Springtime in Italy: Tchaikovsky & More March 15, 2026
your symphony experience JONES HALL
“WHEN SHOULD I CLAP?”
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 20th century.
It’s a question we hear often! Traditionally, audiences wait to applaud until the very end of a piece, especially when it has several sections (called movements). This allows the music to flow without interruption and helps the performers stay focused. If you’re unsure, a simple cue is when the conductor lowers their arms and turns toward the audience—that’s your signal the piece has finished. That said, there’s no wrong way to show your appreciation. If the music inspires you in the moment, don’t hesitate to clap! Your enthusiasm and energy are always welcome at the Symphony.
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.
CHILDREN
FOOD & DRINK POLICY
LATE SEATING
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
Houston Symphony
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ORCHESTRA ROSTER Steven Reineke, Principal POPS Conductor
Juraj Valčuha
Andrés Orozco-Estrada, Conductor Laureate
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 James Gikas+ Tianxu Liu+ Samuel Park+ Timothy Peters+ Arutyun Piloyan+ Teresa Wang+ SECOND VIOLIN Vacant, Principal Vacant, Associate Principal Amy Semes Annie Kuan-Yu Chen Mihaela Frusina Jing Zheng Anastasia Iglesias Tina Zhang* Yankı Karata! Hannah Duncan Alexandros Sakarellos Zubaida Azezi+ Hanna Hrybkova+ VIOLA Joan DerHovsepian, Principal Wei Jiang, Acting Associate Principal Samuel Pedersen, Assistant Principal Paul Aguilar Sheldon Person Fay Shapiro Keoni Bolding Jimmy Cunningham Meredith Harris+ Yvonne Smith+ CELLO Brinton Averil Smith, Principal Janice H. and Thomas D. Barrow Chair Christopher French, Associate Principal Jane and Robert Cizik Chair Anthony Kitai Louis-Marie Fardet Jeffrey Butler Maki Kubota Xiao Wong Charles Seo Jeremy Kreutz
COMMUNITY-EMBEDDED MUSICIAN Lindsey Baggett, Violin LIBRARIANS Ali Verderber, Associate Librarian Megan Fisher, Assistant Librarian
Anthony J. Maglione, Director, Houston Symphony Chorus Gonzalo Farias, Associate Conductor
DOUBLE BASS Robin Kesselman, Principal Timothy Dilenschneider, Associate Principal Andrew Pedersen, Assistant Principal Eric Larson Logan May Burke Shaw Donald Howey Avery Weeks
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+
FLUTE Vacant, Principal Matthew Roitstein, Associate Principal Judy Dines Kathryn Ladner Douglas DeVries+
TRUMPET Mark Hughes, Principal George P. and Cynthia Woods Mitchell Chair John Parker, Associate Principal Robert Walp, Assistant Principal Richard Harris
PICCOLO Kathryn Ladner
TROMBONE Nick Platoff, Principal Bradley White, Associate Principal Phillip Freeman
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+
BASS TROMBONE Phillip Freeman TUBA Dave Kirk, Principal TIMPANI Leonardo Soto, Principal Matthew Strauss, Associate Principal PERCUSSION Brian Del Signore, Principal Mark Griffith Matthew Strauss HARP Allegra Lilly, Principal
E-FLAT CLARINET Vacant Ben Freimuth+
KEYBOARD Vacant, Principal
BASS CLARINET Alexander Potiomkin
LIBRARIAN Luke Bryson, Principal
BASSOON Rian Craypo, Principal Isaac Schultz, Associate Principal Elise Wagner Adam Trussell CONTRABASSOON Adam Trussell
*on leave + contracted substitute
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 3
Chamber Music Series: Springtime in Italy: Tchaikovsky & More
Springtime in Italy: Tchaikovsky & More 0:22
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FRANÇAIX – À huit (Octet) Moderato Scherzo Andante Mouvement de Valse Mark Nuccio, clarinet
Tong Yan, violin
Rian Craypo, bassoon
Wei Jiang, viola
Robert Johnson, horn
Christopher French, cello
Annie Kuan-Yu Chen, violin
Robin Kesselman, double bass
TCHAIKOVSKY – Souvenir de Florence, Opus 70 Allegro con spirito Adagio cantabile e con moto--Moderato--Tempo I Allegretto moderato Allegro vivace Yoonshin Song, violin
Joan DerHovsepian, viola
Alexandros Sakarellos, violin
Charles Seo, cello
Keoni Bolding, viola
Louis-Marie Fardet, cello
Houston Symphony
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Sunday, March 15
Jones Hall
6:30 p.m.
