t s
S h os t a kov ic h 10
N ovemb er 2 1 , 2 2 * & 23
Th a nksg iv ing We ekend :
Tcha ikovs k y ’s Pi an o C onc er t o N o. 1
N ovemb er 28 , 29* & 3 0
S H and el s Mes sia h
D ec emb er 5 , 6* & 7
S Joy ful Fa nfa r es! H olid ay B r a s s S p ec t acul a r
D ec emb er 6 & 7
Ver y M err y Pops
D ec emb er 11 , 13* & 14
O h , W h at Fun! A H olid ay C onc er t for K ids
D ec emb er 13
S Elf in C onc er t
D ec emb er 19, 20 & 2 1
A N at K ing C ole N ew Yea r
J a nua r y 2, 3* & 4
S Sta r Wa r s: Return of the Jed i in C onc er t
J a nua r y 9 & 1 0
S Mr. Symphonic: Shaggy with the Houston Symphony
J a nua r y 11
A r tur o S and oval : Journ ey t o Fr e edo m
J a nua r y 17 & 18*
B a nk of A meric a P OP S S erie s
M a rin A ls o p C on duc t s B r a hms 2
J a nua r y 23 , 24* & 25
Pi an o M a n : T h e Mus ic of B ill y Jo el
Februa r y 6 , 7 * & 8
W h en Ins trum ent s Roa m e d th e E a r th
Februa r y 7
Sym p honie e s p ag nole + Sym p honie fa ntastique
Februa r y 13 , 14* & 1 5
Tch a ikovs k y ’s Romeo a nd Jul iet
Februa r y 20, 2 1* & 2 2
Wa g n er ’s Trista n a nd Isolde
Februa r y 28 & M a r ch 1
Mozart + Elgar’s Enigma Variations
M a r ch 13 , 14* & 1 5
B e eth oven’s Fif th Sympho ny + T impa ni Wo rld Pr emier e
M a r ch 20, 2 1* & 2 2
G rieg ’s Pee r G ynt
M a r ch 2 7, 28* & 29
S L a ng L a ng in Re c it a l
A pril 1
D isn ey s Fa ntasia in C onc er t A pril 3 & 4
S V í k ing ur Ó l af s s on in Re c it a l
A pril 17
Ad a ms C onduc t s Ad a ms & A pp alac hia n S p ri ng
A pril 18 & 19*
Ic on : T h e Voic es Th at C h a nge d Mus ic A pril 24, 25* & 26
A br ac ad a br a! A Ma g ic a l Mus ic a l Ad vent ur e
A pril 25
Jos hu a B ell Ret urns : T he Ele me nt s in C onc er t
M ay 7, 9* & 1 0
T he Pla net s + Tcha ikovs k y ’s V iolin C onc er t o
M ay 15 , 16* & 17
Val č uh a C onduc t s M a hler 9
M ay 2 2, 23* & 24
L ig ht s! C am er a! Mus ic! 10 0 Yea r s of Epic Film S c or es M ay 29, 3 0* & 3 1
S S ummer & S p e cia ls PNC Fa mily S erie s C la s sic a l S erie s
*Per fo rm a n c e live s t r ea m e d
your symphony experience
JONES HALL
Since the opening of Jones Hall in 1966, millions of arts patrons have enjoyed countless musical and stage performances at the venue. Dominating an entire city block, Jones Hall features a stunning travertine marble facade, 66-foot ceilings, and a brilliantly lit grand entrance. Jones Hall is a monument to the memory of Jesse Holman Jones, a towering figure in Houston during the first half of the 20 th century.
CONCERT DISRUPTION
We strive to provide the best possible auditory experience of our world-class orchestra. Noise from phones, candy wrappers, and talking is distracting to the performers on stage and those around you. Please help us make everyone’s concert enjoyable by silencing electronic devices now and remaining quiet during the performance.
FOOD & DRINK POLICY
The Encore Café and in-hall bars are open for Symphony performances, and food and drink will be permitted in bar areas. Food is not permitted inside the auditorium. Patrons may bring drinks into the auditorium for Bank of America POPS Series concerts and Symphony Specials. Drinks are not permitted inside the auditorium for Classical concerts.
LOST & FOUND
For lost and found inquiries, please contact Patron Experience Coordinator Lien Le during the performance. She also can be reached at lien.le@houstonsymphony.org. You may contact Houston First after the performances at 832.487.7050
ETIQUETTE
For Classical concerts, if a work has several movements it is traditional to hold applause until the end of the last movement. If you are unsure when a piece ends, check the program or wait for the conductor to face the audience. If you feel truly inspired, however, do not be afraid to applaud!
CHILDREN
Children ages six and up are welcome to all Classical, Bank of America POPS, and Symphony Special concerts. Children of all ages are welcome at PNC Family Series performances. Children must have a ticket for all ticketed events.
LATE SEATING
Each performance typically allows for late seating, which is scheduled in intervals and determined by the conductor. Our ushers and Patron Experience Coordinator will instruct you on when late seating is allowed.
TICKETS
Subscribers of five or more concerts 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.
ESCANEE AQUÍ PARA VER TRADUCCIÓN AL ESPAÑOL
Juraj valČuha
Houston Symphony Music Director Juraj Valčuha is recognized for his effortless expressiveness and depth of musicianship. He is known for his sharp baton technique, natural stage presence, and the impressive ease of his interpretations that translate even the most complex scores into immersive experiences.
Before joining the Houston Symphony in June 2022, Juraj was Music Director of the Teatro di San Carlo, Naples, from 2016 to 2022 and first guest conductor of the Konzerthausorchester Berlin. He was Chief Conductor of the Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della RAI from 2009 to 2016.
The 2005–06 Season marked the start of his international career on the podium of the Orchestre National de France followed by remarkable debuts in the United Kingdom with the Philharmonia London, in Germany with the Munich Philharmonic, in the United States with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, and in Italy with Puccini’s La bohème in Bologna.
He has since led the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, Dresden Staatskapelle, Munich Philharmonic, Berlin Philharmonic, Swedish Radio Symphony, Amsterdam Royal Concertgebouw, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Orchestre de Paris, Maggio Musicale in Florence, Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia
Music Director
Roy and Lillie Cullen Chair
Rome, Milan’s Filarmonica della Scala, Montréal Symphony, and the NHK and Yomiuri orchestras in Tokyo.
He enjoys regular collaborations with the Minnesota Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, and San Francisco Symphony. International touring with the Orchestra Sinfonica della RAI took them to the Musikverein in Vienna and Philharmonie in Berlin, Cologne, Düsseldorf, Zurich, Munich, to the Enesco Festival in Bucharest, and the Abu Dhabi Classics. With the Konzerthausorchester Berlin, he visited Riga, Vilnius, and Tallinn to mark the 100 th anniversary of the Baltic nations.
In Europe, he is acclaimed on the podium of the Munich Philharmonic, the NDR Hamburg and Frankfurt Radio orchestras, as well as the Vienna Symphony, Czech Philharmonic, Orchestre National de France, Orchestre de Paris, BBC Symphony and Philharmonia London, and the Swedish Radio Orchestra.
Juraj champions the compositions of living composers and aims to program contemporary pieces in most of his concerts. He has conducted world premieres, including Christopher Rouse’s Supplica with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Steven Mackey’s violin concerto with Leila Josefowicz and the BBC
Symphony in Manchester, and Nico Muhly’s Bright Idea with the Houston Symphony. In 2005, he conducted, in the presence of the composer, Steve Reich’s Four Seasons at the Melos-Ethos Festival in Bratislava. Other composers he has supported and continues to follow with interest are Bryce Dessner, Steven Stucky, Andrew Norman, James MacMillan, Luca Francesconi, Anna Thorvaldsdóttir, Anna Clyne, Julia Wolfe, and Jessie Montgomery, among others.
Including his engagements in Houston, the 2023–24 Season took him to the Pittsburgh and Chicago Symphony Orchestras, San Francisco Symphony, and Minnesota Orchestra as well as to the Yomiuri Nippon Orchestra in Tokyo. On the European stage, he performed La fanciulla del West and Tristan und Isolde at the Bavarian State Opera and at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, and Jenůfa at the Opera di Roma. He led concerts with the RAI Orchestra, the Orchestra dell’Accademia di Santa Cecilia, the Orchestre National de France, the NDR, SWR, and the Bamberg Symphony, among others.
In the 2024–25 Season, Juraj will join the Semperoper in Dresden with Strauss’s Salome as well as the Paris Opéra Bastille with Janáček’s The Cunning Little Vixen and the Deutsche Oper Berlin with Tchaikovsky’s Pique Dame. In the coming months, in addition to his concerts with the Houston Symphony, he will return to the Munich Philharmonic, the Orchestre National de France, the London Philharmonic, the Berlin Konzerthaus Orchester, the San Francisco Symphony, the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, and the Yomiuri Nippon Orchestra in Tokyo.
Born in Bratislava, Slovakia, Juraj studied composition and conducting in his birthplace, then at the conservatory in St. Petersburg (with Ilya Musin), and finally, at the Conservatoire Supérieur de la Musique in Paris.
ORCHESTRA ROSTER
Juraj Valčuha
Music Director
Roy and Lillie Cullen Chair
FIRST VIOLIN
Yoonshin Song, Concertmaster
Max Levine Chair
Vacant, Associate Concertmaster
Ellen E. Kelley Chair Boson Mo, Assistant Concertmaster
Qi Ming, Assistant Concertmaster Fondren Foundation Chair
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2024-25 HARRY AND CORA SUE MACH
STUDENT CONCERT SERIES:
INSIDE PRE- AND POST-CONCERT CLASSROOM VISITS
As another remarkable Houston Symphony season comes to an end, so does the 2024–25 Harry and Cora Sue Mach Student Concert Series. This season, the Symphony served nearly 45,000 upper elementary and middle school students across the Greater Houston area through 21 full-orchestra concerts at Jones Hall and other venues around the city. The concerts are designed to introduce upper elementary students to the orchestra and encourage middle school students—who are already in their school’s orchestra or band program—to continue playing their instruments. The Student Concert Series extends beyond the stage with pre- and post-concert classroom visits, previously offered exclusively from our Community-Embedded Musicians (CEMs). This year, the program was expanded to include instruction from select Symphony musicians. The visits, which allow students to gain a deeper understanding of the music featured in the concerts, were led this year by Lead CEM Lindsey Baggett and various Symphony musicians. Nick Platoff, Principal Trombone, was one of the Symphony musicians who participated in the classroom visits this season.
During the pre-concert visits, the musicians gave students context for the music they were going to hear at the concert. “My focus was connecting the music we were going to play with the emotional experience of music,” Platoff said about his visit.
“In a school setting, it can be easy to focus on the technical aspects of playing music but lose touch with the reasons why we play music in the first place and the emotions you feel hearing it.” Platoff would play excerpts from pieces by Florence Price, Schubert, and Brahms and quiz students on their feelings with questions like “Which piece made you want to dance?” or “Which song sounded spookier than the others?” He also performed an original piece and answered questions about the music and his experience as a musician. This connection to the music paid off when the students finally got to see the pieces performed by the Symphony. “I feel like it was successful because at the concert, I went into the audience to say ‘hi’ and they remembered the music that we had talked about,” Platoff recalls.
The post-concert classroom visit is a time for students to reflect on the concert and for musicians
Houston Symphony musician Nick Platoff chats with middle school students before a Student Concert at Jones Hall.
to facilitate deeper creative expression around the concepts touched on during the pre-concert classroom visit.
At Schneider Middle School, Platoff performed alongside the student trombone section as they worked on unifying their sound and at Billy Regan K8 Education Center, he coached some of the students on trombone technique as they explored improvisation on one song they were learning, “When the Saints Go Marching In.”
Although these visits are meant to inspire students to continue their musical pursuits, they can be inspirational for the musicians involved as well. “In this world that is more and more competitive for people’s attention, it sometimes feels like a battle to engage young musicians,” remarked Platoff. “But it was inspiring to see students who were really interested in what we do. And I think it was because there was that time set aside for them to really listen to the music, understand it, and be exposed to it. To see their eyes light up talking about music kind of restores your faith in the next generation.”
The Symphony’s Harry and Cora Sue Mach Student Concerts and classroom visits are also a way for the
Symphony to support music educators who give so much to their students. “What band and orchestra directors do is a very difficult and demanding job and they’re ultra-committed,” Platoff said about the educators he got to meet during his visits. “We’re all benefiting from the work that they do, so it felt great to connect with them and support them.”
The Harry and Cora Sue Student Concert Series is a Symphony tradition and an Education and Community Engagement initiative that relies on your donations to continue. To ensure that these concerts and classroom visits remain a source of inspiration for future generations of young musicians, visit houstonsymphony.org/donate or scan the QR code below.
—Lauren Buchanan
Nick Platoff (Principal Trombone) plays for band students at Schneider Middle School in Pasadena ISD.
Houston Symphony musician Isaac Schultz (Associate Principal Bassoon) plays alongside band students at Stovall Middle School in Aldine ISD.
Scan here to support music education for Houston’s children:
Ruth & Ted Bauer Family Foundation
The George & Mary Josephine Hamman Foundation
2024-25 DEMENTIA CENTER PERFORMANCE SERIES:
MUSIC AS A BRIDGE TO MEMORY
This season, the Houston Symphony continued its partnership with the city’s only dementia day centers, CarePartners and Amazing Place, for the Dementia Center Performance Series. The series consists of regular visits to the dementia centers where Community-Embedded Musicians (CEMs), Community-Embedded Fellows (CEFs), and select Symphony musicians use music to create meaningful connections with patients and spark memory and joy.
This year the series at CarePartners is led by CEF Christian Harvey, who has taken the reins after two seasons of participating in these unique visits. He curates and leads Symphony musicians through customized programs designed to elicit memories and reduce agitation in patients. Each visit is
structured to engage patients on a personal level and is flexible to adapt to the mood and energy of the room in real time. The same is true for visits at Amazing Place, where several Symphony musicians frequently visit patients. For Symphony musician Keoni Bolding, viola, these interactive performances initially inspired him to get involved. “Every week I’m playing on stage in a tuxedo while never interacting with the audience,” says Bolding. “And while I do adore this part of my job, I also love the performances where formalities are stripped away because I get to interact with listeners in a way that I don’t usually get to at Jones Hall.”
Since the performances are flexible, the music performed usually runs the gamut—from Bach suites
Community-Embedded Fellow Christian Harvey (right) performs at CarePartners Dementia Day Center with CommunityEmbedded Musicians Lucinda Chiu (left) and Alexis Mitrushi (middle).
to jazz standards. This is due to music’s unique ability to stir up visceral memories—you never know what song might trigger a response. “Some old melody can somehow provoke your memory so effectively that you might find yourself recalling the contexts and feelings you felt when first hearing that musical idea,” explains Bolding. “I try to build my programs around this idea.” Bolding recalls a particularly moving experience while performing for a nonverbal patient. “I played for a patient in hospice care who had been an opera lover,” recalls Bolding. “I wasn’t convinced that he was [mentally] present in any way, but his nurse showed me on his bedside monitor that there was undeniable brain activity after I played a familiar Puccini aria. His wife told me afterwards that Puccini operas were his favorite. This taught me that the emotional impact of a performance is not always visible to the naked eye.” Moments like this further demonstrate the healing power that music can have on the brain.
Building on the casual and collaborative nature of the series, musicians also respond to challenges and answer questions for patients during their visits. Oftentimes, patients participate by singing and dancing along to their favorite tunes. “I ended one of my performances with Louis Armstrong’s ‘What A Wonderful World’,” remembers Bolding. “A patient in the back row began singing and it wasn’t long before
the whole room was singing! The fact that a dementia center audience could recall melody and lyrics like that gave me chills.”
While there are several memorable moments to choose from, there’s a simple aspect of these visits that Bolding enjoys most. “Watching people’s days get transformed by sharing music with them,” Bolding says. “It doesn’t get any better than that.”
The Symphony is excited to continue our partnerships with CarePartners and Amazing Place to ensure that that these visits remain an essential part of the Symphony’s Education and Community Engagement initiatives. If you’d like to play a part in the Symphony’s mission to bring the joy of music to all, regardless of their limitations or location, visit houstonsymphony.org/donate or scan the QR code below.
—Lauren Buchanan
Scan here to support the Symphony’s Education and Community Engagement initiatives:
Audience members dance during a performance at CarePartners Dementia Day Center.
Keoni Bolding (Viola) performs for patients at Amazing Place Dementia Center.
Music and Wellness
Sponsor
Featured Program
Beethoven 7 & Mozart
Matthias Pintscher, conductor
*Cédric Tiberghien, piano
0:12 TAKEMITSU – Twill by Twilight
0:28 W.A. MOZART – Piano Concerto No. 20 in D minor, K.466
I. Allegro
II. Romance
III. Allegro assai
INTERMISSION
0:36 BEETHOVEN – Symphony No. 7 in A major, Opus 92
I. Poco sostenuto—Vivace
II. Allegretto
III. Presto—Assai meno presto—Presto
IV. Allegro con brio
* Houston Symphony debut
About the Music
Thursday, May 1
Saturday, May 3
Sunday, May 4
THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS
Dr. Sippi and Mr. Ajay Khurana Grand Guarantor
The Houston Symphony is grateful to John and Lindy Rydman and Spec’s Wines, Spirits, and Finer Foods/ Spec’s Charitable Foundation for generously funding the purchase of the Symphony’s Hamburg Steinway Grand piano
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 & Ethel Herzstein Foundation through a special gift celebrating the Foundation�s 50 th anniversary in 2015
Livestream of this program is made possible by donors to our Livestream and Recording Studio Consortium listed on page 75
Jones Hall
Jones Hall & Livestream
Jones Hall
Program Insight
7:30 p.m.
7:30 p.m.
2 p.m.
This weekend, the Houston Symphony welcomes acclaimed German composer and conductor Matthias Pintscher back to Jones Hall for a program centered on Viennese classics by Mozart and Beethoven. Internationally renowned French pianist Cédric Tiberghien takes center stage for Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 20 in D minor, a work that echoes the drama of both Mozart’s Requiem and his opera Don Giovanni
This concerto was especially influential on the young Beethoven, who performed it and composed cadenzas for the first and last movements which are still frequently played today. In contrast with the dark mood of the concerto, Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony is among his most outgoing and ebullient works. The one shadow that passes over it is the fascinating second movement, which has been frequently featured in film and television.
A champion of modern and contemporary music, Pintscher rounds out the program with a 20th-century piece by Japanese composer Tōru Takemitsu. With its luminous orchestrations and elegiac character, Takemitsu’s Twill by Twilight is the perfect set-up for Mozart’s brooding masterpiece.
