InTUNE Elf in Concert December 19, 20 & 21
Special Program
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 20th 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.
“WHEN SHOULD I CLAP?”
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.
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
ORCHESTRA ROSTER Juraj Valčuha
Steven Reineke, Principal POPS Conductor
Music Director Roy and Lillie Cullen Chair FIRST VIOLIN Yoonshin Song, Concertmaster Max Levine Chair Vacant, Associate Concertmaster Ellen E. Kelley Chair Boson Mo, Assistant Concertmaster Qi Ming, Assistant Concertmaster Fondren Foundation Chair Marina Brubaker Tong Yan MiHee Chung Sophia Silivos Rodica Gonzalez Ferenc Illenyi Si-Yang Lao Christopher Neal Sergei Galperin Timothy Peters+ Tianxu Liu+ 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 Samuel Park+ Teresa Wang+ VIOLA Joan DerHovsepian, Principal Wei Jiang, Acting Associate Principal Samuel Pedersen, Assistant Principal Paul Aguilar Sheldon Person Fay Shapiro Keoni Bolding Jimmy Cunningham Meredith Harris+ Suzanne LeFevre+ 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
COMMUNITY-EMBEDDED MUSICIAN Lindsey Baggett, Violin ASSISTANT LIBRARIANS Ali Verderber Hae-a Lee
Andrés Orozco-Estrada, Conductor Laureate Gonzalo Farias, Associate Conductor
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 FLUTE Aralee Dorough, 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 Colin Gatwood Adam Dinitz 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+
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+ TRUMPET Mark Hughes, Principal George P. and Cynthia Woods Mitchell Chair John Parker, Associate Principal Robert Walp, Assistant Principal Richard Harris TROMBONE Nick Platoff, Principal Bradley White, Associate Principal Phillip Freeman BASS TROMBONE Phillip Freeman TUBA Dave Kirk, Principal TIMPANI Leonardo Soto, Principal Matthew Strauss, Associate Principal PERCUSSION Brian Del Signore, Principal Mark Griffith Matthew Strauss HARP Allegra Lilly, Principal
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
*on leave + contracted substitute
STAGE PERSONNEL Stefan Stout, 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
A NAT KING COLE NEW YEAR Enjoy an “Unforgettable” start to 2026 as Byron Stripling, Denzal Sinclaire, and the Houston Symphony Big Band perform the timeless hits of Nat King Cole, along with well-known songs by other jazz legends. Hear the songs you know and L-O-V-E, including “Mona Lisa,” “Nature Boy,” “When I Fall in Love,” “Just One of Those Things,” and more.
Jan. 2, 3* & 4 *Livestream Performance 7:30 p.m.
POPS Series
Presenting Sponsor
Give the Gift of Music Sometimes the best gifts don’t fit in a box. This holiday season, skip the wrapping paper and give your loved ones the gift of music with a Houston Symphony membership or donation! A Symphony membership is the perfect gift for the music-lovers in your life. Give them access to exclusive donor benefits like early access to ticket presales, invitations to private rehearsals, and more, while also supporting the Symphony! Or give a gift to the Houston community by making your own donation. Your support helps us keep the music playing—both in Jones Hall and in schools, hospitals, and other community venues throughout the city.
P.S. MAKE YOUR GIFT BY DECEMBER 31 TO ENSURE YOUR DONATION IS TAX DEDUCTIBLE FOR 2025!* *The Houston Symphony does not provide professional tax, legal, or accounting advice. This material has been prepared for informational purposes only. Please consult your own advisors before engaging in any transaction.
Member
DONOR BENEFITS
($100+)
Associate Principal ($250+)
Principal ($500+)
Jones Hall Circle ($1,000+)
Houston Symphony Society Membership, including voting privleges at the Annual Meeting Access to ticket pre-sales with early bird ticket email notifications Subscription to Symphony Notes newsletter Two complimentary drink coupons Behind-the-scenes access: Group tour of Jones Hall (invitation for two)
2
Behind-the-scenes access: Private Rehearsal (invitation for two)
1
Exclusive event: Post-Concert Meet and Greet with an artist (invitation for two)
1
2
$62
$135
1 with pre-rehearsal champagne reception
Poster signed by Principal POPS Conductor Steven Reineke One-Time pass for the Virtuoso Lounge at any Houston Symphony Jones Hall Performance Recognition in Symphony donor listings Premier seating for Symphony concerts at Miller Outdoor Theatre (excludes July 4th)
Fair Market Value
SCAN HERE TO GIVE THE GIFT OF MUSIC TODAY!
