InTUNE
The
Houston Symphony Magazine
Lang Lang in Recital
PERFORMANCE CALENDAR
2025-26 se a son
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A p r il 3 & 4
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i n C on c e r t T h e El e
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Val č u h a C on du c t s M a hle r 9
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Distant Worlds: music from FINAL FANTASY
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As of February 27, 2026
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Featured Program
Lang Lang in Recital
Lang Lang, piano
FAURE – Pavane in F-sharp minor, Op. 50
SCHUMANN – Kreisleriana, Op. 16
INTERMISSION
CHOPIN – Mazurkas: Op. 7 Nr. 3
Op. 17 Nr. 1, 2, 4
Op. 24 Nr. 2, 4
Op. 30 Nr. 3, 4
Op. 33 Nr. 3, 4, 2
Op. 59 Nr. 3
CHOPIN – Polonaise in F# minor, Op. 44
Wednesday, April 1
About the Music Program Insight
Jones Hall
7:30 p.m.
Lang Lang first appeared with the Houston Symphony as a young, up-and-coming soloist at Miller Outdoor Theatre in 1999. He has since become perhaps the world’s most in-demand classical pianist, and tonight the global piano sensation returns to Jones Hall for a special, one-night-only recital featuring treasured masterpieces of the Romantic piano repertoire.
The program opens with the Pavane in F-sharp minor by French composer Gabriel Fauré (1845–1924).
Composed in 1887, the work takes inspiration from the Spanish pavane, a dance of the Renaissance era, albeit updated with perfumed, late-nineteenth-century harmonies. Although Fauré himself dismissed the piece as “elegant, assuredly, but not particularly important,” it has nevertheless become perhaps his most popular work thanks to its beguiling melody.
The German Romantic composer Robert Schumann (1810–1856) composed his Kreisleriana in 1838. This set of eight piano miniatures takes its name from Johannes Kreisler, a fictional kapelmeister who serves as a recurring character of the works of E. T. A. Hoffmann. Hoffmann described Kreisler as “tossed back and forth by his inner visions and dreams as though on an eternally stormy sea, and he seemed to seek in vain the haven that would finally give him the peace and tranquility without which an artist can create nothing.” This could nearly be a description of Schumann himself, and his wildly imaginative “Kreisleriana” are perhaps an attempt to compose music in the style of Kreisler.
Schumann dedicated his Kreisleriana to Frédéric Chopin (1810–1849), whose music features on the second half of the program. Although Chopin was born in Warsaw, he lived much of his adult life in exile in Paris following Russia’s brutal suppression of the November Uprising of 1830. The music of his Polish homeland frequently inspired his works; this recital features Chopin’s interpretations of two traditional Polish folk dances, the mazurka and the polonaise. Although both dances are in triple meter, the mazurka tends to be shorter and more delicate in character, while the polonaises are grander and more heroic. The dramatic Polonaise in F-sharp minor in particular recalls Schumann’s description of Chopin’s works as “canons buried in flowers.”
—Calvin Dotsey
Sponsors
Margaret Alkek Williams Grand Guarantor
Anne & Albert Chao Underwriters Partner
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
Program Bio
Lang Lang, conductor
Lang Lang is a leading figure in classical music today. As a pianist, educator, and philanthropist, he has become one of the world’s most influential and dedicated ambassadors for the arts in the 21st century. Equally at home performing for billions at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Opening Ceremony, the 2024 reopening of Notre-Dame de Paris, and the 2026 Milan Olympic Opening Ceremony, or for just a few hundred children in public schools, he is a master communicator through music.
Heralded by The New York Times as “the hottest artist on the classical music planet,” Lang Lang plays sold-out concerts all over the world. He has formed ongoing collaborations with conductors including Sir Simon Rattle, Gustavo Dudamel, Daniel Barenboim, and Christoph Eschenbach, and performs with all the world’s top orchestras. Lang Lang is known for thinking outside the box and frequently steps into different musical worlds. Millions of viewers watched his performances at the Grammy
Awards with Metallica, Pharrell Williams, and jazz legend Herbie Hancock.
For about a decade, Lang Lang has contributed to musical education worldwide. In 2008, he founded the Lang Lang International Music Foundation, aimed at cultivating tomorrow’s top pianists, championing music education at the forefront of technology, and building a young audience through live music experiences. In 2013, Lang Lang was designated by the SecretaryGeneral of the United Nations as a Messenger of Peace, focusing on global education.
Lang Lang started playing the piano at age three and gave his first public recital before the age of five. At age nine, he entered Beijing’s Central Music Conservatory and won First Prize at the International Tchaikovsky Competition for Young Musicians at 13. He subsequently went to Philadelphia to study with legendary pianist Gary Graffman at the Curtis Institute of Music. He was 17 when his big break came, substituting for André Watts at the Gala of the Century, playing Tchaikovsky’s First Piano Concerto with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Christoph Eschenbach. He became an overnight sensation, and the invitations started to pour in.
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
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 Karataş
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
Je rey Butler
Maki Kubota
Xiao Wong
Charles Seo
Jeremy Kreutz
COMMUNITY-EMBEDDED MUSICIAN
Lindsey Baggett, Violin
LIBRARIANS
Ali Verderber, Associate Librarian
Megan Fisher, Assistant Librarian
DOUBLE BASS
Robin Kesselman, Principal
Timothy Dilenschneider, Associate Principal
Steven Reineke, Principal POPS Conductor
Andrés Orozco-Estrada, Conductor Laureate
Anthony J. Maglione, Director, Houston Symphony Chorus
Gonzalo Farias, Associate Conductor
Andrew Pedersen, Assistant Principal
Eric Larson
Logan May
Burke Shaw
Donald Howey
Avery Weeks
FLUTE
Vacant, Principal
General Maurice Hirsch Chair
Matthew Roitstein, Associate Principal
Judy Dines
Kathryn Ladner
Douglas DeVries+
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
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
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 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
