The Houston Symphony Magazine
A. R. Rahman with the Houston Symphony
ORCHESTRA ROSTER
Juraj Val!uha
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
Tong Yan
Ferenc Illenyi
Si-Yang Lao
Christopher Neal
Sergei Galperin
SECOND VIOLIN
Vacant, Principal
Vacant, Associate Principal
Amy Semes
Annie Kuan-Yu Chen
Mihaela Frusina
Jing Zheng
Anastasia Iglesias
Tina Zhang*
Yankı Karataş
Hannah Duncan
Alexandros Sakarellos
VIOLA
Joan DerHovsepian, Principal
Wei Jiang, Acting Associate Principal
Samuel Pedersen, Assistant Principal
Paul Aguilar
Sheldon Person
Fay Shapiro
Keoni Bolding
Jimmy Cunningham
CELLO
Brinton Averil Smith, Principal
Janice H. and Thomas D. Barrow Chair
Christopher French, Associate Principal
Jane and Robert Cizik Chair
Anthony Kitai
Louis-Marie Fardet
Je rey Butler
Maki Kubota
Xiao Wong
Charles Seo
Jeremy Kreutz
DOUBLE BASS
Robin Kesselman, Principal
Timothy Dilenschneider, Associate Principal
Andrew Pedersen, Assistant Principal
Eric Larson
Logan May
Burke Shaw
Donald Howey
Avery Weeks
COMMUNITY-EMBEDDED MUSICIAN
Lindsey Baggett, Violin
LIBRARIANS
Ali Verderber, Associate Librarian
Megan Fisher, Assistant Librarian
Steven Reineke, Principal POPS Conductor
Andrés Orozco-Estrada, Conductor Laureate
Gonzalo Farias, Associate Conductor
FLUTE
Kayla Burggraf, Principal
General Maurice Hirsch Chair
Matthew Roitstein, Associate Principal
Judy Dines
Kathryn Ladner
PICCOLO
Kathryn Ladner
OBOE
Jonathan Fischer, Principal
Lucy Binyon Stude Chair
Anne Leek, Associate Principal
Vacant
Adam Dinitz
Pablo Moreno+
ENGLISH HORN
Adam Dinitz
Barbara and Pat McCelvey Chair
CLARINET
Mark Nuccio, Principal
Bobbie Nau Chair
Vacant, Associate Principal
Christian Schubert
Alexander Potiomkin
Ben Freimuth+
E-FLAT CLARINET
Vacant
Ben Freimuth+
BASS CLARINET
Alexander Potiomkin
BASSOON
Rian Craypo, Principal
Isaac Schultz, Associate Principal
Elise Wagner
Adam Trussell
CONTRABASSOON
Adam Trussell
HORN
William VerMeulen, Principal
Mr. and Mrs. Alexander K. McLanahan
Endowed Chair
Robert Johnson, Associate Principal
Nathan Cloeter, Assistant Principal/Utility
Ian Mayton
Barbara J. Burger Chair
Brian Mangrum
Spencer Bay+
STAGE PERSONNEL
Vacant, Stage Manager
José Rios, Assistant Stage Manager
Nicholas DiFonzo, Head Video Engineer
Justin Herriford, Head Audio Engineer
Connor Morrow, Head Stage Technician
Giancarlo Minotti, Audio Production Manager
TRUMPET
Mark Hughes, Principal
George P. and Cynthia Woods
Mitchell Chair
John Parker, Associate Principal
Robert Walp, Assistant Principal
Richard Harris
TROMBONE
Nick Plato , Principal
Bradley White, Associate Principal
Phillip Freeman
BASS TROMBONE
Phillip Freeman
TUBA
Dave Kirk, Principal
TIMPANI
Leonardo Soto, Principal
Matthew Strauss, Associate Principal
PERCUSSION
Brian Del Signore, Principal
Mark Gri th
Matthew Strauss
HARP
Allegra Lilly, Principal
KEYBOARD
Vacant, Principal
LIBRARIAN
Luke Bryson, Principal
*on leave + contracted substitute
PERFORMANCE CALENDAR
2026-27 se a son
S A. R. Rahman with the Houston Symphony
July 24 & 25
S Pepe Aguilar with the Houston Symphony
August 28 & 29
S Idina Menzel
August 30
S Ben Rector: Symphonies Across America with Jon McLaughlin
September 4
S How to Train Your Dragon in Concert
September 5 & 6
S Opening Night: Celebrating America at 250
September 19
Simply the Best:
A Tribute to Tina Turner
September 25 & 26*
Rachmanino f Festival: Rachmanino f ’s Second Symphony
October 2, 3 * & 4
S
Rachmanino f Festival: Rachmanino f ’s Piano
Concerto No. 3
October 9, 10 * & 11
Mozart’s Jupiter & JIJI
October 16 , 17 * & 18
Dolly Parton’s Threads: My Songs in Symphony
October 30, November 1
Haunted Halloween
October 31
Disney Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas in Concert Live-to-Film
October 31
Shostakovich’s Ninth Symphony & Yoonshin Song
November 6, 7 * & 8
La Vida Loca
November 21 & 22*
See our full year calendar for even more concerts!
