Symphonic Stories: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
Sept. 19-21
TCU’s College of Fine Arts prepares the next generation of creative leaders through personalized mentorship from leading performers and scholars, fostering academic and artistic development.
Three School of Music faculty received the prestigious Gentling Fellowship from the Amon Carter Museum of American Art and presented a concert honoring Fort Worth artists and musicians Stuart and Scott Gentling.
Learn From World-Class Faculty
go.tcu.edu/music-fellowship
AMON CARTER MUSEUM OF AMERICAN ART
From left: Inderpal S. Sarkaria, M.D., M.B.A., thoracic surgeon; Ina Patel, D.O., breast medical oncologist; James Wilder, M.D., gynecologic oncologist
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Look Again
The Music of Queen with
FWSO STAFF
EXECUTIVE OFFICE
Keith Cerny, Ph.D. President and CEO
Carrie Ellen Adamian Chief Operating Officer
Jacque Carpenter Vice President of Finance & HR
OPERATIONS
Sam Pavel Vice President of Operations
Branson White Senior Production Manager
Lacy McCoy Senior Operations Manager
Tim Vinson Stage Manager
Christopher Hawn Orchestra Librarian
David Sterrett Assistant Orchestra Librarian
Pierce Baruk Artistic Services Coordinator
DEVELOPMENT
Stephanie Moreau Senior Director of Development
Camille McPherson Individual Giving Manager
Morgan Tingle Institutional Giving Manager
Emily Hazlett Donor Engagement Manager
Alexia Wixom Development Operations Coordinator
BOX OFFICE
Tess Todora Director of Ticketing Services
Veronica Morris Box Office Associate
Rachel Raley Box Office Associate
Mary Russell Box Office Associate
Jarrett Self Box Office Associate
Paul Taylor Box Office Associate
FINANCE
Kenneth Rinehart Director of Accounting
Lucas Baldwin Senior Staff Accountant
ORCHESTRA PERSONNEL & HUMAN RESOURCES
Araminta Stephens HR Administrator
Kayla Aftahi Orchestra Personnel Manager
Savanna Cardenas Orchestra Personnel Manager
MARKETING
Monica Sheehan Director of Marketing
Melanie Boma Senior Tessitura Database Manager
Josselin Garibo Pendleton Senior Manager, Education and Community Programs
Joanna Calhoun Marketing Manager Catherine
Mercedes T. Bass Chairman of the Board of Directors
Dear Friends,
Thank you for joining us for the opening of our 2025-2026 Season, featuring the extraordinary talents of Music Director Robert Spano, who will continue to lead the orchestra through the 2031 season. This season also marks the arrival of our newly appointed Principal Guest Conductor, the remarkable Dame Jane Glover. This season has an exhilarating lineup of Symphonic and Pops concerts, highlighted by the return of worldrenowned violinist Gil Shaham, who will star in our Gala performance. Mark your calendars for February 21, 2026, for a night you won’t want to miss.
The FWSO’s dedication to excellence and community connection shines through in every concert, making this season a must-see for music lovers. Join us for an unforgettable season filled with inspiration, entertainment, and the transformative power of music. Whether you are a lifelong fan or new to the concert experience, the FWSO looks forward to welcoming you to the concert hall for this performance and many more to come!
The Board of Directors and I thank our donors, patrons, and staff for their continued support and loyalty. The FWSO continues to be an essential thread in Fort Worth’s cultural fabric, and I am thrilled you are playing your part and joining us for today’s performance.
With much appreciation and gratitude,
Mercedes T. Bass Chairman of the Board of Directors
Keith Cerny, Ph.D. President and CEO
Dear Patron,
As Robert Spano enters his fourth season as Music Director, the FWSO is receiving regular and muchdeserved accolades for the outstanding quality of the performances under his baton. We are glad to have you back with us!
Before the start of the Symphonic Series, we are proud to feature several of our outstanding musicians as soloists in Stars of the Symphony on August 20. A few days later, we will present another set of stars, with back-to-back productions of Star Wars: The Force Awakens in Concert, showcasing the full-length movie and live orchestra. We wrap up August with Windborne’s ever popular The Music of Queen with guest soloists and the outstanding FWSO musicians.
We open the Symphonic Series in early September with Maestro Spano conducting Brahms’ Symphony No. 4 and Fort Worth favorite Sir Stephen Hough in the Grieg Piano Concerto. Later that month, we will present an exceptional set of performances as part of the FWSO’s unique Theater of a Concert concept. In these concerts, we add additional elements to elevate more traditional symphonic performances including dance, projections, singers, and lighting. This special program will feature the world premiere of the Suite from Joby Talbot’s ballet Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland in new choreography by Joy Bollinger, conducted by Robert Spano, and featuring the dancers from Bruce Wood Dance Dallas. You will not want to miss this captivating new take on Lewis Carroll’s classic novel!
At the FWSO, we are proud of the extraordinary range of types of music and concerts we produce, and grateful for the support of our donors and patrons. We look forward to seeing you in person!
Yours sincerely,
Keith Cerny, Ph.D. President & CEO
Robert Spano
Music Director
Robert Spano, conductor, pianist, composer, and teacher, is known worldwide for the intensity of his artistry and distinctive communicative abilities, creating a sense of inclusion and warmth among musicians and audiences that is unique among American orchestras. Music Director of the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra (FWSO) since August 2022, Spano will continue there through July 2031, shaping the artistic direction of the orchestra and driving its continued growth. This season, Spano also steps into the role of Music Director of the Washington National Opera (WNO) for a three-year term. An avid mentor to rising artists, he is responsible for nurturing the careers of numerous celebrated composers, conductors, and performers. As Music Director of the Aspen Music Festival and School since 2011, he oversees the programming of more than 300 events and educational programs for 630 students and young performers; he also directs the Aspen Conducting Academy, which offers participants unparalleled training and valuable podium experience. After 20 seasons as Music Director with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra (ASO), he now serves as its Music Director Laureate. He also becomes Principal Guest Conductor of the Rhode Island Philharmonic Orchestra & Music School this season, where he previously served as Principal Conductor.
In his fourth season as music director of the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, Spano leads more than six symphonic programs,
including a world premiere by Michael Gandolfi. Spano leads two productions at Washington National Opera in 2025-2026: the company’s production of Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro and a new production of Robert Ward’s Pulitzer Prize- and Tony Award®–winning opera The Crucible. Other highlights of the season include a return to the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra for two programs celebrating the 250th anniversary of America’s independence and guest conducting appearances with the Louisville Orchestra, Nashville Symphony, San Diego Symphony, and Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra. Spano’s newest recording as a pianist and composer is a collaboration with mezzo-soprano Kelley O’Connor, “Songs of Orpheus,” a series of song cycles by Edvard Grieg, Claude Debussy, George Crumb, and Spano himself, on Sono Luminus (August 22, 2025).
Robert Spano made his Metropolitan Opera debut in 2019, leading the US premiere of Nico Muhly’s Marnie. Recent concert highlights include several world-premiere performances, including The Sacrifice of Isaac by Jonathan Leshnoff with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra; Steven Mackey’s Aluminum Flowers and James Ra’s Te Deum with the Curtis Symphony Orchestra; Jake Heggie’s Earth 2.0 with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra; a new production of Fidelio with the Washington National Opera; Of Earth and Sky: Tales From the Motherland by Brian Raphael Nabors with the FWSO and Rhode Island Philharmonic; and Voy a Dormir by Bryce Dessner at Carnegie Hall, with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s and mezzosoprano Kelley O’Connor.
With a discography of critically acclaimed recordings for Telarc, Deutsche Grammophon, and ASO Media, Robert Spano has garnered four Grammy™ Awards and eight nominations with the Atlanta Symphony. Spano is on faculty at Oberlin Conservatory and has received honorary doctorates from Bowling Green State University, the Curtis Institute of Music, Emory University, and Oberlin. Maestro Spano is a recipient of the Georgia Governor’s Award for the Arts and Humanities and is one of two classical musicians inducted into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame. 4 | 2025/2026 SEASON
Dame Jane Glover
Principal Guest Conductor
Acclaimed British conductor Jane Glover, named Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 2021 New Year’s Honours, has been Music of the Baroque’s music director since 2002. In 2025 she was named Principal Guest Conductor of the Fort Worth Symphony. She made her professional debut at the Wexford Festival in 1975, conducting her own edition of Cavalli’s L’Eritrea. She joined Glyndebourne in 1979 and was music director of Glyndebourne Touring Opera from 1981 until 1985. She was artistic director of the London Mozart Players from 1984 to 1991. From 2009 until 2016 she was Director of Opera at the Royal Academy of Music where she is now the Felix Mendelssohn Visiting Professor and was Visiting Professor of Opera at the University of Oxford, her alma mater.
Jane Glover has conducted many of the major symphony, chamber orchestras and period instrument groups in Britain, Europe, the United States, Asia, and Australia. She has appeared frequently at the BBC Proms.
In demand on the international opera stage, Jane Glover has appeared with numerous companies including the Metropolitan Opera, Royal Opera, Covent Garden, English National Opera, Glyndebourne, the Berlin Staatsoper, Glimmerglass Opera, New York City Opera, Opera National de Bordeaux, Opera Australia, Chicago Opera Theater, Opera National du Rhin, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, Luminato, Teatro Real, Madrid, Royal Danish Opera, Teatro La Fenice and Detroit Opera. A Mozart specialist, she has conducted all the Mozart operas all over the world regularly since she first performed them at Glyndebourne in the 1980s, and her core operatic repertoire also includes Monteverdi, Handel, and Britten. Highlights of recent seasons
include The Magic Flute with the Metropolitan Opera, Alcina with Washington Opera, L’Elisir d’amore and The Magic Flute for Houston Grand Opera, Medea for Opera Omaha, Così fan tutte for Lyric Opera of Kansas City, The Turn of the Screw, Jephtha and Lucio Silla in Bordeaux, The Rape of Lucretia, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Cosí fan tutte, Figaro and Don Giovanni at the Aspen Music Festival, Gluck’s Armide and Iphigenie en Aulide with Met Young Artists and Juilliard, Don Giovanni and The Magic Flute at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, Orfeo ed Euridice (Gluck) in Lisbon, Albert Herring with Chicago Opera theater, and Xerxes with Detroit Opera. Among the many operas she conducted while Director of Opera at the Royal Academy of Music were Eugene Onegin, The Rake’s Progress, The Marriage of Figaro, L’incoronazione di Poppea, and the world premiere of Sir Peter Maxwell Davies’ Kommilitonen! This past season she returned to the Houston Grand Opera and Cincinnati Opera to conduct productions of Don Giovanni and in the 2024/2025 season led the North American premiere of Ferdinando Paër’s Leonora with Chicago Opera Theater.