Program Notes FRANÇAIX À huit (Octet)
Born into a musical family, French composer and pianist Jean Françaix (1912–1997) exhibited precocious talents from an early age. Upon reviewing Françaix’s youthful compositions, Ravel remarked, “Among the child’s gifts I observe above all the most fruitful an artist can possess, that of curiosity: you must not stifle these precious gifts now or ever, or risk letting this young sensibility wither.” This innate curiosity was nurtured by Nadia Boulanger, who served as an important teacher and mentor in Françaix’s musical development. His mature works adhere to the neoclassicism that emerged in interwar France, a style characterized by the playful reinterpretation of 18th-century musical forms with unconventional rhythms and harmonies. Françaix’s octet À huit (“For eight”) dates from 1972 and is scored for the unusual combination of clarinet, bassoon, horn, string quartet, and double bass—the same ensemble constitutes Schubert’s celebrated octet. Compared with the “heavenly lengths” of Schubert’s six-movement work, Françaix’s octet is a model of classical concision, divided into four movements that showcase the composer’s characteristic light touch. Throughout, the tuneful style of popular French chansons adds a Gallic wit and charm to the proceedings. The first movement opens with an introduction featuring a lyrical theme for the clarinet, which also takes the lead in the livelier main body of the movement. At the end of the movement, the insouciant main theme sounds simultaneously with the slower melody from the introduction (now played by the horn), revealing that the two are in fact theme and countertheme. The second movement Scherzo features pizzicato strings amid a bustling main idea; bowed strings play more melodic material in the middle of the work, while the busy motifs of the opening continue in the background. After a few bars of introduction, the third movement Andante presents a gentle theme for strings. The woodwinds respond with a second theme, and when the first theme returns, the woodwinds embroider the strings’ melody. An 18th-century finale might have featured the rhythms of a jig or saltarello, but after a faux-serious introduction, Françaix substitutes the lilt of a 19th-century waltz to end his octet. String harmonics abound, imitating the sound of a barrel organ on a Parisian street corner. The
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Program Notes main theme alternates with contrasting episodes full of sly harmonic twists and rhythmic games before the faux-serious introduction returns, ending the octet with a final musical joke. —Calvin Dotsey
TCHAIKOVSKY Souvenir de Florence, Opus 70
Although Tchaikovsky wrote several beloved pieces of chamber music over the course of his life, he generally preferred composing for the larger resources of the orchestra. Nevertheless, in 1886 the St. Petersburg Chamber Music Society granted him an honorary membership, perhaps hoping to spur the creation of a new piece. They were in luck, as the composer responded with a “firm promise to write and dedicate to your Society some sort of chamber music work.” However, they would have to wait nearly six years for Tchaikovsky to finish it. After an initial attempt at composing a string sextet in 1887 came to nought, Tchaikovsky returned to the project when he found himself in Florence during February and March of 1890. While working on his opera The Queen of Spades, he jotted down a theme he would soon incorporate into the long-delayed sextet. Tchaikovsky never offered an explanation for the title of the piece, Souvenir de Florence (French for “Memory of Florence”), but the name seems a nod to the birthplace of this melody; unlike Tchaikovsky’s Capriccio Italien, however, Souvenir de Florence does not have a particularly Italian character. Indeed, the work is as thoroughly Russian as