houston symphony magazine - january 2012

� www.houstonsymphony.org

Official Program Magazine of the Houston Symphony615 Louisiana, Suite 102, Houston, Texas 77002(713) 224-4240 • www.houstonsymphony.orgContents ••

January • 2012

Programs1� January 5, 7, 8

14 January 13-1518 January 19, 21-22

�0 January 26�� January 27-29

On Stage and Off4 Credits

�4-31 Donors 9 From the Orchestra

6 Hans Graf9 Letter to Patrons

8 Orchestra and Staff6 RachFest! Biographies

10 Symphony Society

Features3� Backstage Pass

4 Save the Date 16 Upcoming Performances

4 Vintage Virtuoso

Cover photo by Marco Borggreve.Musician on the cover: Kirill Gerstein

For advertising contact New Leaf Publishing at (713) 523-5323 [email protected] • www.newleafinc.com • 2006 Huldy, Houston, Texas 77019

22 4 The Symphony Ball is right around the corner and this is one night of decadence you won’t want to miss! Page 4 has all the details.

7 This month, award-winning pianist, Kirill Gerstein, joins the Houston Symphony for RachFest!, where the biggest, baddest show-down of the century will happen at the piano! Read all about him on page 7.

Acknowledgements

The Official Airline of the Houston Symphony The Official Health Care Provider of the Houston Symphony

Later this month, Michael Krajewski celebrates the unbeatable partner-ship of Composer John Williams and Film Director Steven Spielberg when he performs the music from their iconic movies.

4 www.houstonsymphony.org

Save the Date Ball............................................................................................One night of decadence you won’t want to miss...

ROCK ME, AMADEUS!The 2012 Houston Symphony BallFriday, March �3rd

The Corinthian

CHAIRSTara & David Wuthrich

CO-CHAIRSAudrey & Brandon Cochran, Alexandra & David Pruner

For more information:[email protected]

The Houston Symphony Ball provides essential support for Music Matters! - Houston Symphony’s Education and Outreach Programs

On Thursday, December 1, Lindy and John Rydman, together with their daughter and son-in-law, Lisa and Hermen Key of Spec’s Wines, Spirits & Finer Foods (pictured left), hosted their 15th Annual Vintage Virtuoso event at the InterContinental Hotel Houston. The event benefitted the Houston Symphony’s Music Matters! program, which supports music education.

The evening began with a tasting of fine wine, beer, and spirits accompanied by hors d’oeuvres representing the tempting tastes of Texas cuisine. Dinner was accented by the Rydman family’s selection of wine pairings with each course of Executive Chef Peter Laufer’s harvest themed cuisine. Guests enjoyed Butternut Squash Ravioli on Chanterelle Ragout with Austrian Pumpkin Seed Oil, Morel Mushroom Bisque, Herb Crusted Rack of Lamb, Chervil Risotto, and a Baked Apple Tart for dessert.

Beginning in 1997 with a few people gathering to enjoy bottles of wine collec-tively purchased, Vintage Virtuoso has grown every year, bringing together over 500 people for an evening of drinks and dinner which supports the life-enriching work of the Houston Symphony. Since 1997, Spec’s Vintage Virtuoso has generated over

$2 million dollars to support the Symphony’s Music Matters! community engagement programs. Spec’s Charitable Foundation has underwritten the Symphony’s Salute to Educators Concert for the next quarter century and continues to strengthen the Symphony Endowment.

Vintage Virtuoso................................................................................................

ALL PHOTOS © PETE BAATz

January 2012 �

Credits...........................

www.newleafinc.com (713) ��3-�3�3

Mark C. Hanson Executive Director/CEOHolly Cassard EditorCarl Cunningham Program AnnotatorElaine Reeder Mayo Editorial Consultant

Janet Meyer [email protected]

Keith Gumney Art [email protected]

Jennifer Greenberg Projects [email protected]

Frances Powell Account [email protected]

Carey Clark CC Catalyst Communications

Marlene Walker Walker Media LLCThe activities and projects of the Houston Symphony are funded in part by grants from the Texas Commission on the Arts, the National Endowment for the Arts and the City of Houston.

The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion at The Woodlands is the Summer Home of the Houston Symphony.

Digital pre-media services by Vertis APS Houston

Contents copyright © 2012 by the Houston Symphony

LATE SEATING In consideration of audience mem-bers, the Houston Symphony makes every effort to begin concerts on time. Ushers will assist with late seating at pre-designated intervals. You may be asked to sit in a location other than your ticketed seat until the end of that portion of the concert. You will be able to move to your ticketed seat at the concert break.

CHILDREN AT CONCERTS In consideration of our patrons, we ask that children be 6 years and older to attend Houston Symphony concerts. Children of all ages, including infants, are admitted to Weatherford Family Concerts. Any child over age 1 must have a ticket for those performances.

CAMERAS, RECORDERS, CELL PHONES & PAGERS Cameras and recorders are not permitted in the hall. Patrons may not use any device to record or pho-tograph performances. Please silence cell phones, pagers and alarm watches and refrain from texting during performances.


Hans Graf Biography..............................................................................

Known for his wide range of repertoire and creative programming, distinguished Austrian conductor Hans Graf—the Houston Symphony’s 15th Music Director—is one of today’s most highly respected musicians. He began his tenure here on Opening Night of the 2001–02 season.

Prior to his appointment in Houston, he was music director of the Calgary Philharmonic, the Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine, the Salzburg Mozarteum Orchestra and the Iraqi National Symphony Orchestra.

A frequent guest with all of the major North American orchestras, Graf has developed a close relationship with the Boston Symphony and appears regularly with the orchestra during the subscription season and at the Tanglewood Music Festival.

He made his Carnegie Hall debut with the Houston Symphony in January 2006 and returned leading the Orchestra of St. Luke’s in March 2007. He and the Houston Symphony were invited to appear at Carnegie Hall in January 2010 to present the New York premiere of The Planets—An HD Odyssey and will return in May 2012 to participate in Carnegie’s Spring for Music Festival.

Internationally, Graf conducts in the foremost concert halls of Europe, Japan and Australia. In October 2010, he led the Houston Symphony on a tour of the UK to present the international premiere of The Planets—An HD Odyssey. He has participated in the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Bregenz, Aix en Provence and Salzburg Festivals.

His recent U.S. festival appearances include Tanglewood, Blossom Music Festival, Aspen Music Festival and the Grant Park Music Festival in down-town Chicago.

An experienced opera conductor, Graf first conducted the Vienna State Opera in 1981 and has since led productions in the opera houses of Berlin, Munich, Paris and Rome, including several world premieres. Recent engagements include Parsifal at the zurich Opera and Boris Godunov at the Opera National du Rhin in Strasbourg.

Born in 1949 near Linz, Graf studied violin and piano as a child. He earned diplomas in piano and conducting from the Musikhochschule in Graz and continued his studies with Franco Ferrara, Sergiu Celibidache and Arvid Jansons.

His career was launched in 1979 when he was awarded first prize at the Karl Böhm Competition. His extensive discography includes record-ings with the Houston Symphony, available through houstonsymphony.org: works by Bartók and Stravinsky, zemlinsky’s Lyric Symphony, Berg’s Three Pieces from the Lyric Suite and a DVD of The Planets—An HD Odyssey.

Graf has been awarded the Chevalier de l’ordre de la Legion d’Honneur by the French government for championing French music around the world and the Grand Decoration of Honour in Gold for Services to the Republic of Austria. Hans and Margarita Graf have homes in Salzburg and Houston. They have one daughter, Anna, who lives in Vienna.

Edward Gardner, conductorRecognized as one of the most talented conductors of his generation, Edward Gardner began his tenure as music director of the English National Opera in May 2007 with a critically acclaimed new production of Britten’s Death in Venice. Under his direction, the company has presented a series of stellar productions, including The Damnation of Faust, Boris Godunov and a double bill of The Rite of Spring and Bluebeard’s Castle, among others. He received the Royal Philharmonic Society Music Award for Best Conductor (2008) and the Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in Opera (2009).

Last season, Gardner made debut appearances with New York’s Metropolitan Opera (Carmen) and La Scala (Death in Venice) resulting in invitations for 2012–13. A regular at the Paris Opera since 2004-05, Gardner’s most recent production there was Stravinsky’s The Rake’s Progress. In 2008, he returned to the Glyndebourne Festival Opera with a production of Britten’s The Turn of the Screw.

In 2010, Gardner was appointed principal guest conductor of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. Since making his successful debut (2005) with the BBC Symphony Orchestra at the Aldeburgh Festival, he has returned each year; he conducted the UK premiere of Saariaho’s Adriana Mater in concert at the Barbican Centre in London. Frequent Proms appearances culminated in The Last Night of the Proms in September 2011.

Gardner works regularly with young musicians, including the CBSO Youth Orchestra, Barbican Young Orchestra, Trinity College of Music, Royal Academy and Royal College of Music. In 2002, he founded the Hallé Youth Orchestra.

An exclusive recording artist for Chandos, Gardner recently released four critically acclaimed discs of Lutoslawski and Britten vocal and orchestral works. He has made a number of recordings for EMI Records.

Born in Gloucester in 1974, Edward Gardner was educated at Cambridge and the Royal Academy of Music. After graduating in 2000, he assisted Mark Elder at The Hallé Orchestra for three years before being named musical director of Glyndebourne Touring Opera in 2004, a position he held for three years.

RachFest! Guest Artist Biographies.................................................................

January 2012 7

Kirill Gerstein, pianistRussian pianist Kirill Gerstein has quickly proven to be one of today’s most intriguing young musicians. His mas-terful technique, musical curiosity and probing interpretations have led to explorations of classical music and jazz, advanced degrees by the age of 20, a professorship in piano at 27 and a full performance schedule at the world’s major music centers and festivals.

In January 2010, Gerstein received the 2010 Gilmore Artist Award, only the sixth pianist to have been so honored. The Gilmore Award is given to an exceptional artist who, regardless of age or nationality, possesses broad and profound musicianship and charisma and who desires and can sustain a career as a major interna-tional concert artist. He was also honored with the Avery Fisher Career Grant in 2010.

In addition to these RachFest! appearances, highlights of Gerstein’s 2011–12 season include debuts with the New York Philharmonic and Seattle Symphony Orchestra and at the Aspen Music Festival and London’s Proms; re-engagements with the San Francisco Symphony, Detroit and Atlanta symphony orchestras, as well as with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra; and recitals at New York’s 92nd St. Y, Cal Performances at UC Berkeley, London’s Wigmore Hall and in Vancouver, Miami and Sarasota.