—Calvin Dotsey
Program Notes
TAKEMITSU
Twill by Twilight (1988)
Dating from 1988, Twill by Twilight is a relatively late work by Japanese composer Tōru Takemitsu (1930–1996). Commissioned and premiered by the Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra to commemorate the 25th anniversary of its founding, the piece is subtitled “in memory of Morton Feldman” and is thus one of several works that Takemitsu wrote during this period to memorialize the passing of people he admired. Others include Les yeux clos (for his mentor, Shūzō Takiguchi), Nostalghia (for Andrei Tarkovsky), Rain Tree Sketch II (for Olivier Messiaen), and Paths (for Witold Lutosławski).
Program Notes
TAKEMITSU
Twill by Twilight (1988)
MOZART
Piano Concerto No. 20 in D minor, K.466 (1785)
Morton Feldman (1926–1987) was an American composer who became known and admired for his experimental, avant-garde works. Inspired by the abstract expressionists and other visual artists, Feldman expanded the bounds of traditional musical notation, cultivating a highly personal voice typified by spare textures, slow tempi, and quiet dynamics, which often yielded works with an otherworldly, deeply meditative character. On the surface, Takemitsu’s own musical style bears little resemblance to that of Twill by Twilight’s dedicatee, especially in light of the sumptuous Neo-Impressionism practiced by Takemitsu in late works like this one. But upon closer inspection one can find nods to Feldman in the score: the tempo marking of “slow, calm, and serene”; the often soft dynamics; and a nonlinear approach to the passage of time.
Regarding the alliterative English-language title, “twill” refers to a type of textile weave with a diagonal pattern, perhaps referring to the fine textures of Takemitsu’s orchestra. Takemitsu explained that the “delicate shades of pastel coloring” in the score “are connotative of the transient floridness of twilight.” As the space between day and night, twilight has of course long been a poetic metaphor for mortality, and makes a fitting title for this elegiac work. Musically, Twill by Twilight consists of diaphanous waves of sound that build to piercing orchestral cries before fading back into silence. Throughout, Takemitsu’s luminous orchestrations are on display as various timbres fade in and out of his deftly woven musical fabric. —Calvin Dotsey
In keeping with the norms of his day, most of Mozart’s compositions are in major keys, but his forays into minor tonalities form some of his most striking works. D minor in particular seemed to have had a special significance for him; both his opera Don Giovanni and his Requiem are centered on this key. His Piano Concerto No. 20 is no exception. Composed in 1785 at the height of his popularity in Vienna, the piece was an immediate success at its February 11 premiere.
Following his usual practice, Mozart performed the solo part himself, leading the orchestra from the keyboard. In a letter to Mozart’s sister, his father Leopold reported, “The concerto was incomparable, the orchestra excellent,” but also noted that “the copyist was still working when we arrived, and your brother did not even have time to play the rondo [the last movement] through, as he had to look through the copying,” suggesting that Mozart had once again waited until the last minute to put music on paper.
As was common practice in Mozart’s day, the first movement begins with an orchestral introduction. The opening looks forward to the dark music Mozart would write for the penultimate scene of Don Giovanni two years later. In addition to the D minor tonality, the uneasy, syncopated violins recall Don Giovanni’s confrontation with the statue that drags him to hell; the drumroll-like figures in the low strings resemble the statue’s knocks at the door.
Program Notes
MOZART
Piano Concerto No. 20 in D minor, K.466 (1785)
Symphony No. 7 in A major, Opus 92 (1813)
These ideas begin softly, but soon become more forceful as the music begins a transitional passage. The orchestra pauses as if taking a breath, and the woodwinds attempt to introduce a contrasting idea; the stormy music, however, resumes before it can fully unfold. The soloist enters with a new theme of its own, a quiet, pathetic melody.
When the orchestra returns to the brooding drumroll-theme that opened the movement, the soloist joins it with fast, agitated passagework. After the transition, the woodwinds once again begin their contrasting idea, but this time it leads to a fully developed melody for the soloist in F major. After an orchestral passage, the soloist reenters with a variant of the music it first played. This solo theme alternates with the orchestra’s ominous drumroll music, as if the piano is in dialogue with some antagonist. The music becomes more intense before dying away to a reprise of the movement’s main ideas.
The soloist’s once bright F major theme returns in the dark, main key of D minor. Near the end of the movement, the orchestra comes to a grand pause, and the soloist plays a cadenza—an extended unaccompanied passage. Mozart titles the slow second movement “Romance,” a term which usually indicates a piece in a simple, vocal style with a main theme and a contrasting middle section. This Romance is no exception; it begins with a lovely melody that provides respite after the storm and stress of the first movement. The shadows return, however, in the agitated inner section. The fire and brimstone of D minor returns as the soloist launches the finale with a theme punctuated by hair-raising, dissonant chords.
This theme alternates with contrasting ideas, including a playful, major-key tune for woodwinds. After many developments, the orchestra stops and the soloist plays a final cadenza. The ensuing coda turns to the bright key of D major. At the theater, 18th-century audiences typically demanded happy endings, even from tragedies—in Mozart’s opera, for instance, after Don Giovanni descends into hell the other characters return to assure us that “Thus is the fate of all evildoers.” The playful woodwind theme that returns to end the concerto seems to offer listeners a similar optimistic resolution. —Calvin Dotsey
Begun in the autumn of 1811, Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony was completed by the following summer and premiered to great public acclaim in December 1813; it has enjoyed remarkable popularity ever since. Among the most high-spirited of Beethoven’s works, the symphony is notable for the prominent role rhythm plays throughout: characteristic rhythmic motifs pervade each movement.
In this regard, Beethoven’s pupil Carl Czerny suggested the composer was inspired by the metrical patterns of Classical poetry. Alternatively, Wagner declared this symphony “the apotheosis of the dance.” Commentators have also noted its often-rustic character; perhaps Beethoven was influenced by his concurrent project of arranging
BEETHOVEN
Program Notes
BEETHOVEN
Symphony No. 7 in A major, Opus 92 (1813)
Scottish, Irish, and Welsh folksongs at the behest of Edinburgh-based publisher George Thomson.
The first movement begins with a portentous introduction: after a series of opening chords, powerful rising scales alternate with a lyrical melody introduced by the oboe. The introduction fades away on a repeated note, which soon articulates the jiglike rhythm that dominates the rest of the movement. Creating a pastoral atmosphere, the flute introduces a dancing main theme. Listen for the grand pauses Beethoven uses to mark important turning points in the music.
Perhaps the most enthralling of all Beethoven’s symphonic movements, the following Allegretto has always made a profound impression. Three years after the Symphony’s premiere, one critic wrote that it “speaks inwardly even to those who have no training in music; by means of its naïveté and a certain secret magic it irresistibly overcomes them […]”
After a mysterious introductory chord in the woodwinds, the lower strings intone the incantatory rhythm that continues throughout. As more instruments enter, this idea grows in power, until the woodwinds introduce a more lyrical, contrasting theme.
These two ideas alternate, reaching a climax and fading away. In the third movement, a playful opening section alternates with a slower, songlike theme that may have been based on an Austrian pilgrim’s hymn.
The festive finale has a direct connection with Beethoven’s aforementioned folksong project; at the end of his arrangement of the Irish folksong “Save me from the grave and wise,” Beethoven appended a short coda which bears a striking resemblance to the main theme of this movement. Interestingly, the song’s final verse contains the lines “Hence with wisdom, dull and drear,/And welcome folly and adventure:/Cease my song—a sound I hear/ The planxty [a dance tune] comes—the dancers enter.” Perhaps the finale is this merry dance. —Calvin Dotsey
Program Bios
Matthias Pintscher, conductor
Matthias Pintscher is the newly appointed Music Director of the Kansas City Symphony (KCS), effective from the 2024–25 Season. He launched his tenure with the KCS with a highly successful tour to Europe in August, with concerts at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Berlin Philharmonie, and Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie.
The 2024–25 Season will see Pintscher in his fifth year as Creative Partner at the Cincinnati Symphony. As guest conductor, he returns to the New York Philharmonic, Houston Symphony, San Diego Symphony, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra, Gürzenich Orchestra Cologne, Oslo Philharmonic, BBC Scottish Symphony, Barcelona Symphony, Orquesta Nacional de España, Orchestre National de France, and the Boulez Ensemble.
Pintscher has conducted several opera productions, including with the Staatsoper Berlin (Wagner’s Lohengrin and The Flying Dutchman, and Beat Furrer’s Violetter Schnee last season) and the Wiener Staatsoper (Olga Neuwirth’s Orlando).
Pintscher recently concluded a decade-long tenure as the Music Director of the Ensemble
Intercontemporain, the iconic Parisian contemporary ensemble founded by Pierre Boulez. He has held several titled positions, including nine seasons as BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra’s Artist-inAssociation, Music Director for the 2020 Ojai Festival, and as Season Creative Chair with the TonhalleOrchester Zürich and Artist-inResidence at the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra.
An enthusiastic mentor to students and young musicians, Pintscher was Principal Conductor of the Lucerne Festival Academy Orchestra, and ran the Heidelberger Atelier, an academy for young musicians and composers, from 2005 to 2018. He has also worked with the Karajan Academy of the Berlin Philharmonic, New World Symphony, Music Academy of the West, National Orchestral Institute, and Junge Deutsche Philharmonie. Pintscher is also well known as a composer, and his works have been performed by such orchestras as the Boston Symphony, Chicago Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, Berlin Philharmonic, London Symphony Orchestra, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, and the Orchestre de Paris, among many others. He has been on the composition faculty at Juilliard since 2014.
Matthias Pintscher is published exclusively by Bärenreiter, and recordings of his works can be found on Kairos, EMI, Teldec, Wergo, and Winter & Winter.
Cédric Tiberghien, piano
Cédric Tiberghien is a French pianist who has established a truly international career. He has been particularly applauded for his versatility, as demonstrated by his wide-ranging repertoire, interesting programming, an openness to explore innovative concert formats, and his dynamic chamber music partnerships.
Concerto appearances in the 2024–25 Season include the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic, Detroit Symphony, RundfunkSinfonieorchester Berlin, The Hallé, and Orchestre National de France, working with Simone Young, Matthias Pintscher, and Karina Canellakis, among others. Cédric has a long association with the Wigmore Hall in London, where he will conclude his three-season Beethoven cycle with the Diabelli Variations. Cédric also returns to Australia with his John Cage “sound sculpture” project, and gives recital tours of the United States, United Kingdom, and Japan with violinist Alina Ibragimova.
Highlights of the previous two seasons include Cédric’s performance of Messiaen’s Turangalila Symphony with both the Berliner Philharmoniker (Simone Young) and Orchestre National de France (Cristian Măcelaru). Other recent collaborations have included the Boston Symphony, Cleveland
Program Bios
Orchestra, London Symphony, NDR Elbphilharmonie, Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestras, and at the BBC Proms with Les Siècles. His conductor collaborations include Karina Canellakis, Nicholas Collon, Stéphane Denève, Edward Gardner, Enrique Mazzola, Ludovic Morlot, Matthias Pintscher, François-Xavier Roth, and Simone Young.
Cédric’s most recent recording is volume two of a complete Beethoven variation cycle. Also released with Harmonia Mundi are the Ravel Concertos with Les Siècles/Roth, which has attracted superlative critical acclaim, including the accolade of Editor’s Choice in Gramophone magazine. Cédric
has previously recorded works by Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, and Debussy for Harmonia Mundi. He has received five Diapason d’Or awards for his solo and duo recordings on Hyperion.
As a dedicated chamber musician, Cédric’s regular partners include violinist Alina Ibragimova, violist Antoine Tamestit, and baritone Stéphane Degout, with all of whom he has made several recordings as well as performed in concert.
Cédric is a member of the Académie Musicale Philippe Jaroussky, where he teaches regularly.
Top Musicians from Around the World ◆ Concerts and Master Classes from June 3 to July 12, 2025
Top SuMMeR MuSiC FeSTivAl
Summer Awaits OFestival Hill
e xplore the full summer series of orchestral and Chamber Concerts:
Featured Program
Trumpet Brilliance & Boléro
*Domingo Hindoyan, conductor
*Pacho Flores, trumpet
*Héctor Molina, cuatro
0:10 R. SIERRA – Alegría
0:16 A. MÁRQUEZ – Concierto de Otoño (Autumn Concerto) para trompeta y orquesta
1. Son de luz: Son
2. Balada de floripondios: Moderato
3. Conga de flores: Presto
0:16 P. D’RIVERA – Concerto Venezolano INTERMISSION
0:20 DEBUSSY – Ibéria from Images
1. Par les rues et par les chemins (In the Streets and on the Roads): Assez animé
2. Les parfums de la nuit (The Perfumes of the Night): Lent et rêveur—
3. Le matin d’un jour de fête (The Morning of a Festival Day): Dans un rythme de marche lointaine, alerte et joyeuse
0:14 RAVEL – Boléro
* Houston Symphony debut
About the Music
Friday, May 9
Saturday, May 10
Sunday, May 11
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Program Insight
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2 p.m.
Pacho Flores is perhaps the most exciting trumpet soloist touring the world’s concert halls today. A graduate of Venezuela’s acclaimed El Sistema music education program, Flores has won numerous competitions and awards, including the prestigious First Prize in the Maurice André International Contest; however, he is not only a trumpet virtuoso, but also a champion of new music who has single-handedly expanded the trumpet repertoire by commissioning leading composers to write new works for him to perform.
It is thus with great anticipation that the Houston Symphony is pleased to present Flores in concert playing two concertos written especially for him and his remarkable set of custom instruments made by the renowned Spanish manufacturer Stomvi.
If you have ever imagined traveling by time machine to attend early performances of your favorite classical masterpieces, this weekend is your chance to witness music history in the making. Internationally renowned conductor and fellow El Sistema graduate Domingo Hindoyan rounds out the program with Spanish-inspired classics by Debussy and Ravel, plus Roberto Sierra’s Alegría, which was commissioned and premiered by the Houston Symphony in 1996. —Calvin Dotsey
Program Notes
R. SIERRA
Alegría (1996)
Born in Vega Baja, Puerto Rico in 1953, Roberto Sierra has become one of the United States’ most frequently performed composers. When asked about his early musical influences, Sierra often encapsulates them with a potent memory of seeing the famous cellist “Casals playing his cello on the TV at the same time I was listening to the Fania AllStars playing salsa [...] For me, these two worlds and these two musics co-existed in a natural, organic manner. [...] They inhabited the same sound space, so to say, as I was growing up. So inevitably, I think that
Program Notes
R. SIERRA
Alegría (1996)
A. MÁRQUEZ
Concierto de Otoño para trompeta y orquesta (2018)
has to show in my musical expression as well.” Regarding his first musical experiences, Sierra recalled, “I started to learn piano on my own and then eventually took lessons, which prepared me to enter the Conservatory of Music in San Juan.” After his undergraduate studies, he pursued further education in Europe, including at the Hamburg Hochschule für Musik with György Ligeti, one of the giants of musical midcentury modernism.
Although Sierra greatly admired Ligeti’s music, he always maintained his artistic independence during a period when many young composers were often pressured to conform to the strictures of modernist stylistic purity: “I always commented to other colleagues: You think Boulez is looking over your shoulder, and you’re waiting for his approval or disapproval? In fact, these people do not care what you write. [...] So write your own stuff.”
Sierra has since developed an eclectic and highly personal voice as a composer, combining such diverse influences as various American popular musics with the musical avant-garde and the standard classical repertoire. Commissioned and premiered by the Houston Symphony in 1996, his Alegría is among his most accessible and appealing works. The title, Spanish for “happiness,” also plays on the traditional Italian tempo marking of “Allegro,” a cognate which means both “happy” and, in a musical context, “fast.”
The bounding 6/8 rhythms of the opening immediately reference Moncayo’s famous Huapango of 1941, but Sierra soon introduces his own characteristic rhythmic sophistication with dancing syncopations, hemiolas, and off-beat accents. The music alternates between powerful orchestral tuttis and more delicate, chamber-music-like moments. Near the end, the music “skips a beat,” collapsing from the 6/8 meter into the faster and more irregular 5/8, building to a thrilling conclusion.
—Calvin Dotsey
Arturo Márquez was born in 1950 in Álamos, Sonora. “I come from a very musical family,” Márquez reflected in a 2021 interview. “My grandparents, my uncles, my parents—they were the town musicians in Sonora. They played a lot of Salon music, popular music from the ’50s. My father is from Arizona, and he brought us to California. There, he worked as a carpenter, and on weekends he worked as a mariachi with his violin.”
Although Márquez’s early works reflected his academic training through the influence of the European avant-garde that was so prevalent throughout the 1970s and ’80s, he ultimately returned to these popular Mexican roots: “In the ’90s I started to change my style of music,” Márquez recalled. “I began to mix traditional music with academic music, and the result has been that I have found a personal way of making music, of composing music, mixing classical, jazz, popular harmonies, classical orchestrations of European music; it is a fusion of many things, which has
Program Notes
A. MÁRQUEZ
Concierto de Otoño para trompeta y orquesta (2018)
meant that I have had, and to this day continue to try to have, a personal language.”
International fame came in 2007, when Venezuela’s Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra included Márquez’s Danzón No. 2 as a showstopping encore during their tour of the United States and Europe. The Concierto de Otoño (“Autumn Concerto”) also has a Venezuelan connection in trumpet soloist Pacho Flores, who commissioned the work and is himself a product of Venezuela’s celebrated El Sistema music education program. Flores premiered the concerto in 2018 and has since toured the world with this piece written especially for him. Although labeled a concerto “for trumpet,” it is more accurately a concerto for two trumpets, flugelhorn, and cornet, as the soloist is required to play four different instruments throughout the work. Flores performs the concerto using a set of instruments that were custom-made for him by the renowned Spanish manufacturer Stomvi.
Regarding the concerto, Márquez noted that “The trumpet is the queen in the soul of Mexico; we find it in practically all popular musical expressions. It is the Mexican cry of joy and sadness. It is also fundamental in Mexican concert music, and my Autumn Concerto is a compilation of all these feelings, colors, and sorrows.” The composer has also given the three movements of his concerto poetic titles and descriptions. The swaggering first movement he describes as “Son of light”—the “son” being a term for a wide variety of Mexican folk musics—“It explores the encounter with new horizons of peace and reconciliation, Mestizo rhythm, dialogue of trumpet with the orchestra, classical sonata form.” The second is the “Ballad of floripondios.” “Floripondios” refers to a family of plants native to the American tropics with trumpet-shaped flowers that produce narcotic seeds.