SOCIETY BOARD OF TRUSTEES
OFFICERS
Barbara McCelvey President
John Rydman** Board Chair Chair, Artistic & Orchestra
A airs
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
Brad W. Corson Chair, Governance & Leadership
Carey Kirkpatrick Chair, Marketing & Communications
Evan B. Glick Chair, Popular Programming
Sippi Khurana, M.D. Chair, Education & Community Engagement
Mary Lynn Marks Chair, Volunteers & Special Events
GOVERNING DIRECTORS
Gary Beauchamp
Eric Brueggeman
MK Campion
John Cassidy, M.D.
Khoa Dao
Lidiya Gold
TRUSTEES
Christopher Armstrong
David Balderston
David J. Beck
Carrie Brandsberg-Dahl
Nancy Shelton Bratic
Terry Ann Brown**
Ralph Burch
John T. Cater**
Robert Chanon
Heaven Chee
Michael H. Clark
Virginia Clark
Andrew Davis, Ph.D.
Denise Davis
Tracy Dieterich
Kelli Cohen Fein
Je rey B. Firestone
Eugene A. Fong
Aggie L. Foster
Barbara J. Burger Immediate Past President
Mike S. Stude** Chair Emeritus
Paul Morico General Counsel
Jonathan Ayre Secretary Chair, Finance
Janet F. Clark^ Immediate Past Chair
Ed Schneider Chair, Development
Robert Orr Chair, Strategic Planning
Jesse B. Tutor** Chair, Audit
Jerre Williams President, Houston Symphony League
James H. Lee^ President, Houston Symphony Endowment
Juraj Val!uha^ Music Director Roy and Lillie Cullen Chair
Joan DerHovsepian^ Musician Representative
Mark Hughes^ Musician Representative
Jeremy Kreutz^ Musician Representative
Mark Nuccio^ Musician Representative
Gary Ginstling^ Executive Director/CEO
Margaret Alkek Williams Chair
David J. M. Key
David Krieger
Cindy Levit
Isabel Stude Lummis
Cora Sue Mach**
Rodney Margolis**
Kate Dearing Fowler
Aoife French
Carolyn Gaidos
Andrew Gould
Lori Harrington
Pablo Hernandez Schmidt-
Topho
Je Hiller
Grace Ho
Gary L. Hollingsworth
John W. Hutchinson
Brian James
Matthew Kades
I. Ray Kirk, M.D.
Matthew Loden
Kirby Lodholz
Michael Mann, M.D.
Nancy Martin
Jack Matzer
FOUNDATION FOR JONES HALL REPRESENTATIVES
Janet F. Clark
Brad W. Corson
Meredith Marshall
Leslie Nossaman
Chris Powers
Brittany Sakowitz
Ed Schneider
Justin Stenberg
Jackie Wolens Mazow
Diane K. Morales
Tim Ong
Edward Osterberg Jr.
Gloria G. Pryzant
Miwa Sakashita
Andrew Schwaitzberg
Helen Sha er**
Becky Shaw
Jim R. Smith
Miles O. Smith**
Quentin Smith
Tad Smith
Anthony Speier
Tina Raham Stewart
Nanako Tingleaf
Terry Thomas
Margaret Waisman, M.D.
