Boccherini’s
Classical
Guest
Mercury
Mercury
Mercury
Artistic
MUSICIAN ROSTER 2024-2025
Antoine Plante, Conductor
Lynn Wyatt Artistic Director Chair
VIOLIN
Jonathan Godfrey
Concertmaster
Anabel Ramírez
Assistant Concertmaster
Oleg Sulyga
Principal Second Violin
Joanna Becker
Ryan Cheng*
Lucinda Chiu
Laura Cividino
Matthew Detrick
Andrés González
Jackson Guillen
Marisa Ishikawa
Kana Kimura
Matt Lammers
Maria Lin
Manami Mizumoto
Sean O’Neal
Cristina Prats-Costa*
Emily Richardson
Katrina Savitski
Jacob Schafer
Ervin Luka Sešek
Rachel Shepard
Ariya Tai
Hannah Watson
VIOLA
Kathleen Carrington, Principal
Amber Archibald
Matthew Carrington
Rachel Halvorsen
Matthew Weathers
Rainey Weber
CELLO
Eunghee Cho, Principal
Matthew Dudzik
Ellie Traverse Herrera
Kristiana Ignatjeva
Caroline Nicholas
Annamarie Reader
DOUBLE BASS/VIOLONE
Deborah Dunham, Principal
Paul Ellison
Erik Gronfor
Elvis Martinez
Antoine Plante
THEORBO/GUITAR
Héctor Torres González Principal
FLUTE
David Ross, Principal
Immanuel Davis
Andrea LeBlanc
OBOE
David Dickey, Principal
Pablo Moreno
Pablo O’Connell
Margaret Owens
CLARINET
Thomas Carroll, Principal
Elise Bonhivert
BASSOON
Nate Helgeson, Principal
Georgeanne Banker
Allen Hamrick
TRUMPET
Kris Kwapis, Principal
Amanda Pepping
HORN
Todd Williams, Principal
Burke Anderson
Nate Udell
PERCUSSION/TIMPANI
Jesús Pacheco, Principal
HARPSICHORD/ORGAN
Mario Aschauer, Principal
Bryan Anderson
Brad Bennight
HARP
Caitlin Mehrtens, Principal
TEACHING ARTISTS
Kathleen Carrington
Andrés González
Daphnee Johnson
Stephen Martin
Brenda Rengel
Mayara Velásquez
*Mercury-Juilliard Fellow
A NOTE FROM THE ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
Dear Friends,
Welcome to our 24th season! We’re thrilled to begin with three exceptional programs exploring the vibrant streets of Madrid, the refined elegance of Classical Vienna, and the lush landscapes of English Romanticism. Each program is designed to transport you into a unique musical world.
A Night in Madrid will whisk you away to the lively streets of 18th-century Spain. Through Boccherini’s “Night Music” and his thrilling “The House of the Devil,” we experience the energy and dramatic flair of Spanish music. His Cello Concerto, featuring the wonderful Elinor Frey, and his “Fandango,” add grace and passion to the evening.
Our Classical Piano Trios concert will shine a light on the brilliance of Viennese Classicism through the genius of Haydn, Mozart, and Koželuch. This program showcases the beautiful interplay between the fortepiano, violin, and cello performed by our own Mario Aschauer, Jonathan Godfrey, and special guest Elinor Frey. Together they will reveal the grace, wit, and emotional depth that has made Classical-era chamber music beloved by audiences for centuries.
Finally, we make a heartfelt journey with English Romantic Strings, a program that highlights some of the most beloved string compositions from England’s great composers. Elgar’s Serenade and Elegy offer tender emotion and lyricism, while Warlock’s Capriol Suite brings
a spirited, dance-like character to the concert. Vaughan Williams’ sweeping Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis and Holst’s lively St. Paul’s Suite evoke the rich traditions and pastoral beauty of the English countryside, creating a moving and atmospheric musical experience.
It is my hope that these three programs will inspire, transport, and delight you. We are thrilled to have you join us on this musical journey, and I look forward to sharing these unforgettable moments with you.
With warmest regards,
Antoine Plante Artistic Director
Boccherini’s Night in Madrid
Elinor Frey, Cello
October Antoine Plante, Conductor
12 / 2024
Wortham Center, Cullen Theater
LUIGI BOCCHERINI (1743–1805)
Night Music of the Streets of Madrid, Op. 30, No. 6
The Ave Maria Bell
The Soldiers’ Drum
The Minuet of the Blind Beggars
The Rosary
Street Parade
The Drum
The Retreat of the Military Night Watch
Cello Concerto in B-flat major, Op. 482
Allegro moderato
Andante grazioso
Rondo
Intermission
Quintet for Guitar and Strings, G. 448 “Fandango”
Pastorale
Allegro maestoso
Grave assai
Fandango
Symphony No. 4 in D minor, Op. 12, No. 4
“The House of the Devil”
Andante sostenuto – Allegro assai
Andantino con moto
Andante sostenuto – Allegro con molto
This concert is dedicated to Stephen & Kristine Wallace in celebration of their extraordinary support.
Luigi Boccherini, although a contemporary of Haydn and Mozart, stands apart from those canonical composers from the late eighteenth century for several reasons: he spent the majority of his career – from 1768 until his death in 1804 – in Spain where he was influenced by Iberian customs and music; he was strongly attracted to programmatic composition; and, as a cello virtuoso, his output is distinguished by concertos and concertante parts for his instrument. The opening Quintettino (little quintet) in C Major illustrates all three qualities. The program depicts a specific nocturnal scene from the streets of late eighteenth-century Madrid: promenades, dancing, and singing in the neighborhood of a military barracks as heard against the background Hail Mary prayer and Rosary devotions.