Future and recent-past concert engagements include her continuing seasons with Music of the Baroque in Chicago as well as engagements with the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Cleveland Orchestra—both at Severance Hall as well as the Blossom Music Festival, the Orchestra of St. Luke’s (at Carnegie Hall), the London Mozart Players, the New York Philharmonic, Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Camerata Salzburg, and the Symphonies of Chicago, Cincinnati, Toronto, Houston, San Francisco, Baltimore, St. Louis and Oregon. In the summer of 2025, she conducted Mozart’s opera The Impresario at the Buxton International Festival in the UK, appeared at the Aspen Music Festival and at the Lincoln Center Festival in New York City.
Jane Glover’s discography includes a live recording of Jeptha with Music of the Baroque on Reference Records, a series of Mozart and Haydn symphonies with the London Mozart Players and various recordings with the London Philharmonic, the Royal Philharmonic, Trinity, Wall Street, and the BBC Singers. She is the author of the critically acclaimed books Mozart’s Women, Handel in London and Mozart in Italy She holds a personal professorship at the University of London, is a Fellow of the Royal College of Music, an Honorary Member of the Royal Academy of Music, and the holder of several honorary degrees. In 2020, she was awarded the Royal Philharmonic Society’s Gamechanger Award for her work in breaking new ground for other female conductors. In 2025, she received the Musician Club of Women 150th Anniversary Founders Award.
A graceful yet powerful force on the podium, ArgentinianItalian conductor Michelle Di Russo is known for her compelling interpretations, passionate musicality, and championing of contemporary music. Di Russo is thrilled to have been named Music Director of the Delaware Symphony and begins her tenure in the 25/26 season. Di Russo was appointed Associate Conductor of the Fort Worth Symphony by Robert Spano in 2024 and is a two-time recipient of The Solti Foundation U.S. Career Assistance Award. She has held several conducting fellowships at prestigious institutions including being a Dudamel Fellow with LA Philharmonic, a mentee of the Taki Alsop Fellowship and a conducting fellow of the Verbier Festival, the Chicago Sinfonietta and The Dallas Opera Hart Institute.
This season’s highlights include guest conducting engagements with the Knoxville Symphony, Colorado Springs Philharmonic, Fort Worth Symphony and a return to The Dallas Opera Hart Institute as part of their 10th year anniversary. Di Russo will be the assistant conductor for the production of Aida with Washington National opera. She will also be a fellow at the Aspen Music Festival and return to the Lucerne Festival Academy to be a part of the Roche Young Commissions where she was selected to be a part of a two-year project.
Di Russo has held positions as Associate Conductor with North Carolina Symphony assisting Carlos Miguel Prieto, Interim Director of Orchestras at Cornell University, and is conducting fellow alumni of the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music and a Joel Revzen fellow of the Napa Valley Festival.
Stephanie Rhodes Russell is an alum of the Dallas Opera’s Hart Institute for Women Conductors, the Houston Grand Opera Studio and the Merola Opera Program. She was a Conducting Fellow with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra from 2019-2021, where she appeared regularly with the ensemble leading education, family, and community concerts while serving as cover conductor for the Symphonic Series. She is also the recipient of a 2019 Solti Foundation U.S. Career Assistance Award, designed to aid outstanding young conductors in developing their talents and careers.
For the 2025-2026 season, Rhodes Russell returns to the Fort Worth Symphony, serving as Resident Conductor, and leading a range of programs. She makes her Charlotte Symphony debut, with a program that includes Beethoven’s “Emperor” piano concerto, the U.S. premiere of Anna Clyne’s The Years, and Martines’ Sinfonia in C Major. She leads the world premiere of Everlasting Faint at Madison Opera, conducts the Schwabacher Scenes Concerts for Merola Opera Program, and returns to the National Symphony Orchestra, assisting Gianandrea Noseda on Puccini’s Il trittico.
The 2024-2025 season brought a number of significant returns for Maestro Rhodes Russell: Utah Opera, for Hänsel und Gretel, Arizona Opera, for her first career performances of Verdi’s Aida, and Washington National Opera, for the orchestrated world premiere of Jungle Book by Kamala Sankaram (composer) and Kelley Rourke (librettist). She also made her orchestral debut with the Sacramento Philharmonic & Opera, conducting works by Prokofiev and Stravinsky, and returned to the National Symphony Orchestra, assisting conductors Gianandrea Noseda and Marin Alsop. 6 | 2025/2026 SEASON
Michelle Di Russo Associate Conductor
Stephanie Rhodes Russell Resident Conductor
FORT WORTH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
Robert Spano, Music Director, Nancy Lee & Perry R. Bass Chair
Dame Jane Glover, Principal Guest Conductor
Miguel Harth-Bedoya, Music Director Laureate
Michelle Di Russo, Associate Conductor, Rae and Ed Schollmaier Foundation Chair
Stephanie Rhodes Russell, Resident Conductor
John Giordano, Conductor Emeritus
VIOLIN I
Michael Shih, Concertmaster
Mrs. Mercedes T. Bass Chair
Mr. Sid R. Bass Chair
Swang Lin, Associate Concertmaster
Ann Koonsman Chair
Eugene Cherkasov, Assistant Concertmaster
Mollie & Garland Lasater Chair
Jennifer Y. Betz
Ordabek Duissen
Qiong Hulsey
Ivo Ivanov
Nikayla Kim
Izumi Lund
Ke Mai
Kimberly Torgul
Albert Yamamoto
VIOLIN II
Adriana Voirin DeCosta, Principal
Steven Li, Associate Principal
TBD, Assistant Principal° Symphony League of Fort Worth Chair
Molly Baer
Sue Jacobson°
Matt Milewski
Gabriela Peña-Kim
Kathryn Perry
Tatyana Smith
Rosalyn Story
Andrea Tullis
VIOLA
DJ Cheek, Principal
Anna Kolotylina, Associate Principal
HeeSun Yang, Assistant Principal
Joni BaczewskiSorin Guttman
Aleksandra Holowka
Dmitry Kustanovich
Daniel Sigale
CELLO
Allan Steele, Principal
Mrs. Mercedes T. Bass Chair
Mr. Sid R. Bass Chair
Keira Fullerton, Associate Principal
Colin Hill, Assistant Principal
BNSF Railway Foundation Chair
John Belk
Deborah Brooks
Shelley Jessup
Jenny Kwak
Annamarie Reader
BASS
William Clay, Principal
Mr. & Mrs. Edward P. Bass Chair
Paul Unger, Assistant Principal
Jeff Hall
Sean P. O’Hara
Julie Vinsant
FLUTE
Jake Fridkis, Principal
Shirley F. Garvey Chair
Gabe Fridkis, Assistant Principal
Elise Kim°
PICCOLO
Elise Kim°
OBOE
Jennifer Corning Lucio, Principal
Nancy L. & William P. Hallman Jr. Chair
Tamer Edlebi, Assistant Principal
Tim Daniels
Vacant Position°
ENGLISH HORN
Tim Daniels
Vacant Position°
CLARINET
Stas Chernyshev, Principal
Rosalyn G. Rosenthal Chair*
Ivan Petruzziello, Assistant Principal
Greg Hamilton°
E-FLAT CLARINET
Ivan Petruzziello
BASS CLARINET
Greg Hamilton°
BASSOON
George Sakakeeny, Principal°
Mr. & Mrs. Lee M. Bass Chair
Cara Owens, Assistant Principal
Kody Harrington
CONTRABASSOON
Kody Harrington
HORN
Gerald Wood, Principal
Elizabeth H. Ledyard Chair
Alton F. Adkins, Associate Principal
Drs. Jeff and Rosemary Detweiler Chair
Kelly Cornell, Associate Principal
Aaron Pino
Blake Moreland
TRUMPET
Kyle Sherman, Principal
Cody McClarty, Assistant Principal
Dorothy Rhea Chair
Oscar Garcia-Montoya
TROMBONE
Joseph Dubas, Principal
Mr. & Mrs. John Kleinheinz Chair
Mike Hayes, Assistant Principal
Vacant Position
BASS TROMBONE
Vacant Position
Mr. & Mrs. Lee M. Bass Chair
TUBA
Edward Jones, Principal*
TIMPANI
Seth McConnell, Principal
Madilyn Bass Chair
Nicholas Sakakeeny, Assistant Principal
PERCUSSION
Keith Williams, Principal
Shirley F. Garvey Chair
Nicholas Sakakeeny, Assistant Principal
Adele Hart Chair
Deborah Mashburn
Brad Wagner
HARP
Vacant Position, Principal
Bayard H. Friedman Chair
KEYBOARD
Shields-Collins Bray, Principal
Rildia Bee O’Bryan Cliburn & Van Cliburn Chair
STAGE MANAGER
Tim Vinson
ORCHESTRA PERSONNEL MANAGERS
Kayla Aftahi
Savanna Cardenas
ORCHESTRA LIBRARIANS
Christopher Hawn
David Sterrett
* In Memory of Manny Rosenthal ° 2025/2026 Season Only
The Concertmaster performs on the 1710 Davis Stradivarius violin.
The associate Concertmaster performs on the 1685 Eugenie Stradivarius violin.