Márquez continues: “Song without words, a tribute to love, the sorcerer,” perhaps a reference to Manuel de Falla’s ballet El amor brujo. Structurally, the movement consists of “Variations in the form of a chaconne, almost,” referring to the baroque form in which variations proceed above a repeated bassline. The virtuoso finale is a breakneck “Conga de Flores,” which could be translated as either “Conga of Flowers” or “[Pacho] Flores’s Conga.” Márquez concludes: “With Rafael Méndez [a famous Mexican trumpet virtuoso of the 20 th century], Joseph Haydn, and Frédéric Chopin in my heart. A tribute to Pacho Flores. An absurd attempt at a monothematic rondo,” a classical form in which a main theme alternates with contrasting episodes. —Calvin Dotsey
Having won five Grammy and 11 Latin Grammy Awards, Paquito D’Rivera is today one of the grand old men of Latin jazz. Born in 1948 in Havana, Cuba, D’Rivera came from a musical family. Under the tutelage of his father, Tito, an accomplished classical saxophonist, Paquito emerged as a child prodigy on that instrument, making his debut with the National Theater Orchestra by age 10. He soon after began studies in clarinet
P. D’RIVERA
Concerto Venezolano (2019)
Program Notes
P. D’RIVERA
Concerto Venezolano (2019)
DEBUSSY
Ibéria from Images (1912)
and music theory at the Alejandro García Caturla Conservatory. During his teenage years, he discovered jazz. Although his performing career has since been dominated by jazz music, he never truly abandoned his classical roots, as his many compositions demonstrate.
The Cuban Revolution of 1959 cast a long shadow over his career; although he soon rose to international prominence, he chafed under the Castro regime, and in 1980 he defected during a concert tour in Madrid, escaping his minders by running up a down escalator at the airport. He soon resettled in the United States, where he collaborated with Dizzy Gillespie and continued to practice his innovative brand of Latin jazz. When Pacho Flores commissioned him to compose a trumpet concerto in the late 2010s, D’Rivera said, “it came to my mind straight away to write something that had to do with Venezuela, with the tragedy that they are going though that is similar to the one we have been living through in Cuba for six decades,” likely referring to the ascension of the Maduro regime in Venezuela in 2013. “But,” he added, the concerto still expresses “the same joy of life that Cubans and Venezuelans share. It is a combination of both things. In the end that is what life itself is, a combination of joy and sadness.”
Thus the Concerto Venezolano (“Venezuelan Concerto”) came to be. Flores gave the world premiere in September 2019 with the Orquesta Sinfónica de Minería in Mexico. The work is naturally suffused with D’Rivera’s Latin jazz idiom and can be divided into four continuous sections. The work opens with a growling motif for the orchestra’s lowest instruments. This introduces the sophisticated first section of the concerto, which combines angular melodic ideas with a sensuous melancholy. The remaining three sections each evoke a different Latin dance. First, a solo violin leads us into a delicate Venezuelan merengue, in the course of which the soloist switches from trumpet to the darker timbre of the flugelhorn.
An oboe solo introduces the next section, a danzón, a dance form which originated in Cuba but became popular throughout Latin America. In addition to the flugelhorn solo, the clarinet (one of D’Rivera’s instruments) also has a solo—for a moment we are transported from the concert hall to an intimate jazz club, with each member of the band taking a turn at soloing. The growling motif that began the concerto ends the danzón, leading to an ad libitum cadenza for the trumpet soloist. The work then concludes with a lively joropo, Venezuela’s national dance.
—Calvin Dotsey
Summing up his artistic credo, Claude Debussy (1862–1918) once famously declared, “There is no theory. You have merely to listen. Pleasure is the law...” As a rebel within the French musical society of his day, Debussy was keen to overturn academic rules in favor of a sensuous, burgeoning modernism. One might expect that his music, which sounds so effortless, was written quickly and spontaneously, as if the composer
Program Notes
DEBUSSY
Ibéria from Images (1912)
were channeling some stream of consciousness onto manuscript paper. The truth is just the opposite. Debussy often found that only clichés come quickly and easily: true originality required long and difficult labor. This was certainly the case with Ibéria, one of his three Images pour Orchestre (“Images for Orchestra”). He first mentioned Ibéria in correspondence in 1905 and believed he was nearing completion of the work in July 1906; but by August he wrote to his publisher, “I have three different variants for completing Ibéria—what is better, to draw lots, or to seek a fourth?” In 1907, he hoped he was nearly finished, but confessed “There were quite a few passages I wasn’t happy about...it was well written, but with that skill born of habit that’s so hard to conquer and so tiresome.” After many revisions, Debussy was at last satisfied with the work in early 1910.
Regarding his approach to composition, Debussy said, “Of course, in the first place, I must have a subject. [...] Then gradually after these thoughts have simmered for a certain length of time music begins to center around them and I feel that I must give expression to the harmonies which haunt me.” It goes without saying that in Ibéria, his “subject” was Spain. Although Debussy’s only visit to the country consisted of a day trip across the border, Spanish music had been in vogue in Paris since a deposed Spanish queen decided to spend her exile there in 1868. Spanish music, both authentic and fanciful, was everywhere in Debussy’s Paris, and Ibéria reflects a blend of authentic Spanish influences with Debussy’s own Gaulic, innovative sensibilities. Although Ibéria is an imaginary vision of Spain, the convincingness of Debussy’s Spanish idiom was attested by Spanish composer Manuel de Falla: “If Claude Debussy has found in Spain a source of one of the most beautiful facets in his work, he has paid us back so generously that it is Spain today who is his debtor.”
The work is divided into three movements. The first, “Par les rues et par les chemins” (“In the Streets and on the Roads”), colorfully evokes what Debussy described as “the sounds of the paths (les chemins) of Catalonia and at the same time the music in the streets (les rues) of Grenada.” The main theme, first announced in the clarinet after a few introductory measures, resembles a sevillana, a typical folk dance of Seville. The second movement, “Les parfums de la nuit” (“The Perfumes of the Night”), is a languid habañera.
This movement melts seamlessly into the finale with one of Debussy’s most magical passages: distant bells ring, suggesting that the perfumed night has given way to dawn. In “Le matin d’un jour de fête” (“The Morning of a Festival Day”), Debussy transforms the orchestra into a giant guitar, bringing Ibéria to a vibrant, colorful ending.
—Calvin Dotsey
Program Notes
RAVEL Boléro (1928)
After touring America in the early months of 1928, Maurice Ravel returned to France and found among his unopened mail a request for a new ballet score. Sent by dancer and choreographer Ida Rubinstein, the modest assignment was to orchestrate a few piano pieces by the Spanish composer Isaac Albéniz.
In June, Ravel left his home outside Paris for Saint-Jean-de-Luz, a sunny seaside town in his mother’s native Basque country. There he set to work, but soon encountered an unexpected roadblock. The requested pieces had already been orchestrated by conductor Enrique Arbós, who held the exclusive rights to them. When Arbós learned of Ravel’s project, he readily agreed to waive his rights, but by that time Ravel had already decided on an alternative solution.
That summer fellow composer Gustave Samazeuilh visited Ravel, who “poked out a melody on the piano with one finger” for him. “Don’t you think this theme has an insistent quality?” Ravel asked. “I’m going to try and repeat it a number of times without any development, gradually increasing the orchestra as best I can.”
Initially called Fandango, Ravel ultimately christened it Boléro, but apart from what he called a generalized “Spanish-Arabian” character, the work has little in common with either dance. Ravel described it as “very moderate tempo and absolutely uniform with regard to the melody, harmony, and the rhythm, which is marked unceasingly by the snare drum. The only element of variety is provided by the orchestral crescendo.”
Although one might attribute this scheme’s simplicity to Ravel’s need to quickly replace the Albéniz orchestrations, he had likely contemplated this musical experiment for some time. In 1924 he stated: “I shall perhaps start composing a symphonic poem without a subject, where the whole interest will be in the rhythm,” and during composition Ravel mentioned the factory music from Prokofiev’s 1925 ballet Le Pas d’acier as a source of inspiration. Indeed, Ravel later noted, “My own Boléro owed its inception to a factory,” and he even pointed out a specific factory near Paris to friends as “the Boléro factory.”
Ida Rubinstein, however, seized on Ravel’s gradual crescendo to an explosive ending as a potent erotic metaphor. In her ballet, she cast herself as a solo dancer who performs atop a table in a Spanish tavern for a fascinated crowd, her steps becoming more and more animated as the music progresses. The November 22 premiere proved a sensation, and much to Ravel’s surprise, Boléro quickly became his most famous work. Due to the score’s radical simplicity, Boléro’s success was not without controversy. Ravel himself admitted that “no single composer likes the Boléro—and from their point of view they are quite right,” and quipped to fellow composer Arthur Honegger that “I’ve only written one masterpiece—Boléro. Unfortunately, there’s no music in it.”
Despite these bon mots, Ravel also named Boléro as a favorite among his own works. Indeed, it is perhaps the ultimate display of his skill as a composer: to the wonder of audiences and frustration of his rivals, he
Program Notes
RAVEL
Boléro (1928)
becomes the consummate illusionist performing a bit of close-up magic. His hands move slowly, everything is clear and plain for all to see, and yet, despite the apparent simplicity of the trick, he astonishes us.
After 1932, Ravel tragically ceased to compose due to a degenerative neurological condition, but still enjoyed traveling for a time; scholar Arbie Orenstein relates that during a 1935 trip to Morocco, “Ravel was pleasantly surprised one day to hear a young man whistling the Boléro” as if it were a local folk song. Surely the composer could have received no greater compliment. —Calvin Dotsey
Program Bios
Domingo Hindoyan, conductor
Domingo Hindoyan is the Chief Conductor of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and is one of today’s most exciting and celebrated conductors. Hindoyan also holds the position of Principal Guest Conductor of the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra.
During his first season in Liverpool, Hindoyan opened his tenure with a critically acclaimed conducting debut at the BBC Proms, after which he embarked upon various recording projects and conducted a huge range of orchestral music. He also collaborated with Liverpool’s well established ‘In Harmony’ educational program and continues to demonstrate his commitment to new music with various world premieres and commissions.
Hindoyan enjoys a vibrant career leading acclaimed ensembles
and orchestras around the world including the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra, New Japan Philharmonic Orchestra, St. Petersburg Philharmonic, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, and Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra. Hindoyan has also conducted concerts and operas at many renowned festivals, such as the Menuhin Festival Gstaad and Festival Radio France Occitanie Montpellier. Hindoyan is now in his fourth season with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra; highlights this season include Mahler’s First and Third and Bruckner’s Ninth. He also returns to the Wiener Staatsoper and makes his debut at Los Angeles Opera, Paris Opera, BBC Symphony Orchestra, and Houston Symphony. Highlights of the 23–24 Season include an acclaimed tour of Japan with Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, and concerts with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, LA Philharmonic, Cleveland Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra, Dusseldorf Symphoniker, Orchestre National de Bordeaux Aquitaine, and Aarhus Symphony Orchestra. He has conducted productions at The Metropolitan Opera, Staatsoper Berlin, Wiener Staatsoper, Teatro
Real Madrid, Royal Swedish Opera, Royal Opera House Muscat, Liceu Opera Barcelona, Dresden Semperoper, and Chicago Lyric Opera.
Domingo Hindoyan was born in Caracas, Venezuela, and began his career as a violinist and member of the renowned Venezuelan musical education program El Sistema and then was a member of Daniel Barenboim’s West-Eastern Divan Orchestra. He studied conducting in Europe at the Haute École de Musique de Genève and was the first assistant to Daniel Barenboim at the Deutsche Staatsoper Berlin.
Pacho Flores, trumpet
Pacho Flores was awarded First Prize in the Maurice André International Contest, Philip Jones International Contest, and Cittá di Porcia International contest. Trained in the marvelous orchestra system
Program Bios
for youth and children in Venezuela, he has received top recognition for his performances, recitals, and recordings as a soloist.
Capable of managing both classical and popular styles, Flores adds to his captivating interpretations a great deal of energy tinged with the most beautiful instrumental colors. As soloist, he has performed with the Kiev Philharmonic Orchestra, St. Petersburg Camerata, Ensemble Orchestral de Paris, Orchestre de la Garde Républicaine, Japan’s NHK Orchestra, Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, Osaka Philharmonic Orchestra, Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra, Düsseldorf Symphony Orchestra, and the Arctic Philharmonic Orchestra, amongst many others.
In the 2024–25 Season, Flores is artist-in-residence with the Duisburger Philharmoniker in Germany, where he will perform in multiple concerts including concertos, chamber music collaborations, and in recital as soloist with organ. Further highlights include his debut with the Houston Symphony and returns to the San Francisco Symphony and Royal Liverpool Philharmonic.
Serving as one of the founding members of the Simón Bolívar Brass Quintet, he has taken part in numerous tours around Europe, South America, United States, and Japan. An experienced orchestral musician, Flores has held the lead trumpet position in the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra, Saito Kinen Orchestra, and Miami Symphony Orchestra, under the musical direction of maestros like Claudio Abbado, Sir Simon Rattle, Seiji Ozawa, Giuseppe Sinopoli, Rafael Frübeck, Eduardo Marturet, and Gustavo Dudamel. The Founding
Director of the Latin-American Trumpet Academy in Venezuela, he fosters a promising generation of young talents.
Flores plays instruments that have been exclusively manufactured for him by the renowned firm Stomvi and is actively involved in the development and innovation of his instruments. Pacho Flores is a Deutsche Grammophon exclusive artist including the recordings Cantar with Konzerthaus Orchester Berlin; Entropía, Gold Medal of the Global Music Awards; Fractales with Arctic Philharmonic; the double CD-DVD Cantos y Revueltas with Real Filharmonía de Galicia; and Estirpe with Orquesta Sinfónica de Minería, nominated and awarded at the Latin Grammys.
Héctor Molina, cuatro
An exceptional Venezuelan composer, cuatro and guitar player, and Latin Grammy winner, Héctor Molina earned the Bachelor of Music degree in Composition from UNEARTE (Experimental University of the Arts) in Venezuela. He has shared the stage with very acclaimed musicians.
He is a founding member (2000) of the Venezuelan music ensemble
Los Sinvergüenzas. His work with Los Sinvergüenzas has already been included in five recording productions.
In 2010 he won the 2nd Prize at the Composition Competition José Fernandez Rojas in Spain, with his work Suite Latinoamericana for Plectrum Orchestra.
Héctor belongs to C4 Trío (2005) along with Jorge Glem, Edward Ramirez, and Rodner Padilla. With C4 Trío he has recorded six albums and a DVD and has been nominated five times for the Latin Grammys and has won two: in 2014 as Best Recording Engineering for an Album for the album De Repente and in 2019 as Best Folkloric Album for Tiempo al tiempo. Also with C4 Trío he has been nominated twice for the Grammy Awards: in 2018 with the album Pa Fuera and in 2020 with Tiempo al tiempo. With C4 Trío he maintains an intense concert schedule in the most important theaters and festivals in North, Central, South America, and Europe.
In 2018, Héctor release his first album called Giros, where some of the most important Venezuelan musicians participated and where he showed more of his role as a composer. In 2022, he released his second album Travesía, where he showed his facet as a soloist.
Stayin’ Alive: The Bee Gees & Beyond
Steven Reineke, conductor
Program to be announced from the stage
Rajaton, vocal ensemble
About the Music
Friday, May 16
Saturday, May 17
Sunday, May 18
THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS
Evan B. Glick
Sponsor
Tina Raham Stewart in memory of Jonathan Stewart
Video enhancement of Houston Symphony concerts is made possible by the Albert & Ethel Herzstein Foundation through a special gift celebrating the Foundation’s 50 th anniversary in 2015
Livestream of this program is made possible by donors to our Livestream and Recording Studio Consortium listed on page 75
Jones Hall
Jones Hall & Livestream
Jones Hall
Program Insight
7:30 p.m.
7:30 p.m.
2 p.m.
A driving beat and a throbbing bass line might be the first things you think of whenever someone mentions the term disco, but silky strings and funky horns usually aren’t too far behind. Imported from French nightclubs in the late 1960s, disco grew from an underground subculture to a mainstream American phenomenon during the mid- to late-1970s, breaking through via hit films like Thank God It’s Friday, Xanadu, and the biggest of them all, Saturday Night Fever
In addition to making actor John Travolta a pin-up king, Saturday Night Fever catapulted the artists on its soundtrack album to global renown—and none more so than the Bee Gees, the inimitable vocal group formed by Britishborn Australian brothers Barry, Maurice, and Robin Gibb. Initially successful as balladeers, the group became a global phenomenon with memorable disco hits like “Jive Talkin’,” “Nights on Broadway,” and “You Should Be Dancing.”
Then came Saturday Night Fever, which included three history-making hits: “How Deep Is Your Love,” a sumptuous ballad, plus two dance floor classics, “Night Fever” and the unforgettable “Stayin’ Alive.” Lives were changed and superstars were made. The soundtrack, released in 1977, was the best-selling album in history until Michael Jackson issued Thriller five years later. (The album currently ranks at No. 10, with reported sales exceeding 40 million copies.) The Bee Gees continued to record hot singles for years afterward, and also wrote hits recorded by other artists, some of which you’ll hear in this program.
It takes a very special group to emulate the soaring falsetto strains and close fraternal harmonies that took the Bee Gees to the top of the charts—and for these Houston Symphony concerts, that very special group is Rajaton. A Finnish a cappella sextet whose name translates as “boundless,” Rajaton commands a range spanning from classical and sacred works to jazz tunes and pop songs. You may have seen them singing songs by ABBA earlier in this Houston Symphony season, and the Bee Gees are another of their specialties.
Now, add those voices to the silky strings, airy winds, and boisterous brass of a first-class symphony orchestra under the direction of Principal POPS Conductor Steven Reineke, and you’ve got all the ingredients of a hot night out at the club. Grab your gold chains, sequined jumpsuits, and platform shoes, and get ready to do the Hustle in your seats! —Steven Smith
Program Bios
Steven Reineke, conductor
Principal POPS Conductor Steven Reineke is one of North America’s leading conductors of popular music. He is in his second decade as Music Director of The New York Pops at Carnegie Hall. Additionally, he is Principal Pops Conductor of the National Symphony Orchestra at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. Reineke is a frequent guest conductor and can be seen on the podium with the Chicago, Philadelphia, Dallas, San Francisco, and Detroit Symphony Orchestras.
On stage, Reineke creates and collaborates with a range of leading artists from the worlds of hip-hop, R&B, Broadway, television, and rock, including Maxwell, Common, Kendrick Lamar, Nas, Ne-Yo, Barry Manilow, Cynthia Erivo, Ben Rector, Cody Fry, Sutton Foster, Amos Lee, Dispatch, Jason Mraz, and Ben Folds, among others. In 2017, he was featured on National Public Radio’s All Things Considered leading the National Symphony Orchestra— in a first for the show’s 45-year history—performing live music excerpts between news segments. In 2018, Reineke led the National
Symphony Orchestra with hip-hop legend Nas performing his seminal album Illmatic on PBS’s Great Performances.
Reineke is the creator of hundreds of orchestral arrangements and his work is performed worldwide and can be heard on numerous Cincinnati Pops Orchestra recordings. His symphonic works Celebration Fanfare, Legend of Sleepy Hollow, and Casey at the Bat are performed frequently in North America, including performances by the New York Philharmonic and Los Angeles Philharmonic. His Sun Valley Festival Fanfare was used to commemorate the Sun Valley Summer Symphony’s pavilion, and his Festival Te Deum and Swan’s Island Sojourn were debuted by the Cincinnati Symphony and Cincinnati Pops Orchestras. His numerous wind ensemble compositions are published by the C.L. Barnhouse Company and are performed by concert bands perennially.