anything else Tchaikovsky wrote. Tchaikovsky began serious work on the sextet in June back at his home near Moscow and completed a draft by early August. After a trial performance in December, he found himself dissatisfied with a few passages, which he at last revised in Paris in January 1892. Fortunately for the St. Petersburg Chamber Music Society, the sextet proved worth the long wait: it remains among the most frequently performed pieces of chamber music today. “The first movement needs to be played with great fire and passion,” Tchaikovsky wrote, and indeed, this movement’s main ideas recall the drama of Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet Overture: an intense opening contrasts with a lyrical second melody, in which the first violin and cello engage in an operatic duet. Tchaikovsky returned to the theme of tragic love again and again in his works, and the unfolding of this movement suggests a similar poetic inspiration. After a chorale-like introduction, the second movement recalls the world of ballet with its graceful main theme—the melody which came to Tchaikovsky in Florence. It begins as a violin solo, but then becomes a passionate duet for violin and cello, recalling the instrumentation of the first movement’s second theme. Tchaikovsky noted that the whispering middle section of the movement “should be just discernible, like summer lightning.”
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Chamber Music Series: Springtime in Italy: Tchaikovsky & More
Program Notes TCHAIKOVSKY Souvenir de Florence, Opus 70
The last two movements both strongly evoke the sound of Russian folk music, following the 18th-century norm of placing more serious, “noble” music in the first movement and more vernacular music at the end. The third movement, a scherzo, contrasts a soulful opening with a lively central section, building to a whirling climax. Tchaikovsky wrote that the finale must be played “brightly and enthusiastically”: here, he pairs an infectious opening theme with a broad, singing melody. Tchaikovsky later treats the main theme with learned counterpoint in an impressive six-part fugue, and the sextet concludes with a thrilling coda such as only Tchaikovsky could write. —Calvin Dotsey
Program Bios
Mark Nuccio, clarinet (Françaix) Critics have praised clarinetist Mark Nuccio for both his solo and chamber appearances, describing him as “the evening’s highlight,” full of “mystery and insight,” and “shaping his phrases beautifully with a rich, expressive tone” (The New York Times). Nuccio is currently the Principal Clarinet of the Houston Symphony since 2016. Prior to that, he was a member of the New York Philharmonic, having joined in 1999 as Associate Principal and Solo E-flat Clarinetist. During Nuccio’s 17 years in the NYP, he served as
Houston Symphony
Acting Principal Clarinet for four years from 2009–13. Prior to his service with the Philharmonic, he held positions with orchestras in Pittsburgh, Denver, Savannah, and Florida, working with distinguished conductors such as Lorin Maazel, Kurt Masur, Mariss Jansons, Riccardo Muti, Zubin Mehta, Erich Leinsdorf, Alan Gilbert, Claudio Abbado, Riccardo Chailly, André Previn, Christoph von Dohnányi, Valero Gergiev, Charles Dutoit, Gustavo Dudamel, Esa Pekka Salonen, Andrés Orozco-Estrada, and Juraj Valčuha. Additionally, Nuccio has toured extensively with the Houston Symphony, the New York Philharmonic, and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and in numerous countries; recorded with all three orchestras; and performed regularly with the Philharmonic, on the award-winning series, Live from Lincoln Center, broadcast on PBS. Recent highlights include the Philharmonic’s historic and newsworthy visits to North Korea and Vietnam. An active solo and chamber musician, Nuccio has been