Stars of the Symphony
This concert is generously supported by The Frill Foundation
Wednesday, August 20, 2025 at 7:30 PM
Bass Performance Hall
Fort Worth, TX
Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra
Stephanie Rhodes Russell, conductor
Jennifer Corning Lucio, oboe
Keira Fullerton, cello
Anna Kolotylina, viola
VERDI
MARTINŮ
PUCCINI
A. MARCELLO
SAINT-SAËNS
arr. Clearfield
CAPUIS
BORODIN
Overture to La forza del destino
Rhapsody-Concerto for Viola and Orchestra
I. Moderato
II. Molto adagio
Anna Kolotylina, viola
Intermezzo from Act III of Manon Lescaut
Oboe Concerto in D minor
I. Andante e spiccato
II. Adagio
III. Presto
Jennifer Corning Lucio, oboe
INTERMISSION
Danse bacchanale from Samson et Delilah
Tre Momenti
I. Speranze [Hopes]
III. Allegrezze [Joyfulness]
Keira Fullerton, cello
Polovtsian Dances from Prince Igor
I. Dance of the Polovtsian Maidens
II. Polovtsian Dance with Chorus
Video/audio recording and flash photography is strictly prohibited at all FWSO performances.
Patrons arriving late will be seated during the first convenient pause. Program and artists are subject to change.
8 | 2025/2026 SEASON
ARTIST PROFILES
Jennifer Corning Lucio, oboe
As principal oboist with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, Ms. Corning Lucio has performed as a concerto soloist, including the Mozart Oboe Concerto with her own cadenzas. She has also served as guest principal oboist of the Baltimore, Milwaukee, Seattle, and Jacksonville symphonies, and has performed with the Cleveland Orchestra, Utah Symphony and Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, among others. During the summer, she has performed several seasons as the principal oboist of the Crested Butte Music Festival in Colorado. Her national television credits include principal oboist of the PBS Live from Lincoln Center program.
An active chamber musician of both contemporary and standard repertoire, Ms. Corning Lucio has been featured with the Mimir Festival, Voices of Change, Chamber Music Society of Fort Worth, Hall Ensemble, Cliburn, and Spectrum concert series. A first prizewinner of the Schubert Club Young Artist Competition of Minneapolis, she was also a winner of the Young Artist Competition of the Minnesota Orchestra. She believes in the healing power of music, having performed over sixty local recitals in senior communities through Texas Winds Musical Outreach.
As a student of Elaine Douvas, Ms. Corning Lucio received her master’s degree from the Juilliard School. Her bachelor’s degree is from the Cleveland Institute of Music with John Mack. While in Cleveland, she received academic honors from Case Western Reserve University and the Karl Lemmerman Prize in Writing. Born in St. Louis and raised in places as diverse as Panama, and Wisconsin, she is now a proud Texan with her husband, Steven.
Keira Fullerton, cello
Cellist Keira Fullerton was appointed to the position of associate principal cello of the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra in January, 2025. Formerly, she had been the FWSO’s assistant principal cello since 2008 and was an adjunct professor of cello at the University of Texas at Arlington from 2015-2020. In the spring of 2023, she served as visiting cello professor for six weeks at Baylor University. Before joining the FWSO, she held the position of assistant principal with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra in Winnipeg, Manitoba for three seasons. She has also performed as an extra musician with the Houston, Pittsburgh, and Seattle Symphonies. She spent three summers as a participant in the Crested Butte Music Festival and has also performed with the Colorado Music Festival during the 2017-2019 summer seasons. She has been playing with Music in the Mountains summer music festival in Durango, Colorado since 2019.
A native of Ohio, Fullerton moved to Toronto, Ontario at age eleven, where she studied both piano and cello at the Royal Conservatory of Music. She then earned her Bachelor of Music degree at Rice University as a student of Desmond Hoebig and received her Master of Music from the Cleveland Institute of Music studying with Stephen Geber. She lives in North Arlington with her husband, two children, and large dog.
FORT WORTH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA | 9
ARTIST PROFILES
Anna Kolotylina, viola
Ukrainian Violist Anna Kolotylina is a graduate of The Colburn School (Los Angeles), Lviv National Music Academy (Ukraine), and the International Menuhin Music Academy (Switzerland). Her otherworldly musicianship sent her performing throughout Europe and USA ultimately landing her in Fort Worth where she is currently Associate Principal Viola in the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra.
Anna has collaborated and shared a stage with world-known musicians like Alberto Lysy, Maxim Vengerov, Jeremy Menuhin, Michaela Martin, Frans Helmerson, Liviu Prunaru, Ebene Quartet, Kodaly Quartet, Tokyo Quartet, and the Guarneri Quartet. Her previous positions include Bern Symphony Orchestra, Verbier Festival Orchestra, Camerata Menuhin, and the Oregon Symphony Orchestra. Praised by LA Opus for having the most beautiful viola sound, Anna has made solo and chamber music performances at the South Bay Chamber Music Society, Music at the Main, Colburn Chamber Music Society, and the Verbier and Menuhin Festivals.
She extends her gratitude to her Viola mentors, Ettore Causa, Nobuko Imai, and Paul Coletti.
Australian conductor Ron Spigelman is an honors graduate of the Royal Academy of Music, London. Earlier in his career he was the Associate Conductor of the Buffalo Philharmonic and the Fort Worth Symphony, Music Director of the Fort Worth Dallas Ballet, San Angelo Symphony, Texas Chamber Orchestra, Springfield Symphony (MO), and the Lake Placid Sinfonietta (NY) where he is now conductor emeritus. He has also served as Principal Pops Conductor of the Fort Worth and Syracuse Symphony and beginning in the 25/26 season he will become the Principal Pops Conductor of the Buffalo Philharmonic.
Recent guest conducting appearances include the Atlanta, St. Louis, Baltimore, Utah, Oregon, Kansas City, Vancouver, and Nashville Symphonies, as well as the Florida Orchestra, Louisville Orchestra and the Minnesota Orchestra. He will make his debut with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra in December 2025.
He has conducted Symphonic, Ballet, Opera, Musical Theatre and Pops plus more than 30 live-to-film productions including all eight of the Harry Potter films. Guest artists he has accompanied include Horacio Gutierrez, Rachel Barton Pine, Richard Stoltzman, Marvin Hamlisch, Peter Paul & Mary, James Taylor, Leslie Odom Jr., Vanessa Williams, Gladys Knight and many others.
Career highlights include the world premiere of Pegasus by Lowell Liebermann with the Dallas Symphony, his Carnegie Hall debut with the BPO in 2004, and the world premiere recording of Sylvan by Michael Torke with the Lake Placid Sinfonietta.
Ron lives in Tulsa, Oklahoma with his wife Laura, and they have a combined six children. He is board president of Harmony Project Tulsa, bringing instrumental instruction to underserved youth in collaboration with the Tulsa Public Schools. He also recently graduated summa cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in Family and Human Development at Arizona State University receiving the dean’s medal for academic excellence. He is currently pursuing a Master of Liberal Studies at ASU with a focus on communication, sociology and psychology in musical leadership.
12 | 2025/2026 SEASON
Friday, August 29, 2025 at 7:30 PM
Saturday, August 30, 2025 at 7:30 PM
Bass Performance Hall
Fort Worth, TX
Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra Brent Havens, conductor MiG Ayesa, vocalist
Music selections to be announced from stage.
Video/audio recording and flash photography is strictly prohibited at all FWSO performances.
Patrons arriving late will be seated during the first convenient pause. Program and artists are subject to change.
ARTIST PROFILES
Brent Havens, conductor
Berklee-trained arranger/conductor Brent Havens has written music for orchestras, feature films and virtually every kind of television. His TV work includes movies for networks such as ABC, CBS and ABC Family Channel Network, commercials, sports music for networks such as ESPN and even cartoons. Havens has also worked with the Doobie Brothers and the Milwaukee Symphony, arranging and conducting the combined group for Harley Davidson’s 100th Anniversary Birthday Party Finale attended by more than 150,000 fans. He has worked with some of the world's greatest orchestras including the Royal Philharmonic and the BBC Concert Orchestra in London, the CBSO in Birmingham, England, the Malaysian Philharmonic, the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, the Minnesota Orchestra, the Pittsburgh Symphony, the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, the Houston Symphony, the Atlanta Symphony, the Baltimore Symphony, the Dallas Symphony, the Fort Worth Symphony, the Nashville Symphony, Orchestra of Opera North in Leeds, England and countless others.
Havens recently completed the score for the film “Quo Vadis,” a Premier Pictures remake of the 1956 gladiator film. In 2013 he worked with the Baltimore Symphony and the NFL's Baltimore Ravens to arrange and produce the music for the Thanksgiving Day halftime show between the Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers, adapting both classical music and rock songs into a single four minute show. Havens is Arranger/ Guest Conductor for all of the symphonic rock programs for Windborne Music.
ARTIST PROFILES
MiG Ayesa, vocalist
MiG started his career in Australia in BUDDY. He was then chosen to join the London cast including a ROYAL VARIETY PERFORMANCE for Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II. MiG’s other West End credits include WE WILL ROCK YOU, RENT, THRILLER LIVE and SEASONS OF LARSON.
His Broadway credits include BURN THE FLOOR and ROCK OF AGES, which he also joined on the 1st US National Tour and in the Philippines. Back in Australia, his credits include GREASE, CINDERELLA, ALADDIN, WEST SIDE STORY, RENT, FAME, THE MUSIC OF ANDREW LLOYD WEBBER, and a UK and Australian Tour of THE MUSIC OF QUEEN: ROCK AND SYMPHONIC SPECTACULAR. He reprised the role of ‘Galileo’ for the 10th Anniversary World Arena Tour WE WILL ROCK YOU and as one of the TENORS OF ROCK at their resident headline show in Las Vegas and on the high seas. MiG also sailed with ROCK RHAPSODY, as well as headlining his own one man show MiG ROCKS THE BOAT.