A native of Ohio, Reineke is a graduate of Miami University of Ohio (2020 Alumnus Distinguished Achievement Medal), where he earned bachelor of music degrees with honors in both trumpet performance and music composition. He currently resides in New York City with his husband Eric Gabbard.
Rajaton, vocal ensemble
The Finnish word Rajaton translates as “boundless”—a word that so accurately describes the way this six-voice a cappella ensemble approaches music. Rajaton is Finland’s most renowned a cappella group, celebrated for its innovative repertoire and exceptional technical skill. The ensemble has become a soughtafter act worldwide, frequently performing all over the world. Over the course of its career, Rajaton has performed in more than 50 countries across five continents, singing in some of the most prestigious concert venues globally, from New York’s Carnegie Hall to the Sydney Opera House.
Performing at concert halls, churches, and jazz and choral festivals, this distinct group of musicians approaches all styles of music with the same level of commitment and integrity, making it difficult to imagine an audience that they could not inspire, or a type of music they could not make their own. Rajaton has been known for presenting a wealth of original material, much of which is
composed and arranged specifically for the group by its own members.
Program Bios
About Bee Gees and Beyond:
The concert program is a celebration of the legendary Bee Gees and the timeless songs written by the Gibb brothers— Barry, Robin, and Maurice. Known for crafting an extraordinary catalog of hits for both their own group and other iconic artists, the Gibb brothers created music that continues to captivate audiences around the world.
The evening will feature some of the Bee Gees’s most beloved classics, including “If I Can’t Have You,” “To Love Somebody,” “More Than a Woman,” and “Stayin’ Alive.” The program will also highlight famous hits they penned for other artists, such as Barbra
Streisand’s “Woman in Love,” Dionne Warwick’s “Heartbreaker,” and Frankie Valli’s unforgettable rendition of the Grease title song.
The arrangements for the concert are written by Andrew Kesler, Sampo Kasurinen, Jarkko Kiiski, Pessi Levanto, and Steven Reineke, with vocal arrangements by Jussi Chydenius.
sca n t o Di s c o ve r
Featured Program
Bruce Liu Plays Chopin
Juraj Valčuha, conductor
*Bruce Liu, piano
0:07 WALKER – Icarus in Orbit
0:39 CHOPIN – Piano Concerto No. 1 in E minor, Opus 11
I. Allegro maestoso
II. Romance: Larghetto—
III. Rondo: Vivace
INTERMISSION
0:38 R. SCHUMANN – Symphony No. 2 in C major, Opus 61
I. Sostenuto assai—Allegro ma non troppo
II. Scherzo and Trios I and II: Allegro vivace
III. Adagio espressivo
IV. Allegro molto vivace
*Houston Symphony debut
About the Music
Friday, May 23
Saturday, May 24
Sunday, May 25
THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS
Mike Stude Grand Guarantor
The Houston Symphony is grateful to John and Lindy Rydman and Spec’s Wines, Spirits, and Finer Foods/ Spec’s Charitable Foundation for generously funding the purchase of the Symphony’s Hamburg Steinway Grand piano
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 & Ethel Herzstein Foundation through a special gift celebrating the Foundation’s 50 th anniversary in 2015
Livestream of this program is made possible by donors to our Livestream and Recording Studio Consortium listed on page 75
Jones Hall
Jones Hall & Livestream
Jones Hall
Program Insight
7:30 p.m.
7:30 p.m.
2 p.m.
This weekend, Music Director Juraj Valčuha returns to Jones Hall to lead a program full of poetry and emotion. The concert opens with one of America’s greatest composers, George Walker, and his Icarus in Orbit, a vivid evocation of the ancient Greek Icarus myth. We then turn to two early 19th-century Romantics: Chopin and Schumann. The Houston Symphony is very fortunate to have Canadian pianist Bruce Liu, winner of the 2021 Chopin Competition, to perform the solo part in Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 1, one of the last works the young composer played in Warsaw before leaving Poland forever. Only weeks after the premiere, Chopin left Warsaw to tour Vienna. In the ensuing uprising of November 1830, Polish patriots attempted to rebel against the Russian Empire, which had dominated Poland in the wake of the Napoleonic Wars. The uprising was brutally crushed, and any semblance of Polish independence along with it. Rather than return to his oppressed homeland, Chopin settled in France and lived the rest of his life in exile. For many, his music became a symbol of Polish nationalism and resistance. Reviewing his music, Robert Schumann wrote, “If the mighty autocrat of the north knew what a dangerous enemy threatened him in Chopin’s works in the simple tunes of his mazurkas, he would forbid this music. Chopin’s works are canons buried in flowers.”
Unlike Chopin, who composed almost exclusively for the piano, Schumann was also an innovative symphonist. Like so many of his works, his deeply personal and unconventional Second Symphony is ultimately a love letter to his beloved wife, the virtuoso pianist and composer Clara Wieck.
—Calvin Dotsey
Program Notes
WALKER
Icarus in Orbit (2003)
Born in Washington, D.C. to a physician father who had immigrated from Jamaica and a musically inclined mother, George Walker (1922–2018) was an extraordinarily gifted child, graduating high school at 14 and completing undergraduate piano studies at Oberlin by 18. He continued his education at the Curtis Institute, where he began to pursue composition seriously and produced his much-loved Lyric for Strings.
After Curtis, Walker pursued a career as a soloist, performing Rachmaninoff’s Third and Brahms’s Second Piano Concertos to critical acclaim with orchestras in Philadelphia, Baltimore, and throughout Europe; after this initial success, however, he ran up against what he described as “a pressure-resistant stone wall.” American talent agencies and orchestras had little interest in promoting the career of a Black classical pianist, leading Walker to conclude, “All that I had done to prepare myself for a concert career was of no avail.”
Instead, he earned one of the first dual doctorate degrees in performance and composition granted by the Eastman School of Music. He also spent time at the American Conservatory at Fontainebleau where he befriended Nadia Boulanger. Walker would go on to serve on the faculty of several universities and continued his career as a composer and piano soloist, ultimately becoming the first Black composer to win the Pulitzer Prize for Music in 1996. Both his recordings of piano repertoire and his compositions reveal a musician of deep integrity, skill, and substance. His 2009 Reminiscences of an American Composer and Pianist are a revealing and insightful read for anyone interested in the recent history of classical music in the United States. Walker completed Icarus in Orbit in August 2003; the piece was a commission from the New Jersey Youth Symphony in honor of the 25th anniversary of its founding. The title reflects the lifelong interest in classical literature Walker developed during his postgraduate studies at Curtis, when he rented lodgings from two women in West Philadelphia: “In the room where my Steinway piano had been installed was a bookcase containing about 25 red-leather-bound books of the Harvard Classics, a great book series that began with the Greek philosophers. [...] I made a habit of reading a portion of a book [...] many evenings before going to bed.”
In Ovid’s telling of the Icarus story, the homesick inventor Daedalus wishes to leave the island of Crete, but King Minos forbids his departure; to escape, Daedalus makes wings from wax and feathers. Before flying away together, he warns his son Icarus not to fly too close to the sun. Unfortunately, “the foolish Icarus forsook his guide, and, bold in vanity, began to soar, rising upon his wings to touch the skies; but as he neared the scorching sun, its heat softened the fragrant wax that held his plumes; and heat increasing melted the soft wax—he waved his naked arms instead of wings, with no more feathers to sustain his flight. And as he called upon his father’s name his voice was smothered in the dark blue sea [...]”
Walker’s piece begins with a striking staccato chord for the full orchestra. A dialogue between gentle woodwinds and low, brusque
Program Notes
WALKER
Icarus in Orbit (2003)
strings ensues—perhaps Daedalus’ warning to his son. A nervous flurry of strings would seem to indicate the start of the flight. Just before the end, this frantic motion stops and we hear a flute cadenza—perhaps Icarus’s fall. In this concise work, Walker deftly evokes the classic tale with his characteristic economy and craftsmanship. – Calvin Dotsey
CHOPIN
Piano Concerto No. 1 in E minor, Opus 11 (1830)
Both of Chopin’s concertos were composed in anticipation of a grand European tour he planned to take during the season of 1830–31. He won acclaim for his Viennese debut in 1829, then returned to Warsaw and wrote the F minor Concerto that winter. He gave its premiere on March 17, then immediately began the E minor Concerto and performed it on October 11.
He set off to repeat his Viennese success the following month, but an uprising in Warsaw suddenly changed his political fortunes and he was unable to schedule a concert there until the following summer. He continued on to Munich, Stuttgart, and finally Paris, where he remained for the rest of his life.
As a performer, Chopin seemed to prefer the E minor Concerto but played it only four or five times during the rest of his life, the last occasion being in 1835. Structurally, the concerto follows the general plan of a late Classical-era concerto, alternating between orchestra and soloist at specified points as exemplified in the concertos of Mozart and Beethoven. But Chopin grew up in the early Romantic era of such virtuoso pianists as Hummel, Czerny, Kalkbrenner, and Liszt. Thus, the solo part is much more florid and technically demanding, and the balance of thematic interest is tipped heavily in favor of the soloist.
Documents tracing the performance history of the work suggest that on some occasions, the orchestral accompaniment was reduced to a string quintet or a second piano. The orchestra leads off with a pair of themes in E minor, the first being rather stern in character, then turns to E major for a more relaxed, lyrical secondary theme. The soloist then takes up all three themes, decorating them with elaborate ornamentation, scales and showy double-note passages. This display of virtuosity continues throughout an ambitious development, until the full orchestra restates the opening theme signaling the recapitulation. The slow movement is an early example of Chopin’s nocturne style. Following a soft introduction by muted strings, the soloist intones its limpid main theme. An urgent middle section brings the movement to an intense climax, returning the main theme in a more decorative version by the soloist.
The finale is Chopin’s salute to his homeland, a lively dance known as a krakowiak that he set in the general form of a rondo alternating its main theme with several contrasting episodes. Although the dance was known in the region surrounding Kracow as early as the 16th and 17th centuries, it gained popularity in the 19 th century, around the time Chopin wrote the concerto. —Carl R. Cunningham
Program Notes
R. SCHUMANN
Symphony No. 2 in C major, Opus 61 (1847)
In the fall of 1845, Schumann wrote to Mendelssohn that “For several days there’s been much trumpeting and drumming within me (trumpet in C); I don’t know what will come of it.” Seized with inspiration, Schumann began serious work in mid-December, and a draft of a symphony was complete soon after Christmas. Schumann’s recurring ill-health and depression, however, would prevent the orchestration from being completed until October.
Schumann later wrote that he composed it while “still half sick; it seems to me that one must hear this. Only in the last movement did I begin to feel like myself; I became really well again after completing the entire work.” Perhaps the process of composing the symphony was therapeutic for Schumann; its lively, imaginative music provides listeners with a powerful sense of joy and serenity by the work’s conclusion. Intriguingly, Schumann filled his symphony with allusions to music by Haydn, Bach, and Beethoven that must have held special significance for him.
Indeed, the symphony begins with a noble, fanfare-like melody in the trumpet that is derived from the introduction of Haydn’s Symphony No. 104. Beneath this stately theme, a wandering, chromatic countermelody unfolds in the strings, but its phrases do not line up with those of the trumpet, creating a subtle tension. This tension erupts as the music suddenly breaks into a faster tempo, building in a grand crescendo to powerful yet hesitant chords.
The main body of the first movement then begins with a series of fiery, energetic themes. The second movement, a fast, bristling scherzo, begins with a perpetuum mobile theme for violins. Two intervening episodes contrast with this musical whirlwind: the first is a gentle dialogue between the woodwinds and strings; the second begins with a chorale for strings that gives way to a more contrapuntal, fugal episode, reflecting Schumann’s fascination with the music of Bach. Indeed, hidden in the contrapuntal texture are the notes B-flat, A, C, B-natural, which according to the German note-naming system, spell B-A-C-H.
The third movement begins with one of Schumann’s most haunting melodies. The eminent conductor Hans von Bülow once said that whenever he heard this movement, he felt inspired to “sink to his knees in prayer.” The main melody alternates with contrasting episodes (including another contrapuntal, Bach-inspired passage).
After an introductory flourish, the finale launches into a high-spirited theme. A brief interlude follows: fragments of the slow movement’s arching main melody reappear in the cellos beneath the rushing violins. The main theme returns, but then disappears. In its place, a new theme emerges during the following development. Hinted at by the melodic shapes of other themes throughout the symphony, this new theme is in fact a quotation from Beethoven’s song cycle, An die ferne Geliebte (To the Distant Beloved).
Schumann had used the same quotation in his Fantasie for piano during his long, troubled courtship with Clara. It is from the sixth song in the cycle and sets the words “Take, then, these songs,/That I to you,
Program Notes
R. SCHUMANN
Symphony No. 2 in C major, Opus
61 (1847)
beloved, sang.” Interwoven with allusions to the symphony’s other ideas, this quotation becomes the summation and ultimate goal of the work. It has traditionally been interpreted as Robert offering his symphony to Clara, a hymn of thanksgiving for her love. The movement ends with a grand plagal cadence, the chords traditionally used to harmonize the word “Amen.” —Calvin Dotsey
Program Bios
Juraj Valčuha, conductor
See p. 6 for bio
Bruce Liu, piano
First prize winner of the 18th International Chopin Piano Competition in 2021 in Warsaw, Bruce Liu has secured his reputation as one of the most exciting talents of his generation for his “playing of breathtaking beauty” (BBC Music Magazine).
As Focus Artist of the 2024 Rheingau Musik Festival, Liu was featured in five performances ranging from a solo recital to chamber music and concerto performances with hrSinfonieorchester, Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, and Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich. Highlights of the 2024–25 Season include international tours with
Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg, London Symphony Orchestra, hr-Sinfonieorchester, Wiener Symphoniker, Orchestre National de France, and Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra. He also tours extensively in play-direct programs with the Academy of St Martin in the Fields and Amsterdam Sinfonietta.
In 2024–25, Bruce Liu makes highly anticipated debuts with the Boston Symphony Orchestra at the Tanglewood Music Festival, Danish National Symphony Orchestra, WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, Cincinnati Symphony, Houston Symphony, and the Minnesota Orchestra. He also appears with the Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in London. He has performed with major orchestras including the Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, The Philadelphia Orchestra, Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, Philharmonia Orchestra London, and NHK Symphony Orchestra.
An active recitalist, Liu has performed at major concert halls including the BOZAR Brussels, Wigmore Hall, Philharmonie de Paris, and Tokyo Opera City. In 2024–25, he returns to Carnegie
Hall, Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, and the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, as well as major venues in Asia. Liu also appears at various international festivals.
An exclusive recording artist with Deutsche Grammophon, Liu was awarded Opus Klassik’s Young Talent of the Year prize in 2024 for his debut studio album Waves. His first album featuring the winning performances from the International Chopin Piano Competition received international acclaim including the Best Classical Albums of 2021 from Gramophone Magazine.
Bruce Liu studied with Richard Raymond and Dang Thai Son. Born in Paris to Chinese parents and raised in Montréal, Liu is known for phenomenal artistry that has been shaped by his multi-cultural heritage: European refinement, North American dynamism, and the long tradition of Chinese culture.
Corporate Spotlights
With a global platform of approximately 4,000 lawyers in 21 cities across the United States, Europe, the Middle East and Asia, Kirkland & Ellis provides elite legal advice and a relentless commitment to client service. Kirkland is a market-leader in each of its core practice areas including private equity, M&A and other complex corporate transactions; investment fund formation and alternative asset management; restructurings; highstakes commercial and intellectual property litigation; and government, regulatory and internal investigations.
Since launching in 2014, Kirkland’s Houston office has grown to include more than 200 attorneys and has become a leading player in Texas, uniquely qualified to handle sophisticated and complex matters for clients around the world. As part of Kirkland’s longstanding tradition of giving back to its communities, the Houston team supports legal aid, business, and nonprofit organizations to improve lives and communities in Houston. Globally, Kirkland devotes hundreds of thousands of hours to pro bono legal work and provides significant financial contributions to over 1,500 charitable and civic organizations each year.
Shell USA, Inc., a longtime leadership contributor to the Houston Symphony, underwrites the Houston Symphony’s Favorite Masters Series of classical subscription concerts and supports our Education and Community Engagement initiatives as part of the company’s continuing commitment to the communities it serves. Since it was founded, Shell has invested more than $1 billion in charitable, cultural, and educational organizations throughout Houston and the United States. Shell’s support of culture and the arts encompasses a wide range of symphony, opera, and theater groups, as well as the visual arts and science museums. In recognition of its broad range of award-winning support, the Houston Symphony salutes Shell and applauds its support of the Symphony and other arts and culture institutions.
Truist, a top 10 U.S. commercial bank headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, is a purpose-driven financial services company, formed by the historic merger of equals of BT&T and SunTrust. With more than 2,700 branches and more than 54,000 employees, the bank serves clients in a number of high-growth markets in the country, offering a wide range of financial services.
Truist’s purpose is to inspire and build better lives and communities, through real unwavering care that creates more opportunities, lends a helping hand, and encourages people and businesses to thrive. Through two key focus areas, building career pathways to economic mobility and strengthening small businesses, Truist aims to help level the playing field.
Luminary Leadership
Contributions to the Symphony play a big part in who we are and what we can do. Ticket sales cover just one-third of our budget. Donations make up that difference, allowing us to attract great talent and support our community outreach efforts.
The Houston Symphony is made up of some of the finest musicians in the world. And it is because of this talent that we can attract the most amazing guest artists such as Yo-Yo Ma, Itzhak Perlman, Emanuel Ax, Lang Lang, Hilary Hahn, Yefim Bronfman, and Joshua Bell. None of this would be possible without the support of our patrons.
Your donations also support the Symphony’s Education and Community Engagement initiatives, which are an important part of our mission. Our musicians perform in schools, hospitals, and community centers, serving nearly 200,000 people every year. We inspire students to begin and to continue studying music through our Harry & Cora Sue Mach Student Concert Series and In Harmony, our community-based afterschool music program. We offer comfort to those in need through our hospital bedside visits and interactive dementia center performances. We also collaborate with more than 500 partner organizations to remove economic and geographical barriers to music, ensuring people from all walks of life can have access to extraordinary musical experiences. This truly important work is made possible by our supporters.
From what you hear on the Jones Hall stage to what we do in the community, your support goes a long way in helping the Houston Symphony be a firstclass orchestra and organization. As a “Thank You!” for your support, we offer an amazing collection of benefits such as complimentary valet parking, access to the Shirley and David Toomim Family Green Room, intimate salon concerts, invitations to private rehearsals, parking passes, “Meet the Orchestra” events, complimentary tickets for guests, and more.