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featured with various orchestras in the United States and made multiple appearances as a featured performer at the International Clarinet Association conventions. He made his subscription solo debut with the Houston Symphony in 2018 with several other appearances since then, with the subscription solo debut with the New York Philharmonic on Feb. 10, 2010 and returned to perform the Copland Concerto with the NYP under the baton of Alan Gilbert on May 31 and June 1 of 2013. Other highlights include a New York recital debut at Carnegie Hall in 2001, and his Japanese recital debut in 2002. He continues to regularly perform recitals in Asia and Europe as well as across the United States and in New York, he can often be heard at Merkin Concert Hall, 92nd Street Y, Carnegie Hall, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Nuccio also participates in the chamber music series at the Strings Music Festival in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, performs/teaches at Festival Napa Valley, and teaches at ARIA Music
Program Bios Festival, among others. As a studio musician, Nuccio is featured on numerous movie soundtracks, including Failure to Launch, The Last Holiday, The Rookie, The Score, Intolerable Cruelty, Alamo, Pooh’s Heffalump, Hitch, and The Manchurian Candidate, as well as various television commercials, Super Bowl music, and the Master’s Golf Tournament. Additionally he has performed on the Late Show with David Letterman and on the 2003 Grammy Awards. His own debut album featuring the clarinet quintets of Mozart and Brahms, Opening Night, was released in November 2006. A Colorado native, Nuccio was recently awarded the “Distinguished Alumni Award” from his alma mater, the University of Northern Colorado. He also holds a master’s degree from Northwestern University where he studied with renowned pedagogue Robert Marcellus. Beyond his active performing schedule, Nuccio is committed to training the next generation of musicians and currently serves as music faculty for Northwestern University’s Bienen School of Music in Evanston, IL. He also teaches masterclasses in the U.S. and abroad. Mark Nuccio is a D’Addario Advising Artist & Clinician and a performing artist/clinician for Buffet Music Group.
Rian Craypo, bassoon (Françaix)
Robert Johnson, horn (Françaix)
Principal Bassoon Rian Craypo has been with the Houston Symphony since 2007. Born in Virginia, she moved to Texas at 10 months of age and grew up east of Austin in a small intentional community.
Robert Johnson enjoys a growing career as an orchestral and chamber musician, soloist, and teacher of horn. Before joining the Houston Symphony in 2012 as Associate Principal Horn, Johnson was Assistant Principal/ Utility Horn of the Cincinnati Symphony and Pops Orchestras, Principal Horn of both the Dayton Philharmonic and Richmond Symphony, and Fourth Horn of the Honolulu Symphony. He has also performed with the Houston Grand Opera, IRIS Orchestra, Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, Saint Louis Symphony, San Antonio Symphony, and both the Los Angeles Philharmonic at Disney Hall and Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra as a guest Principal Horn.
After studying at the University of Texas at Austin with Kristin Wolfe Jensen, she attended Rice University, where she received her master’s degree under former Houston Symphony Principal Bassoon Benjamin Kamins. In 2001, she was awarded a Federation of German/American Clubs Scholarship, which led to a year of study and performances in Germany and was a finalist in the Gillet-Fox International Bassoon Competition in both 2004 and 2006. Rian serves on the board of Third Space Music, which presents Houston Symphony musicians several times a year in intimate and engaging chamber settings. Rian is also the author of a book about bassoon reed making, published in 2017. She and her husband Sean have three children.