$0
$22
SCAN HERE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE BENEFITS OF GIVING TO YOUR HOUSTON SYMPHONY
PERFORMANCE CALENDAR 2025-26 season
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Grieg’s Peer Gynt March 27, 28* & 29
Elf in Concert December 19, 20 & 21 A Nat King Cole New Year January 2, 3* & 4
S
S
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Star Wars: Return of the Jedi in Concert January 9 & 10
Disney s Fantasia in Concert April 3 & 4 S
Mr. Symphonic: Shaggy with the Houston Symphony January 11
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Arturo Sandoval: Journey to Freedom January 17 & 18*
April 17
Icon: The Voices That Changed Music April 24, 25* & 26
Piano Man: The Music of Billy Joel February 6, 7* & 8
Abracadabra! A Magical Musical Adventure April 25
When Instruments Roamed the Earth February 7 Symphonie espagnole + Symphonie fantastique February 13, 14* & 15 Chamber Music Series: Musician Spotlight February 15
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Chanticleer: Our American Journey April 28
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Disney & Pixar’s Toy Story in Concert May 2 & 3
Joshua Bell Returns: The Elements in Concert May 7, 9* & 10
Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet February 20, 21* & 22
The Planets + Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto May 15, 16* & 17
Wagner’s Tristan and Isolde February 28 & March 1 Mozart + Elgar’s Enigma Variations March 13, 14* & 15
Chamber Music Series: Chamber 4 May 17
Chamber Music Series: Chamber 3 March 15
Valčuha Conducts Mahler 9 May 22, 23* & 24
Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony + Timpani World Premiere March 20, 21* & 22
Bank of America POPS Series
John Malkovich in The Music Critic April 14
Adams Conducts Adams & Appalachian Spring April 18 & 19*
Marin Alsop Conducts Brahms 2 January 23, 24* & 25
Classical Series
Lang Lang in Recital April 1
Lights! Camera! Music! 100 Years of Epic Film Scores May 29, 30* & 31
PNC Family Series
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Summer & Specials
Chamber Series
*Performance livestreamed
FEATURED PROGRAM
ELF IN CONCERT Friday
December 19
7:30 p.m.
Jones Hall
Saturday
December 20
7:30 p.m.
Jones Hall
Sunday
December 21
2 p.m.
Jones Hall
*Conner Gray Covington, conductor *Houston Symphony debut
J. DEBNEY
Elf
2:00
Act 1
0:48
INTERMISSION
0:20
Act 2
0:52
Holiday Series Sponsor
Grand Guarantor
CONNER GRAY COVINGTON, CONDUCTOR Described by Yannick Nézet-Séguin as “a musician who lives the music,” American conductor Conner Gray Covington performs an unusually broad repertory of symphonic, opera, and film repertoire ranging from classical to the present day. In the 2025–26 Season, Covington debuts with the Boston Pops, Chicago Symphony, Houston Symphony, Las Vegas Philharmonic, New Jersey Symphony, and Phoenix Symphony. He also makes return visits to the North Carolina Symphony, San Francisco Symphony, Sarasota Orchestra, and Tucson Symphony. Additionally, Covington returns to the Utah Symphony where he maintains a close relationship after completing a successful four-year tenure as Associate Conductor and Principal Conductor of the Deer Valley Music Festival. During his tenure with the Utah Symphony, Conner conducted nearly 300 performances of classical subscription, education, film, pops, and family concerts, as well as tours throughout the state. He has returned several times each season as a guest conductor since 2021. Other recent guest conducting includes appearances with the Hawai’i Symphony, Knoxville Symphony, San Diego Symphony, Tallahassee Symphony, and Vancouver Symphony as well as the Bellingham Festival of Music and the Grand Teton Music Festival. Conner is a five-time recipient of a Career Assistance Award from the Solti Foundation U.S. Conner’s operatic engagements include Britten’s The Turn of the Screw for the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, The Rape of Lucretia and the world premiere of Rene Orth’s Empty the House at the Curtis Opera Theatre, and Le Nozze di Figaro for his debut with Utah Opera. He has also conducted more than 20 feature films with orchestra.