We thank you for your consideration. For more information on giving, please contact Amanda T. Dinitz, Interim Co-Chief Development Officer, at amanda.dinitz@houstonsymphony.org or 713.337.8541 or Tim Dillow, Interim Co-Chief Development Officer, at timothy.dillow@houstonsymphony. org or 713.337.8538.
Luminary Leadership
Robin Angly & Miles Smith
$100,000+
Robin and Miles are avid classical music lovers and are passionately committed to the Symphony. Their generosity has focused on advancing projects of particular artistic ambition, including the Music Director Fund, tours, commissions, and programs with operatic components. Miles is a Lifetime Trustee of the Board and serves on the Artistic and Orchestra Affairs Committee. Both have musical backgrounds. Professionally, Robin is owner of Venture Partners and Miles is an attorney.
Bank of America
Bank of America is committed to making financial lives better through the power of every connection. They deliver on this through their responsible growth strategy, which emphasizes being a great place to work for the nearly 2,500 employees in Houston and sharing their success with our local community. Whether it is owning a home, starting a business, building savings and credit, or making a difference, Bank of America connects communities to the lending, investing, and giving they need to remain vibrant and vital. Bank of America is the title sponsor of the Bank of America POPS Series.
Gary and Marian Beauchamp/The Beauchamp Foundation
Marian and Gary Beauchamp are generous supporters of the performing arts and of Houstonians experiencing homelessness. They have provided funding for many of the Symphony’s acquisitions and special priorities over the years, including the orchestra’s custom RAT music stands, the sound shell used at Miller Outdoor Theatre, and the orchestra’s set of German timpani and Berlioz bells. The Beauchamps are classical subscribers and have served as Musician Sponsors for several decades. Gary is also a Governing Director on the Board of Trustees, serving on the Artistic and Orchestra Affairs Committee.
The Brown Foundation, Inc.
The Brown Foundation, established in 1951, is a philanthropic organization committed to enriching Texas communities through education, arts, and civic engagement. It has distributed more than $1.7 billion in grants across Texas since its inception. With a focus on bringing passion, energy, and creativity to life in Houston, the Foundation has been a steadfast supporter of the Symphony for decades. Its generous contributions have enabled the Symphony to deliver exceptional performances, engage diverse audiences, and foster education initiatives.
Barbara J. Burger
Since joining the Symphony family in 2014, Barbara has established herself as one of the organization’s greatest champions. She is President of the Board of Trustees and provides leadership support for a wide range of Symphony initiatives. In 2023, she established an endowment for the orchestra’s Fourth Horn Chair and touring activities. She is a Musician Sponsor, member of the Music Director Fund, and Guarantor of the Symphony’s Media Consortium, enabling the Symphony to reach audiences in all 50 states and 49 countries.
City of Houston through Houston Arts Alliance
The Houston Arts Alliance (HAA) is a local arts and culture non-profit agency dedicated to helping artists and non-profits be bold, productive, and strong. Under the guidance of the Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs, HAA implements the City of Houston’s vision for arts grantmaking and civic art investments. Additionally, HAA spearheads privately funded initiatives, including disaster preparedness, arts research, and temporary public art projects that invigorate local neighborhoods. HAA generously provides funding to the Houston Symphony, allowing us to improve accessibility of the arts throughout the Houston community.
Jane and Robert* Cizik
Jane and her late husband, Robert, have supported Houston’s cultural arts with extraordinary generosity for decades. Following his passing in 2019, the Houston Symphony’s 2020–21 Classical Season was named for Robert in recognition of his contributions. Jane continues their legacy and love of classical music with her steadfast presence at concerts and generous support of the orchestra. In 2024, Jane endowed the orchestra’s Associate Principal Cello Chair. She is a Musician Sponsor and a former member of both the Board of Trustees and the Symphony League.
Luminary Leadership
THE CULLEN TRUST FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS
Janet F. Clark
$100,000+
Janet has been a generous supporter and steadfast leader of the Houston Symphony for more than three decades. She is current Chair and a former President of the Board of Trustees. Janet serves as a Musician Sponsor, regularly supports special events, and frequently hosts gatherings to better connect people to the Symphony. She is former Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Marathon Oil Corporation. She is active in the Houston philanthropic community with an emphasis on education and environment, including Houston’s parks.
ConocoPhillips
For more than 50 years, ConocoPhillips has supported the Houston Symphony, advocating for music education and cultural enrichment. In 2024, the company celebrated its 38 th consecutive year as the Opening Night Concert Sponsor and Lead Corporate Gala Underwriter, ensuring a grand start to the Symphony’s season. This partnership exemplifies ConocoPhillips’s dedication to giving back to the community. As a leading exploration and production company, ConocoPhillips is committed to being a good neighbor and responsible citizen in the areas it operates.
The Cullen Foundation
The Cullen Foundation was established by Hugh Roy and Lillie Cranz Cullen in 1947 and has supported the Symphony for more than 60 years. In that time, the Foundation has been a loyal donor to the orchestra in times of prosperity and an invaluable champion during difficult times. The Foundation has made extraordinary gifts to help sustain the orchestra, including contributions to Hurricane Harvey relief and to the Symphony’s Endowment Campaign.
The Cullen Trust for the Performing Arts
The Cullen Trust for the Performing Arts is one of the best-known names in Houston philanthropy and has been one of the Symphony’s greatest champions. One of three charitable trusts with independent boards created by the Cullen Foundation in the 1970s, it furthers the philanthropic legacy of Houston legend Hugh Roy Cullen. The Trust has contributed more than $9 million to the Houston Symphony since 1984, supporting almost every aspect of the orchestra’s activity.
The Jerry C. Dearing Family Foundation
Founded in 2009, the Jerry C. Dearing Family Foundation is a family-run private foundation that supports Houston-based non-profit organizations that provide health, education, and sustainability services in Houston and Harris County. The Jerry C. Dearing Family Foundation has distributed more than $22.5 million in grants to support, encourage, and assist several local organizations. Since the Houston Symphony’s 2018–19 Season, The Jerry C. Dearing Family Foundation has supported a wide array of our Education and Community Engagement initiatives.
Joan and Robert Duff
Joan and Bob have been supporters of the Houston Symphony since 2017. Joan is a member of the Houston Symphony Board of Trustees and serves on the Popular Programming Committee, serving as a steadfast advocate for our education and community engagement initiatives. They have chaired several Symphony events, including Magical Musical Morning two times and the Wine Dinner and Collector’s Auction. Joan and Bob sponsor Associate Principal Horn, Rob Johnson.
Frost Bank
Frost Bank and the Houston Symphony—two institutions that have served Texans for more than a century—are happy to partner on the Frost Bank Gold Classics Series for the 2024–25 Season. Frost has helped generations of Texans achieve their financial goals for more than 155 years. Frost has consistently been ranked highest in customer satisfaction in Texas by the J.D. Power U.S. Retail Banking Satisfaction Study. It is honored to support communities across the state of Texas.
Luminary Leadership
The Hearst Foundations
$100,000+
THE HUMPHREYS FOUNDATION
In a remarkable gesture of support during the COVID-19 crisis, The Hearst Foundations granted $250,000 to the Houston Symphony, part of a $50 million effort benefiting 100 non-profits nationwide. William Randolph Hearst III and Virginia Hearst Randt announced these unprecedented grants, aimed at aiding the Symphony’s perseverance through challenging times. Additionally, the Hearst Foundations have been a enduring supporter of the Symphony’s Education and Community Engagement initiatives.
Houston Methodist
Houston Methodist is a dedicated supporter of the Houston Symphony as the Official Health Care Provider and underwriter of six concert weekends throughout the 2024–25 Season. Houston Methodist offers unique benefits to the Houston Symphony’s musicians through its Center for Performing Arts Medicine (CPAM). As the only center of its kind in the country, CPAM is composed of a specialized group of more than 100 elite physicians working collaboratively to address the specific demands placed on artists so they can do what they do best—enrich the lives of Houston audiences.
The Humphreys Foundation
For more than 30 years, The Humphreys Foundation’s grants have been instrumental in allowing the Symphony to bring high-quality artistic programming to Houston. Under the leadership of President Linda Bertman, the charitable foundation based in Liberty County has underwritten several iconic Symphony concerts, including: operas like Abduction from the Seraglio, Fidelio, Bluebeard’s Castle , and Oedipus Rex; the HD Odyssey trilogy (The Planets , The Earth, The Cosmos) and the 2017–18 Season performance of The Rite of Spring; as well as festivals like the two-week Schumann Festival in 2020, and Carmina burana
Drs. M.S. and Marie-Luise Kalsi
Drs. M.S. and Marie-Luise Kalsi, known as Kalsi and Ise to their friends, have been Symphony supporters for decades. They began attending together while studying at University of Houston, Kalsi pursuing his master’s in engineering and Ise her master’s in philosophy; this began their lifelong love of, and support for, the Symphony. The Kalsis serve as Musician Sponsors. In 2024, Kalsi established the Marie-Luise Schubert Kalsi Fund within the Symphony Endowment. Kalsi, originally from India, is founder and president of Kalsi Engineering; Ise, originally from Germany, is a retired professor of philosophy.
Dr. Sippi and Mr. Ajay Khurana**
Sippi and Ajay are passionately committed to service, contributing both time and treasure across multiple sectors of the philanthropic community in Houston and beyond. At the Symphony, they are Program Guarantors for In Harmony, an intensive community-based music training program for underserved students. Sippi serves on the Executive Committee and Ajay as a Trustee for the Houston Symphony Endowment.
KTRK ABC-13
KTRK ABC-13 is the leading local television news station serving the Greater Houston area, known for its comprehensive news coverage, entertainment programming, and community engagement. As the Official Television Partner of the Houston Symphony, KTRK ABC-13 plays a pivotal role in amplifying the Symphony’s reach and impact. This partnership exemplifies KTRK ABC-13’s commitment to supporting local arts and culture and enriching the lives of Houstonians through the power of music.
Max Levit*
Max Levit quietly supported the Symphony with extraordinary generosity since the 1990s. Through his decades of giving, Max played a key role in advancing the Symphony’s level of artistry into the orchestra we enjoy today and has supported performances by the world’s most in-demand guest artists. He regularly attended both classical and pops concerts. Max co-managed his family company Grocers Supply and built it into one of the nation’s leading private companies. Max’s daughter, Cindy Levit, serves as a Governing Director on the Symphony’s Board of Trustees.
Luminary Leadership
Cora Sue and Harry* Mach
Cora Sue’s dedication to the Symphony, with special emphasis on education, dates back more than two decades. She has contributed time and treasure with humility and generosity, having served as former Chair of the Education Committee of the Board, President of the League, and Chair of several special events. In partnership with Harry Mach, her late husband of 58 years, she is one of the institution’s leadership donors in her lifetime of giving. The 2024–25 Harry and Cora Sue Mach Student Concert Series honors Harry and enhances the lives of children by providing direct access to our orchestra.
Beth Madison
After two decades of generosity, Beth continues her support of the Houston Symphony with emphasis on special events. She is an honoree of the 2024 Opening Night Concert & Gala and has received numerous awards in the Houston philanthropic community. She is a Lifetime Symphony League Member and former member of the Board of Trustees. She serves as a Regent at the University of Houston, demonstrating her belief in the value of and relationship between education and the arts for a thriving community.
Meredith and Ben Marshall
Continuing in their support of worthy and local organizations, Ben and Meredith Marshall are proud to also give their loyalty to the Houston Symphony. What began as sporadic show goers a few years ago has grown to a love and following of this impressive orchestra and the thrilling programming. Leaving the music making to the professionals, Ben and Meredith are delighted to be part of such a gem to our beautiful, eclectic city.
Barbara and Pat McCelvey
Barbara and Pat are leaders in the Houston Symphony’s community of concertgoers, donors, and governance. In 2024, Barbara and Pat endowed the orchestra’s English Horn Chair. They support the Music Director Fund and serve as Musician Sponsors. Barbara serves as a Governing Director on the Board of Trustees and Chair of the Development Committee; she is a Symphony League member and former League president. Barbara also serves on the Board of the Foundation for Jones Hall and is instrumental in the planning and execution of the Jones Hall renovations currently underway.
Dr. Eric McLaughlin and Mr. Eliodoro Castillo
Eric and Elliot are active philanthropists in Houston’s performing arts world. For 2024–25, they are proud to elevate their support of the Symphony and its vision to be a world-class orchestra and Houston cultural leader. Outside of his entrepreneurial and healthcare pursuits, Eric dabbles in playing the piano. He cites exceptional performing arts and powerful air conditioning as key reasons he calls Houston home. Elliot, a professionally trained bass-baritone opera singer, has also grown his real estate and property management portfolio to over $40 million in just a few years. Together, Eric and Elliot enjoy travel and the outdoors.
M.D. Anderson Foundation
The Houston Symphony is grateful to the M.D. Anderson Foundation, a dedicated supporter since the 1970s, for supporting the Symphony’s grand scale musical projects and helping us adapt to pandemic challenges. Founded by Monroe Dunaway Anderson in 1936, the Foundation is renowned for its role in creating the Texas Medical Center and the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center and supports organizations enhancing the quality of life for Houstonians. The Houston Symphony thanks the Trustees of the Foundation for its decades of support and salutes them for their service to our city.
Miller Outdoor Theatre
Since 1923, Miller Outdoor Theatre has been Houston’s premiere venue for free, professional-caliber outdoor performances. Located in Hermann Park, it is the only proscenium theatre in America that offers an eight-month season of outstanding artistry, including classical music, jazz, dance, drama, films, and more. The Symphony’s partnership began in 1940 when we became the first performing arts organization to bring free concerts to the park.
Luminary Leadership
Bobbie Nau
$100,000+
Bobbie is actively involved in multiple civic, community, and philanthropic organizations in Houston and is a generous supporter of the Symphony’s Annual Fund, Special Events, and Endowment. She attends both classical and pops concerts and provides leadership support for general operations each year. In 2022, she endowed the orchestra’s Principal Clarinet Chair. In 2023, she chaired the highest-grossing Houston Symphony Wine Dinner and Collector’s Auction in the event’s history. Bobbie is former majority owner of Silver Eagle Distributors.
Leslie Nossaman
Leslie is an impactful leader on both the Symphony Board as a Governing Director and Houston Symphony League Board. She has been a Symphony patron since the 1980s and a major volunteer since 2016, including Student Concerts, Family Concerts, musician auditions, and the Archives. She is currently President-Elect for the League and participates on many Symphony committees such as Marketing, Development, and Education and Community Engagement. She is also the Chair for the Livestream and Recording Studio Consortium.
Oliver Wyman
Oliver Wyman is a leading global management consulting firm with offices in more than 50 cities across 30 countries and combines deep industry experience with specialized expertise in strategy, operations, risk management, and organization transformation. The company devotes substantial time and resources to creating positive social impact and works with non-profit organizations worldwide. Oliver Wyman has provided consulting services to the Houston Symphony since 2015. Please visit the company at OliverWyman.com to learn more.
For 160 years, PNC has been committed to providing its clients with great service and powerful financial expertise to help them meet their financial goals. As one of the largest diversified financial services institutions in the United States, PNC has a longstanding history of supporting not only our customers but also our communities, employees, and shareholders. PNC is proud to be an ongoing sponsor of the Houston Symphony’s PNC Family Series. This commitment is rooted in the belief that involvement in the arts enriches lives and fosters a stronger, more vibrant community in Houston.
Shell USA, Inc.
Shell USA, Inc., a longtime leadership contributor to the Houston Symphony, underwrites the Houston Symphony’s Favorite Masters Series of classical subscription concerts as part of the company’s continuing commitment to the communities it serves. Since it was founded, Shell USA, Inc. has invested more than $1 billion in charitable, cultural, and educational organizations throughout Houston and the United States. Shell’s support of culture and the arts encompasses a wide range of symphony, opera, and theater groups, as well as the visual arts and science museums.
John & Lindy Rydman/Spec’s Wines, Spirits & Finer Foods
The Houston Symphony’s Principal Corporate Guarantor is a landmark Houston institution, Spec’s Wines, Spirits & Finer Foods. Through the Spec’s Charitable Foundation, the company supports the Symphony in a variety of ways—through the annual Wine Dinner and Collector’s Auction, the Salute to Educators Concert, and the company’s own Symphony fundraising event, Vintage Virtuoso. In total, the company has contributed more than $6.5 million to the Symphony since 1996.
Mike Stude
Mike Stude, Chairman Emeritus of the Board of Trustees, has been one of the Symphony’s most devoted champions for decades. He has made extraordinary personal contributions of time and treasure and is a steadfast advocate of the Symphony and its Endowment among foundations and peers. A lifelong lover of classical music, Mike is former owner of KRTS classical radio, serves as a Musician Sponsor, and has traveled worldwide to hear the orchestra on tour. He began his career at Brown & Root and later became Owner and President of Stude Investment Partners and Chairman of Big Covey Exploration.
Luminary Leadership
Texas Commission on the Arts
The Texas Commission on the Arts (TCA) generously provides grants to the Symphony to support our educational and community engagement initiatives and Holiday Concert Series. These grants are offered to arts organizations in designated cultural districts—like the Houston Theater District—for projects that enhance economic development, arts education, and cultural tourism. The Houston Symphony is grateful to the TCA and the State of Texas for supporting the arts in our home state.
Bobby and Phoebe Tudor
Bobby and Phoebe Tudor are leading Houston philanthropists with a remarkable dedication to the Houston Symphony. Over the course of their decades-long involvement, they have provided leadership support for virtually every one of the organization’s strategic priorities. Bobby has served as both President and Chairman of the Board of Trustees. He is CEO of Artemis Energy Partners; previously, he was a founding partner and chairman of Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. Phoebe is an active community volunteer involved with the arts, historic preservation, parks, education, and quality-of-life issues.
Mr. & Mrs. Jesse B. Tutor
Betty and Jesse Tutor are active members of Houston’s philanthropic community and are known for their dedication to the arts and for fostering connections between fellow Houstonians. Both Betty and Jesse are Governing Directors of the Board of Trustees, Lifetime Trustees, Chairs of the Legacy Society, and former chairs of several special events. Betty, a former Woman of Distinction, has served as President of the Symphony League. Jesse, a retired partner at Accenture, is a former President of the Board of Trustees, and currently serves as Chair of the Audit Committee.
Vitol, Inc.
Vitol is a global energy and commodities company with a presence across the energy spectrum: from crude oil and refined products to power, natural gas, renewables, and carbon. For more than 55 years, Vitol has served the world’s energy markets, trading and distributing energy safely and responsibly to growing economies around the world. From 40 offices worldwide, we seek to add value across the energy supply chain by deploying our scale and market understanding to help solve the energy challenges of today and investing in energy solutions for the future.