We can piece this program together from the composer’s movement-by-movement instructions in a manuscript copy of the score, beginning with the following note:
This little quintet depicts the music heard at night in the streets of Madrid, from the bells sounding the Ave Maria through the final withdrawal for the night […] Everything here that does not comply with the rules of composition should be pardoned for its accurate depiction of the things being represented.
To set the scene (first movement), Boccherini instructs that all play pizzicato in imitation of the striking bells when they signal the Hail Mary prayer. After this [second movement], the First Violin will enter, imitating as loudly as possible the drums from the soldiers’ barracks as they, too, play and recite the Hail Mary.
For the Minuetto of the Blind Beggars (third movement), Boccherini instructs the musicians to play “gracelessly” (con mala grazia) and for the cellists “to place their instruments across their knees while playing pizzicato with the fingernails of the hand turned like that of a guitar player” –and adding “with harshness” (con asprezza).
The minuet is repeated after a brief pause, and then followed by the Rosary devotion (fourth movement), played “very broadly and without a strict beat; very sweetly and with gracefulness,” with the pizzicatos imitating bells and a cello obbligato “to be played on the third string, imitating the bassoon.” For the Passa Calle (fifth movement), Boccherini explains the origin of this ground-bass genre, (i.e., the passacaglia) as “the manner of playing and singing known by the Spanish as the Passa Calle – that is, walking the streets, in which people more or less entertain themselves by singing during the night.” The solo first-violin passage, marked fortissimo, that follows is meant to imitate drumming, which marks the soldiers’ curfew (sixth movement). The soldiers’ marching return to barracks (finale) is marked maestoso with the string tremolos imitating drums.
Until recently, Boccherini was thought to have composed eleven concertos for the cello, but a twelfth was identified only in the late 20th century, receiving its first modern performance in 1987 and published edition in 1994. The concerto on this program is known as his ninth, and its history, too, has been obscured by the fact of a late 19th-century edition that intermingles movements of different concertos and altered Boccherini’s orchestration. The original movements of this concerto, however, are
DOWNTOWN
Boccherini’s Night in Madrid
easily accessible and featured on this program. One characteristic of Boccherini’s concerto style is his imaginative writing for the solo cello, which comprehends the motoric figuration and passagework of the first movement, the elegiac lyricism of the second, and the dancelike lilt and tunefulness of the finale. The relationship between the solo and ensemble bears mentioning because Boccherini creates a distinctive type of concerto-ritornello form in which the ensemble’s ritornello statements create bookends around extended and thematically varied cello solos. Thus, the opening movement articulates a sonata form with expositions for both orchestra and solo cello. After this, however, the development is marked only by a brief tutti passage; the recapitulation is brought in not by the orchestra, but by the cello; and the orchestra reappears for its final ritornello only to frame the solo cadenza. The finale, is a rondo form, but one in which the bulk of the material, both
refrains and episodes, are woven into the cello’s solos while the orchestra makes only opening and concluding appearances. The overall effect throughout Boccherini’s concerto is to throw the soloist into especially high relief in comparison with other concertos of his time.
The Quintet for Guitar and Strings is similar to the Quintettino in drawing its inspiration from the popular and folk music of Spain, and then adding to that characteristic flavor with a guitar. The Pastorale is hardly exclusive to Spain, but it does signal Boccherini’s interest in folk culture, and we recognize the genre from its gentle compound meter, bird-call imitations, and the drone effect of slow-moving harmonies. The second movement – a sonata form with a distinctively virtuosic cello part – has neither genre designation nor programmatic description, but nonetheless captures the feel of a vigorous folk dance. The third movement furnishes a brief but solemn introduction to the finale, the
Fandango for which the whole of the Quintet is named. Boccherini’s Fandango captures the percussive steps and strummed accompaniment of the eighteenth-century Spanish folk dance. As elsewhere in his music, virtuosic solos, especially for the cello, color this movement and add variety to the repeated strains of the dance.
The inspiration for Boccherini’s Sinfonia in D Minor, “La casa del diavolo” lies in his musical experiences before he went to Spain, when he spent several seasons playing in Vienna’s theater orchestras. One of the pieces he accompanied was Christoph Gluck’s ballet Don Juan (1761), whose concluding music depicts the Don’s descent into hell. That music appears in Boccherini’s arrangement as the finale to his Sinfonia. Boccherini was also inspired by Gluck’s opera, Orfeo ed Euridice (Vienna, 1762), whose scene of Orpheus confronting the Furies in Hades forms the basis of the slow introduction to the first and last movements of the Sinfonia, which pits plaintive divisi cellos (Orpheus) against a stern orchestral tutti (Furies).
The Allegro assai that follows the opening Andante presents a lively, major-key sonataform, whose contrasting theme areas each feature assorted ideas in an energetic mood created by tremolo strings, forte outbursts, and rapid passagework. The second movement, marked Andantino con moto, continues in a dramatic vein with a suspenseful, nervous mood created by the tip-toeing main theme, persisting syncopations, and extended diminished harmonies at the cadential high points. The finale is Don Juan’s Inferno music cast into a sonataform in Boccherini’s arrangement. The Sinfonia’s nickname – “La casa del diavolo” (the house of the devil) – does not originate with Boccherini, but it does suit the extended string tremolos, subito-forte bursts on diminished chords, and fiery passagework of this movement. The exaggerated style of this piece also fits with what we might see as Boccherini’s artistic credo: in a letter to the poet and playwright Marie-Joseph Chénier in 1799, he declared, “music without emotions and passions is meaningless.”
Gregory Barnett ©
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For more information about how you can make a gift that endures for future generations, contact Brittany Schroeder, Development Manager of Individual Giving, at Brittany@mercuryhouston.org.
*401(k), 403(b), SEP IRA accounts, and other retirement accounts do not qualify.