Gerstein’s recent North American engagements include performances with several prominent orches-tras, including the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Cleveland Orchestra, and the Chicago, Atlanta, Saint Louis, Dallas, Indianapolis, Baltimore, Milwaukee and Vancouver symphony orchestras, among others. He will appear at Chicago’s Grant Park, the Mann Music Center, Saratoga, Tanglewood and Blossom music festivals; and recitals in Boston, New York’s Town Hall, Cincinnati, Detroit and Washington’s Kennedy Center.

His first recording for Myrios Classics of recital works by Schumann, Liszt and Oliver Knussen was released in 2010, followed by a duo recital disc with Tabea zimmermann.

Born in 1979 in Voronezh, Russia, Gerstein attended one of the country’s special music schools for gifted children and taught himself to play jazz by listening to his parents’ extensive record collection. He came to the U.S. at 14 to continue his studies in jazz piano as the youngest student ever to attend Boston’s Berklee College of Music. He also continued working on the classical piano repertoire, but after his second summer at the Boston University Tanglewood Institute, he decided to focus mainly on classical music. He moved to New York City to attend the Manhattan School of Music, where he studied with Solomon Mikowsky and earned Bachelor and Master of Music degrees. He continued his studies with Dmitri Bashkirov in Madrid and Ferenc Rados in Budapest.

Kirill Gerstein was awarded First Prize at the 2001 Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Competition in Tel Aviv, received a 2002 Gilmore Young Artist Award and was chosen as Carnegie Hall’s Rising Star for the 2005–06 season. He became an American citizen in 2003 and is currently a professor of piano at the Musikhochschule Stuttgart.

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Hans Graf, Music DirectorRoy and Lillie Cullen Chair

Michael Krajewski, Principal Pops Conductor

Sponsor, Cameron Management

Robert Franz, Associate Conductor Sponsor, Beth Madison

FIRST VIOLIN:Frank Huang, Concertmaster Max Levine ChairEric Halen, Associate Concertmaster

Ellen E. Kelley ChairAssia Dulgerska, Assistant Concertmaster

Cornelia and Meredith Long ChairQi Ming, Assistant Concertmaster Fondren Foundation ChairMarina Brubaker, Hewlett-Packard Company ChairAlexandra AdkinsMiHee ChungSophia SilivosRodica GonzalezFerenc IllenyiSi-Yang LaoKurt JohnsonChristopher NealSergei Galperin

SECOND VIOLIN:Jennifer Owen, PrincipalTina zhang, Associate PrincipalHitai LeeKiju JohMihaela Oancea-FrusinaRuth zeger Margaret BraggMartha ChapmanKevin KellyYan TongChristine PastorekAmy Teare

VIOLA:Wayne Brooks, PrincipalJoan DerHovsepian, Associate

PrincipalGeorge Pascal, Assistant PrincipalWei JiangLinda GoldsteinSheldon PersonFay ShapiroDaniel Strba Mr. and Mrs. Jesse B. Tutor ChairThomas MolloyPhyllis Herdliska

CELLO:Brinton Averil Smith, Principal Janice and Thomas Barrow ChairChristopher French,

Associate PrincipalHaeri JuJeffrey ButlerKevin DvorakXiao WongMyung Soon LeeJames Denton Anthony Kitai

DOubLE bASS:David Malone, Acting PrincipalMark Shapiro, Acting Associate

PrincipalEric LarsonRobert PastorekBurke ShawDonald HoweyMichael McMurray

FLuTE:Aralee Dorough, Principal

General Maurice Hirsch ChairJohn Thorne, Associate PrincipalJudy DinesAllison Jewett**Rebecca Powell-Garfield***

PICCOLO:Allison Jewett**Rebecca Powell-Garfield***

ObOE:Anne Leek, Acting Principal

Lucy Binyon Stude Chair Xiaodi Liu, Acting Associate Principal Colin GatwoodAdam Dinitz

ENGLISH HORN:Adam Dinitz

CLARINET:David Peck, PrincipalThomas LeGrand, Associate

PrincipalChristian SchubertAlexander Potiomkin***

E-FLAT CLARINET:Thomas LeGrand

bASS CLARINET:Alexander Potiomkin***

Tassie and Constantine S. Nicandros Chair

bASSOON:Rian Craypo, Principal Stewart Orton ChairEric Arbiter, Associate Principal American General ChairJ. Jeff Robinson**Elise Wagner

CONTRAbASSOON:J. Jeff Robinson**Benjamin Atherholt*

HORN:William VerMeulen, PrincipalJacek Muzyk, Associate PrincipalBrian Thomas

Robert and Janice McNair Foundation Chair

Nancy GoodearlPhilip StantonJulie Thayer

TRuMPET:Mark Hughes, Principal

George P. and Cynthia Woods Mitchell Chair

John DeWitt, Associate Principal Robert Walp, Assistant PrincipalAnthony Prisk

Speros P. Martel Chair

TROMbONE:Allen Barnhill, PrincipalBradley White, Associate PrincipalPhillip Freeman

bASS TROMbONE:Phillip Freeman

TubA:Dave Kirk, Principal

TIMPANI:Ronald Holdman, PrincipalBrian Del Signore, Associate Principal

PERCuSSION:Brian Del Signore, PrincipalMark GriffithMatthew Strauss

HARP:Paula Page, Principal

KEybOARD:Scott Holshouser, Principal

Neva Watkins West Chair

ORCHESTRA PERSONNEL MANAGER:

Steve Wenig

ASSISTANT ORCHESTRA PERSONNEL MANAGER:

Michael Gorman

LIbRARIAN:Thomas Takaro

ASSISTANT LIbRARIANS:Erik GronforMichael McMurray

STAGE MANAGER:Donald Ray Jackson

ASSISTANT STAGE MANAGER:Kelly Morgan

STAGE TECHNICIAN:Toby Bluntzoltan FabryCory Grant

*Contracted Substitute**Leave of Absence***Regular Substitute

Steinway is the official piano of the Houston Symphony. James B. Kozak, Piano Technician. Local assistance is provided by Forshey Piano Co.

The Houston Symphony’s concert piano is a gift of Mrs. Helen B. Rosenbaum.

Orchestra and Staff............................................................................................Mark C. Hanson, Executive Director/CEOMartha García, Assistant to the Executive DirectorMeg Philpot, Director of Human ResourcesAmanda Tozzi, Director, Executive Operations

steven Brosvik, General ManagerRoger Daily, Director, Music Matters!Kristin L. Johnson, Director, Operations and ProductionSteve Wenig, Orchestra Personnel ManagerMichael Gorman, Assistant Orchestra Personnel ManagerDonald Ray Jackson, Stage ManagerKelly Morgan, Assistant Stage ManagerMeredith Williams, Operations Assistant

MiCHael D. Pawson, Chief Financial OfficerSally brassow, ControllerPhilip Gulla, Director, TechnologyAmed Hamila, Director, Database SupportHeather Fails, Manager, Ticketing DatabaseJanis Pease LaRocque, Manager, Patron DatabaseKay Middleton, ReceptionistMaria Ross, Payroll ManagerArmin (A.J.) Salge, Network Systems EngineerChris Westerfelt, Manager, Accounts Payable and

Special Projects

aurelie DesMarais, Senior Director, Artistic PlanningMerle N. bratlie, Director, Artist ServicesLesley Sabol, Manager, Popular ProgrammingThomas Takaro, Librarian Sarah Berggren, Chorus ManagerErik Gronfor, Assistant LibrarianMichael McMurray, Assistant LibrarianRebecca zabinski, Artistic Associate

Glenn taylor, Senior Director, MarketingAllison Gilbert, Director of Marketing, Subscription &

Group SalesMelissa H. Lopez, Director of Marketing, Special ProjectsCarlos Vicente, Director of Marketing, Single TicketsJenny Zuniga, Director, Patron ServicesNatalie Ferguson, Graphic DesignerJeff Gilmer, Group Representative, Inside SalesJason Landry, Senior Manager, Patron ServicesErin Mushalla, Marketing AssociateMelissa Pate, Assistant Manager, Patron Services

RepresentativesDerrick Rose, Group Representative, Outside SalesMelissa Seuffert, Marketing Manager, Digital Media/

Young Audience Engagement

Jennifer r. Mire, Senior Director, CommunicationsHolly Cassard, Manager, CommunicationsClair Studdard, Assistant, Communications

DaviD CHaMBers, Chief Development OfficerStephanie Jones, Senior Director, Events and League RelationsVickie Hamley, Director, Volunteer Servicesbrandon VanWaeyenberghe, Director, Corporate RelationsPeter yenne, Director, Foundation Relations and

Development CommunicationsJessica Ford, Gifts OfficerSamantha Gonzalez, Manager, EventsRobin Lewis, Development Assistant, Gifts and RecordsJennifer Martin, Institutional Giving ManagerSarah Beth Seifert, Development Operations ManagerSarah Slemmons, Patron Donor Relations ManagerLena Streetman, Manager, Prospect ResearchConductor

....Clarinets.

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.......Flutes.

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....Cello

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....Bassoons.

......Oboes.

.......P

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......

.Har

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.........Violas.

Second.Violins.

Firs

t.Vio

lins.

.....Horns.

.Trumpets.

..................Trombones. ....Tuba.

.........Percussion.

January 2012 9

From the Orchestra............................................................................................

On behalf of all my fellow musicians, welcome to Jones Hall and what we hope will be a very memo-rable concert of the Houston Symphony. This month, we are excited to spend three weeks in an inten-sive focus on the works of Sergei Rachmaninoff, a composer who is a perennial favorite of musicians and audiences alike.

From his birth in Imperialist Russia in 1873 to his death in Los Angeles in 1943, Rachmaninoff’s life spanned a time of incredible cultural and technological change. He was in many ways a natural successor to Tchaikovsky, who had encouraged Rachmaninoff’s first compositions, but Tchaikovsky’s death and negative critical reaction to Rachmaninoff’s first symphony sent him into a three-year-long depression that nearly ended his career. It was only after a long personal struggle that he regained the courage to compose and experienced the great triumph on his second piano concerto (still one of the most popular of all piano concertos today).

While most modern audiences know Rachmaninoff only as a composer, he also was one of the greatest pianists of all time and left a substantial catalog of recordings, including all of his own piano concertos. Performing was a financial necessity brought on by his exile from Russia following the revolu-tion, but his incredibly large hands combined an amazingly facile, quicksilver touch with power and depth. Although the sound quality of the old recordings doesn’t match modern standards, I highly recommend seeking out Rachmaninoff’s recordings—many feel they set a musical standard without equal.