JOHN DEBNEY, COMPOSER John Debney is the ultimate film music character actor. In equal demand for family films such as Jingle Jangle, Come Away, and Elf, as he is for adventure films like Iron Man 2, the Oscar-nominated composer also scored the powerful and poignant The Passion of the Christ. Debney is an agile jack-ofall-genres, composing for sci-fi adventure (The Orville), comedies (Bruce Almighty), horror (Dream House), and romance (Valentine’s Day) with the same confidence and panache. Debney is also known for his work in such films as Princess Diaries, Sin City, Liar Liar, Spy Kids, No Strings Attached, The Emperor’s New Groove, I Know What You Did Last Summer, and Hocus Pocus. Debney’s work also includes Disney’s The Jungle Book directed by Jon Favreau, Fox’s Ice Age: Collision Course directed by Mike Thurmeier, and Twentieth Century Fox’s award-winning musical The Greatest Showman starring Hugh Jackman and Zac Efron. Debney’s most recent films include The Beach Bum starring Matthew McConaughey and directed by Harmony Korine, the Warner Bros. comedy feature Isn’t It Romantic starring Rebel Wilson, Paramount Pictures’ family adventure feature Dora and the Lost City of Gold, and Bleecker Street’s biopic Brian Banks. Upcoming for Debney is Come Away directed by Brenda Chapman and starring Angelina Jolie. Born in Glendale, California, Debney began his professional life after he studied composition at the California Institute of the Arts, when he went to work writing music and orchestrating for Disney Studios and various television series. He won his first Emmy in 1990 for the main theme for The Young Riders, and his career soon hit a gallop. Since then he has won three more Emmys (Sea Quest DSV), and been nominated for a total of six (most recently in 2012 for his work on the Kevin Costner western miniseries Hatfields & McCoys). His foray into videogame scoring—2007’s Lair—resulted in a BAFTA nomination and a Best Videogame Score award from The International Film Music Critics Association. Debney has collaborated with acclaimed directors as diverse as Robert Rodriguez, Garry Marshall, Mel Gibson, the Farrelly Brothers, Jon Favreau, Jim Sheridan, Ivan Reitman, Peter Chelsom, Rob Cohen, Brian Robbins, Tom Shadyac, Sam Raimi, Adam Shankman, Howie Deutch, Renny Harlin, Peter Hyams, and Kenny Ortega. He was nominated by the Academy for his Passion of the Christ score. Inspired by that score, he then created The Passion Oratorio, performed in 2015 in the historic Mosque-Cathedral of Cordoba, Spain in front of 6,000 people during Holy Week. In 2005, Debney was the youngest recipient of ASCAP’s Henry Mancini Career Achievement Award. “If I’m doing my job well,” says Debney, “I need to feel it. I really try to make sure that whatever I’m doing—even if it’s a comedy—that I’m feeling it and feeling either humor or the pathos or the dramatic impact of what I’m seeing. That’s the way I approach it.”
elf in Concert DIRECTED BY JON FAVREAU PRODUCED BY KENT ALTERMAN, CALE BOYTER, JULIE WIXSON DARMODY, TOBY EMMERICH, AND JIMMY MILLER
PRESIDENT/FOUNDER/PRODUCER JUSTIN FREER
WRITTEN BY DAVID BERENBAUM
CO-FOUNDER/PRODUCER BRADY BEAUBIEN
STARRING WILL FERRELL JAMES CAAN BOB NEWHART EDWARD ASNER MARY STEENBURGEN ZOOEY DESCHANEL
CHIEF XR OFFICER / HEAD OF PUBLICITY AND COMMUNICATIONS ANDREW P. ALDERETE DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS ANDREW MCINTYRE SENIOR MARKETING MANAGER BRITTANY FONSECA SENIOR SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER SI PENG WORLDWIDE REPRESENTATION OPUS 3 ARTISTS MUSIC PREPARATION JOANN KANE MUSIC SERVICE SOUND REMIXING JUSTIN MOSHKEVICH, IGLOO MUSIC STUDIOS
MUSIC BY JOHN DEBNEY CINEMATOGRAPHY BY GREG GARDINER EDITED BY DAN LEBENTAL PRODUCED BY NEW LINE CINEMA & GUY WALKS INTO A BAR PRODUCTIONS DISTRIBUTED BY NEW LINE CINEMA
CineConcerts is one of the leading producers of live music experiences performed with visual media, and is continuously redefining live entertainment. Founded by Producer/Conductor Justin Freer and Producer/Writer Brady Beaubien, CineConcerts has engaged more than 1.3 million people worldwide in concert presentations in more than 900 performances in 48 countries working with some of the best orchestras and venues in the world, including the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, London Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra, and many more. Recent and current live concert experiences include Rudy in Concert, The Harry Potter Film Concert Series, Gladiator Live, The Godfather Live, It’s a Wonderful Life in Concert, DreamWorks Animation In Concert, Star Trek: The Ultimate Voyage 50th Anniversary Concert Tour, Breakfast at Tiffany’s in Concert, and A Christmas Dream Live.
Juraj Valčuha, Music Director
Jones Hall – 615 Louisiana Street houstonsymphony.org