Empowering through Music
ConocoPhillips is a proud sponsor of the Mercury Chamber Orchestra and this year’s ConocoPhillips Neighborhood Series
Mercury continues to receive critical and audience acclaim for its innovative and welcoming performances, while also impacting the lives of young Houstonians through award-winning music education programs. We commend the orchestra on its mission to serve the community by celebrating the power of music—through teaching, sharing, and performing with passion, intimacy, and excellence. www.conocophillips.com
ConocoPhillips
Neighborhood Series
Classical Piano Trios
Jonathan Godfrey, Violin
Elinor Frey, Cello
October 24 • 7:30PM
Mario Aschauer, Fortepiano Heights Saengerhalle
October 26 • 2:30PM Memorial
October 26 • 6:30PM & 8:30PM Museum District
October 27 • 7:00PM
The Woodlands
Dosey Doe
LEOPOLD KOŽELUCH (1747–1818)
Trio in G minor, P.IX:45
Allegro
Adagio
Allegro con fuoco
WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART (1756–1791)
Piano Trio in B-flat major, K. 502
Allegro Larghetto
Allegretto
FRANZ JOSEPH HAYDN (1732–1809)
Piano Trio No. 39 in G-major, Hob. XV:25 “Gypsy”
Andante
Rondo all’Ongarese: Presto I.
Poco adagio, cantabile
Elinor Frey
Cello
Born in Seattle and living in Montréal, Elinor Frey is a leading American-Canadian cellist, gambist, and researcher. Her albums on the Belgian label Passacaille and Canadian label Analekta – many of which are world premiere recordings –include Giuseppe Clemente Dall’Abaco Cello Sonatas,
winner of a Diapason d’Or, and Early Italian Cello Concertos, winner of the 2023 JUNO Award for Classical Album of the Year (small ensemble). Her critical editions of Dall’Abaco’s cello music is published in collaboration with Walhall Editions.
Elinor is the artistic director of Accademia de’ Dissonanti, an organization for performance and research. She has performed throughout the Americas and in Europe in recital and with numerous chamber ensembles and orchestras (Rosa Barocca, Constantinople, Les idées heureuses, Il Gardellino, Tafelmusik, Pacific Baroque Orchestra, etc.). As a guest leader (London Symphonia, Ontario, Kingston Baroque Consort, Dorian Baroque, Siren Baroque, and others) Elinor specializes in Galant and earlyClassical ensemble repertoire.
In March 2023, she performed Boccherini and Sammartini concertos with the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra and in May 2023, she performed the Telemann Suite for viola da gamba and orchestra with Symphony Nova Scotia, Halifax.
Recipient of dozens of grants and prizes supporting performance and research, including the US-Italy Fulbright Fellowship (studying with Paolo Beschi in Como, Italy) and a recent research residency at the Orpheus Institute in Ghent, Elinor holds degrees from McGill, Mannes, and Juilliard. She teaches Baroque cello and performance practice at McGill University and the Université de Montréal and is a Visiting Fellow in Music (2020–2023) at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford University. Frey was awarded Québec’s Opus Prize for “Performer of the Year” in 2021.
Mercury performing at the Dosey Doe in The Woodlands.
Violin Jonathan Godfrey
A founding member of Mercury Chamber Orchestra, violinist Jonathan Godfrey has served as Concertmaster and violin soloist
since the orchestra’s inception. A graduate of Rice University, Mr. Godfrey has performed with many ensembles including the Houston Symphony, the Houston Bach Society, the IRIS Chamber Orchestra, and the River Oaks Chamber Orchestra. He has also served as Concertmaster of the Sinfonietta Cracovia, The Houston Grand Opera Orchestra, The American Radio Chamber Orchestra, Orchestra X, and the Pacific Music Festival Orchestra.
He has concertized in the US and abroad, performing solo and chamber music recitals in Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Houston, Interlochen, and Kansas City, as well as
Mario Aschauer is an accomplished conductor, harpsichordist, and musicologist who has made his life’s work the interface of music scholarship and performance. A native of Linz, Austria, Mario began his musical education early, earning a conservatory degree
in conducting at 17 years old, before graduating high school. His passion for the study of primary sources to uncover how musical works were conceived and performed attracted Mario to pursue a Ph.D. in musicology at the University of Vienna.
Mario is founder and artistic director of Harmonia Stellarum Houston, an ensemble of vocal and instrumental virtuosos that fuses historical authenticity with artistic innovation. As a dedicated performer on historical keyboard instruments Mario has appeared on the stages of numerous renowned early music festivals such as Resonanzen Vienna (Austria), Bach Fest Leipzig (Germany), and Itinéraire Baroque en Périgord Vert (France). Among his recent recording projects is an album featuring world premiere recordings of works by Giovanni Valentini, Claudio
Guanajuato, León, Monterrey, and Santiago, Mexico; Yokohama, Kyoto, Matsumoto, Sapporo, Date, and Tokyo, Japan; and Quito and Ambato, Ecuador.
A music educator as well, Mr. Godfrey has taught for twentyfive years, including positions on the violin faculty of both the Interlochen Arts Camp and the Rocky Mountain Summer Conservatory. Mr. Godfrey is also the co-director of Prelude Music Classes for Children, a school of music for young children and their families that teaches the researchbased music and movement program Music Together® and a co-founder of the Prelude Music Foundation.
Merulo, and anonymous 17th-century composers.
Mario’s book on 18th-century keyboard treatises was published by leading music publisher Bärenreiter (Kassel, Germany), for whom he has also produced new critical editions of works by Schubert, Beethoven, and Mozart.
Mario held a position as researcher at the Austrian Academy of Sciences and was a fellow at the Yale School of Music before he moved to the United States. Currently he is a tenured Associate Professor at Sam Houston State University, where he also directs the Center for Early Music Research. Additionally, he teaches harpsichord and basso continuo at Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music and serves as organist at First Lutheran Church, Houston.