In the Philippines, MiG played ‘Robert Kincaid’ in the first international production of THE BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY and starred with Lea Salonga and Tanya Manalang for the major concert event CURTAINS UP, as well as his own concert celebrating Shangri-la’s 25th Anniversary, and most recently originated the role of ‘Jamie Crimson’ in the World Premiere Production of ALL OUT OF LOVE.
MiG starred as ‘Joe King’ in the TV series THE FERALS. His other TV credits include FIL IT UP, MISSION: TOP SECRET, HITS AND MEMORIES, THE MIDDAY SHOW, IMT, CAROLS IN THE DOMAIN, IT’S ABOUT TIME, CAROLS BY CANDLELIGHT, PEOPLE’S CHOICE AWARDS, VIDIOT, GOOD MORNING AUSTRALIA and HEY HEY IT’S SATURDAY as well as various commercials including a global campaign for RAY BAN.
MiG’s film credits include QUEEN OF THE DAMNED and SUBTERANO. A finalist in the global hit TV show ROCKSTAR:INXS, MiG released his self-titled debut album, through Decca/Universal and was an original cast member of HANDEL’S MESSIAH ROCKS: A JOYFUL NOISE. As well as releasing his 2nd album MORE THAN EVER, MiG has also penned theme songs for various TV shows as well as writing FILL MY CUP for FWD, along with his own fund raising awareness campaign for the victims of Philippine floods with UNITED AS ONE.
Opening Weekend: Brahms Fourth and Grieg’s Piano Concerto
This concert is dedicated to Medal of Excellence Recipient Louella Martin
Friday, September 05, 2025 at 7:30 PM
Saturday, September 06, 2025 at 7:30 PM
Sunday, September 07, 2025 at 2:00 PM
Bass Performance Hall Fort Worth, TX
Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra
Robert Spano, conductor
Sir Stephen Hough, piano
SIBELIUS
GRIEG
BRAHMS
Finlandia, Op. 26
Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 16
I. Allegro molto moderato
II. Adagio
III. Allegro moderato molto e marcato
Sir Stephen Hough, piano
INTERMISSION
Symphony No. 4 in E minor, Op. 98
I. Allegro non troppo
II. Andante moderato
III. Allegro giocoso
IV. Allegro energico e passionato
Video/audio recording and flash photography is strictly prohibited at all FWSO performances.
Patrons arriving late will be seated during the first convenient pause. Program and artists are subject to change.
PROGRAM NOTES by Jeremy Reynolds
FINLANDIA, Op. 26
DURATION: About 9 minutes
PREMIERED: Helsinki, 1899
JEAN SIBELIUS
INSTRUMENTATION: Two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, four horns, three trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion, and strings
TONE POEM: A piece of orchestral music based on an idea or story, typically a single movement.
“My
Finlandia is misunderstood. It is not a protest but a hymn of gratitude.”
—
Jean Sibelius, (Born 1865, Finland; died 1957)
There’s a famous tune in the middle section of Finnish composer Jean Sibelius’ Finlandia that is so hummable that it came to serve as the unofficial national anthem of Finland, a patriotic hymn in Wales (A Prayer for Wales), and the official anthem for the short-lived African state of Biafra (1967-1970). Christians, too, would later adopt the tune for the hymn Be Still My Soul and When Memory Fades, and the Finns themselves demanded a choral setting of the tune with words, which poet Veikko Antero Koskenniemi provided:
Oh Finland, look, Your day is coming, the threat of the night banished is already gone, and the Chiuru of the morning calls in the brightness as if the roof of the sky itself was ringing.
The choral setting quite annoyed Sibelius, who had indeed conceived the work to be nationalistic, but wordlessly so. “Why on earth do they always want to sing it?” he groused later in life. The piece is certainly more Finnish than Welsh, as Sibelius — who would become an important enough artistic and cultural figure to be printed on Finnish currency — was experimenting at the time with traditional Finnish tunes. Finlandia doesn’t explicitly quote any actual folk tunes, but rather it pays homage to their style.
The music opens with tectonic, snarling brass chords, a musical representation of a great oppressor. These chords give way to more plaintive woodwind pleas for peace and freedom, and deliberations by strings as a gathering resistance. Strings and winds beseech with a repeated refrain, three times, as they crescendo to a fervor. The brass return with militant force, gnashing as the music speeds up into a march. And then, a thrilling tune in the French horns proclaiming victory before settling into the famous hymn-like wind chorale.
Finlandia premiered in 1899 at a fundraiser for a free press, serving both as a furtive protest and a call to arms against Russian censorship. Russia had controlled Finland since 1809, and in 1899, Tsar Nicholas II began cracking down on Finnish cultural expression. The piece was performed under a variety of names to escape censorship, including “Impromptu” and the more colorful “Happy Feelings at the Awakening of
Finnish Spring.”
Finland declared independence in 1917 during the chaos of the Russian Revolution. Its actual anthem is “Maamme” (Our Land), but to this day humming Finlandia in a local pub will raise a cheer.
PROGRAM NOTES by Jeremy Reynolds
EDVARD GRIEG
PIANO CONCERTO in A MINOR, Op. 16
I. Allegro molto moderato
II. Adagio
III. Allegro moderato molto e marcato
DURATION: About 30 minutes
PREMIERED: Copenhagen, 1869
INSTRUMENTATION: Two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, four horns, two trumpets, three trombones, timpani, solo piano, and strings
CONCERTO: A composition that features one or more “solo” instruments with orchestral accompaniment. The form of the concerto has developed and evolved over the course of music history.
“I am sure my music has a taste of codfish.” —
Edvard Grieg, (Born 1843, Norway; died 1907)
Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg embarked on his first and only piano concerto at a truly happy period in his life. He’d married the love of his life in 1867, and the couple’s daughter was born in 1868. That same year, while taking a holiday in Denmark to enjoy the warmer climate — compared to Norway — the 25-year-old Grieg penned the first draft of his famous concerto.
Despite his sunny outlook, the piece opens with a thunderous timpani roll and explosive piano chords, portentous and tempestuous. The woodwinds introduce the melody of the first theme, a march-like tune set against syncopated strings. The piano repeats this first theme and decorates it with flowing arpeggios. A brief transition accelerates the music, and then the cellos introduce the movement’s more lyrical second theme, romantic and sighing. These two themes alternate and combine and modulate throughout the movement.
Next, the second movement, a slower, gentler affair, is in ternary form (ABA) and also nods to the music of his homeland. Its opening and closing are introspective bookends to a more passionate middle section.
To date, most of the more famous piano concertos were Austro-Germanic, composed by the likes of Beethoven, Brahms, Mendelssohn, Liszt, and Schumann. (Grieg’s concerto pays direct homage to Schumann’s, which opens in a similarly explosive manner.) Though Grieg studied in Leipzig and employed German musical forms, the concerto’s melodic content draws heavily on Scandinavian folk influences—without directly quoting specific folk songs.
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The opening motif in the piano, for example, is made up of melodic gestures common in Norwegian tunes. The finale is a decorated adaptation of a Norwegian Halling Dance, an athletic style of dance typically performed by young men at weddings (Grieg’s own nuptials were still on his mind, it seems). The dance’s steps include moves like the “nakkespretten” (neck jump) and the “hodestift” (going over the head.) Grieg’s music is light, lithe, and rhythmic, with the piano weaving nimbly through a stern orchestral accompaniment. Much like the first movement, two contrasting themes blend and evolve throughout, culminating in a grand major-key climax that brings back the concerto’s opening timpani roll.
PROGRAM NOTES by Jeremy Reynolds
JOHANNES BRAHMS
SYMPHONY No. 4 in E MINOR, Op. 98
I. Allegro non troppo
II. Andante moderato
III. Allegro giocoso
IV. Allegro energico e passionato
DURATION: About 40 minutes
PREMIERED: Meiningen, 1885
INSTRUMENTATION: Two flutes and piccolo, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons and contrabassoon, four horns, two trumpets, three trombones, three timpani, triangle, and strings
SYMPHONY: An elaborate orchestral composition typically broken into contrasting movements, at least one of which is in sonata form.
“Study Bach, there you will find everything.” — Johannes Brahms, (Born
1833, Germany; died 1897)
Listen closely to the opening: Brahms’ fourth symphony begins with a melancholy, sighing melody in the violins. There are quick changes in direction, as the first pair of notes descends, the next goes back up, and so on — this suggests a sense of inner turmoil and conflict. And as the violins fall and rise, the woodwinds echo the tune with the exact same notes, but their playing is shorter and detached to contrast the strings’ smooth, lyrical version.
And underneath it all, cellos and violas burble and bubble up from deep down below, giving the movement a fluid feel as it picks up momentum.
Brahms’ final symphony is filled with these sorts of elaborate details, so much so that the composer worried that he’d gone too far with the symphony’s melodic complexities: “I’m really afraid that it tastes like the climate here,” he wrote to a conductor friend at the time. “The cherries don’t ripen in these parts; you wouldn’t eat them!” He wasn’t alone — the influential German music critic Eduard Hanslick quipped at the time: “For this whole movement I had the feeling that I was being given a beating by two incredibly intelligent people.”
Still, one doesn’t need to catch all the intricacies to enjoy the music on first hearing, and listeners at the Meiningen premiere responded with enthusiasm. Brahms’ friend
Elisabeth von Herzogenberg was also hesitant, and she told Brahms “There comes a point where a certain doubt creeps in… that its beauties are not accessible to every normal music-lover.” This is a matter of taste. For some, the overall effect of the music’s emotional quality is enough. For others, studying the work’s technical maneuvers enhances their appreciation of the music.
The second movement is more varied and introspective. After the horn gives a plaintive call, a pair of clarinets deliver the movement’s winding central theme, and the music continues with a knowing smile. Next, the third movement is the only “scherzo” movement in all four of his symphonies. Scherzos were typically lighter and more fleet-footed, a style of writing at odds with Brahms’ typically weighty writing. While this movement is indeed faster, it still has some of the heft of a typical Brahms composition. Though not precisely nimble, it’s charming and enthusiastic all the same in its galumphing gait.