Margaret Alkek Williams
The Houston Chronicle named Margaret “the most powerful, committed female philanthropist in Houston since Ima Hogg.” Her extraordinary contributions have made a remarkable impact at the Symphony and across the theater district. Each season, she sponsors the six-concert Margaret Alkek Williams Spotlight Series and serves as Grand Guarantor of two programs. In 2015, Margaret endowed the orchestra’s Executive Director/CEO Chair. She is a Lifetime Trustee and Governing Director. In 2024, the Margaret Alkek Williams Grand Lobby opened at Jones Hall.
The Houston Symphony is fortunate to have the generous and longstanding support of The Wortham Foundation, Inc., whose grants play a vital role in maintaining the orchestra’s artistic excellence and organizational strength. The Wortham Foundation, Inc. has been a partner of the Symphony for more than 45 years, and its investment in the Symphony has been invaluable to the organization’s artistic growth. The Wortham Foundation, Inc. THE WORTHAM FOUNDATION, INC.
Gardenia Foundation Edith and Robert Zinn
Music Director Fund
Margaret Alkek Williams
Robin Angly & Miles Smith
Barbara J. Burger
Albert & Anne Chao
Jane and Robert* Cizik
The purpose of the Music Director Fund is to provide leadership support to Juraj Valčuha and his artistic endeavors as Music Director. Since his arrival, Valčuha has revealed his vision of a future with extraordinary concerts and exceptional service to the city of Houston. His leadership will continue to elevate the orchestra’s level of artistry on the Jones Hall stage, raise its international reputation, and increase its relevance to the Houston community. Music Director Fund donors provide dedicated resources to support the production of Valčuha’s signature artistic projects such as multi-concert festivals and opera projects, the hiring of top-level orchestra musicians whose selection is overseen by Juraj, and invitations to guest soloists of the highest caliber.
To join the Music Director Fund, donors contribute $50,000 to $100,000 beyond their renewed Annual Fund support. To participate, please contact Amanada T. Dinitz, Interim Co-Chief Development Officer at amanda.dinitz@houstonsymphony.org or 713.337.8541.
Cindy
Barbara & Pat McCelvey
John
Lindy
Mike Stude
Janet F. Clark Cullen Trust for the Performing Arts Gardenia Foundation
Levit
Dr. Eric McLaughlin and Mr. Eliodoro Castillo
&
Rydman / Spec’s Wines, Spirits & Finer Foods
Our Donors
The Houston Symphony gratefully acknowledges those who support our artistic, educational, and community engagement programs through their generosity to our Annual Fund and Special Events. For more information, please contact Emilie Moellmer, at emilie.moellmer@houstonsymphony.org or 713.337.8526.
$50,000+
Edward and Janette
Blackburne
Mr. Robert Boblitt Jr.
James* and Dale Brannon
Mary Kathryn Campion & Stephen Liston
Drs. Dennis & Susan Carlyle
Anne & Albert Chao
Virginia A. Clark
Elaine Finger/The Marvy Finger Family Foundation
Dr. Angela R. Apollo
Ann & Jonathan Ayre
Dr. Saúl and Ursula Balagura
Donna and Ken Barrow
Dr. Gudrun H. Becker
Nancy and Walter Bratic
Terry Ann Brown
Ms. Cynthia Diller*
Mr. and Mrs. Thomas L. Elsenbrook
Ms. Carolyn Faulk
Mr. & Mrs. Jeffrey B. Firestone
Mr. and Mrs. James C. Flores
Mrs. Mary Foster & Mr. Don DeSimone
Mr. & Mrs. Russell M. Frankel
Evan B. Glick
Rebecca & Bobby Jee
Frances and Ira* Anderson
Barbara & David Balderston
Anne Morgan Barrett
Consurgo Sunshine
In Memory of Sybil F. Roos –Ginger Bertrand, Cathey Cook, and Betsy Garlinger
Mr. Gordon J. Brodfuehrer
Eric D. Brueggeman
Mr. Bill Bullock
Mr. Robert Bunch and Ms. Lilia Khakimova
Ms. Deborah Butler
Ms. Kristen J. Cannon
Dr. Robert N. Chanon
Roger and Debby Cutler
Jeanette & John DiFilippo
Mike and Debra Dishberger
Aggie L. Foster & Steve
Simon
Elia & Michael Gabbanelli
Stephen & Mariglyn Glenn
Gary L. Hollingsworth & Kenneth J. Hyde
Mr. and Mrs. Bashar Kalai
Cindy E. Levit
Mr. and Mrs. J. Stephen Marks
Dr. Miguel & Mrs. Valerie Miro-Quesada
John L. Nau III
Shirley & David Toomim Family Foundation / Steve & Ellen Robinson
Mr. and Mrs. Bryan Ruez
Kathy & Ed Segner
Margaret & Joel Shannon
Alana R. Spiwak & Sam L. Stolbun
Tina Raham Stewart in memory of Jonathan Stewart
Terry Thomas
Hallie A. Vanderhider
Stephen and Kristine Wallace
Robert G. Weiner & Toni Blankmann
$25,000+
Joan & Marvin Kaplan Foundation/The Kaplan, Brooks, and Bruch Families
Dr. Charles Johnson & Tammie Johnson
Mr. and Mrs. Parker Johnson
Dr. Rita Justice/The MasterCaregiver Company
Cheryl Boblitt and Bill King
Carey Kirkpatrick
Mr. and Mrs. David B. Krieger
Paul Leach & Susan Winokur
Joella & Steven P. Mach
Alison and Ara Malkhassian**
Mrs. Carolyn and Dr. Michael Mann
Barry and Rosalyn Margolis Family
Connie Dyer
Andria N. Elkins
Sidney Faust
Eugene Fong
Ron Franklin & Janet Gurwitch
Steve and Mary Gangelhoff
Clare Attwell Glassell
Suzan & Julius Glickman
Mrs. Mary Goodman
Mr. & Mrs. Fred L. Gorman
Jo A. & Billie Jo Graves
Claudio J. Gutiérrez
Mr. and Mrs.* Jerry L. Hamaker
Mark & Ragna Henrichs
Carol and Charlie Herder
Mrs. James E. Hooks
Mr. & Mrs. Rodney H. Margolis
Michelle & Jack Matzer
John & Dorothy McDonald
Muffy and Mike* McLanahan
Jim & Terri McLaughlin
Katie and Bob Orr / Oliver Wyman
Mr. David Peavy and Dr. Stephen McCauley
Gloria & Joe Pryzant
Revati Puranik
Laurie A. Rachford
Ed & Janet Rinehart
Mr. Glen A. Rosenbaum*
Susan D. Sarofim
Toni A. Oplt & Ed Schneider
Donna Scott and Mitch Glassman
Catherine and Brian James
Gwen & Dan Kellogg
Dr. & Mrs. I. Ray Kirk
Ms. Nancey G. Lobb
Cindy Mao and Michael Ma
John & Regina Mangum
Elissa & Jarrod Martin
Marvin and Martha McMurrey
Rita and Paul Morico
Mr. & Mrs. Jonathan E. Parker
Jean and Allan Quiat
Ron and Demi Rand
Ann Roff
Mr. & Mrs. James A. Shaffer
Tad & Suzanne Smith
Dr. Carol Stelling
Justin Stenberg
Mr. and Mrs. Karl Strobl
Bill Stanley
Mr. Jay Steinfeld and Mrs. Barbara Winthrop
Dr. John R. Stroehlein and Miwa Sakashita
Mr. and Mrs. Frank Tsuru
Cecilia and Luciano Vasconcellos
Mr. & Mrs. Fredric A. Weber
Steven & Nancy Williams
Jeanie Kilroy Wilson & Wallace S. Wilson
Ellen A. Yarrell
Elena & John Young Anonymous
$15,000+
Margaret Waisman, M.D. & Steven S. Callahan, Ph.D.
Jay & Gretchen Watkins
Dede Weil*
Vicki West
Larry & Lori Williams
Anonymous
Our Donors
Gail & Louis Adler
Stanford and Joan Alexander Foundation
Marcie & Nick Alexos
Tom Anderson
Edward H. Andrews III
Nina K. Andrews
Rita and Jeffrey Aron
Mr. David J. Beck
Carrie & Sverre BrandsbergDahl
Ralph Burch
Kori and Chris Caddell
Dr. Ye-Mon Chen and Mrs. Chaing-Lin Chen
Coneway Family Foundation
Brad and Joan Corson
Corey Tu & Andrew Davis
Dr. Alex Dell
Ms. Elisabeth DeWitts
Valerie Palmquist Dieterich and Tracy Dieterich
Vicky Dominguez
Drs. Rosalind and Gary Dworkin
Kelli Cohen Fein & Martin Fein
Ms. Ursula H. Felmet
Dr. & Mrs. George* J. Abdo
Farida Abjani
John and Pat* Anderson
Lilly and Thurmon Andress
Dr. Julia Andrieni and Dr. Rob Phillips
Rick Ankrom & Jay Hooker
Christopher and Laura Armstrong
Mr. Jeff Autor
Sarah Barrett
Mrs. Bonnie Bauer
Kimberly and James Bell
Drs. Henry & Louise Bethea
Joan H. Bitar, MD
George Boerger
Mr. Russell Boone
James and Judy Bozeman
Margery Anderson & Farhad Bozorgmehr
Mr. Chester Brooke and Dr. Nancy Poindexter
Barbara A. Brooks
Dolores & Craig Brooks
Patricia & William Bumpus
Mr. Bernie Cantu and Mr. Rubens Franz
Marilyn Caplovitz
Tatiana & Daniel Chavanelle
Barbara A. Clark & Edgar A. Bering
Donna M. Collins*
Evan and Carin Collins
Mr. & Mrs. Byron Cooley
Ms. Miquel A. Correll
Fernando Alberto Cuartas
Kathy and Frank
Grace Ho & Joe Goetz
Kathryn & Kirk Hachigian
Deborah Happ & Richard Rost
Sandy & Don L. Harris
Mrs. Ann G. Hightower
Ms. Katherine Hill
Mina Park & Olaf Honerkamp
Robyn & Richard D. Howe
Barbara and Charles Hurwitz
Mr. Daniel Irion
Dawn James
Marzena and Jacek Jaminski
Debbie & Frank Jones
Lil and Matthew Kades
Ms. Linda R. Katz
Yvette & David J. M. Key
James & Betty Key
Mr. and Mrs. Calvin Leeke
Mr. & Mrs. U. J. LeGrange
Marilyn G. Lummis
Jay & Shirley Marks*
Nancy F. Martin
Susan & Michael Mason
Mr. and Mrs. Alexander Matiuk
Dilenschneider
Joseph and Rebecca Demeter
Bonnie & George Dolson**
Mr. William P. Elbel and Ms. Mary J. Schroeder
Mr. Parrish N. Erwin Jr.
Dr. Judith Feigin & Mr. Colin Faulkner
Dr. Richard Fish and Marie Hoke Fish
Laurel Flores and Matthew Weathers
Dianne G. Foutch
Bill & Diana Freeman
Dr. and Mrs. Robert H. Fusillo
Mr. and Mrs. Patrick Gaidos
Mr. & Mrs. Harry Gendel
Dr. Eugenia C. George
Amy Goodpasture
Susan & Bradford Goodwin Jr.
Mr. Mark Grace and Mrs. Alex Blair
The Greentree Fund
Mary N. Hankey
Pam & Jim Harris
Barbara & Christopher Hekel
Katherine and Archibald Hill
Mr. and Mrs. Jeffrey Hiller
Mr. and Mrs. John Homier
Steve and Kerry Incavo
Dr. and Mrs. Joseph Jankovic
Stephen Jeu and Susanna Calvo
Phil and Josephine John
Beverly Johnson
Ms. Kaleta Johnson
Dr. and Mrs. Malcolm L. Mazow
Terry & Kandee McGill
Mr. and Mrs. Gerald Moynier
Tim Ong & Michael Baugh
Dr. Susan Osterberg and Mr. Edward C. Osterberg, Jr.
Mr. and Mrs. Robert Pastorek
Mr. Zeljko Pavlovic
Edlyn & David Pursell
Radoff Family
Dr. and Mrs. George H. Ransford
Gabriel & Mona Rio
Jill and Allyn Risley
Fay & George Rizzo
Mr. Floyd W. Robinson
Dr. Douglas and Alicia Rodenberger
Robert K. Rogerson
David and Roz Rowan
Lori Harrington and Parashar Saikia
Christy & Ted Sarosdy
Barbara and Paul Schwartz
Susan and Ed Septimus
Becky Shaw**
Mr. and Mrs. John F. Joity
Kathryn L. Ketelsen**
Dr. William and Alice Kopp
Jane & Kevin Kremer
Mr. Kenneth E. Kurtzman
James Lassiter
Mr. Steve Lee
Golda Anne Leonard
Rachel Lloyd
Kirby and David Lodholz
Mr. and Mrs. Michael J. Lowenberg
Ms. Kathy McCraigh
Carol & Paul McDermott
Mrs. Cathy McNamara
Mr. Stephen Mendoza
Larry and Lyn Miller
Jo Ann and Marvin Mueller
Stephanie Weber and Paul Muri
Aprill Nelson
Bobbie Newman
Leslie & John Niemand
Michael P. and Shirley Pearson
Mr. Robert J. Pilegge
Dr. and Mrs. James L. Pool
Heather & Chris Powers
Tim and Katherine Pownell
Roland and Linda Pringle
Darla and Chip Purchase
Cris & Elisa Pye
Kathryn and Richard Rabinow
Vicky & Michael Richker
Tracey Rogan
Mr. and Mrs. Michael T. Rydin
Andrew Sackheim
$10,000+
Dr. & Mrs. Robert B. Sloan
Houston Christian University
Mr. and Mrs. Jim R. Smith
Anthony and Lori Speier
Richard & Mary Spies
Betty* and Gerry Stacy
Kimberly & David Sterling
Mrs. Marguerite M. Swartz
Mrs. Karen Tell
Susan L. Thompson
Carol and Eric Timmreck
Nanako & Dale Tingleaf
Pamalah* and Stephen Tipps
Kate & Brook Wiggins
Ms. Barbara E. Williams
Doug Williams and Janice Robertson
Mr. & Mrs. Tony Williford
Doug and Kay Wilson
Ezra Yacob
Nina and Michael Zilkha
Edith & Robert Zinn
Anonymous
$5,000+
Ellen Safier and Efrain Bleiberg
Lawrence P. Schanzmeyer
Garry and Margaret Schoonover
Robert Seah
Laura & Mike Shannon
Mr. & Mrs. Charles O. Shearouse
Donna and Tim Shen
Mr. & Mrs. Steven Sherman
Mr. and Mrs. Quentin Smith
Sandy and George Sneed
Sam & Linda Snyder
Sandra Stephens
Jean and Doug Thomas
Dr. Brad and Mrs. Frances Urquhart
Mr. and Mrs. David Vannauker
David and Robin Walstad
Nancy & David Webb
Nancy B. Willerson**
Woodell Family Foundation
Mr. & Mrs. C. Clifford Wright, Jr.
Mrs. Lorraine Wulfe
Trish & Steve Yatauro
Mrs. Linda Yelin
Michele & Robert Yekovich
Erla & Harry Zuber
Anonymous (5)
Our Donors
Mary E. Ainslie
Ms. Mina Alaniz
Ms. Maria Alaoui
John Arnsparger & Susan Weingarten
Mr. and Mrs. Edmund Aversenti
Henry Bachman
Ms. Jacqueline Baly
Mr. and Mrs. Stephen J. Banks
Polina Gaddy & Scott Barber
Charles and Naomi Black
Jeb & Cynthia Blackwell
Mr. Sonny Brandtner
Jane & Ron Brownlee
Mr. and Mrs. Laurence Burns
Justice Brett and Erin Busby
David Bush
Cheryl Byington
Ms. Rosangela Capobianco
Margot & John Cater
Mr. Per Staunstrup Christiansen
Lynn Coe
Mr. and Mrs. J. Carlton Cook
Mrs. Rochelle Cyprus
Mrs. Myriam Degreve
Dr. and Mrs. Allen Deutsch
Colleen DiFonzo-Lewis
Mrs. Edward N. Earle
David Edwards
Mr. John Egbert and Ms. Kathy Beck
Annette and Knut Eriksen
Aubrey* & Sylvia Farb
Patrick B. Garvey
Wm. David George Ph.D.
Alyson & Elliot Gershenson
Jill Gildroy
Dr. Michael Gillin and Ms. Pamela Newberry
Kathy & Albrecht Goethe
Ms. Lidiya Gold
Rolaine Abramson
Elaine Adams
Robert K. Arnett Jr.
Ms. Sheila Aron
Mr. Wael As
Myra W. Barber
Deborah Bautch
Janet & John Beall
Mr. and Mrs. Clarke Bean
Dr. and Mrs. Arthur L. Beaudet
Barbara & Jim Becker
Nancy Glass & John Belmont
Mr. & Mrs. Frank R. Benton
Stephanie & Dom Beveridge
Catherine & Roger Bhalla
Mr. and Mrs. Stephen Bickel
Cyndi Bohannon
Julianne & David Gorte
Mrs. Tami A. Grubb
Ms. Perla Guerra
Ms. Lilac Guzman
Dr. & Mrs. Carlos R. Hamilton
Jr.
Mr. & Mrs. Houston Haymon
Mr. & Mrs. Frank Herzog
Richard and Arianda Hicks
Mr. Stanley Hoffberger
Steven E. Holbrook and Andres Fals
C. Birk Hutchens
Mr. and Mrs. Rick C. Jaramillo
Susan & Jonathan Jee
Mrs. Blanca Jolly
Mady & Ken Kades
Ms. Mandy Kao
Anna Kaplan
Marcia & Douglas Koch
Hoole & Kramr CPAs -
Samantha and Chris Kramr
Stephanie and Richard Langenstein
Gary T. Leach
Dr. Hilary Beaver & Dr. Andrew Lee
Kate & Lee Lennard
Mr. William W. Lindley
Kristen & Matthew Loden
Richard Loewenstern
Mr. and Mrs. Stephen A. Lubanko
Ms. Tama Lundquist
Martiel Luther
Mr. & Mrs. Peter MacGregor
Tina Maddox
David and Heidi Massin
Mary Pauline McElroy
Mr. & Mrs. D. Bradley McWilliams
Kristen Meneilly
Stephen & Marilyn Miles
David & Jamie Ming
Louis Bonno
Helene Booser
Patricia K. Boyd
Catherine Bratic
Joe Brazzatti
Ms. Helene Harding & Dr.