Fortepiano Mario Aschauer
English Romantic Strings
November Antoine Plante, Conductor
9 / 2024
Wortham Center, Cullen Theater
GUSTAV HOLST (1874–1934)
St. Paul’s Suite, Op. 29, No. 2
Jig: Vivace
Ostinato: Presto
Intermezzo: Andante con moto
Finale (The Dargason): Allegro
RALPH VAUGHAN WILLIAMS (1872–1958)
Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis
Intermission
EDWARD ELGAR (1857–1934)
Elegy for Strings in C minor, Op. 58
Serenade for Strings in E minor, Op. 20
Allegretto I. II. III.
Allegro piacevole
Larghetto
PETER WARLOCK (1894–1930)
Capriol Suite
Mattachins: Allegro con brio I. II. III. IV. V. VI.
Basse-Danse: Allegro moderato
Pavane: Alegretto, ma up poco lento
Tordion: Con moto
Bransles: Presto
Pieds-en-l’air: Andante tranquillo
Mercury is pleased to welcome students and families from Mitchell Intermediate School and Timberwood Middle School to tonight’s performance.
The circumstances of Holst’s St. Paul’s Suite, completed in 1913, lie in his teaching duties at the St. Paul’s Girl’s School in the west-London district of Hammersmith, where he was the head of music and led the student orchestra. For this ensemble, which comprised mostly strings, he typically programmed Purcell, Bach, the occasional Haydn symphony, and for lighter fare, Strauss waltzes. His suite was his first original composition for the girl’s school, and he intended it to be both satisfying to professionals and accessible to his students. The result is a folk-tinged, playful collection of four movements. The jig demonstrates Holst’s gift for melodic invention within the spirited dance of this opening movement.
The title of the second movement, Ostinato, refers to the Baroque-era genre that comprises variations on a repeating bass line and harmonic pattern, but Holst’s ostinato is a quick fournote motif (E-D-C-D) in the violins that persists throughout the movement and cuts across both triple- and duple-meter measures. Holst’s Intermezzo alternates slow, exotic-sounding music with a vigorous tune that is thought to have been inspired by a visit that he made to Algeria in 1908. The last movement originated as the finale of Holst’s Suite Nº 2 for a concert wind ensemble and appears here transcribed for strings. The music is based on a tune from English folk dance, “Dargason,” which Holst introduces in each string part. Soon after, he adds the tune of “Greensleeves,” which makes a brief appearance at first but comes back more prominently in combination with “Dargason” toward the end of the movement.
The pairing of Elgar’s Serenade, Op. 20 (1892), and Elegy, Op. 58 (1909), recreates the composer’s last recording from August of 1933, in which he conducted these two pieces. In the chronology of his works, they fall on either side of his renowned Enigma Variations, Op. 36 (1899) and Military Marches (“Pomp and Circumstance”), Op. 39 (1901), both of which transformed his reputation from that of a provincial talent to national celebrity. The Serenade and Elegy nonetheless reveal constants in his musical voice that were unaffected by his growing fame: Romantic lyricism and a traditionally tonal idiom within carefully crafted and easily perceptible musical forms, all handled to express nostalgia and even sentimentality. Consider
that Elgar, whose fame leads us to view him as an establishment figure of British music, was born a Catholic shopkeeper’s son in provincial Worcestershire in Protestant, class-conscious Victorian England. The intimate emotionalism in his music ultimately reflects an outsider’s voice.
The three-movement Serenade probably originated as Elgar’s Three Pieces (“Spring Song,” “Elegy,” and “Finale”), which was performed in 1888, but not preserved. The revised version, titled Serenade, was first performed in 1892 by a group that Elgar had founded by gathering his violin students and other local amateurs as the Worcester Ladies’ Orchestral Class. The Serenade’s first movement, a ternary form, begins and ends in E minor with a middle section in E major. The restless viola motif that begins the piece recurs throughout the movement as accompaniment to its series of cantabile melodies. The second movement, another ternary form, exemplifies Elgar’s style of yearning lyricism in which the arch-shape of the main theme is accentuated by melodic leaps that are emphasized by forte or sforzando surges. The finale begins with a similarly accented melodic arch-shape, but the mood is changed from tender to dance-like and playful. This opening
leads to a reprise of the restless motif from the first movement (now played by the second violins) that precedes the first-movement key and melody in E major. The complete piece thus articulates a thematic rounding in its reprise of earlier material, but against larger tonal progression from minor to major.
Elgar composed his Elegy for Strings in June, 1909 in response to a request for a dirge by members of London’s centuries-old music guild, the Worshipful Company of Musicians, after their Junior Warden had died unexpectedly and tragically. The Worshipful Company, in existence since the sixteenth century, was a once-powerful union that had evolved into a society for the promotion of music through scholarships and prizes. With his Elegy, Elgar produced a masterpiece of gentle consolation, hushed sorrow, and in a few passages, expressively Wagnerian dissonance. Members of the Worshipful Company were well pleased with the result, and, according to one member,
“When any member of our Guild, who has won the regard of his fellow liverymen, passes away, we now have this Dirge performed, and each time I hear it, it grows in impressiveness and tends to raise one’s thoughts to a better world above!”
Under the pseudonym of Peter Warlock, Philip Heseltine was primarily a composer of songs,
but his interests included folk music and history, too. He composed his Capriol Suite in 1926 after having provided the foreword to a modern edition of the late sixteenth-century dance treatise Orchésographie by Jehan Arbeau. The title of Warlock’s Suite is taken from the fictional student in Orchésographie, Capriol, whom Arbeau instructs in courtly dancing in order to improve Capriol’s social standing. Warlock named the six movements of his Suite for the dance steps and music that he found in Arbeau’s treatise: the moderate triple meter of the BasseDanse opening evokes the subtle step-gliding of the original choreography; the slow dactylic rhythm of Pavane matches the noble solemnity of the late-Renaissance form of that dance; the vigorous compound meter of the Tordion reflects the energetic twisting steps for which the dance was named; the swaying line of dancing couples, from which the branle takes its name, also inspired the frenetic, scherzo-like quality of Warlock’s Bransles; Pieds-en-l’air (feet in the air) refers to a hop-and-kick dance step, which appears here as a gentle and lyrical interlude; and the crunching dissonances of the final movement, Mattachins, evoke the clashing of blades in this sword dance from Arbeau’s treatise.