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Johnson has performed as a Concerto Soloist with the Dayton Philharmonic, Houston Symphony, New World Symphony, Texas Music Festival, at Chicago’s Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic, and nationwide as a recitalist and chamber musician. In the summers, he has performed with the AIMS, Aspen, Cascade, Colorado, Strings, and Tanglewood Music
Chamber Music Series: Springtime in Italy: Tchaikovsky & More
Program Bios Festivals, as well as the Perlman Music Program and Sun Valley Summer Symphony. He can be heard performing on numerous recordings, commercials, and soundtracks made with the Cincinnati Symphony and Pops Orchestras, Dayton Philharmonic, Nashville String Machine Studio Orchestra, and the Houston Symphony. In the Fall of 2013, Johnson joined the faculty of the Moores School of Music as an Affiliate Artist at the University of Houston, thus fulfilling a long-held dream of expanding his teaching to the collegiate level. Also a faculty member at the Texas Music Festival, he is in demand to lead masterclasses and lectures nationwide, most recently at the Colburn School in Los Angeles. Johnson’s previous students have enjoyed acceptance and appointment to a multitude of prestigious universities, conservatories, summer music festivals, and professional ensembles. Acceptances include the Banff Centre for the Arts, Boston University’s Tanglewood Institute, Carnegie Hall’s National Youth Orchestra of the United States, Interlochen Arts Camp and Academy, Yamaha’s Young Performing Artist Program, as well as the Brevard, Domaine Forget, Hot Springs, Lucerne, Pacific, Sarasota, and Texas Music Festivals. Collegiate acceptances include Carnegie Mellon, DePaul, Indiana, Northwestern, Rice, and Roosevelt Universities, the New England, Oberlin, and San Francisco Conservatories, as well as the University of CincinnatiCollege Conservatory of Music, Eastman School of Music, and
Houston Symphony
Peabody Institute. His students have performed with a number of professional ensembles, including City Music Cleveland, Hawaii Symphony, Houston Symphony, and the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra, among others. A graduate of Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music, he studied with William VerMeulen and received further training as a fellow with the New World Symphony. Johnson is a lifetime member of the International Horn Society and has authored for The Horn Call magazine. He is married to flutist and teacher Ariella Perlman, with whom he chases their twin boys, Ezra and Reuben.
Music Institute, the Music Academy of the West, where she was a winner of the 2011 concerto competition, and the Tanglewood Music Center. She has toured with the Youth Orchestra of the Americas and was a regular member of Discovery Ensemble, a Boston-based chamber orchestra that provides outreach concerts to inner-city schools with no music programs. She has also been featured as a soloist with the Dorchester Symphony Orchestra. Chen holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the New England Conservatory in Boston and a master’s degree from the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University, where she held the Shepherd School Distinguished Fellowship in Violin. Her principal teachers have included Lynn Chang, James Buswell, and Kathleen Winkler.
Annie Kuan-Yu Chen, violin (Françaix) A native of Taiwan, Annie Chen began her musical studies at age six on piano and at age eight on violin. At age 14, she moved to the United States to continue her music education at the Walnut Hill School for the Arts and the New England Conservatory Preparatory Program in Boston. Chen has been a participant of numerous summer music festivals including the Heifetz International 10
Tong Yan, violin (Françaix) A winner of international competitions, Tong Yan has claimed first prize at the International Music Competition of Union Française des Artistes Musiciens in Paris, International Violin Competition in Kazakhstan, International
Program Bios Chinese Violin Competition in New York, and string winner at the Gisborne International Orchestral Instruments Competition in New Zealand. She has also placed in the top three at the Andrea Postacchini International Violin Competition in Italy and the Brahms International Violin Competition in Austria. Yan has had many recitals and solo performances with orchestras in Austria, Italy, Germany, France, Australia, New Zealand, China, Canada, and the United States. Yan is currently an active chamber musician and has participated in festivals such as the Summer Strings Academy in Australia, Canada’s Morningside Music Bridge, Colorado College Summer Music Festival, Bar Harbor Music Festival in Maine, Pacific Music Festival in Japan, Spoleto Music Festival in South Carolina, Britt Music Festival in Oregon, and the Meadowmount Summer School in New York. Yan joined the Houston Symphony in 2012 while pursuing her Graduate Diploma at the New England Conservatory of Music, where she studied with Donald Weilerstein. She also holds a Master of Music degree from New England Conservatory, and a split bachelor’s degree from the Vienna University of Fine Arts, Joseph Haydn Conservatory, and the Oberlin Conservatory of Music. Her teachers include Elisabeth Kropfitsch, Klaus Maetzl, and Marilyn McDonald.