Patrick Briggs
Debra Ewing & Thomas Britton
Mr. Michael Broderick
Claire Brooks
Mr. Clifford Brown III
Kathleen Bucher
Dr. Fred Buckwold
Mr. Frank Busch
Lauren Bustos
Marion & Bill Calvert
Dorothy E.F. Caram, Ed.D
Mr. and Mrs. Richard S. Moen
David R. Moore
Amanda Morgan
Richard & Juliet Moynihan
Mr. & Mrs. Richard Murphy
Mr. and Mrs. Geoffrey B. Newton
Ms. Barbara Nussmann
Dr. and Mrs. Thomas Oley
Macky Osorio
Patricia A. Kalmans & Michael A. Ozer
Laura & Bill Parker
Nancy Parra
George & Elizabeth Passela
Kusum and K. Cody Patel
Mr. and Mrs. Melvin Payne
Linda Tarpley Peterson
Mrs. Jenny Popatia in memory of Dr. Tajdin R. Popatia
Mrs. Dana Puddy
Mr. & Mrs. Florante Quiocho
Mr. Juan Carlos Quiroga
Clinton and Leigh Rappole
Dr. Michael and Janet Rasmussen
Ms. Anna Reger
Mr. & Mrs. J.B. Reimer
Mrs. Diane Roederer
Adelina Romero
Constance E. Roy
Mr. & Mrs. Gregory Rozenfeld
Linda & Jerry Rubenstein
Mr. & Mrs. John Ryder
Mr. Robert T. Sakowitz
Angelica Garza & Richard Sepulveda
Mr. and Dr. Adrian D. Shelley
Gary Shiba
Mr. Carlos Sierra
Leslie Siller
Hinda Simon
Ms. Sandra Cooper
The Snook Family
Mr. & Mrs. Terry Carius
Mr. Theodore Carpenter and Mrs. Stephanie Harrison
Ann M. Cavanaugh
Tyri Schiek & David Centanni
Nancy Christopherson
Mr. James Cleary
Carol Coale
Mr. and Mrs. James Collins
Edgardo Colon
Dr. Carmen Bonmati and Mr.
Ben Conner
Mr. and Mrs. Lawson Cook
Mr. and Mrs. Michael F. Cook
Mr. John Cooks
Mr. and Mrs. James L. Cross
Mr. Carl R. Cunningham
Paula & John Cutler
Mr. Young Son
Georgiana Stanley
$2,500+
Jeaneen and Tim Stastny
Mary J. McKerall & Richard P. Steele
Mr. William Stubbs
Dr. and Mrs. Van W. Teeters
Emily H. & David K. Terry
Juliana and Stephen Tew
Musicians of the Houston Symphony Inc.
Courtney & Bill Toomey
Sal and Denise Torrisi
Patricia Van Allan
Katharine & William Van Wie
Dean Walker
H. Richard Walton
Nancy Ames and Danny Ward
Alton and Carolyn Warren
Dr. and Mrs. Richard T. Weiss
Ms. Dena Winkler
Ms. Marianne Wood
Susan Gail Wood
Mr. and Mrs. John W. Wright
Scott and Lori Wulfe
Mr. and Mrs. Charles Zabriskie
Anonymous (3)
Dr. Tarek Dammad
Mr. Phillip Davis
Ms. Anna M. Dean
$1,000+
Del Olmo Aldaz Family
Trienet & Mauricio Del Valle
Ms. Elena Delaunay
Mr. and Mrs. Manuel Delgado
Susan & Jere Dial
Ms. Irma Diaz-Gonzalez and Mr. Roberto Gonzalez
Ann & James Dorn
Anita & T. Michael Dossey
Allyn & Clifford Dukes
Mr. James Dyer
Ramsay M. Elder
Beverly & Gerald* Fanarof
Mr. and Mrs. Bruce Ference
Roberta & Peter Ferenz
Our Donors
Larry Finger
Ms. Janet Fitzke
Vicky & Harvey Fleisher
Marilyn and Theodore Flick
Jeannine and Patrick Flynn
Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Forestier
Mr. & Mrs. Christopher Frautschi
Edwin Friedrichs & Darlene Clark
Martin J. Gambling
Leslie Gassner
Ms. Lucy Gebhart
Marie Gilbert
Lizabeth Gillis
Susan and Kevin Golden
Helen B. Wils & Leonard A. Goldstein
Maxine & Steven Goodman
Kathy and Marty Goossen
Mr. and Mrs. K. Lance Gould
Shirley Graham
Joan & William Grattendick
Catherine Green
Drs. Laurie and Lewis Greenberg MD
Mr. and Mrs. Charles H. Gregory
Mr. William Griffiths
Joan DerHovsepian and Erik Gronfor
Richard & Stella Guerra Nelson
Julia C. Gwaltney
Eric and Angelea Halen
Dr. Rizzia A. Hammond
Susan and Dick Hansen
Mr. and Mrs. Franklin J. Harberg Jr.
Tom Hargis & Leah Shapiro
John Haynes
Sheila Heimbinder
Dean & Beth Hennings
Christian Hettick
Susan Akers Hirtz
Susan Hodge & Mike Stocker
Dr. Holly Holmes
Mr. and Mrs. David Hoover
George E. Howe
Dr. Vicki Huff & Dr. Eric Boerwinkle
Ms. Janine K. Iannarelli
Mariya Idenova
Mr. Craig Ignacio
Mr. & Mrs. Charles W. Jackson**
Ms. Qiana James
Sharon Jamison
Mark A. Jensen
Francene Young and Ken Jones
Ms. Sheryl Jorgensen
Katherine & Russell Kampe
Ms. Elise Kappelmann
Ara J. Karian
Mr. and Mrs. Thomas J. Keefe
Lynda & Frank Kelly
Lee Kesselman
Ms. Kat Khosrowyar
Mr. & Mrs. William H. Knull III
Judy Koehl
Ms. Deborah Laws
Ms. Patsy Liao
Yuelin Liu
Robert J. Lorio
Judy & Tony Lutkus
Calum Macaulay
Mr. Jesse Marion
William D. & Karinne
McCullough
Patricia McMahon and Joseph F. McCarthy
Ashley McPhail
Mr. David D. McPherson
Ernie and Martha McWilliams
Mrs. Jean Mintz
Ms. Roslyn B. Mitchell
Ginni and Richard Mithoff
Gerry Montalto
Mari Moore
Marguerite and Abraham Moreno
Mr. Andy Moreno
Josie & Phil Morgan
Kiran Movva
Linda C. Murray
Karol & Daniel Musher
Alan & Elaine Mut
Jackie Mutschler
Jessica & Erick Navas
Cynthia & Robert Nelson
Mr. and Mrs. Randolph J. Ney
Ms. Lisa Ng
Phong Patrick Nguyen
Mr. Hans Nielsen and Ms. Lucinda Marshall
Ruth & Anthony Nocella
Cathy & Marc Olson
John and Kathy Orton
Rochelle & Sheldon Oster
Ruth & Marc C. Paige
Mr. William Parker
Ms. Laura Pears
Dr. and Mrs. Joseph V. Penn
Ms. Leila Perrin
Mrs. Fran Fawcett Peterson
David Pulaski and Elia Graves
Susie and Jeff Raizner
Nancy & William Rawl
Linda & James Robin
Mrs. Monica M. Rocha
Carolyn Rogan
Ms. Regina J. Rogers
Drs. Alex & Lynn Rosas
Jill and Milt Rose
Rosemarie and Jeff Roth
Kathi F. Rovere
Brenda and Mansel Rubenstein
Dr. Kimberly Ruona**
Kent Rutter and David Baumann
Lisa Rydman
Jacqueline & Ian Sack
Chula & Ramon Sanchez
Mr. and Mrs. Carl W. Sandlin
Betty and Robert Schwarz
Chicovia Scott
Donald and Susan Scruggs
Kristie & Michael Seago
Mrs. Lynda G. Seaman
Nicole & Julian Seiguer
Heidi Seizinger
Peter and Sarah Seltz
Victor E. Serrato
Mr. & Mrs. Paul Shack
Barbara Jean Shipp
Ms. Diana Skerl
Becky & David Smith
Becky & Sam Smith
Mr. & Mrs. William A. Smith
Leonardo Soto
Ms. Claudia Standiford
Bill Stevens
Julie Cowie & David Stewart
Gene & Debbie Straka
Kathleen & Edward Stuart
Amy Sutton and Gary Chiles
Mary & John Taylor
Nicholas Terry
Ms. Betsy Mims and Mr. Howard D. Thames
Mr. Aaron J. Thomas & Mrs.
Jennifer Chang
Paul Strand Thomas
Donald James Tindall
Mr. and Mrs. Timothy J. Unger
Mary & John Untereker
Jennifer Villinski
Connie Walden
Mr. James Walker
Albert Walko
Connie & Larry Wallace
Marie & Douglas Walt
Ms. Tammi Warfield
Kathryn & Terence Washington
Ms. Joann E. Welton
Dr. & Mrs. Brad Wertman
Amy E. Whitaker
Douglas and Carolynne White
Katherine & William Wiener
Carlton Wilde
Bridget & Brooke Williams
Mr. and Mrs. Dennis Williams
Ms. Dodi Willingham
Alice Gates & Wayne Wilner
Larry and Susan Wilson
Mrs. Syalisa Winata
Jim Winget
Jennifer R. Wittman
Jerry & Gerlind Wolinsky
Melinda & Alan Young
Mr. & Mrs. Edward R. Ziegler
Anonymous (12)
$1,000+
Musician Sponsorship
Dr. Angela Apollo
Sheldon Person, Viola
Dr. Saúl and Ursula Balagura
Charles Seo, Cello
Donna and Ken Barrow
Robin Kesselman, Principal Bass
Gary and Marian Beauchamp/ The Beauchamp Foundation
Eric Larson, Double Bass
Nancy and Walter Bratic
Christopher Neal, First Violin
Mr. Robert Bunch and Ms. Lilia Khakimova
Alexander Potiomkin, Bass Clarinet and Clarinet
As a Musician Sponsor, donors have the opportunity to build a personal connection with one of the musicians in the orchestra. Musician Sponsorships are the best way to support our hard-working musicians and recognize them for the wonderful music they bring to the stage as well as all they do for the community. Musician Sponsors also support the Houston Symphony’s ability to attract and retain the world’s finest talent to the orchestra by demonstrating to prospective musicians, current musicians, and other patrons that our musicians are wellsupported and valued. Annual Fund donors can sponsor a section musician at the $15,000+ level and can sponsor a principal or titled musician at the $25,000+ level.
In addition to being able to bond with musicians through several relationship-building Musician Sponsorship events, Musician Sponsors also receive these benefits:
• Access to the Toomim Family Green Room
• Complimentary valet parking and access to the Development Ticketing Concierge
• Invitations to private salon concerts and “Meet the Orchestra” events
• An invitation for two to the annual Musician Sponsorship Dinner held on stage at Jones Hall
Our goal is for every musician in our orchestra to have a sponsor. If you would like to become a Musician Sponsor donor or have any questions about Musician Sponsorships, please contact Alexa Ustaszewski, Major Gifts Officer, at alexa.ustaszewski@houstonymphony.org or 713.337.8534.
Joan & Marvin Kaplan Foundation/The Kaplan, Brooks, and Bruch Families
Mark Nuccio, Principal Clarinet
Dr. Sippi and Mr. Ajay Khurana Boson Mo, Assistant Concertmaster
Dr. and Mrs. I. Ray Kirk
John C. Parker, Associate Principal Trumpet
Paul Leach & Susan Winokur
John C. Parker, Associate Principal Trumpet
Cindy E. Levit
Adam Trussell, Bassoon and Contrabassoon
Cora Sue and Harry* Mach
Joan DerHovsepian, Principal Viola
Joella and Steven P. Mach
Eric Larson, Double Bass
Mrs. Carolyn and Dr. Michael Mann
Ian Mayton, Horn
Cindy Mao and Michael Ma Si-Yang Lao, First Violin
Mr. and Mrs. Rodney H. Margolis
Eric Halen**, Co-Concertmaster
Mr. and Mrs. J. Stephen Marks
Brian Del Signore, Principal Percussion
Michelle and Jack Matzer
Kurt Johnson, First Violin
Barbara and Pat McCelvey
Adam Dinitz, English Horn
Muffy and Mike McLanahan
William VerMeulen, Principal Horn
Dr. Eric McLaughlin and Mr. Eliodoro Castillo
Jonathan Fischer, Principal Oboe
Jim & Terri McLaughlin
Bradley White, Associate Principal Trombone
Martha and Marvin McMurrey
Rodica Gonzalez, First Violin
Dr. Miguel & Mrs. Valerie Miro-Quesada
Leonardo Soto, Principal Timpani
Rita and Paul Morico
Elise Wagner, Bassoon
Dr. Susan Osterberg and Mr. Edward C. Osterberg Jr. MiHee Chung, First Violin
Mr. and Mrs. Jonathan E. Parker
Jeffrey Butler, Cello
Mr. David Peavy and
Dr. Stephen McCauley
Jeremy Kreutz, Cello
Gloria and Joe Pryzant
Matthew Strauss, Associate Principal Percussion
Allan and Jean Quiat
Richard Harris, Trumpet
Laurie A. Rachford
Timothy Dilenschneider, Associate Principal Double Bass
Ron and Demi Rand
Annie Chen, Second Violin
Ed & Janet Rinehart
Amy Semes, Associate Principal Violin
Shirley & David Toomim
Family Foundation / Steve & Ellen Robinson
Matthew Roitstein, Associate Principal Flute
In Memory of Sybil F. Roos
– Ginger Bertrand, Cathey Cook, and Betsy Garlinger
Mark Hughes, Principal Trumpet
John and Lindy Rydman / Spec’s Wines, Spirits & Finer Foods
Anthony Kitai, Cello
Kathy and Ed Segner
Kathryn Ladner, Flute & Piccolo
Mr. and Mrs. James A. Shaffer
Christopher French, Associate Principal Cello
Tad and Suzanne Smith
Marina Brubaker, First Violin
Alana R. Spiwak and Sam L. Stolbun
Wei Jiang, Acting Associate Principal Viola
Mr. Jay Steinfeld and Mrs. Barbara Winthrop
Aralee Dorough, Principal Flute
Justin Stenberg
Brian Mangrum, horn
Mike Stude
Brinton Averil Smith, Principal Cello
Bobby and Phoebe Tudor
Bradley White, Associate Principal Trombone
Mr. & Mrs. Jesse B. Tutor
Joan DerHovsepian, Principal Viola
Margaret Waisman, M.D. and Steven S. Callahan, Ph.D.
Mark Griffith, Percussion
Stephen and Kristine Wallace
Rian Craypo, Principal Bassoon
Mr. & Mrs. Fredric A. Weber
Allegra Lilly, Principal Harp
Robert G. Weiner and Toni Blankman
Anastasia Ehrlich, Second Violin
Vicki West
Rodica Gonzalez, First Violin
Larry & Lori Williams
Samuel Pedersen, Assistant Principal, Viola
Steven and Nancy Williams
MiHee Chung, First Violin
Jeanie Kilroy Wilson and Wallace S. Wilson
Xiao Wong, Cello
Elena and John Young
Keoni Bolding, Viola
Nina and Michael Zilkha
Kurt Johnson, First Violin
The Houston Symphony Endowment is organized and operated exclusively for the benefit of the Houston Symphony Society. Our Endowment provides funding for the Symphony’s day-to-day operations costs, supports our Education and Community Engagement initiatives, and helps us keep accessible ticket prices available. Contributions to the Endowment ensure the financial sustainability of your orchestra now and for generations to come.
An Endowed Musician Chair or Named Fund are a few of the most impactful ways to support the Endowment. Named Funds can be designated for general operating support or specific interests or programs, such as our PNC Family Concert Series, New Works, or Music and Wellness programs, among others. Support to the Endowment can be made through a bequest, a gift during your lifetime, or a combination of both. The minimum contribution to establish a Named Fund is $250,000.
An Endowed Musician Chair may be named in the donor’s honor or may be supported anonymously. Endowing a chair provides the Houston Symphony with funds to attract, retain, and support musicians of the highest caliber. An Endowed Musician Chair requires an investment of $1.5 million for a Section Chair, $2.5 million for Associate or Assistant Principal Chair, and $5 million for a Principal Chair.
You can also endow your Annual Fund donation to make sure the programs and goals most important to you continue thriving after your lifetime. When you make a donation 25 times your annual giving amount, your annual gift is funded in perpetuity, creating a legacy of support after your lifetime. When the gift is made, we use a portion of the Endowment each year to fund our programs and reinvest the remainder, allowing it to grow and support annual payouts indefinitely.
Our goal is to increase the size of our endowment by approximately $40 million by 2030. For more information about how you can contribute to the Endowment through a bequest or with a gift during your lifetime, please contact Hadia Mawlawi, Senior Associate, Endowment and Planned Giving, at hadia.mawlawi@houstonsymphony.org or 713.337.8532.
Houston Symphony Endowment
Janice H. and Thomas D. Barrow Chair
Brinton Averil Smith, Principal Cello
Barbara J. Burger Chair Ian Mayton, Horn
The Brown Foundation Guest Pianist Fund
The Brown Foundation Miller Outdoor Theatre Fund in memory of Hanni and Stewart Orton, Legacy Society Co-Founders
Margarett and Alice Brown Fund for Education
Janet F. Clark Fund
The Jane and Robert* Cizik Chair
Chris French, Associate Principal Cello
Roy and Lillie Cullen Chair
Juraj Valčuha, Music Director
The Cullen Foundation Maestro’s Fund
The Cullen Trust for the Performing Arts Fund for Creative Initiatives
The Margaret and James Elkins Foundation Fund
The Virginia Lee Elverson Trust Fund
TRUSTEES
James H. Lee, President
David Krieger
Fondren Foundation Chair Qi Ming, Assistant Concertmaster
William Randolph Hearst Endowed Fund for Education Programs
General Maurice Hirsch Chair Aralee Dorough, Principal Flute
The General and Mrs. Maurice Hirsch Memorial Concert Fund in memory of Theresa Meyer and Jules Hirsch, beloved parents of General Maurice Hirsch, and Rosetta Hirsch Weil and Josie Hirsch Bloch, beloved sisters of General Maurice Hirsch
Houston Symphony Chorus Fund
Drs. M.S. and Marie Luise Kalsi Fund
Joan and Marvin Kaplan Fund
Ellen E. Kelley Chair Vacant, Associate Concertmaster
Max Levine Chair Yoonshin Song, Concertmaster
Mary R. Lewis Fund for Piano Performance
M.D. Anderson Foundation Fund
Mary Lynn and Steve Marks Fund
Barbara and Pat McCelvey Chair Adam Dinitz, English Horn
Barbara and Pat McCelvey Fund
Mr. and Mrs. Alexander K. McLanahan Endowed Chair William VerMeulen, Principal Horn
Monroe L. Mendelsohn Jr. Fund
George P. and Cynthia Woods Mitchell Chair Mark Hughes, Principal Trumpet
George P. and Cynthia Woods Mitchell Summer Concerts Fund
Bobbie Nau Chair Mark Nuccio, Principal Clarinet
C. Howard Pieper Foundation Fund
Walter W. Sapp Fund, Legacy Society Co-Founder
Fayez Sarofim Guest Violinist Fund through the Cullen Trust for the Performing Arts
The Schissler Foundation Fund
Spec’s Charitable Foundation Salute to Educators Concert Fund
$250,000+
Lucy Binyon Stude Chair
Jonathan Fischer, Principal Oboe
The Micijah S. Stude Special Production Fund
Bobby and Phoebe Tudor Fund
Mr. and Mrs. Jesse B. Tutor Endowed Fund
Margaret Alkek Williams Chair Executive Director/CEO
The Wortham Foundation Classical Series Fund in memory of Gus S. and Lyndall F. Wortham
Ajay Khurana
Lynn Mathre
Scott Wise *Deceased
Concert Sponsorship
As a Classical or Bank of America POPS Concert Sponsor you have an opportunity to support the Symphony in a very special and unique way. Sponsoring a concert is a wonderful way to strengthen your connection with the Symphony and to show your commitment to supporting orchestral music in Houston. Get even closer to the music and receive some amazing benefits in return. Concert Sponsorship and Premium Concert Sponsorship are available to Annual Fund donors at the $15,000+ and $25,000+ levels, respectively.