Gregory Barnett ©
MISSIOn
Celebrating the power of music through teaching, sharing, and performing with passion, intimacy, and excellence.
VISION
• Be the most welcoming and innovative arts institution in Houston.
• Become an exemplary period instrument ensemble for the Nation.
• Transform the lives of a diverse audience through music.
APPROACH
Mercury Chamber Orchestra performs on period instruments to capture the authentic sound of composers from the Baroque, Classical, and Romantic eras. These instruments differ from their modern equivalents by featuring gut strings, wooden flutes and oboes, valveless horns and trumpets, and leather-skinned drums. This versatility with instruments and performance-style offers you a singular listening experience.
EDUCATION & COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
Mercury begins each season with its annual free community concert at Miller Outdoor Theatre over Labor Day Weekend. This year, over 5,000 Houstonians came together to experience a lively Baroque program, “Vivaldi & Telemann,” featuring recorder virtuoso Vincent Lauzer.
Mercury’s education programs reach numerous schools in Houston ISD and neighboring districts each school year, actively engaging and inspiring the lives of over 5,000 students. Mercury’s education team is hard at work with the start of the 2024 school year. For the fourth consecutive year, Teaching Artists Kathleen Carrington (Mercury Principal Violist) and Daphnee Johnson (Cello) engage about ninety students in grades second through fifth at Scarborough Elementary in classes three times a week. Mercury begins a new residency with the Edison Arts Center in Fort Bend County. This afterschool program will initially engage ten students twice each week with Mercury Education Manager and Violinist, Andrés González.
Mercury addresses educational needs by providing access to high-quality music education through in-school residencies which offer private lessons, coaching, mentorship, and group instruction to underserved students within the community.
By linking to school curriculum and standards, Mercury’s in-school performances serve as a dynamic learning platform, covering a diverse array of topics through the medium of music.
Mercury performing at Miller Outdoor Theatre
Mercury’s in-school residency
55 IN-PERSON CONCERTS ANNUALLY
10 AT-HOME BROADCASTS
$1.7 M
ANNUAL OPERATING BUDGET
21,750
AUDIENCE MEMBERS IN 2023-2024
118 ARTISTS ENGAGED
12+
PUBLIC SCHOOLS SERVED THROUGH EDUCATION PROGRAMS
91%
SUBSCRIPTION RENEWAL RATE
10,913
SOCIAL MEDIA FOLLOWERS
4,500+
PUBLIC SCHOOL STUDENTS ENGAGED
COUNTRIES REACHED BY STREAMING
SINGAPORE CANADA
BELGIUM AUSTRALIA
ANTOINE PLANTE
ARTISTIC
DIRECTOR, LYNN WYATT CHAIR
Praised for his conducting vigor and innovative programming, Antoine Plante has captivated audiences and musicians alike with his ability to bring music to life. Charles Ward of the Houston Chronicle lauded him for leading “an impressive account of the Mozart’s Requiem: authoritative, vigorous, emotionally intense, at times utterly gripping.”
As the founder of Mercury Chamber Orchestra in Houston, Texas, Plante has played a pivotal role in the orchestra’s remarkable growth over its 24-year history. Known for his skillful programming of great classical works like Mozart’s 41st Symphony and Mendelssohn’s Reformation alongside lesser-known gems, he has helped Mercury gain a rapidly growing audience. In 2022, he further extended Mercury’s artistic reach by founding the Mercury Singers, the orchestra’s vocal ensemble.
A versatile conductor, Plante excels across a wide repertoire. Equally at home with romantic and modern composers, he also specializes in performing classical and baroque works with period instruments. His expertise extends to staged productions, having conducted numerous operas and ballets. In collaboration with French director Pascal Rambert, Plante produced a modern, critically acclaimed staging of Lully’s Armide in Paris and Houston. He also worked with Dominic Walsh Dance Theater to create the score for Walsh’s ballet Romeo and Juliet. His innovative spirit shone in the multimedia creation of Loving Clara Schumann, a fully staged work featuring orchestra, dancers, and vocal soloists in a compelling dramatic performance.
Plante is a passionate advocate for classical music education. He leads Mercury’s educational outreach program, which brings classroom music education to underserved schools, offers master classes for student orchestras, and provides live performances for schoolchildren.
Under Plante’s leadership, Mercury has grown into a vital cultural institution in Houston, presenting over 40 concerts per season in a variety of venues, making music accessible to the entire community.
Plante has served as guest conductor for esteemed ensembles, including the San Antonio Symphony, Oregon Bach Festival Orchestra, Chanticleer, Houston Grand Opera, Ecuador National Symphony Orchestra, and Atlanta Baroque.
Antoine Plante grew up in Montréal, Québec, Canada and lives in Houston, Texas.
THE MERCURY-JUILLIARD FELLOWSHIP 2024/2025 FELLOWS
This initiative, a collaboration between The Juilliard School of Music Historical Performance Program and Mercury Chamber Orchestra, encourages the development of talented young instrumentalists and fosters a strong relationship between two major players in America’s period instrument performance scene.
Each spring, Mercury holds auditions at Juilliard, selecting two post-graduate students to participate in a one-year fellowship with the ensemble. Fellows will perform with Mercury during the season, gaining valuable performance experience while introducing Houston to the next generation of great period performance musicians.