Wei Jiang, viola (Françaix) Born in China, Wei Jiang began studying violin with his father at the age of five and began studying viola after being admitted to the prestigious Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing. Having graduated with the highest honor, he was subsequently offered a teaching position at the conservatory as the youngest member of the music faculty. During his five-year tenure at the Central Conservatory, Jiang was actively involved in performing both solo and chamber music and toured extensively with his string quartet in Asia and Europe. He was also a founding member of the Eclipse Ensemble, a unique performing group that showcases music by contemporary Chinese composers throughout China. Jiang came to the United States in 1996 to further his musical training at the Oberlin Conservatory and later at the University of Maryland. In 1999, he became a member of the Houston Symphony. Jiang is also a member of the Fidelis String Quartet which performed in recital at Carnegie Hall in 2005 and toured Puerto Rico in 2006.
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Christopher French, cello (Françaix) Christopher French is the Associate Principal Cello of the Houston Symphony. Before joining the orchestra in 1986, he held titled positions in both the Shreveport Symphony Orchestra and the Honolulu Symphony. French is the seventh of a full octave of musical siblings. He enjoys performing with the Bad Boys of Cello, the alter ego of the Houston Symphony cello section. The Bad Boys have played in homeless shelters and elementary schools in an effort to eliminate the classist misconceptions about classical music. French is a graduate of North Park University in Chicago, where he won the Performance Award. In addition to three concerto performances with the Houston Symphony, he has appeared on the Chamber Players series, and with Da Camera of Houston and the Greenbriar Consortium. He participates in the Mainly Mozart Festival in San Diego; Music in the Mountains in Durango, Colorado; and the Grand Teton Music Festival in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. French teaches orchestral repertoire at Rice University.
Chamber Music Series: Springtime in Italy: Tchaikovsky & More
Program Bios and Aspen Festival orchestras.
Robin Kesselman, double bass (Françaix) Robin Kesselman was appointed Principal Bass of the Houston Symphony Orchestra in 2014. He has performed as Guest Principal Bass with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Singapore Symphony Orchestra, and the Israel Philharmonic; travelled internationally with the Philadelphia Orchestra and Los Angeles Philharmonic; and appeared with the National, Atlanta, and Baltimore symphonies. Kesselman has appeared multiple times as soloist with the Houston Symphony, in subscription performances of the Koussevitzky Concerto for Double Bass, Missy Mazzoli’s concerto Dark with Excessive Bright, and Bottesini’s Gran Duo Concertante with Gil Shaham. Previous season highlights include Krzysztof Penderecki’s Duo Concertante during the composer’s Carnegie Hall residency in collaboration with the Curtis Institute and Bottesini’s Concerto No. 2 with the Houston Civic Symphony. Recent festival engagements include leading the bass sections of the Grand Teton, Mainly Mozart, Arizona Musicfest,
Houston Symphony
Kesselman frequently performs as a soloist and chamber musician and presents recital programs and masterclasses at the nation’s top universities. He has also served as faculty for the National Youth Orchestra – USA, Curtis Institute’s Summerfest, the Richard Davis Bass Conference, and the summer residency of the Youth Philharmonic of Colombia. He recently released Bow Speed Geography, a method book and video series dedicated to the improvement of legato and sustain from the standpoint of bow speed. Kesselman holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Southern California and an Artist Diploma from the Curtis Institute of Music. His primary teachers have included David Allen Moore, Harold Robinson, Edgar Meyer, Paul Ellison, Chris Hanulik, and Virginia Dixon.
with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra for seven seasons. In Europe, Yoonshin has served as guest concertmaster of the Budapest Festival Orchestra under Iván Fischer for several years, and she has led the Verbier Festival Chamber Orchestra under numerous top-tiered conductors, such as Sir Simon Rattle, Klaus Mäkelä, Daniel Harding, Mikhail Pletnev, and Antonio Pappano. She also served as guest concertmaster of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, and the KBS Symphony Orchestra. Beyond her first chair duties, Yoonshin has performed as a soloist with many orchestras around the world, including the Houston Symphony, Budapest Festival Orchestra, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Utah Symphony, New Mexico Philharmonic Orchestra, Bayreuth Festival Orchestra, Paul Constantinescu Philharmonic Orchestra, Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, and the KBS Symphony Orchestra, among many others. She has also participated as a soloist and a chamber musician in various roles in leading music festivals, including the ones in Verbier, Lucerne, Samos, and Bayreuth in Europe; and the Marlboro, Great Lakes, and Deer Valley in the United States.