The finale is built on an ancient musical form, the passacaglia, where the bass instruments play a “ground” progression on repeat and upper voices spin out a variety of melodies and phrases atop this base. The composer chose a work by Bach, the finale from the church Cantata No. 150, “I long to be near you, Lord,” as his ground. Brahms may have been agnostic, but this movement displays a special sense of reverence.
It was to be the cap to his symphonic output. Brahms was diagnosed with liver cancer in 1896, and at his last public appearance, audiences gave a great standing ovation after each movement of the fourth symphony.
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ARTIST PROFILE
Sir Stephen Hough, piano
Named by The Economist as one of Twenty Living Polymaths, Sir Stephen Hough combines a distinguished career of a concert pianist with those of a composer and writer. In recognition of his contribution to cultural life, he became the first classical performer to be given a MacArthur Fellowship and was awarded a Knighthood for Services to Music in the Queen’s Birthday Honours 2022.
In a career spanning over 40 years, Hough has played regularly with most of the world’s leading orchestras, including televised and filmed appearances. He has been a regular guest of recital series and festivals worldwide.
His 2024/2025 concert season began with his 30th appearance at the BBC Proms, performing at Last Night of the Proms to a live audience of 6,000 and televised audience of 3.5 million. Over the course of the following 12 months Hough performed over 80 concerts on four continents major orchestras and a solo recital at Barbican Centre and giving the world premiere of his Piano Quintet at Lincoln Center. Following the 2024 world premiere of his own Piano Concerto (The World of Yesterday), named after Stefan Zweig’s memoir, Hough brought the work to Adelaide, Bournemouth, Oregon, Singapore and Vermont Symphony Orchestras. Hall. Following the 2023 world premiere of his own Piano Concerto (The World of Yesterday), named after Stefan Zweig’s memoir, Hough brings the work to Adelaide, Bournemouth, Oregon, Singapore and Vermont Symphony Orchestras.
A resident of London, Hough is an Honorary Bencher of the Middle Temple, an Honorary Member of the Royal Philharmonic Society, an Honorary Fellow of Cambridge University’s Girton College, and holds the International Chair of Piano Studies at his alma mater, the Royal Northern College in Manchester. He is also on the faculty of The Juilliard School in New York.
Follow Stephen on Twitter @houghhough
WHERE YOUR FINANCIAL SUCCESS TAKES CENTER
Symphonic Stories: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
This concert is generously supported by Mark & Katsura Cerny
Friday, September 19, 2025 at 7:30 PM
Saturday, September 20, 2025 at 7:30 PM
Sunday, September 21, 2025 at 2:00 PM
Bass Performance Hall
Fort Worth, TX
Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra
Robert Spano, conductor
Bruce Wood Dance Dallas
Joy Bollinger, choreographer
Conspirare, directed by Craig Hella Johnson
Krista Billings, lighting designer
Tommy Bourgeois, costume designer
Nicole Alvarez, wig and makeup designer
W.A. MOZART
Symphony No. 38 in D Major, K. 504, “Prague”
I. Adagio; Allegro
II. Andante
III. Presto
INTERMISSION
JOBY TALBOT
orch. Christopher Austin & Joby Talbot
Suite from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
1. Prologue
2. The Mad Hatter's Tea-Party
3. Alice Alone
4. The Croquet Match
5. Setting Up the Courtroom
6. The Queen of Hearts' Tango
7. The Cheshire Cat
8. The Flower Garden - Part I
9. The Flower Garden - Part II
Bruce Wood Dance Dallas
Joy Bollinger, choreographer
Presented under license by G. Schirmer, Inc. o/b/o Chester Music Ltd., copyright owners.
Video/audio recording and flash photography is strictly prohibited at all FWSO performances.
Patrons arriving late will be seated during the first convenient pause. Program and artists are subject to change.
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PROGRAM NOTES by Jeremy Reynolds
WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART
SYMPHONY No. 38 in D MAJOR, K. 504, “PRAGUE”
I. Adagio; Allegro
II. Andante
III. Presto
DURATION: About 28 minutes
PREMIERED: Prague, 1787
INSTRUMENTATION: Two flutes, two oboes, two bassoons, two horns, two trumpets, timpani, and strings
SYMPHONY: An elaborate orchestral composition typically broken into contrasting movements, at least one of which is in sonata form.
“I am really in Prague, and in very good spirits, for my opera Figaro has been given here with the greatest applause.”
— Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, (Born 1756, Austria; died 1791)
One of Mozart’s most famous operas, The Marriage of Figaro, ran for more than four hours at its first performance.
After the opera’s Vienna premiere, Emperor Joseph dispatched a minion to the theatre to post a decree that no aria for more than a voice was to be repeated, which the emperor deemed to be “the most reasonable and expedient.”
Later that same year, perhaps out of pique, Mozart wrote what was then the longest symphonic movement to date, the first movement of his Symphony No. 38 in D Major. The movement opens with a slow, dramatically pregnant adagio of such a length that Mozart only wrote three movements in the symphony total instead of the four that would have been typical for the period.
After the introduction ratchets harmonic tension to a breaking point, the movement takes off, skipping and lively. Strings and winds trade rapid melodic lines back and forth, whipping through tunes and harmonic sequences with gusto.
After Figaro’s tepid reception in Vienna, Mozart decamped for Prague, where his 38th symphony’s nickname comes from and where his Marriage of Figaro had premiered to much greater enthusiasm and acclaim. He visited the city on an invitation from musicians in the opera and wealthy patrons who provided a lavish lifestyle. High on the high life, Mozart wrote to his father:
You have undoubtedly already heard that I have been invited to Prague for the production of my opera Le Nozze di Figaro. ... I was compelled to write a new symphony, which was performed at the concert given for my benefit, and which was received with such applause that I cannot describe it.
The “Prague” symphony’s second movement is slow and lyrically beautiful, with long, flowing melodies that spin on endlessly. There’s something operatic about the music, here, perhaps in the vocal quality of the tunes. Finally, the zippy third
WORTH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA | 23
movement’s opening directly references a passage from Figaro before launching into a sonata form that pits two contrasting thematic groups against one another before reconciling them in a grand finale.
PROGRAM NOTES by Jeremy Reynolds
JOBY TALBOT
SUITE from ALICE’S ADVENTURES in WONDERLAND
1. Prologue
2. The Mad Hatter’s Tea-Party
3. Alice Alone
4. The Croquet Match
5. Setting Up the Courtroom
6. The Queen of Hearts’ Tango
7. The Cheshire Cat
8. The Flower Garden — Part I
9. The Flower Garden — Part II
DURATION: About 45 minutes
PREMIERED: London, 2011
INSTRUMENTATION: Three flutes and two piccolos; two oboes and English horn; three clarinets, piccolo clarinet and bass clarinet; two bassoons and contrabassoon; four horns and ram’s horn; three trumpets; two trombones and bass trombone; tuba; timpani; percussion; two harps; piano; celeste; strings; and four female voices
SUITE: An ordered set of individual pieces for instrumental ensemble. In the 18th century, these were typically a group of dances, but the term later came to imply a selection of movements from a larger work.
“There’s something so joyful and visceral about writing for dance… You’re creating a world that dancers can inhabit and which also tells a story in a really compelling way.”
— Joby Talbot,
(Born 1971, United Kingdom)
As the Cheshire Cat says, “We’re all mad here.”
In 2011, The Royal Ballet in London commissioned its first full-length story ballet in 20 years — quite the major affair in the ballet world — when it asked British composer Joby Talbot to set Lewis Carroll’s whimsical Alice in Wonderland to music. Talbot, who has written music in a variety of styles for the concert stage, television, and film, threw himself into the project, though he found the challenges of writing his first ballet formidable:
I thought that writing a narrative ballet would be more like writing film music than it turned out to be. Within an hour-long film score, only about ten minutes of music will ever really appear in the foreground to drive the narrative...In ballet, the music is absolutely in the foreground all the time: quite literally, the orchestra is between the audience and the people dancing on stage.
Talbot’s score calls for a large orchestra, with a wide assortment of different percussion instruments and several vocalists to conjure the otherworldly feel of
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Carroll’s world. The music ticks and tocks along, using different instruments and instrumental combinations to help identify each character. The celesta, also the instrument of Tchaikovsky’s Sugar Plum Fairy in The Nutcracker, accompanies the White Rabbit. The husky oboe d’amore, a slightly larger, deeper-voiced oboe, represents the Caterpillar. There’s a sharp tango featuring a solo violin for the Queen of Hearts. And the Cheshire Cat’s music is transparency itself, with instruments fading in and out of the texture and purring all the while.
After a successful London premiere in 2011, the ballet has been performed in countries around the world. The current performance is a suite drawn from the ballet’s three acts.
The full ballet roughly tracks along with Carroll’s original story but adapts certain aspects, including introducing Carroll as a fictional character in the story (He’s a photographer and a friend of Alice’s parents). Alice attends her parents’ tea party and falls down Carroll’s camera bag into Wonderland, where she encounters a variety of fantastical creatures and characters, some bearing odd resemblances to her parents’ party guests. She adventures through Wonderland, witnessing strange marvels and evading the fury of the Red Queen.
And at the end, Alice wakes up, realizing it was all but a dream.
ARTIST PROFILES
Joby Talbot, composer
Joby Talbot was born in London in 1971. He studied composition privately with Brian Elias and at Royal Holloway and Bedford New College, before completing a Master of Music (Composition) at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama under Simon Bainbridge.