In the rapidly modernizing western world, Rachmaninoff—tall, dour (Stravinsky once described him as “six feet of Russian gloom,”but in fact he was 6’6”!), perfectly dressed and impeccably man-

nered—was seen by many in his time as a holdout from a bygone era. Atonal and dissonant trends in art music were ascendant by the middle of the 20th century, and this man with a genius for writing instantly lovable melody, seemed to many to be a musical dinosaur. A decade after his death, scholarly articles insisted that the taste for his music would soon fade. But instead, Rachmaninoff has become perhaps the most beloved composer of the 20th century, with his music appearing not only in concert halls, but often in movie soundtracks and popular songs. What is it about Rachmaninoff that moves audience and musicians alike? For me, his music evokes emotions that no other composer can reach. The combination of brooding intensity and ravishing beauty brings forth feelings I couldn’t have imagined, but that instantly connect me to his inner world. I never tire of playing his music—there is always something new to find. Or, as Rachmaninoff himself once said, “Music is enough for a lifetime, but a lifetime is not enough for music.” Enjoy the concert!

PHOTO BY SANDY LAN

KFORD

brinton Averil SmithPrincipal Cello


ENDOWMENT TRuSTEESGene Dewhurst, President Prentiss Burt Janet Clark Marilyn Miles Michael Mithoff Jesse B. Tutor

PAST PRESIDENTS OF THE HOuSTON SyMPHONy SOCIETy

Mrs. Edwin B. ParkerMiss Ima HoggMrs. H. M. GarwoodJoseph A. Mullen, M.D.Joseph S. SmithWalter H. WalneH. R. CullenGen. Maurice HirschCharles F. Jones

Fayez SarofimJohn T. CaterRichard G. MerrillEllen Elizardi KelleyJohn D. PlattE. C. Vandagrift Jr.J. Hugh Roff Jr.Robert M. HermanceGene McDavidJanice H. BarrowBarry C. BurkholderRodney H. MargolisJeffrey B. EarlyMichael E. ShannonEd WulfeJesse B. Tutor

PAST PRESIDENTS OF THE HOuSTON SyMPHONy LEAGuE

Miss Ima HoggMrs. John F. GrantMrs. J. R. PartenMrs. Andrew E. RutterMrs. Aubrey Leon CarterMrs. Stuart SherarMrs. Julian BurrowsMs. Hazel LedbetterMrs. Albert P. JonesMrs. Ben A. CalhounMrs. James Griffith LawhonMrs. Olaf La Cour OlsenMrs. Ralph Ellis GunnMrs. Leon JaworskiMrs. Garrett R. Tucker Jr.Mrs. M. T. Launius Jr.

Mrs. Thompson McClearyMrs. Theodore W. CooperMrs. Allen H. CarruthMrs. David Hannah Jr.Mary Louis KisterEllen Elizardi KelleyMrs. John W. HerndonMrs. Charles FranzenMrs. Harold R. DeMoss Jr.Mrs. Edward H. SoderstromMrs. Lilly Kucera AndressMs. Marilou BonnerMrs. W. Harold SellersMrs. Harry H. GendelMrs. Robert M. EuryMrs. E. C. Vandagrift Jr.Mrs. J. Stephen MarksTerry Ann BrownNancy Strohmer

Mary Ann McKeithanAnn CavanaughMrs. James A. ShafferLucy H. LewisCatherine McNamaraShirley McGregor PearsonPaula JarrettCora Sue MachKathi RovereNorma Jean BrownBarbara McCelveyLori SorcicNancy WillersonJane ClarkNancy Littlejohn

Symphony Society Board...................................................................................

Governing Directors.....................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................

PresidentRobert b. Tudor III

Chairman of the Board Jesse b. Tutor

Executive Director/CEOMark C. Hanson

President-elect and Vice President, FinanceRobert A. Peiser

Chairman Emeritus Mike Stude

* Janice Barrow Darlene Bisso Marie Bosarge Terry Ann Brown Ralph Burch Prentiss Burt Brett Busby * John T. Cater Janet Clark Michael H. Clark Scott Cutler Lorraine Dell Viviana Denechaud Gene Dewhurst Michael Doherty Susanna Dokupil Kelli Cohen Fein

Julia Frankel David Frankfort Allen Gelwick Stephen Glenn Susan Hansen Gary L. Hollingsworth Ryan Krogmeier Ulyesse LeGrange Rochelle Levit Nancy Littlejohn Cora Sue Mach Steven P. Mach Beth Madison Rodney Margolis Jay Marks Mary Lynn Marks Jackie Wolens Mazow

Billy McCartney Barbara McCelvey Gene McDavid * Alexander K. McLanahan Kevin Meyers Paul Morico Arthur Newman Robert A. Peiser Fran Fawcett Peterson Geoffroy Petit David Pruner Stephen Pryor Gloria G. Pryzant Kathi Rovere John Rydman Manolo Sanchez Helen Shaffer

Jerome Simon Jim R. Smith David Steakley Mike Stude Robert B. Tudor III * Betty Tutor * Jesse B. Tutor Margaret Waisman Fredric A. Weber Vicki West Margaret Alkek Williams * Ed Wulfe David Wuthrich Cary P. Yates Robert A. Yekovich

Trustees................................................................................................................... Samuel Abraham Philip Bahr Anthony Bohnert Meherwan Boyce Walter Bratic Lynn Caruso Audrey Cochran Louis Delone Tom Fitzpatrick Craig A. Fox Stanley Haas Kathleen Hayes

Brian James Joan Kaplan I. Ray Kirk Roslyn Larkey Carolyn Mann Paul M. Mann Judy Margolis Brian McCabe Marilyn Miles Tassie Nicandros Scott Nyquist Edward Osterberg Jr.

J. Hugh Roff Jr. Michael E. Shannon Jule Smith Michael Tenzer L. Proctor (Terry) Thomas Stephen G. Tipps Mrs. S. Conrad Weil Robert Weiner David Ashley White James T. Willerson Steven J. Williams

Ex-Officio Martha García Mark C. Hanson Mark Hughes Susan Osterberg Burke Shaw Donna Shen Brinton Averil Smith Glenda Toole

* Life Trustee

Vice President, Artistic and Orchestra Affairsbrett busby

Vice President, Popular ProgrammingAllen Gelwick

Vice President, Audience Development and Marketing

Gloria G. Pryzant

President, EndowmentGene Dewhurst

Vice President, Board Governance and SecretarySteven P. Mach

Vice President, EducationCora Sue Mach

General CounselPaul R. Morico

At-Large Membersulyesse LeGrange

Jay MarksHelen Shaffer

Vice President, Volunteersbarbara McCelvey

Vice President, DevelopmentDavid Wuthrich

EX-OFFICIO MEMbERSMartha García, Assistant Secretary

Mark Hughes, Orchestra RepresentativeRodney Margolis

burke Shaw, Orchestra RepresentativeDonna Shen, President, Houston Symphony League

brinton Averil Smith, Orchestra RepresentativeEd Wulfe, Immediate Past Chair

Executive Committee...............................................................................................

January 2012 11

Letter to Patrons.................................................................................................

Happy New Year!This month, you are joining us for an in-depth look at Sergei Rachmaninoff during our three-week clas-

sical event called RachFest! With programming comprised of Rachmaninoff’s greatest works, it is a unique way for new and experienced classical music fans to explore one of the most popular and gifted musicians in history. A remarkable highlight will be the appearance of Russian-born pianist, Kirill Gerstein, who will perform all four, very demanding Rachmaninoff piano concertos over the course of the festival. Truly, it will be a special feat to experience.

Next, we are eager to perform the world premiere of our latest commission, Orbit—An HD Odyssey, a multimedia concert tribute to NASA and the Space Shuttle program on February 17 and 18. Thanks to gener-ous funding from Margaret Alkek Williams, The Ray C. Fish Foundation and The Humphreys Foundation, we are able to deliver the sequel to our hugely successful and widely acclaimed project, The Planets—An HD Odyssey. Orbit turns its gaze on Earth with producer/director Duncan Copp once again assembling a film of dazzling, high-definition images from Shuttle missions and the International Space Station. We want to especially recognize the continued cooperation from NASA as it is an honor to work on these projects that reinforce the historic role our city and this nation have played in mankind’s epic exploration of space. The accompanying score of spine-tingling music of John Adams and Richard Strauss will be performed live by the Houston Symphony. Don’t miss it!

Looking into March, the annual Houston Symphony Ball is one of the highlights of the social season. This year, Chairs Tara and David Wuthrich are joined by Alexandra and David Pruner and Audrey and Brandon Cochran to host a blow out event called “Rock Me Amadeus” on March 23 at The Corinthian. It will be a fantastic way to celebrate and support the Symphony’s Music Matters! educational programs. Secure your ticket today by contacting 713-238-1485 or [email protected].

This month represents new beginnings, and as is common practice in the orchestra industry, January is the time when we announce the next season of concerts. In 2012–13, we will celebrate the farewell season of our Music Director Hans Graf. We look forward to sharing all of the exciting plans for the new season later in the month. Subscribers, be sure to look for your renewal packets in the mail.

bobby Tudor President

Mark C. Hanson Executive Director/CEO

PHOTO BY ALEXANDER PORTRAITS

PHOTO BY BRUCE BENN

ETT

By CARL CUnninGHAMProgram

1� www.houstonsymphony.org

Fidelity investments Classical Series

Thursday, January �, �01� 8 pm

Saturday, January 7, �01� 8 pm

Sunday, January 8, �01� 2:30 pm

Jones Hall

RachFest 1 – Rach 3

Edward Gardner, conductorKirill Gerstein, piano

Wagner Prelude to Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg

Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto no. 3 in D minor, Opus 30 i Allegro ma non tanto ii intermezzo: Adagio iii Finale: Alla breve

INTERMISSION

Rachmaninoff Symphonic Dances, Opus 45 i non allegro ii Andante con moto (Tempo di valse) iii Lento assai—Allegro vivace

Biographies appear on page 6.

TOTAL Gold Classics Series

RachFest!, Houston Symphony’s festival celebrating the genius of Rachmaninoff, is made possible, in part, through the generosity of Mrs. Marie T. bosarge.

Thursday evening’s appearance of guest artist Kirill Gerstein is sponsored in part by Alice & Terry Thomas.

The SoundPlusVision series is sponsored by Margaret Alkek Williams and supported in part by an endowed fund from The Cullen Trust for the Performing Arts Fund for Creative Initiatives.

The Classical Season is endowed by The Wortham Foundation, Inc. in memory of Gus S. and Lyndall F. Wortham.

The printed music for the Prelude to Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg was donated by The Edith F. bondi Foundation in memory of Edith F. bondi and Great uncle Conductor Simon Parmet.

The printed music for Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3 was donated by Mrs. Paula Jarrett, honoring the �00�-�003 League board members.

The conductor’s scores for Rachmaninoff’s Symphonic Dances was donated by Jerry and Pat Sullivan.