Ryan Cheng
Violin
Cristina Prats-Costa
Violin
Soprano Raven McMillon, Grand Finals Winner of the 2021 Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition, to perform on Sunday, November 17 at 3:00 p.m.
“Rejoice in New Voices!”
Soprano Raven McMillon will perform a concert recital at First Congregational Church to benefit the Houston District’s Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition.
Ms. Bethany Self, Principal Coach for Opera studies at Rice University, will accompany Ms. McMillon for this one-hour program of opera arias, art songs, and spirituals. Light refreshments will be available following the performance.
We welcome enthusiastic opera fans. Admission is free.
Donations are welcomed.
See www.facebook.com/MetCompHouston for event information.
First Congregational Church is located at 10840 Beinhorn Road, Houston, 77024.
Courtesy: Lynn Lane
six saxophones
October 13, 2024
Sunday, 5 pm
Century Square, College Station
flute, violin, bassoon, cello, guitars, bass, harpsichord
November 10, 2024
Sunday, 5 pm
First Presbyterian Church
THE STRING QUEENS
BACH TO BRAZIL
March 22, 2025
Saturday, 5 pm
A&M United Methodist Church
HAYDN, SHAW, BEETHOVEN
April 6, 2025
Sunday, 5 pm
St. Thomas Episcopal Church
Friends of Chamber Music’s World Cultural Heritage Composition at the violin, viola, cello
February 1, 2025
Saturday, 5 pm
A&M United Methodist Church
April 20, 2025
Sunday, 4:30 pm
Rudder Theatre
fcmtx.org
Mercury’s Patron Society recognizes individuals making annual leadership gifts of $2,500 or more. Patron Society members receive complimentary valet parking at Downtown concerts, Green Room access at intermission and after the concert, invitations to private concerts and events, and other exciting benefits.
7.
Photo Credits:
1. Lynn Wyatt & Antoine Plante. 2. Martha Eskew, Robert Navo, Ginny Hart, Blake Eskew.
3. Keith & Julie Little. 4. Michael & Marsha Bourque and June & Steve Barth. 5. Dee Kreft, Michael & Gayle Collins, Maggie Kolanski.
6. Jonathan Godfrey & Ana Trevino-Godfrey
Lori Muratta, Kirsten Jensen, Marlana Doyle
8. David & Kelly Rose and Gary & Lisa Cohen
PATRON SOCIETY
Mercury Chamber Orchestra gratefully recognizes the following individuals for their leadership support of our artistic, educational, and community engagement programs through generous annual gifts and participation in special events. For more information about joining the Patron Society, please contact Brittany Schroeder, Development Manager, Individual Giving at brittany@mercuryhouston.org or 713-533-0080.
PLATINUM PATRON SOCIETY
($25,000 and above)
June & Steve Barth*
Patricia Branton & William Gould*
Kirsten Jensen & David Kerley*
Dr. & Mrs. Christopher Prince*
Kristine & Stephen Wallace*
Lynn & Oscar Wyatt
Anonymous
GOLD PATRON SOCIETY
($15,000-$24,999)
Mollie & Wayne Brunetti*
Mariko & John Jordan*
Rosemary Malbin*
Rose Ann Medlin & William E. Joor III*
Kelly & David Rose*
SILVER PATRON SOCIETY
($10,000-$14,999)
Martha & Blake Eskew*
Rebecca Fieler*
Mrs. Warren Kreft*
Lori Muratta & Antoine Plante
Gaby & Kenny Owen*
BRONZE PATRON SOCIETY
($5,000-$9,999)
Jessica & Jay Adkins
Marsha & Michael Bourque*
Donna & Mike Boyd*
Mary Kay & Walter Mark Buehler
Joe & Kim Caruana
Robert N. Chanon*
Marcia & Thomas Faschingbauer*
Debra & Mark Gregg
Virginia Hart & Robert Navo*
Cristela & Bill Jonson*
Lloyd Kirchner*
D M Marco*
Carol & Joel Mohrman*
Neil Sackheim & Stephen Voss*
Robert Sartain*
Linda & Tom Sparks
Ralf van der Ven
Nina & Michael Zilkha* Anonymous*
PATRON SOCIETY
($2,500-$4,999)
Mark Berry*
Thomas Bevilacqua & Karen Merriam*
Mindy & Josh Davidson*
Carmen Delgado & Duane C. King*
Nan Earle*
Marilyn & Bill Eiland*
Mary Foster & Don Desimone*
Caroline Freeman
Peter & Chris Godfrey
Nancy & Carter Hixon*
Janice & Timothy Howard*
Nick Jameson
Lili & Hans Kirchner*
Julie & Keith Little*
Forrest Lumpkin*
Angelika & Michael Mattern*
Dr. Maureen O’Driscoll-Levy
Ruth & Michael Pancherz*
Andrew J. Sackheim*
Sasha Van Nes* & James E. Smith
Douglas & Carolynne White*
Courtney Williams MD*
*Indicates a Mercury Season Subscriber
As of September 30, 2024
Annual Support
Mercury Chamber Orchestra gratefully recognizes the following individuals who support our artistic, educational, and community engagement programs through generous annual gifts and participation in special events. For more information, please contact Brittany Schroeder, Development Manager, Individual Giving at brittany@mercuryhouston.org or 713-533-0080.