Talbot’s diverse catalogue includes the narrative ballets Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (2011) and The Winter's Tale (2014), both collaborations with choreographer Christopher Wheeldon for The Royal Ballet and National Ballet of Canada that have since entered the repertory of companies worldwide; the choral Path of Miracles (2005), a 60-minute a cappella journey along the Camino de Santiago commissioned by Nigel Short’s Tenebrae and performed regularly by international ensembles; arrangements of songs by Detroit rock duo The White Stripes alongside Talbot's original works for choreographer Wayne McGregor’s unparalleled Chroma (The Royal Ballet, 2006); Worlds, Stars, Systems, Infinity (2012), an additional movement to Holst's The Planets for the Philharmonia Orchestra’s interactive digital installation, Universe of Sound under EsaPekka Salonen; Genus Quartet (2013) for Los Angeles' acclaimed Calder Quartet, premiered as part of the Barbican's weekend of new music curated by Nico Muhly; and the hugely popular animated feature Sing (Garth Jennings, 2016) for Illumination Entertainment (Despicable Me, Minions). For the BBC Proms, Talbot has written The Wishing Tree (The King's Singers, 2002); Sneaker Wave (BBC National Orchestra of Wales, 2004); an arrangement of Purcell's Chacony in G Minor (BBC Symphony Orchestra, 2011); and Ink Dark Moon, a concerto for the acclaimed guitarist Miloš Karadaglić (BBC Symphony orchestra, 2018).
Talbot has considerable experience writing for the screen, including classic BBC comedy series The League of Gentlemen and feature films The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Garth Jennings, 2005) and Closed Circuit (John Crowley, 2013); and has been twice commissioned by the British Film Institute, to re-score silent films The Lodger (1999) and The Dying Swan (2002). A new score to Carl Theodor Dreyer’s 1932 Vampyr for LA Opera’s Off Grand season at the Ace Hotel in Los Angeles was presented on 27 October 2018.
Talbot’s critically acclaimed first opera, Everest, was given its premiere in 2015 by The Dallas Opera. In the same year, he was awarded the prestigious Prix Benois de la Danse for The Winter's Tale. Future works include a Cantata commissioned by Independent Opera for Britten Sinfonia and Britten Sinfonia Voices; a second opera for Dallas; and a third narrative ballet with Christopher Wheeldon.
ARTIST PROFILES
Bruce Wood Dance Dallas
Bruce Wood Dance Dallas is a premier contemporary dance company recognized for its emotionally compelling and kinetically charged performances. Built on the legacy of Bruce Wood (1960–2014) and led by Artistic Director Joy Bollinger, the company commissions innovative works and presents masterful repertory. Named Best Dance Company by D Magazine six times, it engages audiences nationwide through performances, education programs, and touring initiatives.
Joy Bollinger, choreographer
Joy Bollinger, a distinguished choreographer, teacher, and répétiteur, has led Bruce Wood Dance Dallas since 2018. A veteran performer with the nationally acclaimed Bruce Wood Dance Company from 2002 to 2007, and a founding member of the company in 2010, she has performed in over 50 of Wood’s ballets. Margaret Putnam hailed her as the “poet of dance.” Her works, including Carved In Stone (2016), Hillside (2017), In My Your Head (2019), Blue (2021), Slip Zone (2022, commissioned by the Dallas Museum of Art, Chopin in A Minor (2022, commissioned by TITAS/ DANCE UNBOUND), And Heaven and Nature (2023), and SMILE (2024), showcase her talent. Carved In Stone was named the “single best dance in 2016” by Mark Lowry of The Fort Worth Star-Telegram, praised for its emotional depth. Manny Mendoza of The Dallas Morning News called Hillside “a dance for the ages,” while her shining debut as a professional dance maker earned her a spot among “Women Who Make Dallas Great” in D Magazine for her intuitive choreography.
Bollinger expanded into film, collaborating with Broadway composer Joseph Thalken on Life Interrupted (2020) and Blue (2021), featured on KERA’s Frame of Mind TV. She developed the film Into the Gamba-Verse with LuMedia Musicworks. Her commissions include Texas Ballet Theater, Verdigris Ensemble, Dallas Black Dance Theatre, and more, with notable works at the 42nd Annual Battery Dance Festival in New York (2023), Palm Desert Choreography Festival (2023), and Red Rock Dance Festival (2024).
ARTIST PROFILES
Conspirare
Conspirare is a professional choral organization under the leadership of Artistic Director Craig Hella Johnson. Inspired by the power of music to change lives, Conspirare engages singers from around the world who join voices to deliver world-class, extraordinary live musical experiences and recordings. Their discography includes 17 commercial albums and 20 selfproduced live albums.
Hella Johnson and Conspirare were awarded a 2015 GRAMMY® for Best Choral Performance for The Sacred Spirit of Russia and their recordings have received 11 total nominations. Their most recent recording, advena: liturgies for a broken world, was released on August 29. Conspirare has performed throughout the United States and internationally. At home, Conspirare performs an annual season in Austin where it has received ongoing recognition from local organizations and critics. Conspirare has been the subject of PBS documentaries, was awarded a Texas Medal of Arts, and garnered international recognition including the Dutch Edison Award. The group is also committed to lifelong singing through the Symphonic Choir and community engagement including its popular Big Sings.
Craig Hella Johnson, director
Craig Hella Johnson is the founding artistic director and conductor of Conspirare. Beloved for crafting thoughtprovoking musical journeys that create deep connections between performers and listeners, Hella Johnson is also Artistic Partner at the Oregon Bach Festival. Hella Johnson is a celebrated guest conductor of choral and orchestral works, a published composer, arranger, and educator.
Hella Johnson is an Artist in Residence at Texas State University, earning the 2022 Presidential Award for Excellence in Scholarly/Creative Activities. His concertlength composition Considering Matthew Shepard was premiered and recorded by Conspirare and continues to have broad national and international reach.
Hella Johnson’s accomplishments have been recognized with numerous awards and honors. Notably among them, he and Conspirare won a 2015 GRAMMY® for Best Choral Performance. His honors also include Chorus America’s Michael Korn Founders Award for Development of the Professional Choral Art, Texas State Musician, the Matthew Shepard Foundation’s Dennis Dougherty Award for Community Leadership and most recently, Wartburg College’s 2023 Graven Award.
ARTIST PROFILES
Krista Billings, lighting designer
Krista Billings is a lighting designer whose work spans opera, symphony, and large-scale performance. She is excited to be back at FWSO after her designing the lighting for the world premiere of Jake Heggie’s Earth 2.0. and contributed to the Dallas Symphony Orchestra’s landmark presentation of Wagner’s Ring Cycle
Her credits include The Dallas Symphony Orchestra, The Dallas Opera, Cincinnati Opera, Atlanta Oera, Delaware Opera Company, Center City Opera Theater of Philadelphia, and The Curtis Institute of Music. Additional projects include the Philadelphia Live Arts Festival, and the relighting of Philadelphia’s historic Boathouse Row. She is currently Stage Operations Director for Cincinnati Opera.
Tommy Bourgeois, costume designer
Tommy Bourgeois has worked in fashion and theater in Dallas and New York City and acted as an assistant to Beni Montresor on operas and ballets around the world. He's designed costumes, props, and scenery for the Dallas Opera for 40 years and currently serves as the company's Costume Design Consultant, and properties designer. This is his first collaboration with the FWSO and Bruce Wood Dance Dallas. His latest costumes were seen in Orpheus and Eurydice this past Spring. He has designed the scenery for La voix humaine and the costumes and scenery for Pulcinella for TDO as well. Bourgeois has done design work for several Ballet Austin productions, including The Nutcracker, Romeo and Juliet, and The Taming of the Shrew. He has also designed costumes for several Six Flags locations, Dixie Stampede, South Pacific for the Dallas Summer Musicals, and the premiere of Blind Lemon: Prince of Country Blues for both Dallas and New York theaters. Additionally, Bourgeois designed the Twelve Days of Christmas display for the Dallas Arboretum and Order of the Alamo Coronation sets for San Antonio's Fiesta and has worked for the Dallas Shakespeare Festival.
Nicole Alvarez, wig and makeup designer
Nicole Alvarez is a Dallas-based costume & wig designer, as well as the Costume Director for The Dallas Opera. Her work has been seen across the country either onstage, in magazines, or for design campaigns. Selected design credits include: Broadway: Fat Ham (Assistant Hair/Wig/Makeup Design), Off-Broadway: Fat Ham (Assistant Hair/Wig/Makeup Design, The Public), Regional: Lucha Teotl (Costume Design, The Goodman), 3 Summers of Lincoln (Makeup Consultant, LaJolla Playhouse), Idomeneo (Hair/Wig/Makeup Design, Aspen Music Festival), Bel Canto (Hair/Wig/Makeup Design, Aspen Music Festival), Real Women Have Curves (Hair/Wig/Makeup Design, Dallas Theater Center), The Wolves (Hair/Wig/ Makeup Design, Dallas Theater Center), Electra (Associate Hair/Wig/Makeup Design, Dallas Theater Center).
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Officers
Board of Directors
Mercedes T. Bass
Chairman of the Board
Marianne Auld
Chairman of the Executive Committee
Connie Beck
Secretary
Bob Karl
Treasurer
Keith Cerny, Ph.D.
President and CEO
Board of Directors
Dr. Semi Ali
Grant Allen
Dr. Edwin Augustat
Marianne Auld*
Amy Roach Bailey
Mercedes T. Bass*
Connie Beck*
Michael J. Bennett
J. Brooks*
John Broude
Karen Burchfield*
Ervin Cash
Dr. Joseph Cecere
Brenda Cline
Craig Collins*
Dr. Mary Costas
Barbara Cox
Dr. Benge Daniel
Salam David
Mitzi Davis
Dr. Tom Deas
Dr. Jeff Detweiler
Brian Drake
Althea Duersten*
Brandon Elms
Jonathan Espina
Dr. Jennifer Freeman
Aubrey Gideon
Pamela Gilchrist
Christopher Goff
Gail Granek
Eric T. Haitz
Aaron Howard*
Bonnie Janzen
Shauna Jenkins
Kim Johnson
Bob Karl*
Dee J. Kelly, Jr.*
Dr. Debra Koppelberger
Mollie Lasater *
Mary Hart Lipscomb
Quynh Dang Lu
Louella Martin*
Priscilla Martin
Dr. Stuart D. McDonald
Samuel E. Navarro
Justin Newton
Kate Lummis Norris
Frasher Pergande
Don Plattsmier *
Dana Porter *
Don Reid
Jean Roach
Anita Robidou
Henry Robinson*
The Rev. Julia G. Rusling
Leonard Ryan
Alann Sampson*
Jeff Schmeltekopf
Dr. Russ Schultz
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Clare Stonesifer *
Rebecca Stupfel
Jonathan Suder *
Carla Thompson
Dr. Amy Tully
Paul Wehba*
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Kristine Williams
President Emerita
Ann Koonsman+
Emeritus Council
Dr. Rebecca Beasley
Marvin E. Blum
Ashli Blumenfeld
Anne Marie Bratton
Dr. Victor J. Boschini, Jr.