Yoonshin Song, violin (Tchaikovsky) Yoonshin Song was appointed as Concertmaster of the Houston Symphony in August 2019. Prior to that, she held the same position
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Yoonshin has earned many prestigious prizes throughout her career, including top prize awards in the Lipizer International Violin Competition, the Lipinski and Wieniawski International Violin Competition, the Henry Marteau International Violin Competition,
Program Bios and first prize at the Stradivarius International Competition in the United States. She studied under the tutelage of Donald Weilerstein at the New England Conservatory and with Robert Mann, Glenn Dicterow, and Lisa Kim at the Manhattan School of Music.
Philharmonic’s Concertmaster Glenn Dicterow, Assistant Principal Lisa Kim, and Professor Isaac Malkin. During his years in New York, his activities included performances with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra; Concertmaster appearances under renowned artists such as Kurt Masur and Pinchas Zukerman; and performances in Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, the Museum of Modern Arts, the Onassis Foundation, and other such venues. Sakarellos is a leading violinist with the Verbier Festival Chamber Orchestra under the direction of Gabor Takacs Nagy and has worked closely with artists such as Martha Argerich, Maxim Vengerov, and Yuri Bashmet.
Alexandros Sakarellos, violin (Tchaikovsky) Violinist Alexandros Sakarellos has performed as a soloist, chamber, and orchestral musician across five continents and in 25 countries. A native of Greece, Sakarellos received his early musical training at the Athens Conservatory, Greece’s leading musical institution. While in Greece, he enjoyed a satisfying performing career from a very early age. Before turning 20, he was already appearing frequently as a soloist and recitalist, serving as Concertmaster of the City of Athens Symphony Orchestra, and as a first violinist with the Athens State Orchestra. In 2005, Alexandros moved to New York. He studied at the Manhattan School of Music with New York
Stephan von Baehr (made in 2020).
Other appearances include the Festivals of Ravello in Italy, Miyazaki in Japan, Bellerive in Switzerland, and Santo Domingo. In 2009, he was privileged to be invited by the prestigious AthensEpidaurus Festival to give the Greek premiere of several works by the awarded American-Greek composer George Tsontakis. Before joining the Houston Symphony, Sakarellos has been a member of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra since 2014. Prior to that he played for two years in the first Violin section of the San Francisco Opera.
Keoni Bolding, viola (Tchaikovsky) Described as “mesmerizing” by The Burlington Hawkeye Times and “transportive” by the Santa Barbara Voice, violist Keoni Bolding has established a career across the United States and Europe. He has toured Europe with the New York Philharmonic and Rome Chamber Music Festival as well as performed with the Philadelphia Orchestra and London Symphony. Last year, he won the Transcription Prize at the Primrose International Viola Competition with his transcription of Tosca, Act II. Earlier this year, he oversaw the premiere of his electronic chamber opera 52 Hz at Lincoln Center.