BENEFACTORS
($1,000-$2,499)
Greer Barriault & Clarruth Seaton
James & Barbara Becker
John Robert Behrman*
Dr. Joan H. Bitar*
Capital Builders
Carl R. Cunningham
The Carl & Phyllis
Detering Foundation
Dr. Will & Sharon Donovan
Rena & Richard D’Souza
Gary Gardner & Peg Palisin*
Connie & James Garson*
Leonard Goldstein & Helen Wils*
Shannon & Jamie Mann
Betsy & Rick Weber
Anonymous*
SUPPORTERS
($500-$999)
Joel Abramowitz & Rita Bergers*
Thomas Beach*
D. Bentley*
Melinda & Bill Brunger
Gilbert Cote*
Zed S Choi
Miriam & Harold Hudson
Mary Angela Knauss
Mary & Rodney Koenig
Penny & Sean Lewis*
Deborah Lugo & Andrés González
Candice & Roger Moore*
Steve & Elaine Roach*
Tricia & Steve Rosencranz
Meredith & Ralph Stone
Cheryl Verlander & Chuck Bracht
Amy Waldorf
Geoffrey Walker & Ann Kennedy
Kimberly & Trey Wilkinson
Anonymous
DONORS
($150 - $499)
David Bartlow
Dr. Jerry L. Bohannon*
Gwen Bradford
Becky Browder*
Rustin Buck*
C. Robert Bunch*
Drs. Yvonne Chen & Brandon Bell
Yun Shin Chun
Steven Cowart
Valerie Cramer*
Irene & Bryan Crutchley*
Benée & Chris Curtis*
Carla & Michael Deavers
Dana Dilbeck*
Risha & Patrick Dozark
Corey Eickenloff*
Roberta & Peter Ferenz*
Sydney Free*
Angelica Garza
Leslie Gassner
Vernon Gillette*
Dennis Griffith & Louise Richman
Dr. Tamara Miner Haygood*
Kirk Hickey & William Maguire
Richard & Ruth Hirschfeld
Anne Houang
Shane Hudson*
Brad & Alida Johnson*
Allen Karger*
Cheryl M. Katz
Frank & Lynda Kelly*
Edward Kenny*
Dennis and Casey Kiley*
Georgia & Stephen Kimmel*
Victoria & Alex Lazar
Mrs. Laura Leib*
Eli Levinowitz
Jim & Ellana Livermore*
Juan Ignacio Mangini
Rebecca Marvil
Nancy Wynne Mattison*
John H. Meltzer*
Steve & Kerry Morby
Jim O’Rourke
Will & Emily Perry
Ed & Janet Rinehart*
Jim Robin*
Melanie L. Rogers*
Dorry Shaddock*
Carol & Tom Sloan*
Richard & Joan Spaw*
Tommy Swate
Lindsey & Cory Vanarsdel*
Beatriz & Peter Varman*
Adriana Wechsler & Patrick Kelly*
Janet & Rich Wheeler
The Cruz-Wiley Family
Elizabeth D. Williams*
Dr. Robert K. Wimpelberg & Peter Hodgson*
Martha & Richard Wright*
Paul & Andrea Yatsco*
Tom Young & Steve Nall
Anonymous (3)
FRIENDS
(up to $149)
Keith Anthis
Tonia Ayres
Jerry S. Baiamonte
Lesly Barrientos
Krisa Benskin
Daniel Biediger*
Daniel & Helene Booser
Kathy & Walker Brickey*
Wm. F. Brothers, Jr.*
Leslie Brown
Michael & Michaele Brown*
Ian John Butler
Ignacio Carrion
Claudia Castillo
Alex Hobart Corwin
Roseline et Karl
Alexander Crabtree*
Lesa Curry
Lesley Douthwaite
Clarice Droughton*
Frank & Mariam Dumanoir
Todd & Emma Edwards*
Kellie Ekeland
Sepideh Fashami
K. Ferguson
Mark & Alicia Filley
Chalon Fontaine
Laurent Fouilloud-Buyat
Bolivar Fraga
Svetlana Franklin
Terry Gardner
Gail Gould
Mark Happe
Alma Harris
Jean Harris
Genevieve Hernandez
Richard Hickman
Lai Ho
Mark Hoose*
Luke Howe*
Andrew Hubbard*
Srivathsan Iyengar
Richard H. Johnigan, III
Michele Joy & Tom Shahriari
Weldon Kuretsch*
Kimberly Leishner
Jorge E. Lopez-de-Cardenas
Lisa Marcelli
David & Mary Jo Martin
James McFarland
The Miller Family
Ana Chacon Morales
Robb & Audrey Moses
Caleb Mwika
Carol & Barry Myones
Dr. Stacy & Mr. Ronan O’Malley
Ugochukwu Onochie
Julie & Chip Oudin*
Jehan-Francois Paris*
Jose Pastrana
Maria Olga Patino
Tim & Robin Phillips
Dr. Dennis Pieters
Ava Plummer*
The Power Family
Elizabeth Price
Patricia de Groot & Marc Puppo*
Patricia Rathwell*
Jorge M. Rivas
Daniel Robison*
Stephen Ronczy*
Rumpelstiltskin
Charles & Andrea Seay
Craig & Ann Shepard
Hinda Simon
James Smith
Claudia Soler Alfonso
Baxter & Patricia Spann
Tyler Starkel
Mark Stine
Barbara J. Taake*
Susan L Taylor*
Ellie Tyson
Katherine Vukadin
Jim Winn
Edith A. Wittig
John B. Zodrow
Anonymous (80)
*Indicates a Mercury Season Subscriber
As of September 30, 2024
GIFTS IN HONOR OR MEMORIAL
Drs. Yvonne Chen & Brandon Bell, in honor of Meghan & Kevin Downs
Lesa Curry, in honor of Ana Treviño-Godfrey & Jonathan Godfrey
Carl A. Detering Jr., in honor of J. Michael Boyd
Dr. Bill & Sharon Donovan, in honor of Patrick Donovan
Caroline Freeman, in memory of Marion Merseburger
Laurent Fouilloud-Buyat, in honor of Christian Fouilloud-Buyat
Gail Gould, in memory of Steven Friedlander
Nick Jameson, in memory of Karin Fliegel Jameson
Elias Levinowitz, in honor of Jonathan Godfrey
Rosemary Malbin, in loving memory of Michael Malbin
Juan Ignacio Mangini, in memory of Oscar R. Mangini, M.D.