Anne Carvalho
Gail Cooke
* Executive Committee Member + Denotes Deceased
Juana-Rosa Daniell
Dr. Asad Dean
Joseph DeWoody
Vance A. Duffy
Katie Farmer
Charlotte French
Joan Friedman
Tera Garvey
John B. Giordano
Barry L. Green
Genie Guynn
Kathleen Hicks
Robert L. Jameson
Teresa King
Kelly Lancarte
Nico Leone
Misty Locke
Michelle Marlow
Ellen Messman
Colin McConnell
Dr. Till Meyn
Erin Moseley+
Jude Ryan+
Kal Silverberg
Thomas “Tommy” L. Smith
Dwayne Smith
Whit Smith
Kathleen B. Stevens
Ronda Jones Stucker
Lon Werner
J.W. Wilson
Chairman Emeriti
Mildred Fender
William P. Hallman, Jr.+
Adele Hart+
Janice Kelly
Rose Ann Kornfeld+
Ann Ryan
Ed Schollmaier+
Frank H. Sherwood+
Anna Belle P. Thomas+
Life Trustee
Rosalyn G. Rosenthal+
Rae & Ed Schollmaier+
Supporters of the FWSO
The Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra expresses its deepest gratitude to the generous individual, institutional, endowment, and legacy supporters of the FWSO, a world-class orchestra and cultural pillar of Fort Worth.
Chairman’s Circle
Generous donors who have made extraordinary, multi-year commitments in support of the FWSO’s sustainability and continued artistic excellence.
$5,000,000 and above
Mrs. Mercedes T. Bass
$1,000,000- $4,999,999
Mr. & Mrs. John B. Kleinheinz
Mr. Paul Wehba
John Wells & Shay McCulloch-Wells
Individual Giving
Diamond Circle
$1,000,000 and above
Mrs. Mercedes T. Bass
Mr. Paul Wehba
John Wells & Shay McCulloch-Wells
Gold Circle
$250,000 - $499,999
Mark & Katsura Cerny
Althea L. Duersten
Silver Circle
$100,000 - $249,999
Ms. Marianne M. Auld and Mr. Jimmy Coury
Anonymous
Mr. & Mrs. J. Luther King, Jr. / Luther King Capital Management
Mr. & Mrs. John B. Kleinheinz
Mollie & Garland Lasater at the NTCF Fund
Bronze Circle
$50,000 - $99,999
Connie Beck & Frank Tilley
Mr. & Mrs. William S. Davis; Davoil, Inc.
Mrs. Louella Martin
The Eagle Quest Charitable Fund
For the full donor listing, please visit fwsymphony.org/support/donor-listing
As of July 9, 2024 to July 9, 2025.
+ Denotes deceased
32 | 2025/2026 SEASON
Maestro Level
$25,000 - $49,999
Ramona & Lee Bass
James Brooks
Mr. & Mrs. Craig M. Collins
Aaron Howard & Corrie HoodHoward
Nancy & Don Plattsmier
Mr. and Mrs. David M. Porter
Alann Bedford Sampson
Dr. & Mrs. Russ A. Schultz
Jonathan and Medea Suder; MJR Foundation
Conductor Level
$10,000 - $24,999
Dr. Edwin Augustat, M.D.
Mr. & Mrs. Tull Bailey
Mr. Michael Bennett
Mr. Henry Borbolla
Mr. & Mrs. Douglas K. Bratton
Steve Brauer
John Broude & Judy Rosenblum
Mr. & Mrs. Ervin and Fran Cash
Dr. Joseph and Neva Cecere
Brenda & Chad Cline
Mr. John & Dr. Mary Costas, in honor of their grandchildren
Barbara A. & Ralph F. Cox
Dr. and Mrs. Benge R. Daniel, Jr.
Kim & Glenn Darden
Drs. Jeff & Rosemary Detweiler
H. Paul Dorman
Mr. Brandon Elms
Aubrey Gideon
Stephen & Pamela Gilchrist
Mr. & Mrs. Mark L. Hart III
Shauna Jenkins
Matthew & Kimberly Johnson
Bob and Katie Karl
Dr. Debra Koppelberger
Dr. Henry and Mrs. Quynh Lu
Deborah Mashburn & David Boddie
Dr. & Mrs. Stuart D. McDonald
Berlene T. & Jarrell R. Milburn
Nesha & George Morey
Stephen & Brenda Neuse
Mr. Justin E. Newton
Katherine Lummis Norris
Estate of Virginia & James O’Donnell
Frasher H. & John F. Pergande
Mrs. Susan Pratt
Don & Melissa Reid
Anita and Robert Robidou
Dr. Darcy Sety
Ms. Patricia A. Steffen
Gerald Thiel & Stella Chang
Mr. & Mrs. Kelly R. Thompson
Charles White
Dr. James C. Williams
Mrs. Kristine Williams
Soloist Level
$5,000 - $9,999
Elaine & Neils Agather
Grant Allen
Richard Beeny
Debbie Brooks; DFW Musicians Services LLC
Mr. & Mrs. Michael Burchfield
Mr. and Mrs. Orlando Carvahlo
Mary Cauble
Sue & John Allen Chalk, Sr.
Dr. & Mrs. Lincoln Chin
Mrs. Jeanne Cochran
Dean & Emily Crocker
Dr. Asad Dean M.D.; Texas Oncology
Dr. Jennifer Freeman
Mr. & Mrs. Kirk French
Gail Aronoff Granek
Susan & Tommy Green
Steve+ & Jean Hadley
Eric Haitz
Gary & Judy Havener
Ms. Nina C. Hutton
For the full donor listing, please visit fwsymphony.org/support/donor-listing
As of July 9, 2024 to July 9, 2025.
+ Denotes deceased
Mr. & Mrs. Ronald Koonsman
Chuck Marsh
Priscilla & Joe+ Martin
Marsland & Dick Moncrief
Ronald Moore, in memory of Marie A. Moore
Samuel Navarro
Mr. & Mrs. Thomas B. Reynolds
Jeff & Judy Schmeltekopf
Tim and Clare Stonesifer
Mr. & Mrs. Mark J. Stupfel
Dr. Stuart N. Thomas and Bonnie Janzen
Mr. and Mrs. Philip C. Williamson
Anonymous
Artist Level
$2,500 - $4,999
William & Kathryn Adams
Mr. and Mrs. Farhan Ali
Ellen & Larry Bell
Mr. Bill Bond
Judge Tim & Celia Boswell
Greg & Pam Braak
Doug & Carol English
Gary Glaser and Christine Miller
John W. Goodwin
Dr. Christy L. Hanson
James & Mary Ann Harris
Mr. and Mrs. Jacob M. Huffman III
Gordon & Aileen Kanan
Ms. Trina Krausse
Mr. John Kroemer
Mr. Donald C. Little, in memory of Laura Elizabeth Bruton
L. Lumley
Mr. Peter Lyden
Chas Martin
Paul & Mary Kay Park
Mary Pencis
Mr. & Mrs. Omas Peterson
Ms. Jane Rector
Dr. Deborah Rhea & Ms. Carol
Bollinger
Rosemary Riney
Capera Ryan
Punch Shaw & Julie Hedden
Anita Conley and Daniel Stevens
Mr. and Mrs. Craig Stevenson
Jim & Judy Summersgill
Lynne & David Urbel
Gene Walker and Marianna Smith
Mr. John Molyneaux & Ms. Kay West
Suzy Williams & John Williams+
Mr. & Mrs. Mitchell Wynne
Stuart Yarus & Judith Williams
For the full donor listing, please visit fwsymphony.org/support/donor-listing
As of July 9, 2024 to July 9, 2025.
+ Denotes deceased
34 | 2025/2026 SEASON
Institutional Giving
$500,000 and above
Sid W. Richardson Foundation
$150,000- $499,999
Amon G. Carter Foundation
Mary Potishman Lard Trust
$50,000- $149,999
American Airlines
BNSF Railway
Mr. & Mrs. William S. Davis; Davoil, Inc.
Mr. & Mrs. J. Luther King, Jr. / Luther King Capital Management
Adeline & George McQueen Foundation
Leo Potishman Foundation
Qurumbli Foundation
Ann L. & Carol Green Rhodes
Charitable Trust
William E. Scott Foundation
Web Maddox Trust
$25,000- $49,999
Arts Fort Worth City Club
The Eugene McDermott Foundation
The Frill Foundation
Kelly Hart & Hallman LLP
NorthPark Center
Piranesi
Texas Commission on the Arts
$10,000- $24,999
Anonymous
First Horizon Bank Frost
Helene Bare & W. Glenn Embry Charitable Trust
Lowe Foundation
Meta Alice Keith Bratten Foundation
Neiman Marcus Fort Worth
Community Foundation of North
Texas
Peugh Pate Capper Charitable Trust
For the full donor listing, please visit fwsymphony.org/support/donor-listing
As of July 9, 2024 to July 9, 2025.