The Houston Symphony currently records under its own label, Houston Symphony Media Productions, and for naxos. Houston Symphony recordings also are available on the Telarc, RCA Red Seal, Virgin Classics and Koch international Classics labels.

These concerts are being recorded for future broadcast on Classical 91.7 FM, the Radio Voice of the Houston Symphony and Classical Season Media Sponsor.

PRELuDE TO DIE MEISTERSINGER VON NÜRNBERGRichard Wagner (1813-1883)

Recording: Sir George Solti conducting the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (Decca)

Instrumentation: piccolo, two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, four horns, three trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion, harp and strings

There is probably no piece of music more joyous and warmly fulfilling than the Prelude to Wagner’s opera, Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg. Just as a great chef can turn a refrigerator full of leftovers into an incomparable soup, this collection of tunes from Wagner’s romantic comedy elevates the tradition of the musical potpourri to high art.

Scholar Ernest Newman counts nine themes in the overture Wagner assembled from his opera, about the historical 16th-century shoemaker, Hans Sachs, who helps the young knight, Walther von Stolzing, win the hand of Eva

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Bank of America believes that community vitality and the success of our business are inextricably linked. Recognizing that the health of the company is dependent on the health of the communities we serve, we leverage our resources to connect associ-ates, customers, shareholders and commu-nities to create opportunities for success. In 2009, Bank of America embarked on a 10-year $2 billion philanthropic giving goal to strengthen the communities where we live and work.

The Bank of America Charitable Foundation’s key program areas include health and human services, education, environment, arts and culture, and commu-nity development.

Bank of America is a major supporter of arts and heritage in the United States. Our approach combines responsible business practices with good corporate citizenship. As a financial institution, we are account-able to our shareholders, customers, asso-ciates and the communities we serve. Our support of the arts and arts-related non-profit organizations is an effective way to benefit stakeholders, in the short term, by driving positive business results and sup-port of local economies. Over the long term, our commitment helps fuel innovation that characterizes our heritage, drives the nation’s progress and shapes its future.

To learn more about our support of the arts, visit the Arts & Culture Website.

January 2012 13

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Pogner in a song contest among the Nüremberg trade guilds.

The generous-hearted Mastersingers’ theme bursts forth from almost the entire orches-tra, unfolding in a swelling contrapuntal episode. It is followed by Walther’s love theme in the woodwinds and the Mastersingers’ martial fan-fare in the brass. The first section concludes with the soaring third-act string theme of Nüremberg townspeople singing the praises of German art.

In the second section, a reduced orches-tra presents three amorous themes associated with Walther, including snatches of his Prize Song. But the woodwinds suddenly interrupt with the quarrelsome, busybody music of the Apprentices, which is an accelerated version of the opening Mastersingers’ theme. Trumpets and trombones bring that theme back in its proper splendor, combining it with the Prize Song and the Mastersingers’ Fanfare in a glorious conclu-sion to the piece.

PIANO CONCERTO NO. 3 IN D MINOR, OPuS 30Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873-1943)

Recording: Vladimir Ashkenazy, with André Previn conducting the London Symphony (Decca)

Instrumentation: pairs of flutes, oboes, clarinets and bassoons, four horns, two trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion and strings

Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Third Piano Concerto holds its place as one of the most challenging concertos written in the 20th century. He com-posed it for his first American tour in the fall of 1909, and the premiere was given in New York under Walter Damrosch on November 28 of that year. Rachmaninoff was apparently dis-satisfied with the result, but was much happier with a second performance Gustav Mahler conducted with the New York Philharmonic in January 1910. In later years, he left a vivid recollection of Mahler’s exacting rehearsal for that performance. The new concerto was not as readily received as the popular Second Concerto, and Rachmaninoff later remarked that it took a long time for the work to gain acceptance. Vladimir Horowitz became one of the most important champions of the work, helping to build its pres-ent reputation through numerous performances and four separate recordings spanning a 50-year period. The concerto also received a boost in popularity when Van Cliburn played it at the 1958 International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow. Though the concerto begins quietly with an unobtrusive theme, the pianist is soon faced with huge clusters of notes, often distributed in thick, four-note chords in one or both hands. The first short cadenza comes up even before the second theme, which opens with a lightly bouncing inter-play between the strings and solo piano. Much

of the first movement is given over to a flowing, evolutionary development, mainly of excerpts from the first theme. All the while, the pianist is kept active with a constant display of virtuoso playing. The movement comes to a climax in an extraordinarily long, brilliant and varied cadenza. The movement ends quietly, just as it had begun, with a brief restatement of its two main themes. The second movement, labeled “Inter mezzo,” offers the most broadly passion-ate melody in the concerto. It is presented at some length by the orchestra before the soloist enters with another glittering pianistic display.

Eventually, the pace quickens and the music evolves into a capricious scherzo, imitating a facet of Tchaikovsky’s First Piano Concerto. The second movement flows directly into the martial third movement, where the rhythms and stamp-ing themes become ever more insistent and excited, as the pianist competes with the orches-tra in cascades of difficult, full-chord passages, runs and showy figuration. This climactic contest is interrupted by a broad romantic theme; then the pianist and orchestra engage in a headlong race to the closing bar.

Continued on page 23




Friday, January 13, �01� 8 pm

Saturday, January 14, �01� 8 pm

Sunday, January 1�, �01� 2:30 pm

Jones Hall

RachFest 2 – Rach 1 & 4

Hans Graf, conductorKirill Gerstein, piano

Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto no. 1 in F-sharp minor, Opus 1 i Vivace ii Andante iii Allegro vivace

Rachmaninoff The isle of the Dead, Opus 29

INTERMISSION

Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto no. 4 in G minor, Opus 40 i Allegro vivace ii Largo iii Allegro vivace


Shell Favorite Masters Series


Saturday evening’s performance is generously sponsored by Janet F. Clark.

Saturday evening’s appearance of guest artist Kirill Gerstein is sponsored in part by Vicki West.


The printed music for Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 1 was donated by Mr. and Mrs. John H. Tomfohrde Jr.



PIANO CONCERTO NO. 1 IN F-SHARP MINOR, OPuS 1 (1890-91, REViSED 1917)Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873-1943)

Recording: Vladimir Ashkenazy, with André Previn conducting the London Symphony Orchestra (Decca)

Instrumentation: pairs of flutes, oboes, clarinets and bassoons, four horns, two trumpets, three trombones, timpani, percussion and strings

Sergei Rachmaninoff was still an 18-year-old student at the Moscow Conservatory when he composed his First Piano Concerto. It was his first major work, and he was the soloist at a partial premiere presented by the Moscow Conservatory Orchestra on March 17, 1892. Only the first movement was performed at that concert and though he was initially pleased with the concerto, he grew more dissatisfied with it as the years passed. It was not until 1917 that he fulfilled a long-held desire to revise the

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Fulbright & Jaworski L.L.P. is a Houston insti-tution, much like the Houston Symphony, that has grown into a significant player on the world stage. It was founded in Houston in 1919 and has since grown to be recog-nized as a trusted adviser and advocate throughout the world. Today the firm has more than 900 dedicated attorneys work-ing across the United States, Europe, the Middle East and Asia. International loca-tions include Beijing, Dubai, Hong Kong, London, Munich and Riyadh.

Since its founding, Fulbright has made a practice of giving back to the communities where our attorneys live and work. Here in Houston, for example, the firm has been a major participant in advancing and contribut-ing to fields ranging from healthcare to edu-cation, to research and to the arts. Fulbright supports cultural institutions that include opera, ballet, the visual arts, including stu-dent art programs, and public television.

On a professional level, Fulbright & Jaworski offers clients support from more than 60 integrated practice areas, including cutting-edge legal areas such as alternative energy, biotechnology, global infrastructure, international trade and public-private part-nerships. The firm provides litigation, trans-actional and regulatory legal services to major corporations, emerging businesses, non-profit organizations, governmental enti-ties, individuals and estates. When clients around the world think of the highest quality legal, they Think Fulbright.™

January 2012 1�

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First Piano Concerto extensively. Thus, the work combines the compos-

er’s youthful and mature perspectives on music. Crediting the value of his initial ideas, Rachmaninoff kept much of the fresh, youthful thematic material he had created, mostly short-ening certain sections or leading the music to different tonal areas. However, he reworked the orchestration considerably, lightening the texture and spotlighting solo colors within the orchestra.

The pianistic style of the concerto is also lighter than either the Second or the Third con-certos. The huge blocked chords and thick left-hand figuration, so prominent in the Third Concerto especially, are less evident in the First Concerto. That is not to deny formidable techni-cal demands in the brilliant Chopinesque filigree that dominates the piano part. It is a concerto that demands swift, strong, sure fingers and plenty of stamina from the soloist.

The concerto was dedicated to Rachmaninoff’s cousin, pianist Alexander Siloti, who was visiting at the family’s country estate, Ivanovka, and practicing the Grieg A minor Concerto at the time Rachmaninoff was there composing his First Concerto. Several commen-tators have noted a similarity in certain features common to both concertos—a loud orchestral chord immediately followed by a descending flourish in the solo part at the very beginning, a nocturne-like slow movement and a vibrant folk-dance character in the finale. However, there are also echoes of such famous Russian works as Tchaikovsky’s Fourth Symphony in the brassy fan-fare opening the concerto. As in the Tchaikovsky symphony, the fanfare returns to announce the recapitulation restating all the themes previously heard in the first movement. Other traits, like the yearning themes of the first movement and the moody, minor-mode harmonies that prevail throughout much of the concerto, are very per-sonal to Rachmaninoff’s style.

THE ISLE OF THE DEAD, OPuS �9

Recording: Mariss Jansons conducting the St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra (EMi Classics)

Instrumentation: three flutes (one doubling piccolo), two oboes, English horn, two clarinets, bass clarinet, two bassoons, contrabassoon, six horns, three trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion, harp and strings

The most famous work by the 19th-century Swiss symbolist painter, Arnold Böcklin, inspired one of Rachmaninoff’s most foreboding orches-tral works. Between 1880 and 1886, Böcklin made five separate versions of this stark, fune-real scene of an oarsman steering his rowboat toward a lonely island topped by towering cliffs that shelter a cluster of tall cypress trees. A ghostly figure stands behind a white coffin in the bow of the boat.


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classical concert

Dvorák & Polovtsian DancesFebruary 10, 11, 1�, �01�Jakub Hruša, conductorHouston Symphony Chorus Charles Hausmann, directorDvorák: Te Deumborodin: Polovtsian DancesDvorák: Slavonic DancesJanácek: Taras BulbaCzech conductor Jakub Hruša has put together a compelling mix of sublimely tuneful music, lively folk dances and a riveting musical story of a bloodthirsty warlord.