Lisa Marcelli, in memory of Stephen H. Friedlander
The Miller Family, in memory of Sheldon Miller
Will & Emily Perry, in honor of Kenny & Gaby Owens
The Power Family, in memory of Rosemary Power
Patricia Rathwell, in honor of Mark Rathwell
Robert Sartain, in memory of Margaret A. Reinke
Trey Wilkinson, in honor of Vey Spin
Tom Young & Steve Nall, in honor of Simone Plante
John B. Zodrow, in honor of The Kirchner Family
We greatly appreciate each gift and have made every effort to ensure the accuracy of this listing. Please notify us of any inaccuracies or omissions at help@mercuryhouston.org.
Foundations, Corporate, and Government Support
Mercury Chamber Orchestra gratefully recognizes the following foundations, corporations, and government entities that support our artistic, educational, and community engagement programs through generous annual grants and sponsorships. For more information, please contact Chloe Bruns, Development Manager, Institutional Giving at chloe@mercuryhouston.org or 713-533-0080.
CONDUCTOR’S CIRCLE
($75,000 +)
Houston Endowment Inc.
Anonymous
CONCERTMASTER’S CIRCLE
($50,000 - $74,999)
The Brown Foundation, Inc.
The Cullen Trust for the Performing Arts
PLATINUM CIRCLE
($25,000 - $49,999)
ConocoPhillips
Houston Arts Alliance
Texas Commission on the Arts
The Wyatt Foundation
GOLD CIRCLE
($15,000 - $24,999)
De Boulle Diamond & Jewelry
Miller Outdoor Theatre Advisory Board
National Endowment for the Arts
Shell Oil Company Foundation
SILVER CIRCLE
($10,000 - $14,999)
Adell, Harriman, & Carpenter, Inc.
Lucius & Eva Eastman Fund
The Albert and Ethel Herzstein
Charitable Foundation
The Sartain & Tamez Family Trust Fund at the Chicago Community Foundation
South Coast Terminals
Western Midstream SLT
BRONZE CIRCLE
($5,000 - $9,999)
Acretio
Arts Connect Houston
Bp Foundation
Chevron
Citi
ExxonMobil Foundation
Haynes Boone
Mexcor International
Platform Partners
Spotlight Energy, LLC
Truist
Etiquette
Out of respect for the musicians and your fellow audience members, please be sure to silence your mobile devises and refrain from texting or talking during the performing. Disruptive patrons will be asked to leave.
Late Seating
Late seating is often available during the first convenient break in the performance and is always at the discretion of the ushers. Always allow plenty of time for traffic, parking, and getting to your seat.
Devices
Recording of Mercury performances by camera, audio, or video equipment is prohibited. You are welcome to take pictures before or after the orchestra performs. Please share your experience on social media.
Food & Beverage
At our venues, outside food and drink are not allowed. Wortham Center performances have food and beverages for sale in the Grand Foyer and Prairie Lobby. Drinks may be brought into the Cullen Theater for the performance.
Tickets
Subscribers may exchange their tickets to any performance at no cost. Single tickets are not eligible 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.
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@mercuryhouston
Mercury is funded in part by grants from the City of Houston and Harris County through the Houston Arts Alliance and the Texas Commission on the Arts.
Administrative Offices
2900 Weslayan Street, Suite 500
Houston, TX 77027
Phone: 713.533.0080
Hours: 9 AM – 5 PM Monday-Friday
www.mercuryhouston.org
COMING SOON
LOVING CLARA SCHUMANN
Wortham Center, Cullen Theater
CELEBRATED ARTIST. PASSIONATE LOVER. DEVOTED FRIEND.
FEBRUARY 8 • 8:00PM
FEBRUARY 9 • 2:30PM
A mixed media experience featuring music by Clara
Schumann, Robert Schumann & Johannes Brahms
Mercury Board and Administrative Team
Board OF DIRECTORS
Steve Barth
President
Keith Little Treasurer
Rebecca Fieler Secretary
Blake Eskew Immediate Past President
Antoine Plante Artistic Director
Brian Ritter Executive Director
Marsha Bourque
Kevin Downs
Sofia Durham
Marcia Faschingbauer
Bill Guest
Ginny Hart
Kirsten Jensen
Lloyd Kirchner
Forrest Lumpkin
Rose Ann Medlin
Kenny Owen
James E. Smith
Ana Treviño-Godfrey
Ralf van der Ven
Stephen Wallace
Lynn Wyatt
Special Advisor
Administrative Team
Antoine Plante Artistic Director, Lynn Wyatt Chair
Brian Ritter Executive Director
Chloe Bruns Development Manager, Institutional Giving
Brittany Schroeder Development Manager, Individual Giving
Arely Castillo Patron Relations Manager
Katie DeVore Operations Manager
Matthew Carrington Personnel Manager & Music Librarian sponsored by Rebecca Fieler
Andrés González Education Manager
Rachel Piero Stage Manager
Sectorlab LLC Marketing Consultant
Tyler Starkel YPTC Accountant
BEND Productions and Ben Doyle Videography
Melissa Taylor Graphic Designer
Wortham Center,
Cullen Theater
MARCH 22 • 8:00PM
COMING SOON
BACH’S St. John Passion
FEATURING
The Mercury Singers
Betsy Cook Weber, Director
Nicholas Phan, Evangelist
Boccherini’s Night in Madrid OCT 12
English Romantic Strings NOV 9
Christmas with Nicole Heaston DEC 7
Vivaldi, Handel & Bach JAN 11
Loving Clara Schumann FEB 8 & 9
Bach’s St. John Passion MAR 22
Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto MAY 17
Classical Piano Trios OCT 24-27
English Baroque Christmas DEC 19-22
Bach to Joropo APR 10-13