Fredric A. Weber
Barbara McCelvey
Steven P. Mach^ At-Large Member
Bobby Tudor^** At-Large Member
Gretchen Watkins^ At-Large Member
William J. Toomey II
Betty Tutor**
Robert Weiner
Margaret Alkek Williams**
Vicki West
Steven J. Williams
David J. Wuthrich
Ellen A. Yarrell
Robert Yekovich
EX-OFFICIO
Alejandro Gallardo
Reverend Ray Mackey, III
Frank F. Wilson IV
Fredric Weber
LEADERSHIP GROUP
Gary Ginstling, Executive Director/CEO
Margaret Alkek Williams Chair
Elizabeth S. Condic, Chief Financial O cer
Vicky Dominguez, Chief Operating O cer
Rolanda Gregory, Chief Marketing O cer
Jennifer Renner, Chief Development O cer
Mayenne Minuit, Executive Assistant
DEVELOPMENT
Leanna Aldis, Manager, Foundation Relations
Sarah Bhalla, Board Relations Associate
Lauren Buchanan, Development Communications Manager
Alex Canales, Manager, Donor Services
Jessie De Arman, Development Associate, Gifts, Records, & Research
Timothy Dillow, Senior Director, Individual Giving
Amanda T. Dinitz, Director, Principal Gifts & Endowment
Kamra Kilmer, Manager, Corporate Relations
Karyn Mason, Institutional Giving O cer
Hadia Mawlawi, Endowment & Planned Giving O cer
Gavin Reed, Major Gifts O cer
Tim Richey, Major Gifts O cer
Katie Salvatore, Director, Annual Giving & Membership
Phillip Smith, Special Events and League Liaison O cer
Lena Streetman, Director, Development Operations
Sarah Thompson, Donor Events Manager
Christina Trunzo, Director, Institutional Giving
EDUCATION | COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
Olivia Allred, Education Manager
Allison Conlan, Senior Director, Education & Community Engagement
Austin Hinkle, Education & Community Engagement Coordinator
Jazmine Olwalia, Community Engagement Manager
Community-Embedded Musicians (CEM):
Lindsey Baggett, Lead CEM
Lucinda Chiu, CEM Teaching Artist
David Connor, Senior CEM Teaching Artist
Bensen Kwan, CEM Education Specialist
Brittany Leavitt, CEM Teaching Artist
Bianca Lozano, CEM Teaching Artist
Adrian Ponce, CEM Teaching Artist
Lauren Ross, CEM Teaching Artist
Jaya Varma, CEM Teaching Artist
FINANCE | ADMINISTRATION | IT | HR
José Arriaga, Systems Engineer
Henry Cantu, Finance Accountant
Kimberly Cegielski, Sta Accountant
Heather Fails, Database Administrator
Ronin Jackson, IT Intern
Joel James, Director of Human Resources
Tanya Lovetro, Director of Budgeting & Financial Reporting
Freddie Piegsa, Help Desk Technician
Morgana Rickard, Controller
Gabriela Rivera, Senior Accountant
Pam Romo, O ce Manager/HR Coordinator
Lee Whatley, Senior Director, IT & Analytics
MARKETING | COMMUNICATIONS
Bryan Ayllon, UX & Conversion Specialist
Rachel Cheng, Marketing & External Relations Assistant
Bella Cutaia, Manager, Patron Services
Kathryn Judd, Director, Marketing
Priya Kurup, Senior Associate, Group Sales
Caroline Lawson, Patron Services Representative
Yoo-Ell Lee, Graphics & Media Designer
Milow Lozano, Ticketing Systems & Marketing Operations Specialist
Ciara Macaulay, Creative Director
Ashley Martinez, Patron Services Coordinator
Mariah Martinez, Email Marketing Coordinator
Alexander McKeveny, Performance Marketing Specialist
Casey Pearce, Graphic Design Manager
Aracely Quevedo, Patron Services Representative
Nadjalie Santos, Front of House Coordinator
Eric Skelly, Senior Director, Communications
Christian Sosa, Web Experience Director
Alexa Ustaszewski, Manager, Revenue and Audience Insights
Sophie Volpe, Digital Content Specialist
Leecia Whatley, Patron Services Representative
Jenny Zuniga, Director, Patron Services
OPERATIONS | ARTISTIC
Stephanie Alla, Associate Director of Artistic Planning
Becky Brown, Associate Director of Orchestra Personnel
Juan Pablo Brand, Artistic Assistant
Ryan Diefenderfer, Concert Operations Assistant
Megan Fisher, Assistant Librarian
Michael Gorman, Director of Orchestra Personnel
Julia Hall, Assistant Director, Houston Symphony Chorus
Parker Hart, Concert Operations Manager