Tickets from: $20

symphony special (sound plus vision)Orbit—An HD OdysseySequel to The Planets—An HD OdysseyFebruary 17, �01�, 7:30 pm

February 18, �01�, 7:30 pm

Duncan Copp, producer/directorTheofanidis: Rainbow BodyCopland: Appalachian SpringAdams: Short Ride in a Fast MachineR. Strauss: Also sprach ZarathustraJoin us for the world premiere of the second film in our HD Odyssey series—this time focused on our planet. With striking images taken from nASA missions to Earth’s orbit and accompanied by Strauss’ epic tone poem “Also sprach Zarathustra,” this event is not to be missed.

Tickets from: $29

classical concert

Beethoven’s FifthFebruary �3, ��, �6, �01�John Storgårds, conductorColin Currie, percussionbrahms: Tragic OvertureRautavaara: incantations for Percussion and Orchestrabeethoven: Symphony no. 5Experience the drama of Beethoven’s most famous work. you’ll hear the contrast between breathless tenderness and the powerful, triumphal finale. Plus, meet Colin Currie, a star in the world of solo percussion, for whom Rautavaara composed the provocative concerto, Incantations.

Tickets from: $35

pops special

Earth, Wind & FireMarch 8, �01�, 7:30 pm

you’ve heard the legendary Earth, Wind & Fire, but you’ve never heard them like this! The power of your Houston Symphony will add a new twist to “Let’s Groove,” “Boogie Wonderland” and “After Love has Gone.”

Tickets from: $29

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ASA

Margaret Alkek Williams

Ray C. Fish Foundation

The Humphrey’s Foundation

January 2012 17

Rachmaninoff happened upon a black-and-white reproduction of Böcklin’s painting during a visit to Paris in 1907. He eventually composed this greatly admired orchestral piece in 1909.

In translating the stillness of Böcklin’s visual image into a 20-minute musical expression, Rachmaninoff set the work in three large sections. They progress from an approaching burial in the opening A minor section to a happier, more lyri-cal stream of recollections of the dead person’s life in the sharply contrasting, mutually remote tonality of E-flat major at the center of the work. A climactic return to A minor suggests the final reality of death, bringing the piece to a hushed coda based upon the “Dies Irae” plainchant from the Latin Mass for the Dead.

The “Dies Irae” melody is identified with numerous Rachmaninoff compositions and little fragments of the melody are inserted into the opening thematic phrases of The Isle of the Dead. An incessant accompaniment, based upon an irregular five-pulse meter, rises up impercep-tibly from the lowest orchestral instruments, sug-gesting the rhythm of the oars as the waves lap against the rowboat gradually nearing the awe-some cliffs of this island cemetery.

PIANO CONCERTO NO. 4 IN G MINOR, OPuS 40 (1914-1926, revised 1928, 1941)

Recording: Vladimir Ashkenazy with André Previn conducting the London Symphony Orchestra (Decca)

Instrumentation: piccolo, two flutes, two oboes, English horn, two clarinets, two bassoons, four horns, two trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion and strings

Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Fourth Piano Concerto is the least familiar of his five works for piano and orchestra, and it has become the forgotten sibling between the heroic Third Piano Concerto and the ever-popular Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini.

There are indications that Rachmaninoff planned the Fourth Concerto as early as 1914. But with the outbreak of World War I, the Russian revolution in 1918 and the Rachmaninoff family’s subsequent flight to the West, he soon realized his need to earn a living as a touring pianist.

Work on the concerto was not resumed for more than a decade. Rachmaninoff completed it in August 1926 in Dresden, dedicating it to his friend and colleague, Russian-born pianist/composer Nicolai Medtner. He was the soloist for the pre-miere by Leopold Stokowski and the Philadelphia Orchestra on March 18, 1927.

Alas, the concerto did not please critics. Rachmaninoff made further revisions and pub-lished the concerto in 1928, but after a few addi-tional performances, he put it aside until 1941, when he again revised it, greatly shortening the final movement, clarifying the orchestration and re-ordering some of its themes. Then, he joined Stokowski’s successor, Eugene Ormandy, and the

Philadelphians for the first performance of the revised version on October 17, 1941, followed by a recording and publication of the new version.

The concerto opens with a robust fanfare from the orchestra, and then settles into a relaxed theme that runs smoothly up and down the scale of the keyboard. After a lengthy exploration of this theme and a quiet interlude by the English horn, the piano soloist introduces a pensive second-ary theme, garnished with numerous chromatic tones. As is typical of Rachmaninoff, an exhaus-tive development leads to a climax followed by brief restatements of the main thematic ideas, concluding with the opening fanfare.

In the placid slow movement, an intro-

ductory phrase from the piano gives way to the main theme in the strings, which is immediately taken up in more elaborate form by the soloist. This short theme permeates much of the move-ment, though other melodic ideas are brought into its slightly agitated middle section. The final movement is brilliant in its technical demands but lighter in character than the first movement, resembling a rondo in its alternation of various dance-like themes. Taken together, the three movements exhibit the imposing, heroic keyboard style Rachmaninoff developed, as well as the deli-cate, decorative filigree and the capricious facets of his piano technique.

©2012, Carl R. Cunningham

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Thursday, January 19, �01� 8 pm

Saturday, January �1, �01� 8 pm

Sunday, January ��, �01� 2:30 pm

Jones Hall

RachFest 3 – Rach 2

Hans Graf, conductorKirill Gerstein, piano

Rachmaninoff Vocalise, Opus 34, no. 14

Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto no. 2 in C minor, Opus 18 i Moderato ii Adagio sostenuto iii Allegro scherzando

INTERMISSION

Rachmaninoff Symphony no. 3 in A minor, Opus 44 i Lento—Allegro moderato ii Adagio ma non troppo—Allegro vivace iii Allegro—Meno mosso—Allegro vivace



This weekend’s concerts are generously sponsored by Mr. and Mrs. Marvin Kaplan.

Thursday’s performance is sponsored in part by Mr. and Mrs. Rodney H. Margolis.

Saturday’s concert is supported in part by barbara and Patrick McCelvey.

Appearances of guest artist Kirill Gerstein on Saturday evening is sponsored by Julia and Russell Frankel.


The printed music for Rachmaninoff’s Vocalise was donated by Jerry and Pat Sullivan.

The printed music for Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2 was donated by Mr. and Mrs. Marvin Kaplan.



VOCALISE, OPuS 34, NO. 14Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873-1943)


Instrumentation: two flutes, two oboes, English horn, two clarinets, two bassoons, two horns and strings

Rachmaninoff’s Vocalise is the most celebrated composition stemming from the time-honored tradition of the textless vocal exercise. In the early 19th century, there was a tradition of publishing such vocal exercises with piano accompaniment. Even earlier, in the mid-18th century, certain technically challenging arias by leading composers of that era were stripped of their texts and turned into vocal exercises, or “songs without words.”

Numerous 19th- and 20th-century com-

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In Houston, one of the most vibrant arts communities in the nation and home to the world’s largest medical center, The Methodist Hospital has made world-class medical care for performing artists a prior-ity. More than 100 physicians in 30 special-ties have come together through the Center for Performing Arts Medicine (CPAM) to provide medical care to meet the specific needs of professional dancers, vocalists, actors, instrumentalists and other artists.

In addition to round-the-clock care, CPAM offers many services benefiting Houston’s community of artists, including health seminars, free flu shots to profes-sional artists as well as the downtown artist community, and research around the most prevalent injuries and illnesses affecting the careers of artists.

The program draws from the expertise of physicians with The Methodist Hospital, one of the country’s “Best Hospitals” accord-ing to U.S. News & World Report. CPAM is the official healthcare provider of the Houston Symphony, Houston Ballet and Houston Grand Opera. Through these partnerships, Methodist has treated thousands of perform-ing artists living in Houston, the third largest home to working artists in the nation.

Methodist is a values-based organi-zation committed to providing quality care coupled with compassion and respect for human dignity. It is also listed as one of FORTUNE magazine’s “100 Best Companies to Work For.” For more information, visit MethodistPerformingArts.com.

January 2012 19

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posers—Spohr, Fauré, Ravel, Casella, Cilea, Giordano, Respighi, Vaughan Williams, Medtner, Glière and Stravinsky—contributed vocalises to the modern musical repertoire.

Rachmaninoff’s haunting vocal melody was composed in 1915, as an appendage to 13 songs he had written for voice and piano three years earlier. It was dedicated to soprano Antonina Nezhdanova, who was accompanied by the composer in the premiere the follow-ing year. Rachmaninoff later orchestrated the work, and numerous arrangements featuring violin, cello, saxophone—and even a ballet version—have cropped up over the years. In this purely orchestral arrangement, the first violins perform the solo soprano melody.

PIANO CONCERTO NO. � IN C MINOR, OPuS 18

Recording: Vladimir Ashkenazy, with André Previn conducting the London Symphony Orchestra (Decca)

Instrumentation: pairs of flutes, oboes, clarinets and bassoons, four horns, two trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion and strings

Dark, moody sentiments often lurk just below the surface of Sergei Rachmaninoff’s music, and the gloomy chords that open his Second Piano Concerto represent one of the composer’s black-est inspirations. In the case of this work, his state of mind may have inspired that particular music. The concerto followed a three-year period of depression, when Rachmaninoff suffered a com-plete mental block and could not complete any new composition. This condition was brought about by the disastrous premiere of his D minor Symphony in 1897. During those three years, he made his living as a touring pianist and began a career as a conductor, restoring confidence in his creative ability only after hypnotic treatment from a psychiatrist. This concerto was the first result of that successful treatment.

While the Second Piano Concerto does not equal the daunting technical challenges of Rachmaninoff’s Third Concerto, it is a worthy example of his mature keyboard style. Typically, the piano is almost constantly involved in the proceedings, often playing thick, heavy four-note chords in complex running-note passages and elaborate broken-chord figuration when accom-panying orchestral themes.

The dark, tolling piano chords at the opening of the concerto recall the opening of Rachmaninoff’s most famous solo piano piece, the C-sharp minor Prelude. The clarinet and strings then take up the passionate main theme, followed by a more appealing subsidiary theme, first stated by the cellos against a rippling piano accompaniment. The piano itself enjoys the glory of presenting the lyrical second theme, one of several memorable melodies in the concerto.

While a fragment of the main theme in the

woodwinds signals the beginning of the devel-opment, this whole section is increasingly domi-nated by livelier tempos and a brisk, pointed new thematic idea that totally occupies the soloist, growing and expanding as it marches along with other thematic fragments. Finally, it becomes a full-fledged theme, challenging the return of the frowning principal theme with its thick chords as the themes are restated in a dramatic conclusion to the movement.