Since 2022, he has been working very closely with world-renowned violinist Leonidas Kavakos as part of the ApollΩn Ensemble, under the leadership of the great artist. He is playing on violins by Joseph Gagliano (made in 1760) and
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Chamber Music Series: Springtime in Italy: Tchaikovsky & More
Program Bios
Joan DerHovsepian, viola (Tchaikovsky) Joan DerHovsepian is the Principal Viola of the Houston Symphony. She first joined the viola section hired by Christoph Eschenbach, won the audition for Associate Principal Viola in fall 2010 during the tenure of Hans Graf, and now serves as Principal with Music Director Juraj Valčuha since May 2023. Joan has appeared as guest principal viola with the Chicago and Cincinnati symphonies and was formerly principal viola of the Charleston Symphony. Recent solo performances with the Houston Symphony include Mozart Sinfonia Concertante with Concertmaster Yoonshin Song and Bruch Double Concerto with Principal Second Violin MuChen Hsieh.
Joan is an artist teacher of viola at Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music, lecturing students in viola orchestral repertoire and independent study. She is regular guest faculty for the New World Symphony and National Orchestral Institute and has given masterclasses for viola students of The Juilliard School, New England Conservatory of Music, and the University of Melbourne Conservatorium, among others. Joan was a featured artist-inresidence for the American Viola Society in 2023. She was the violist of the awardwinning Everest Quartet, top prize winners at the Banff International String Quartet Competition and the Fischoff Chamber Music Competition. Joan was the second prize recipient of the Primrose International Viola Competition. Her teachers have included James Dunham and Kim Kashkashian; and she has studied chamber music with Michael Tree, Joseph Silverstein, Eugene Lehner, Felix Galimir, and members of the Cleveland, Emerson, and Juilliard Quartets.
Recent festival and chamber music performances include the Seattle Chamber Music Society, Mainly Mozart Festival Orchestra, Grand Teton Music Festival, Mimir Chamber Music Festival (Fort Worth, Texas and Melbourne, Australia), Peninsula Music Festival, New Canaan Chamber Music, Fabbri Chamber Concerts, Music in Context, and Musica Tra Amici. Houston Symphony
Charles Seo, cello (Tchaikovsky) Cellist Charles Seo was appointed cellist of the Houston Symphony in the summer of 2018 at age 22. Previously, he served as principal cellist in the Colburn Orchestra. Charles, who made his solo orchestral debut at age 10, has performed as guest soloist with the Houston Symphony, Dallas Symphony Orchestra, and San José Chamber Orchestra. He is silver medalist of the 2014 Irving M. Klein International String Competition and bronze medalist of the 2014 Stulberg International String Competition. In 2013, he was the gold medalist of the Houston Symphony League Concerto Competition, the Lynn Harrell Concerto Competition, the Schmidbauer International Competition, and the 30th Pasadena Showcase House Instrumental Competition. Charles performed Sarasate’s Zigeunerweisen with Christopher O’Riley on NPR’s From the Top. Charles has collaborated with cellists Lynn Harrell, Robert deMaine, Clive Greensmith, Wolfgang Emanuel Schmidt, David Geringas, Steven Isserlis, Jian
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Program Bios Wang, Myung-wha Chung, Lluís Claret, Li-Wei Qin, Bion Tsang, and Laurence Lesser. He holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the Colburn School, where he studied with Ronald Leonard and Clive Greensmith.
Louis-Marie Fardet, cello (Tchaikovsky) Louis-Marie Fardet was appointed cellist with the Houston Symphony
in January 2015. Previously, he served as assistant principal cello for the Houston Grand Opera and Houston Ballet. Prior to moving to Houston, he was a tenured member of L’Opéra de Paris Orchestra for five years. Born in Rochefort, the south-west coast of France, Fardet moved to Paris to pursue his cello studies at the prestigious Paris Conservatory and then came to Houston in 1999 to study with Paul Katz at Rice University. Fardet has won top prizes at several international competitions, including the Antonio Janigro Cello Competition in Zagreb, Croatia and the Ima Hogg Competition in Houston, and has participated in numerous international music festivals such as the Ravinia Festival, Isaac Stern Chamber Music Workshop at Carnegie Hall, and Chamber Music Encounters in Jerusalem.
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Chamber Music Series: Springtime in Italy: Tchaikovsky & More