+ Denotes deceased
The Roach Foundation
The Thomas M., Helen McKee & John P. Ryan Foundation
David Webb New York
Fort Worth Tourism Public Improvement District
$5,000- $9,999
Communities Foundation of Texas Alcon Hillwood
Dee Kelly Foundation
J.P. Morgan Charitable Giving Fund
Frances C. & William P. Smallwood Foundation
Symphony League of Fort Worth
$2,000- $4,999
Pinnacle Bank
Black Oak Valuation Advisory, LLC
Deal Family Foundation
Duro Hospitality
Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund
Kimbell Art Foundation
Once Upon A Time Foundation
Robert D. & Catherine R. Alexander Foundation
Vanguard Charitable
For the full donor listing, please visit fwsymphony.org/support/donor-listing
As of July 9, 2024 to July 9, 2025.
+ Denotes deceased
36 | 2025/2026 SEASON
Endowment Giving
$5,000,000 and above
Mrs. Mercedes T. Bass
Mr.+ and Mrs.+ Perry R. Bass
Mr. Sid R. Bass
$1,000,000- $4,999,999
Lee and Ramona Bass Foundation
Sasha and Edward P. Bass
The Burnett Foundation
Garvey Texas Foundation
Kimbell Art Foundation
Elizabeth H. Ledyard+
Rosalyn Rosenthal+
Rae+ & Ed+ Schollmaier; Schollmaier Foundation
$500,000- $999,999
Mr. & Mrs. John B. Kleinheinz
Mollie & Garland Lasater at the NTCF Fund
The Thomas M., Helen McKee & John P. Ryan Foundation
T.J. Brown & C.A. Lupton Foundation
$250,000- $499,999
BNSF Railway
Estate of Dorothy Rhea
Qurumbli Foundation
Mr. & Mrs. Mark L. Hart III
Drs. Jeff & Rosemary Detweiler
$100,000- $249,999
Alcon
American Airlines
Amon G. Carter Foundation
Althea L. Duersten
Estate of Peggy L. Rayzor
Mr. & Mrs. Ben J. Fortson, Jr.
Mr.+ & Mrs. Dee J. Kelly, Sr.
+ Denotes deceased
Mr. & Mrs. J. Luther King, Jr. | Luther King Capital Management
John Marion
J.P. Morgan Charitable Giving Fund
The Roach Foundation
Anna Belle P. Thomas
$50,000- $99,999
Michael and Nancy Barrington
Van Cliburn+
Mrs. Gunhild Corbett
Mrs. Edward R. Hudson, Jr.
Mr. & Mrs.+ Ronald Koonsman
Scurlock Foundation
Symphony League of Fort Worth
$25,000- $49,999
Mr. & Mrs. Jack S. Blanton Jr.
Estate of Linda Reimers Mixson
Michael Boyd Milligan+
Garvey Texas Foundation
Colleen+ and Preston+ Geren
Mrs. Adele Hart+
Mr. and Mrs. Craig Kelly
Dee Kelly Foundation
Mr. and Mrs. Robert D. Krebs
Mr. Eddie M. Lesok
Mr. & Mrs. Duer Wagner Jr.
Laurie and Lon Werner
$10,000- $24,999
Mr.+ and Mrs.+ William L. Adams
Mr.+ & Mrs.+ Malcolm K. Brachman
Mr. & Mrs. Douglas K. Bratton
Mr. Carroll W. Collins+
Mary Ann and Robert Cotham
Mr. and Mrs. Norwood P. Dixon+
Elizabeth L. and Russell F. Hallberg Foundation
Estate of Ernest Allen, Jr.
Fifth Avenue Foundation
Mrs. Dora Lee Langdon
Carol V. Lukert+
Mr. & Mrs. Richard W. Moncrief
Stephen & Brenda Neuse
Peggy L. Rayzor
Mr. & Mrs. Thomas B. Reynolds
William E. Scott Foundation
Mr.+ and Mrs. Thomas M. Taylor
Donna+ & Bryan Whitworth
William S. Davis Family Foundation
$5,000- $9,999
Mrs. Charles Anton+
Ms. Lou Ann Blaylock
Sue & John Allen Chalk, Sr.
Anonymous
Nelson & Enid Cleary
Barbara A. & Ralph F. Cox
Estate of Whitfield J. Collins
Francis M. Allen Trust
Mr. and Mrs. Scott Jeffrey Gerrish
Felice and Marvin Girouard+
Mr.+ & Mrs.+ Ralph J. Green Jr.
Maritza Cáceres & Miguel HarthBedoya
Richard Hubbard, M.D.
JPMorgan Chase+
Mr.+ and Mrs.+ Robert E. Klabzuba
Priscilla & Joe+ Martin
Miss Louise McFarland+
Karen Rainwater Charitable Fund at the NTCF
Alann Bedford Sampson
Betty J. Sanders+
Save Our Symphony Fort Worth
Jerry & James Taylor
The Musicians of the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra
Mr. Gerald E. Thiel
John+ & Frances Wasilchak Charitable Fund at the NTCF
+ Denotes deceased
38 | 2025/2026 SEASON
Endowed Chairs & Programs
The Board of Directors extends sincere gratitude to the following donors who have demonstrated exceptional generosity and commitment to the FWSO by endowing the following chairs and programs.
Music Director Guest Conductors
Associate Conductor
Concertmaster
Associate Concertmaster
Assistant Concertmaster
Assistant Principal 2nd Violin
Section 2nd Violin
Principal Cello
Assistant Principal Cello
Principal Bass
Principal Flute
Principal Oboe
Principal Clarinet
Principal Bassoon
Principal Horn
Associate Principal Horn
Assistant Principal Trumpet
Principal Trombone
Bass Trombone
Timpani
Principal Percussion
Assistant Principal Percussion
Harp
Keyboard
Great Performance Fund
Pops Performance Fund
Adventures in Music
Symphonic Insight
+ Denotes deceased
Nancy Lee & Perry R. Bass+ Chair
Mrs. Mercedes T. Bass Chair
Mr. Sid R. Bass Chair
Rae and Ed Schollmaier Foundation Chair
Mrs. Mercedes T. Bass Chair
Mr. Sid R. Bass Chair
Ann Koonsman+ Chair
Mollie & Garland Lasater Chair
Symphony League of Fort Worth Chair
Marie A. Moore+ Chair
Mrs. Mercedes T. Bass Chair
Mr. Sid R. Bass Chair
BNSF Railway Foundation Chair
Mr. & Mrs. Edward P. Bass Chair
Shirley F. Garvey+ Chair
Nancy L. & William P. Hallman, Jr. Chair
Rosalyn G. Rosenthal+ Chair
In Memory of Manny Rosenthal
Mr. & Mrs. Lee M. Bass Chair
Elizabeth H. Ledyard+ Chair
Drs. Jeff and Rosemary Detweiler Chair
Dorothy Rhea+ Chair
Mr. & Mrs. John Kleinheinz Chair
Mr. & Mrs. Lee M. Bass Chair
Madilyn Bass Chair
Shirley F. Garvey+ Chair
Adele Hart+ Chair
Bayard H. Friedman+ Chair
Rildia Bee O’Bryan Cliburn & Van Cliburn+ Chair
Rosalyn G. Rosenthal+ Chair
In Memory of Manny Rosenthal
The Burnett Foundation
The Ryan Foundation
Teresa & Luther King
Brooks Morris Society
Annette & Jerry+ Blaschke
Dr. Lloyd W. Brooks
Mr. and Mrs. M. A. Cardona+
Barbara Clarkin
Mr. Carroll W. Collins+
Mr. and Mrs. Laurence Cooke
Juana-Rosa & Dr. Ron Daniell+
Estate of Anna Belle P. Thomas
Miss Dorothy Rhea+
Electra M. Carlin+
Estate of Ernest Allen, Jr.
F. Warren O’Reilly+
Hugh L. Watson+
Estate of Kathy B. Higgins
Estate of Linda Reimers Mixson
Lois Hoynck Jaggers+
Michael Boyd Milligan+
Mildred G. Walters+
Estate of Peggy L. Rayzor
Sylvia E. Wolens+
Whitfield J. Collins+
Tom Gay
Gwen M. Genius
George & Jeanne Jaggers Charitable Trust
Mrs. Charlotte M. Gore
Gail Aronoff Granek
Helene Bare & W. Glenn Embry
Charitable Trust
Qurumbli Foundation
Hank and Shawn Henning
+ Denotes deceased
40 | 2025/2026 SEASON
Mr. Eric F. Hyden+
Kathleen E. Connors Trust
Mr. & Mrs.+ Ronald Koonsman
Lewis F. Kornfeld, Jr. Memorial Fund at the NTCF
Mollie & Garland M. Lasater, Jr.
Elizabeth H. Ledyard+
Carol V. Lukert+
Marguerite Bridges Charitable Trust
Patty Cartwright Mays
Shannon McGovern
Dr. and Mrs. A. F. Murph
Linda Todd Murphy
Estate of Virginia & James O’Donnell
Harris Franklin Pearson Private Foundation
Peggy Meade-Cohen Crut Charitable Trust
Mr.+ and Mrs. John V. Roach II
The Roach Foundation
Jude+ & Terry Ryan
Jeff & Judy Schmeltekopf
Mr. & Mrs. Grady Shropshire
Kathleen & Richard Stevens
Mr. Gerald E. Thiel
The Walsh Foundation
Peter G. Warren
John+ & Frances Wasilchak Charitable Fund at the NTCF
John Wells & Shay McCulloch-Wells
Lynn Wilson
A City Club Social Membership provides access to dining in our restaurants and member event privileges including Wine Tastings, Holiday Brunches and many other Club events. You will have the ability to reserve private rooms for business and social functions.
Social Memberships for $102 per month
FWSO Subscribers receive a discounted enrollment fee
For more information, contact Matt Burrell, City Club Membership Director at 817.878.4000 or mburrell@cityclubfw.com.
Take in sweeping downtown views from our inviting, western-inspired accommodations—especially the one-of-a-kind Resistol Suite. Then head downstairs for clever cocktails, prime-aged steaks at Bob’s Steak & Chop House, and a variety of flavorful options at our other on-site restaurants. Present this program at Whiskey & Rye and Cast Iron to receive a 10% discount. Does not include alcohol.
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