A short introduction sets the tone of a noc-turne in the Adagio, whose main theme is pre-sented first by the flute and clarinet, then by the piano. As the three-part movement moves into its central section, the music—especially the pianistic figuration—becomes increasingly animated, culminating in a cadenza. This leads back to the main theme, this time played by the violins.

The finale, which offers the soloist a feast of brilliant, showy pianism, simulates a large rondo best remembered for its passionate second-ary theme, which also gained fame in the world of popular music as the song, “Full Moon and Empty Arms.”

SyMPHONy NO. 3 IN A MINOR, OPuS 44


Instrumentation: piccolo, two flutes, two oboes, English horn, two clarinets, bass clarinet, two bas-soons, contrabassoon, four horns, three trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion, harp, celesta and strings

Post-romanticism died hard amid the onslaught of new, sharply pungent musical styles in the early 20th century, and certain composers held steadfastly to their artistic beliefs until they ended their days well into the century. One who did so was Richard Strauss; Sergei Rachmaninoff was another. Rachmaninoff’s Third Symphony in A minor was completed as far into the era of musical modernism as 1936, and while it is considered one of Rachmaninoff’s most advanced musical scores, it still cele-brates basic tonal principles that had been observed generations earlier.

Notwithstanding Rachmaninoff’s attach-ment to the past, his Third Symphony is a more modern work than either of his preceding sym-phonies. Its themes and harmonies are more subtle and sophisticated, and the symphony’s advanced style suggests that it was a harbin-ger of Rachmaninoff’s final orchestral mas-terpiece, the eerie, darkly veined Symphonic Dances of 1940.

The opening movement is quite classical in its large form: a brief introduction, followed by a sonata-allegro with two main themes, a develop-ment and recapitulation. The lonely unison motto theme opening the work barely moves the dis-



�0 www.houstonsymphony.org

Thursday, January �6, �01� 7:30 pm

Jones Hall

Spec’s Charitable Foundation Salute to Educators Concert

Robert Franz, conductor*Reshena Liao, violinThe High School for the Performing and Visual Arts Orchestra Hector Aguero Jr., director

Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto in D major, Opus 35 i Allegro moderato ii Canzonetta: Andante iii Finale: Allegro vivacissimo

Houston Symphony

INTERMISSION

brahms Symphony no. 1 in C minor, Opus 68 i Un poco sostenuto—Allegro ii Andante sostenuto iii Un poco allegretto e grazioso iV Adagio—Più andante—Allegro non troppo, ma con brio

Combined Orchestras

*Houston Symphony Debut

Tonight we honor the dedicated men and women who work in the schools of the greater Houston area for their devotion and the crucial difference they make in the lives of young people.

To honor the work of an administrator active in encouraging music education in schools, the Spec’s Charitable Foundation Award for Excellence in Music Education will be presented this evening.

The evening’s presentation of The Jacob L. and Sophia Meyer Farb School bell Award is sponsored by the Farb Family Endowment Fund.

The printed music for Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto was donated by Dr. Gary L. Hollingsworth and Dr. Ken Hyde.

The printed music for Brahm’s Symphony No. 1 was donated by Frances and Ira Anderson.


This concert is being recorded for future broadcast on Classical 91.7 FM, the Radio Voice of the Houston Symphony and Classical Season Media Sponsor.

VIOLIN CONCERTO IN D MAJOR, OPuS 3�Pyotr ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893)

Recording: Leila Josefowicz, with Sir neville Marriner conducting the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields (Philips)

Instrumentation: pairs of flutes, oboes, clarinets and bassoons, four horns, two trumpets, timpani and strings

In the wake of his momentary denial of homo-sexuality and his disastrous attempt at mar-riage, a highly distraught Pyotr Tchaikovsky followed his doctor’s advice, leaving Russia during the winter of 1877 to calm his nerves in some far-removed place. Visits to Paris, Italy and Vienna were interspersed with a stay at Clarens, Switzerland. It was winter in which he completed three of his most enduring master-pieces: the opera Eugene Onegin, the Fourth Symphony and the Violin Concerto.

The concerto was prompted by the visit to Clarens of Tchaikovsky’s former stu-dent at the Moscow Conservatory, the tal-ented young violinist Yosif Kotek. During the visit, the two musicians played over Edouard Lalo’s recently completed violin concerto, the Symphonie espagnole, and the experi-ence caused Tchaikovsky to postpone work on a new piano sonata and take up a violin concerto himself. It was spontaneously com-posed and orchestrated in less than a month (March 17-April 11, 1878).

Despite Tchaikovsky’s speed in getting the concerto on paper, another three years were required to get it heard in the con-cert hall. Tchaikovsky dedicated the work to the famed Russian violinist and peda-gogue, Leopold Auer, expecting him to give the premiere, which has been scheduled and announced for March 22, 1879, in St. Petersburg. Auer vacillated, claiming many years later that he wanted to make some revi-sions in the technical layout of the solo part, but had been prevented from doing so by the press of other engagements. Tchaikovsky suspected that Auer was either afraid of its technical challenges or too lazy to learn it. He transferred the dedication to the Austrian violinist Adolf Brodsky, after Brodsky finally performed the world premiere on December 4, 1881, under Hans Richter in Vienna.

Amazingly, the Violin Concerto received a sharply divided, mostly negative critical reception, including a notorious review from Eduard Hanslick implying that Tchaikovsky’s brilliant, sparkling music exuded a bad odor. Brodsky, however, became a champion of the concerto, playing its London premiere the following May and its Russian premiere in Moscow during August 1882. After alleg-edly engaging in intrigues against the piece,

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January 2012 �1

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Biographies.................Robert Franz, conductorSince joining the Houston Symphony as Associate Conductor, Robert Franz has led the

Auer ironically was to become one of its major exponents in later years, performing it as his favorite piece and teaching it to such celebrated students as Mischa Elman, Efrem zimbalist and Jascha Heifetz.

The solo part is laden with virtuoso effects, many of which decorate or accom-pany the song-like melodies that flesh out the concerto’s clear and simple design. Following an orchestral introduction, the violin expounds upon the main theme, including two dashing tunes that are added onto it, and then takes up the lyrical second theme. After a series of vio-linistic flourishes from the soloist, the orches-tra dramatically returns the main theme to the spotlight, and then concludes the exposition with a powerful new theme.

The soloist is spotlighted in a lengthy exhibition of virtuoso playing as the various themes are developed, and a showy solo cadenza is added. The flute takes up the main theme as the recapitulation begins, eventually joined in a duet with the solo violin. As all the themes return, the music rises to a long, excit-ing climax, highlighted by a brilliant display of virtuosity from the soloist.

The short, beautiful Canzonetta replaced an earlier slow movement that Tchaikovsky deemed unsatisfactory. Plaintive woodwinds and a haunting minor-mode melody frame the outer sections of this gemlike song form. The character of Russian dance music dominates the three themes of the finale, all of which are repeated as the concerto winds its way to an exuberant conclusion.

SyMPHONy NO. 1 IN C MINOR, OPuS 68Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)

Recording: Christoph Eschenbach conducting the Houston Symphony (Virgin Classics)

Instrumentation: pairs of flutes, oboes, clarinets and bassoons, contrabassoon, four horns, two trumpets, three trombones, timpani and strings

Brahms’ First Symphony is not only remembered for its awesome muscular power, but also for the extraordinary length of time it took the composer to marshal that energy.

While Brahms spent 21 years (1855-76) pondering symphonic problems, the progress of music seemed to pass him by. Camille Saint-Saëns, two years younger than Brahms, had completed four of his five symphonies during that time period. Antonín Dvorák, eight years younger, had completed five of his nine sympho-nies. Though nine years older, Anton Bruckner completed his monumental Fifth Symphony the same year Brahms put the finishing touches on his C minor Symphony. And during those 21 years, Richard Wagner completed Tristan und Isolde, Die Meistersinger and the music of the last two operas in his Ring Cycle—and per-

formed the entire four-opera cycle in his newly built Bayreuth Festival Theater!

Brahms’ deep concern about creating a symphony under the looming shadow of Beethoven’s nine symphonies is often cited as the cause for his long vacillation. On the other hand, the final illness and impending death of his mentor, Robert Schumann, evi-dently prompted him to heed Schumann’s urging that it was time to produce a symphony. Work began in 1855, and in 1862, Brahms sent a sizeable sketch of the first movement to Schumann’s widow, Clara. Nothing is known of progress on the work over the next 12 years, since Brahms had a habit of outwitting histori-ans by burning sketches of his music. But the composer did work on it from 1874 to 1876, and the premiere finally took place on November 4, 1876, in Karlsruhe under the baton of Brahms’ good friend, conductor Felix Otto Dessoff.

Though similarities are often cited between the broad hymnic theme in the final movement of Brahms First Symphony and the main theme in the “Ode to Joy” finale of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, there are more important parallels to Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony. The choice of C minor as its tonal-ity is one; others include the stormy, agonized character of its opening movement and key relationships between movements. The dra-matic change from a moody minor key to a tri-umphant major key in the fourth movement is particularly significant.

But some characteristics show Brahms following his own lead. The two central move-ments in a typical Beethoven symphony are on a fairly even scale with the outer move-ments, where they are reduced to relatively short, pastoral interludes in the Brahms First Symphony. In prefacing the opening move-ment with a lengthy introduction, Brahms acknowledged a tradition going as far back as the late symphonies of Haydn and Mozart at the end of the 18th century. But the brood-ing introduction to the fourth movement is another matter. It unexpectedly interrupts the normal progress from a dance-like third movement to a fast finale, suggesting that the composer is bringing the musical con-versation back to the gloomy subject matter of the first movement. Brahms, however, was a master of musical architecture, using the introduction to build suspense, and then releasing it in one of the most glorious, cli-mactic finales in symphonic literature.


orchestra with vibrant, athletic and entertain-ing direction in a broad range of creative edu-cation and family concerts.

Maestro Franz has worked with some of today’s finest performers including James Galway, Joshua Bell and Rachel Barton, Chris Botti, Chaka Khan and Judy Collins. He has guest conducted orchestras through-out the United States. In addition to conduct-ing the Virginia Symphony Orchestra, San Antonio Symphony and Musiqa (Houston) this season, he returns to the Fairbanks Summer Arts Festival (Alaska) and the South Bend Symphony Orchestra.

A champion of new music, Franz has con-ducted numerous world premieres and works by living composers. As associate conductor of the Louisville Orchestra, he re-vitalized an ASCAP award-winning new music concert series and served as co-host of In a Different Key, a weekly contemporary classical music radio program.