Adrian Hernandez, Concert Media Production Manager
Giancarlo Minotti, Audio Production Manager
José Rios, Assistant Stage Manager
Brad Sayles, Senior Recording Engineer
Nathan Trinkl, Artistic Assistant & Assistant to the Music Director
Ali Verderber, Associate Librarian
Meredith Williams, Director of Concert Operations
Rebecca Zabinski, Senior Director of Artistic Planning
July 24 & 25, 2026
A. R. RAHMAn
*Jonathan Taylor Rush, conductor
*A. R. Rahman, composer, vocalist, and piano
*Kevin Doucette, keyboard and piano
*Rohith Jayaraman, vocalist
*Pragathi Guruprasad, vocalist
*Kiran Saishankar, vocalist
*Nivi Saishankar, vocalist
*Aditya Rao, vocalist
*Heer Kamal, vocalist
*Visveshwar Nagarajan, flute
*Yamini Kalluri, dancer
*Harini Nilakantan, dancer
0:47
Rajnikant Medley
Homecoming (Shikara Suite)
Canyons (127 Hours)
Oracle (99 Songs)
Film Score Medley
Thiruda Thiruda
Yeh Jo Des (Swades)
Navami - Ramayana Promo
Ayodiya - Ramayana Promo
Latika’s Theme (Slumdog Millionaire)
INTERMISSION
0:46
*Houston Symphony debut
Jaage & Tere Pas
Bombay Theme (Bombay)
The Beloved (The Goat Life)
The Cry of the Rose (Roja)
Raga Dance
Tu Hi Re (Bombay)
Nahi Saamne (Taal )
Taal Se Taal (Taal )
Veerapandi Kottaiyille (Thiruda Thiruda)
Jai Ho (Slumdog Millionaire)
About the Music
Friday, July 24
Saturday, July 25
Program Bios
A. R. Rahman, composer, vocalist, and piano
Renowned worldwide as A. R. Rahman, he stands as an iconic figure known for redefining Indian film and contemporary music. His illustrious career has been adorned with a staggering list of achievements, making him a true luminary in the industry.
With a prolific body of work that spans across more than 160 film soundtracks and albums in over half a dozen languages, Rahman has created compositions that have touched the hearts of millions. His music has played an
Jones Hall
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integral role in blockbuster movies such as Roja, Bombay, Dil Se, Taal, Lagaan, Vandemataram, Jodhaa Akbar, Ponniyin Selvan (I & II), Slumdog Millionaire, 127 Hours, and countless more.
Rahman’s journey into music began at a tender age, leading him to compose jingles and scores for popular Indian television programs. In 1991, his collaboration with noted filmmaker Mani Ratnam on Roja propelled him to national stardom, earning him his first Indian National Award for Best Music Composer, a feat unprecedented for a debutant. Rahman has since claimed this prestigious honor five more times, setting a remarkable record in the industry.
In 1997, Sony Music recognized Rahman’s exceptional talent and signed him as its first South Asian artist to commemorate India’s 50 years of independence. The result was Vande Mataram, an album that rekindled the spirit of patriotism and resonated with Indians across the globe.
Sponsors
Dr. Sippi and Mr. Ajay Khurana
Presenting Sponsor
Rahman’s global influence continued to soar when he collaborated with Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber on the musical Bombay Dreams. The show achieved immense success, running for two years in London’s West End and later premiering on Broadway in New York City.
The pinnacle of Rahman’s global recognition arrived in 2008 with the astounding success of Slumdog Millionaire, earning him two Academy Awards, two Grammys, a Golden Globe, and a BAFTA, among many other accolades.
His orchestral compositions have graced renowned orchestras like the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, Babelsberg Film Orchestra, and Birmingham Symphony Orchestra.
In addition to his musical pursuits, Rahman ventured into directing India’s first-ever virtual reality movie, Le Musk, and co-wrote and produced 99 Songs, which premiered at the Busan International Film Festival.
OPENING NIGHT
CELEBRATING AMERICA AT 250
September 19
Steven Reineke, conductor
Isabel Leonard, mezzo-soprano
Matthew McConaughey, narrator
Concert Sponsor and Lead Gala Underwriter