In addition to access to the Toomim Family Green Room, complimentary valet parking, and invitations to other special donor events, Concert Sponsors also receive the following benefits:
• Four complimentary guest concert tickets to your sponsored concert; eight for premium; with Toomim Family Green Room access and valet parking
• Special recognition as Concert Sponsor online, in InTune magazine, and in the hall at your sponsored concert
• Premium Concert Sponsorship includes a private champagne reception or artist greeting, pending artist availability
For more information, please visit our website or call or email Amanda T. Dinitz, Interim Co-Chief Development Officer, at amanda.dinitz@houstonsymphony.org or 713.337.8541.
POPS Artist Sponsorship
The Bank of America POPS Artist Sponsorship connects donors directly with the guest conductors, guest soloists, and guest artists who perform at Bank of America POPS Series concerts. The POPS Artist Sponsorship offers donors an opportunity to demonstrate enthusiasm for and philanthropic investment in the work happening on our stage. Guest artists appreciate the opportunity to form a meaningful relationship with their artist sponsors and deepen their connection to the Houston Symphony audience. Bank of America POPS Artist Sponsorships are offered at the $25,000+ and $50,000+ levels.
In addition to access to the Toomim Family Green Room, complimentary valet parking, and invitations to other special donor events, POPS Artist Sponsors also receive the following benefits:
• Meet-and-Greet opportunity with the artist and signed keepsake
• VIP night out at the Houston Symphony with complimentary tickets for you and your guests during your sponsored artist’s concert weekend
• Host unlimited guests at a private rehearsal
• Special recognition online, in InTune Magazine, and in the hall on the weekend your sponsored artist is performing
For more information, please contact Katie Salvatore, Major Gifts Officer, at katie.salvatore@houstonsymphony.org or 713.337.8544.
Rebecca & Bobby Jee Betsy Wolfe, Vocalist
Bill Stanley Lena Hall, Vocalist
Tina Raham Stewart
Steven Reineke, Principal POPS Conductor
Young Associates Council
The Houston Symphony’s Young Associates Council (YAC) is a philanthropic membership group for young professionals, music aficionados, and performing arts supporters interested in exploring symphonic music within Houston’s flourishing artistic landscape. YAC members are afforded exclusive opportunities to participate in musically focused events that take place not only in Jones Hall, but also in the city’s most soughtafter venues, private homes, and trendsetting neighborhood hangouts. From behind-the-scenes interactions with the musicians of the Houston Symphony to unforgettable private performances by world-class virtuosos, the Houston Symphony’s Young Associates Council offers incomparable insight and accessibility to the music and musicians that are shaping the future of orchestral music. For more information, please contact Vivian Gonzalez, Development Officer, at vivian.gonzalez@houstonsymphony.org or 713.337.8535.
Donors to the Livestream and Recording Studio Consortium support the Houston Symphony’s exemplary livestream concert series, in-house recording studio, and other media initiatives. The Houston Symphony livestreams nearly every Classical and Bank of America POPS subscription concert for audiences across the world in its Live From Jones Hall series. The livestream series serves music lovers who cannot otherwise easily access Jones Hall or who prefer to enjoy concerts from home or while traveling.
The Houston Symphony is also constructing a recording studio within Jones Hall with new state-of-the-art equipment and high-quality studio room features to support livestream production and enhance current recording operations. The studio—which will be funded, owned, and operated by the Houston Symphony—will also help us build upon previous successes like our 2018 Grammy Award-winning recording of Alban Berg’s Wozzeck. Livestream ticket sales cover about 25 percent of ongoing livestream and recording production expenses—the remainder is supported by donations.
The following donors contribute leadership support of $5,000 or more designated to the Livestream and Recording Studio Consortium. For more information on how to participate, please contact Tim Richey, Director, Individual Giving, at tim.richey@houstonsymphony.org or 713.337.8531.
GUARANTOR
Barbara J. Burger The Elkins Foundation Ms. Leslie Nossaman
UNDERWRITER
Alana R. Spiwak & Sam L. Stolbun
SPONSOR
Nancy and Walter Bratic Terry Ann Brown
PARTNER
Albert & Ethel Herzstein
Foundation
SUPPORTER
Dr. Robert N. Chanon $100,000+ $50,000+ $25,000+ $15,000+ $5,000+
John & Dorothy McDonald
Legacy Society
The Legacy Society honors those who have included the Houston Symphony Endowment in their long-term estate plans through a bequest in a will, life-income gifts, or other deferred-giving arrangements.
For more information, please contact Hadia Mawlawi, Senior Associate, Endowment and Planned Giving, at hadia.mawlawi@houstonsymphony.org or 713.337.8532.
CRESCENDO CIRCLE
(as of April 1, 2025)
Dr. and Mrs. George J.* Abdo
Priscilla R. Angly
Jonathan and Ann Ayre
Myra W. Barber
Janice Barrow*
Jim Barton
James Bell
Joan H. Bitar, M.D.
Cyndi and Carl Bohannon
Zarine Meherwan Boyce*
James* and S. Dale Brannon
Walter and Nancy Bratic
Joe Brazzatti
Terry Ann Brown
Mary Kathryn Campion and Stephen Liston
Drs. Dennis and Susan Carlyle
Janet F. Clark
Virginia A. Clark
Mr. William E. Colburn
Elizabeth DeWitts
Andria N. Elkins
Jean and Jack* Ellis
The Aubrey* and Sylvia Farb Family
Eugene Fong
SCAN HERE TO VIEW THE FULL LISTING
Mrs. Aggie L. Foster
Stephen and Mariglyn Glenn
Evan B. Glick
Jo A. and Billie Jo Graves
Mario Gudmundsson
Claudio J. Gutiérrez
Deborah Happ and Richard Rost
Don L. Harris
Marilyn and Bob Hermance
Dr. Charles and Tammie Johnson
Dr. Rita Justice
Mary W. Kenner
Dr. James E. and Betty W. Key
Carey Kirkpatrick
Calvin and Helen Leeke
Mr.* and Mrs. U. J. LeGrange
Joella and Steven P. Mach
Martha and Alexander Matiuk
Michelle and Jack Matzer
Dr. and Mrs. Malcolm L. Mazow
David Peavy and Dr. Stephen McCauley
Barbara and Pat McCelvey
Bill and Karinne McCullough
Muffy and Mike* McLanahan
Dr. Georgette M. Michko
Alfred Cameron Mitchell*
Mr. and Mrs. Marvin H. Mueller
Drs. John and Dorothy Oehler
Gloria G. Pryzant
Fay and George Rizzo
Dr. Douglas and Alicia Rodenberger
Constance E. Roy
Mr. Ed Schneider and Mrs. Toni Oplt
Donna Scott
Charles and Andrea Seay
Mr. and Mrs. James A. Shaffer
Michael J. Shawiak
Louis* and Mary Kay Snyder
Ronald Mikita* & Rex Spikes
David and Helen Stacy
Frank Shroeder Stanford in memory of Dr. Walter O. Stanford
$100,000+
Tina Raham Stewart in memory of Jonathan Stewart
Mike and Anita* Stude
Mr. and Mrs. Jesse B. Tutor
Elba L. Villarreal
Margaret Waisman, M.D. and Steven S. Callahan, Ph.D.
Stephen and Kristine Wallace
Mr. and Mrs. Fredric A. Weber
Robert G. Weiner & Toni Blankmann
Vicki West in honor of Hans Graf
Susan Gail Wood
Jo Dee Wright
Ellen A. Yarrell
Anonymous (3)
Jesse H. Jones Hall Renovation Donors
The Houston Symphony is grateful to those who have generously provided leadership support to the Friends of Jones Hall’s campaign to provide much-needed improvements to the patron experience at Jones Hall.
For more information, please contact Tim Dillow, Interim Co-Chief Development Officer, at timothy.dillow@houstonsymphony.org or 713.337.8538 or Amanda T. Dinitz, Interim Co-Chief Development Officer, amanda.dinitz@houstonsymphony.org or 713.337.8541.
(as of April 1, 2025)
Nancy and Charles Davidson
$10 MILLION+
$5 MILLION+
The Brown Foundation, Inc.
The City of Houston / Houston First Corporation
Sarofim Foundation
Margaret Alkek Williams
Janice H. Barrow*
The Robert and Jane Cizik Family
Janet F. Clark
ConocoPhillips
The Cullen Foundation
The Cullen Trust for the Performing Arts
The Elkins Foundation
Houston Endowment
Barbara and Pat McCelvey
The Shirley and David Toomim Family
The Wortham Foundation, Inc.
$1 MILLION+
FRIENDS OF JONES
M.D. Anderson Foundation
Anne and Albert Chao
Mr. & Mrs. J. Stephen Marks
Beverly and James Postl
Vivian L. Smith Foundation
Bobby and Phoebe Tudor
Mr. and Mrs. Jesse B. Tutor
HALL
Corporate, Foundation, & Government Partners
The Houston Symphony is proud to recognize the leadership support of our corporate, foundation, and government partners that allows the orchestra to reach new heights in musical performance, education programming, and community engagement for Greater Houston and the Gulf Coast Region. For information on becoming a Corporate partner, please contact Sherry Rodriguez, Corporate Relations Manager & Board Liaison, at sherry.rodriguez@houstonsymphony.org or 713.337.8542. For information on becoming a Foundation or Government partner, please contact Christina Trunzo, Director, Foundation Relations, at christina.trunzo@houstonsymphony.org or 713.337.8530.
Gorman’s Uniform Service Jackson & Company* USI Southwest
New Timmy Chan Corporation Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe, L.L.P. Quantum Energy Partners
University of St. Thomas* Union Pacific
Beth Wolff Realtors
Wortham Insurance & Risk Management
Nippon Steel North America, Inc.
Soren Pedersen Catering & Events*
Corporate, Foundation, & Government Partners
FOUNDATIONS & GOVERNMENT AGENCIES (as of April 1, 2025)
Diamond Guarantor ($1,000,000+)
The Brown Foundation, Inc.
Houston Symphony Endowment**
Premier Guarantor ($500,000+)
The Alkek and Williams Foundation
City of Houston through Houston Arts Alliance
Grand Guarantor ($150,000+)
The Cullen Foundation
The Cullen Trust for the Performing Arts
The Hearst Foundations**
Guarantor ($100,000+)
City of Houston through the Miller Theatre Advisory Board**
Underwriter ($50,000+)
Beauchamp Foundation
Houston Symphony Chorus Endowment
Sponsor ($25,000+)
The Melbern G. & Susanne M. Glasscock Foundation**
Partner ($15,000+)
Ruth & Ted Bauer Family Foundation**
Houston Symphony League
The Wortham Foundation, Inc.
The C. Howard Pieper Foundation
Texas Commission on the Arts**
The Humphreys Foundation MD Anderson Foundation
Texas Economic Development
The Jerry C. Dearing Family Foundation**
The Elkins Foundation
LTR Lewis Cloverdale Foundation
John P. McGovern Foundation**
William S. & Lora Jean Kilroy Foundation
The Houston Arts Combined Endowment Fund Sarofim Foundation
The Powell Foundation**
Supporter ($10,000+)
George & Mary Josephine Hamman Foundation**
Benefactor ($5,000+)
Leon Jaworski Foundation
Patron (Below $5,000)
The Lubrizol Foundation
The Schissler Foundation
William E. & Natoma Pyle Harvey Charitable Foundation**
Albert and Ethel Herzstein Charitable Foundation
The Radoff Family Foundation
The Blanche Stastny Foundation
The Scurlock Foundation
The Vivian L. Smith Foundation** Sterling-Turner Foundation
The Hood-Barrow Foundation National Endowment for the Arts
The Pierce Runnells Foundation Strake Foundation**
Keith & Mattie Stevenson Foundation
* Includes in-kind support
**Education and Community Engagement Support
Keeping ELITE PERFORMERS IN THE SPOTLIGHT
FOR THE LOVE OF MUSIC
FOR THE LOVE OF MUSIC
Your generosity plays a vital role in helping us continue to o er extraordinary musical experiences that inspire, uplift, and unite our community!
Your generosity plays a vital role in helping us continue to o er extraordinary musical experiences that inspire, uplift, and unite our community!
400,000
By the end of the 2023–24 Season, the Houston Symphony engaged nearly people through concerts, robust education programs, and our community engagement initiatives, with nearly experiencing the Symphony through free and low-cost programming— bringing live orchestral music to diverse audiences throughout the city:
400,000
By the end of the 2023–24 Season, the Houston Symphony engaged nearly people through concerts, robust education programs, and our community engagement initiatives, with nearly
200,000
200,000
experiencing the Symphony through free and low-cost programming— bringing live orchestral music to diverse audiences throughout the city:
158,363
Houstonians served by Houston Symphony Education and Community Engagement Initiatives 50% of Houstonians served are economically disadvantaged
158,363 50%
550 events with Greater Houston area hospitals, schools, senior centers, and community venues
550 events with Greater Houston area hospitals, schools, senior centers, and community venues
635
635
dementia patients served through Music & Wellness interactive concerts
dementia patients served through Music & Wellness interactive concerts
420 patients, caregivers, and doctors served through hospital bedside performances at Texas Children’s Hospital and MD Anderson Cancer Center
420
patients, caregivers, and doctors served through hospital bedside performances at Texas Children’s Hospital and MD Anderson Cancer Center
15
15
Low-cost and free concerts including:
Low-cost and free concerts including:
Fiesta Sinfónica concert celebrating Hispanic Heritage, presented by Chevron
Fiesta Sinfónica concert celebrating Hispanic Heritage, presented by Chevron
Concerts at Houston Methodist Hospital
Concerts at Houston Methodist Hospital
Concerts at Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
Concerts at Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
And Miller Outdoor Theatre
And Miller Outdoor Theatre
Join us in supporting the music that moves us all—make a gift to the Annual Fund today for the Love of Live Orchestral Music and help ensure its future in our city for generations to come!
Join us in supporting the music that moves us all—make a gift to the Annual Fund today for the Love of Live Orchestral Music and help ensure its future in our city for generations to come!
SCAN HERE TO DONATE USING OUR WEBSITE:
SCAN HERE TO DONATE USING PAYPAL:
SCAN HERE TO DONATE USING PAYPAL:
NEXT MONTH AT THE
SYMPHONY
Attention, movie-lovers! This June, your Houston Symphony has got you covered!
Friday, June 20, 2025, marking the 50 th anniversary of the film’s premiere, Houston Symphony audiences are about to relive the thrilling suspense of Jaws, as the Symphony plays John Williams’s iconic score in sync with the film projected on the big screen. Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the concert hall... The original summer movie blockbuster directed by Academy Award-winner Steven Spielberg, with an Academy Award-winning score by composer John Williams, Jaws set the standard for edge-of-yourseat suspense, quickly becoming a cultural phenomenon and forever changing the movie industry.
Then, Saturday, June 21 and 22, 2025, the Houston Symphony screens another modern classic with the orchestra performing the score live: Disney and Pixar’s Up, featuring a screening of the complete film with Academy Award and Grammy-winning composer Michael Giacchino’s musical score performed live to the film. Giacchino’s score brilliantly blends comedy and action-adventure, embracing the emotional side with his sentimental “Married Life” suite, which earned Giacchino his first Academy Award.
In Harry Potter and the Goblet of FireTM , Harry Potter is mysteriously entered into the Triwizard Tournament, a grueling contest among three wizarding schools in which he confronts a dragon, water demons, and an enchanted maze only to find himself in Lord Voldemort’s grasp. All will change when Harry, Ron, and Hermione leave childhood forever and face challenges beyond their imagining. June 27, 28, and 29, 2025 the Houston Symphony performs the magical score live from Harry Potter and the Goblet of FireTM , the fourth film in the iconic series, while the entire film plays in high-definition on Jones Hall’s big screen.
If you’re a film fan who’s never experienced a film in this way, you owe it to yourself to check out at least one of these films, with the newly enhanced acoustics of Jones Hall bringing the live sound of the Houston Symphony performing the score vibrating through your every molecule. All the while surrounded by literally thousands of other film fans having the same thrilling experience, cheering for the Houston Symphony musicians as loudly and energetically as Astros fans at a playoff game. It’s like seeing these films for the first time all over again.
– Eric Skelly
Friday, Jun. 6–Sunday, Jun. 8
Friday, Jun. 20
Friday, Jun. 27–Sunday, Jun. 29
Saturday, Jun. 21–Sunday, Jun. 22
John Williams & Steven Spielberg: Movie Magic
50 th Anniversary: Jaws in Concert
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire™ in Concert
Disney and Pixar’s Up in Concert
J OIN THE YOUNG ASSOCIATES COUNCIL
The Houston Symphony’s Young Associates Council (YAC) is a community of philanthropic young professionals aged 45 and under who share a common love for music and a desire to engage with the Houston Symphony in a meaningful way. In addition to exclusive benefits and special musically focused events, YAC members receive invitations to a wide variety of exciting experiences from behind-the-scenes interactions with the musicians of the Houston Symphony to jaw-dropping private performances by world-class virtuosos, and more. This season, the YAC has grown to include more than 125 members from a wide range of professional industries and backgrounds. The group also recently supported the Symphony’s Education and Community Engagement initiatives with its Tasting Notes event on October 28, 2024.
Interested in joining the YAC? Contact Vivian Gonzalez, Development Officer, at vivian.gonzalez@houstonsymphony.org or 713.337.8535
YAC provides an opportunity to network with other like-minded young professionals who share an appreciation of the art and wish to support the organization and community. Our intimate, private concert events allow members to get up close and personal with the musicians; and from that, I have gained more knowledge and appreciation of the music, as well as backstage insight into the organization itself. YAC provides its members with a stepping stone for what I hope leads to our members’ lifelong patronage of the Houston Symphony.
Kirby Lodholz, Young Associates Council Chair
Matt Weathers, Laurel Flores, Carlos Sierra, and Mario Gudmundsson. Photo by Johnny Tan.
Aprill Nelson, Kirby Lodholz, and Carrie Brandsberg-Dahl. Photo by Johnny Tan.