A nationally recognized leader of arts education, Franz has forged partnerships with leading arts organizations and educational institutions. He received the ASCAP Leonard Bernstein Award for Educational Programming (2001, 2008) and the BPO/ECMEA Award for Excellence in Music Education (2008), created Kentucky Educational Television’s Creating Music and Stories program and participated in Children’s Center and Enrichment Center chamber music residencies that provide arts enrichment experiences for disabled persons.

In addition to his post here, Franz serves as music director of the Boise Philharmonic. He has been music director of the Mansfield Symphony (2003-2010), resident conductor of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra (2005-2009) and associate conductor of the Louisville Orchestra (1997-2006). He is music director emeritus of the Carolina Chamber Symphony, which he founded, and provides summer edu-cational workshops at the National Repertory Orchestra.

Franz received his master’s degree in conducting in 1992 and his bachelor’s degree in oboe performance in 1990 from the North

Franz


Program

�� www.houstonsymphony.org

Friday, January �7, �01� 8 pm

Saturday, January �8, �01� 8 pm

Sunday, January �9, �01� 7:30 pm

Jones Hall

The Best of Spielberg and WilliamsMichael Krajewski, conductor

Williams The Flight to neverland from HookWilliams Suite from Jaws 1 The Shark Theme Williams Excerpts from Close Encounters of the Third KindWilliams Viktor’s Tale from The TerminalWilliams Flying Theme from E.T.: The Extra-TerrestrialWilliams Three Pieces from Schindler’s List 1 Theme: LenteWilliams March from 1941

INTERMISSION

Williams Theme from Jurassic Park Williams Escapades from Catch Me If You Can for Alto Saxophone and Orchestra 3 Joy Ride: Joyfully, with quiet expectation Donald Fabien, alto saxophone Mark Griffith, vibraphone Eric Larson, bassWilliams Hymn to the Fallen from Saving Private Ryan Williams The Adventures of indiana Jones from Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull 1 Swashbuckler (The Adventures of Mutt): Allegro 2 Marion’s Theme: Simply and nostalgically 4 A Whirl Through Academe: PrestoWilliams March from Raiders of the Lost Ark

Presenting Sponsor

Friday night’s performance is supported in part by Crown Castle International Corporation.

Appearances of Principal Pops Conductor Michael Krajewski are generously sponsored by Cameron Management.

The printed music for Williams’ The Flight to Neverland from Hook and Close Encounters of the Third Kind was donated by Wade and Mert Adams.

The printed music for Williams’ Schindler’s List was donated by Ellen Ochoa & Coe F. Miles.

The printed music for Williams’ Theme from Jurassic Park was donated by Mr. and Mrs. John baker.

The printed music for Williams’ March from Raiders of the Lost Ark was donated by Carolyn and Ray Ayers, Mr. and Mrs. Kemp Maer Jr. and Mr. Victor Manning.


POPSat Jones Hall

CynthiaWoods

Mitchell

Biography...................Krajewski

Michael Krajewski, conductorMuch in demand across the United States and Canada, Michael Krajewski delights con-certgoers with his imaginative and entertain-ing programs and his wry sense of humor. Audiences leave his concerts smiling, remem-bering the evening’s music and surprises.

Maestro Krajewski joined the Houston Symphony as Principal Pops Conductor in 2000. His fans especially enjoy his Star Spangled Salute at Miller Outdoor Theatre and The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion, and the Houston holi-day tradition, Very Merry Pops.

Krajewski also serves as principal pops conductor of the Jacksonville and Atlanta sym-phony orchestras. He previously held that posi-tion with the Long Beach, New Hampshire and New Mexico symphony orchestras.

As guest conductor, he has performed with the Boston Pops and the Hollywood Bowl orchestras, and with symphonies across the U.S., including those of Baltimore, Dallas, Detroit, Minnesota, Phoenix, St. Louis, San Antonio, San Francisco and more. In Canada, he has led Ottawa’s National Arts Centre Orchestra and the Edmonton and Winnipeg symphonies.

Krajewski has performed with an eclec-tic group of artists including Sir James Galway, Marilyn Horne, Roberta Flack, Judy Collins, Art Garfunkel, Al Hirt, Cab Calloway, The Kingston Trio, Ben E. King, Mary Wilson, Patti Austin, Preservation Hall Jazz Band and Pink Martini.

He conducts the upcoming video Silver Screen Serenade with violinist Jenny Oaks Baker that airs worldwide on BYU Broadcasting. He has led the Houston Symphony on two holi-day albums: Glad Tidings and Christmas Festival.

With degrees from Wayne State University and the University of Cincinnati College- Conservatory of Music, Krajewski furthered his training at the Pierre Monteux School for Conductors and Orchestra Musicians. He was a Dorati Fellowship Conductor with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and later served as that orchestra’s assistant conductor.

Michael Krajewski lives in Orlando, Florida, with his wife, Darcy.

PHOTO BY MICHAEL TAM

MARO

January 2012 �3

SyMPHONIC DANCES, OPuS 4�

Recording: Mariss Jansons conducting the Saint Petersburg Symphony Orchestra (EMi Classics)

Instrumentation: piccolo, two flutes, two oboes, English horn, two clarinets, bass clarinet, alto saxophone, two bassoons, contrabassoon, four horns, three trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion, harp, piano and strings

Sergei Rachmaninoff’s very last composition, completed in 1940, offers a chilling, fatalistic look into the eyes of death. Musically, it is the work in which he largely threw off the mantle of sen-timental Romanticism that had covered much of his compositional legacy and boldly followed the lead of Sergei Prokofiev, into a harsher expres-sionistic tonal world. Novel modernistic touches in the orches-tration also contribute to the harder tonal edge of the Symphonic Dances. Rachmaninoff fol-lowed the lead of several 20th-century compos-ers, incorporating the percussive tone of a piano into the orchestral texture of the music. He also sought the advice of famed Broadway arranger Robert Russell Bennett on the proper symphonic use of the alto saxophone, which is prominently featured in the subsidiary theme of the first movement. The martial opening movement is cast as a large three-part form with a coda. Its introduction is dominated by a violent, implacable series of chords that return in muted guises during transi-tional sections of the movement. The main theme is built out of a broken-chord figure that under-goes all manner of ingenious permutations, even becoming the accompaniment to the saxophone theme in the haunting central interlude featuring the orchestra’s woodwind colors. After the main theme reasserts itself, a lyrical string theme, reminiscent of Rachmaninoff’s earliest sentimen-tal style, introduces the quiet coda. This theme, a transformation of the violent introductory phrase, reveals itself as a fragment of the “Dies Irae,” the Latin liturgical chant of the dead and a melody that haunts numerous Rachmaninoff works, including the final movement of this one. The central movement is a dark, veiled, hes-itant waltz, whose several strains are preceded and interspersed with an ominous brass fanfare. Darting woodwind flourishes and a muted violin solo lend their shadowy effects. Curiously, the end of the movement evolves into something akin to a scherzo. The long finale has the rhythm of a Spanish fandango blended into the fatalistic character of an Italian tarantella. It is disguised by a beguiling lyrical section at the center of the movement. Tubular bells chime a warning early on and the “Dies Irae” loudly sounds its alarm. But another quotation, the “Alleluia” from a litur-gical chant, forestalls the approach of death. Significantly, Rachmaninoff wrote the words, “I thank thee, Lord,” at the end of the score.


notes continued from page 13.....tance of three adjacent notes, then bursts into a huge orchestral flourish that flings itself into the body of the movement. The main theme is immediately interesting for its pale modal colors, and its members are extensively exam-ined before the cellos state the lyrical second theme. This evolves into a vibrant closing epi-sode, which in turn leads to a lengthy, color-ful and absorbing development of the main theme. Fateful announcements of the opening motto signal the return of all the themes in the recapitulation, and the movement ends with the motto, plucked quietly by the strings.

The slow movement similarly begins and ends with a variant of the motto, seemingly turned into a mirror image of its first-move-ment profile. Following its initial statement by the horn over an accompaniment of harp chords, a solo violin takes up a sweet, sen-timental theme which is then elaborated by the orchestra. The center of the movement becomes a brisk, keen-edged scherzo, follow-

ing a plan not only adopted in Rachmaninoff’s Third Piano Concerto but also in Tchaikovsky’s famed B-flat minor Concerto. Eventually, the slow movement resumes, ending with the aforementioned motto, again quietly plucked by the strings.

The finale, the longest of the three move-ments, is essentially another large sonata-form movement, with a fugal development of is dance-like principal theme. However, other themes work their way into the fabric of the movement, notably the main theme of the slow movement and the motto from the open-ing movement in the brilliant extended coda. Whether by design or unconscious stylistic habit, Rachmaninoff also had a penchant for including snippets of the “Dies Irae” plainchant melody in his thematic materials. It is found at various places in the symphony and competes with the motto theme for a dominant place in the symphony’s climactic closing pages.


notes continued from page 19..........................................

Carolina School of the Arts. He has partici-pated in conducting workshops in the Czech Republic, St. Petersburg (Russia), Nashville and the Festival at Sandpoint, and was a partic-ipant in the 1997 National Conductor Preview.

Reshena Liao, violinViolinist Reshena Liao appears with the Houston Symphony this evening as gold medal winner of the 2011 Concerto Competition.

Liao, 19, began playing the violin at age 5 under the tutelage of Judy Offman and Eileen Chen. Since then, she has been accepted into the Houston Young Artist organization, received

Liao

notes continued from page 21..........................................concertmaster positions for All-Region orches-tras and was the 2011 concertmaster of the Texas All-State Symphony Orchestra.

At age 13, she began studying with Fredell Lack, renowned concert soloist and professor of violin at the University of Houston. She also spent summers studying with Linda Cerone, ENCORE School for Strings, and Kevork Mardirossian, now at Indiana University.

Her accomplishments include a second place prize in the Juanita Miller Concerto Competition and a performance with the Clear Lake Symphony as the winner of its 2008 con-certo competition. She recently participated in the New York String Orchestra Seminar, one of the country’s most prestigious train-ing programs, where she worked with highly-acclaimed musicians such as Jamie Laredo, Joel Smirnoff and Stephen Shipps. In summer 2009, she attended the Music Academy of the West, where she studied with Rice professor Kathleen Winkler.

Until this fall, Liao studied with Houston Symphony Concertmaster Frank Huang. She is currently in her first year at Columbia University in New York City.


The Houston Symphony gratefully acknowledges those who support our artistic, educational and community engagement programs through their generosity to our Annual Fund and our Special Events. Donors receive a wide array of benefits for the current season and recognition for one year following the date of their gifts. Below is a listing of those who have so generously given within the past 12 months. We are honored to count these donors among our closest Houston Symphony friends, and we invite you to consider becoming a member of one of our giving societies. For more information, please contact our Development Department at: (713) 337-8500.

Ima Hogg Society $1�0,000 or MoreAnonymous (1)

Dr. & Mrs. W. E. BosargeLieutenant Governor David H. Dewhurst

Mrs. Alfred C. Glassell Jr.Beth Madison

Mr. George P. MitchellMr. M. S. Stude

Mr. & Mrs. Robert B. Tudor IIIMr. & Mrs. Jesse B. TutorMargaret Alkek Williams

Maestro’s Society $�0,000 - $74,999Gene & Linda Dewhurst

Maestro Hans Graf & Mrs. GrafRochelle & Max Levit

Leadership Gifts

Annual Campaign Donors...............................................................................................................................................................................................................................

Anonymous (2)Janice Barrow

Mr. & Mrs. Edward F. Blackburne Jr.Mr. Michael H. Clark & Ms. Sallie Morian

Mr. & Mrs. Russell M. FrankelMs. Sharin Shafer Gaille

Mr. & Mrs. Robert M. GriswoldDr. Gary L. Hollingsworth & Dr. Ken Hyde

Drs. M.S. & Marie-Luise KalsiMr. & Mrs. Marvin Kaplan

Mr. & Mrs. Ulyesse J. LeGrange

Joella & Steven P. MachJay & Shirley Marks

Barbara & Pat McCelveyMr. & Mrs. Alexander K. McLanahan

Nancy & Robert PeiserMr. & Mrs. David R. Pruner

Mrs. Sybil F. RoosMr. & Mrs. James A. Shaffer

Mr. & Mrs. Jim R. SmithAlice & Terry Thomas

Principal Musician’s Society $1�,000 - $�4,999Marian & Gary Beauchamp

Captain & Mrs. W. A. “Cappy” Bisso IIIMr. & Mrs. J. Brett Busby

Janet F. ClarkAngel & Craig Fox

Stephen & Mariglyn GlennCora Sue & Harry Mach

Mr. & Mrs. Rodney H. Margolis

Mr. & Mrs. Billy McCartneyAnn & Hugh Roff

Mr. & Mrs. Clive RunnellsLaura & Michael Shannon

Mr. & Mrs. Robert R. Springob, Laredo Construction, Inc.Mr. & Mrs. Fredric A. Weber

Dede & Connie WeilMr. & Mrs. Steven Jay Williams

Concertmaster’s Society $��,000 - $49,999

January 2012 ��


Artist/Conductor’s Society $10,000 - $14,999Anonymous (2)Mr. & Mrs. Philip A. BahrMr. & Mrs. Charles G. Black IIIDr. & Mrs. Meherwan P. BoyceMr. & Mrs. W. T. Carter IVMr. & Mrs. Gerald F. ClarkMr. & Mrs. Brandon CochranMs. Jan CohenDr. Scott CutlerMr. Richard DanforthLeslie Barry Davidson & W. Robins BriceDr. & Mrs. Alexander DellMr. & Mrs. Michael DokupilMrs. William EstradaAubrey & Sylvia Farb

Dr. Kelli Cohen Fein & Martin J. FeinMr. S. David FrankfortDr. & Mrs. William D. GeorgeMr. & Mrs. Melbern G. GlasscockMr. & Mrs. Richard D. HansenMr. Brian JamesDr. & Mrs. I. Ray KirkMeredith & Cornelia LongMr. & Mrs. Thomas J. Lykos Jr.Dr. & Mrs. Michael MannDr. & Mrs. Paul M. MannMr. & Mrs. J. Stephen MarksDr. & Mrs. Malcolm L. MazowBetty & Gene McDavidStephen & Marilyn MilesMr. & Mrs. Alvin Owsley

Mr. & Mrs. Steven OwsleyGloria & Joe PryzantMr. & Mrs. William J. Rovere, Jr.Mrs. Maryjane ScherrMr. & Mrs. Haag ShermanMr. Louis H. Skidmore, Jr.Julia & Albert Smith FoundationMr. & Mrs. Tad SmithDavid & Paula SteakleyPaul Strand ThomasStephen & Pamalah TippsMargaret Waisman, M.D. & Steven S. Callahan, Ph.D.Vicki WestCyvia & Melvyn WolffMr. & Mrs. Ed Wulfe

Musician’s Society $7,�00 - $9,999Anonymous (1)Mr. & Mrs. Walter V. BoyleMr. & Mrs. Walter BraticMs. Terry A. BrownThe Robert & Jane Cizik FoundationRoger & Debby CutlerAllen & Almira Gelwick - Lockton CompaniesMr. & Mrs. Fred L. GormanJo A. & Billie Jo GravesChristina & Mark HansonDr. & Mrs. Bernard Katz

Miss Catherine Jane MerchantMr. & Mrs. Kevin O. MeyersDr. & Mrs. Robert M. MihaloCameron MitchellSue A. MorrisonMr. & Mrs. Richard P. MoynihanBobbie & Arthur NewmanMr. & Mrs. Jonathan E. ParkerKathryn & Richard RabinowMr. & Mrs. William K. Robbins Jr.Mr. & Mrs. Ken N. RobertsonMr. Glen A. Rosenbaum

Ms. Amanda SavoDonna & Tim ShenDr. Alana R. Spiwak & Sam StolbunMr. Stephen C. TarryAnn & Joel WahlbergDr. Jim T. WillersonNancy WillersonIsabel B. & Wallace S. WilsonMr. & Mrs. C. Clifford WrightNina & Michael zilkha

Anonymous (1)Robin Augly and Miles SmithMr. & Mrs. Karl H. BeckerDr. Alan Bentz & Ms. Sallymoon S. BenzMs. Dianne BowmanRuth White BrodskyMrs. George L. Brundrett, Jr.Mr. Ralph BurchBarry & Janet BurkholderMarilyn CaplovitzDavid & Nona CarmichaelMrs. Lily CarriganMargot & John CaterWilliam J. Clayton & Margaret A. HughesMr. & Mrs. Rodney CutsingerMr. & Mrs. James D. DannenbaumJudge & Mrs. Harold DeMoss, Jr.Mr. & Mrs. David DenechaudMs. Sara J. DevineMr. & Mrs. Paul F. Egner, Jr.Mr. Roger EichhornDiane Lokey FarbMary Ann & Larry FaulknerMs. Bernice FeldMr. George B. GearyMrs. Aileen GordonWilliam A. Grieves &

Dorothy McDonnell Grieves

Mr. & Mrs. W. R. HayesMr. & Mrs. Frank HerzogMr. & Mrs. David V. Hudson, Jr.Debbie & Frank JonesDrs. Blair & Rita JusticeMr. & Mrs. Richard D. KinderMary Louis KisterMr. & Mrs. Alfred Lasher IIIMrs. Marilyn LummisMr. & Mrs. Stevens MafrigeMr. & Mrs. George McCulloughMrs. Beverly T. McDonaldMr. & Mrs. J. Douglas McMurrey Jr.Sidney & Ione MoranPaul & Rita MoricoMr. & Mrs. Lucian L. Morrison Jr.Mary & Terry MurphreeMr. & Mrs. Robert E. NelsonMr. & Mrs. Edward C. Osterberg, Jr.Ms. Peggy Overly & Mr. John BarlowMr. Howard PieperMr. Robert J. PileggeMr. & Mrs. Allan QuiatMrs. Lila RauchMr. Carlos RossiMr. & Mrs. Manolo SanchezMr. & Mrs. Richard P. Schissler Jr.Mr. & Mrs. Mark R. Smith

Mr. Yale SmithMr. & Mrs. Antonio M. SzaboMr. & Mrs. Leland TateMr. Jonathan TinkleAnn TrammellStephen & Kristine WallaceMr. & Mrs. Benjamin WarrenRobert G. WeinerMs. Jennifer R. WittmanWoodell Family FoundationMr. & Mrs. David J. WuthrichWinthrop A. Wyman & Beverly JohnsonDr. & Mrs. Robert YekovichErla & Harry zuber

Grand Patron’s Circle$�,�00 - $4,999Anonymous (1)Eric S. Anderson & R. Dennis AndersonDr. & Mrs. Jeffrey B. AronMr. Richard C. BaileyMrs. Bonnie BauerDr. & Mrs. Devinder BhatiaMr. & Mrs. James D. BozemanMrs. Catherine Campbell Brock &

Dr. Gary BrockThe Honorable & Mrs. Peter BrownMr. & Mrs. Sean Bumgarner

Conductor’s Circle $�,000 - $7,499



Dr. & Mrs. William T. ButlerToba BuxbaumMr. & Mrs. Thierry CarusoMr. William E. ColburnLois & David CoyleMr. & Mrs. Louis F. DeLoneJ.R. & Aline DemingMr. James DentonMr. & Mrs. Carr P. DishroonMr. & Mrs. Michael DohertyMr. William Elbel & Ms. Mary J. SchroederMr. Parrish N. Erwin Jr.Mr. & Mrs. J. Thomas EubankMr. & Mrs. Donald Faust Sr.Mr. & Mrs. Bruce FerenceMrs. Arvia FewRon & Tricia FredmanMr. Edwin C. Friedrichs & Ms. Darlene ClarkDr. & Mrs. Robert H. FusilloThomas & Patricia GeddyMrs. Lila-Gene GeorgeMr. & Mrs. Thomas W. GlanvilleMr. & Mrs. Morris GlesbyMr. & Mrs. Stanley HaasMr. & Mrs. Michael J. HayesMr. & Mrs. Eric HeggesethMr. & Mrs. James E. HooksMr. & Mrs. R. O. HuntonMr. & Mrs. John F. JoityMrs. Donna P. Josey-ChapmanMr. & Mrs. Francis S. KalmanMr. & Mrs. Richard P. KeetonMr. & Mrs. Gary KenneyWilliam & Cynthia KochMr. & Mrs. Ryan KrogmeierMr. Willy KuehnMrs. Barry LewisMrs. Margaret H. LeyMr. James LokayMr. & Mrs. William L. MaynardMr. & Mrs. William B. McNamaraMr. & Mrs. Pershant MehtaMr. & Mrs. Robert MitchellMr. & Mrs. Richard MithoffMr. & Mrs. Jerry MooreJulia & Chris MortonMr. & Mrs. Patrick OlfersEdward OppenheimerMr. & Mrs. Gary PetersenMr. Michael H. PriceMr. & Mrs. Stephen PryorMr. & Mrs. Thomas R. Reckling IIIMichael & Vicky RichkerDrs. Alejandro & Lynn RosasDr. Philip D. Scott & Dr. Susan E. GardnerMr. & Mrs. Jerry SimonMr. & Mrs. Louis J. SnyderJoel V. & Mary M. StaffDr. & Mrs. C. Richard StasneyMr. & Mrs. James R. StevensMr. & Mrs. Keith StevensonMr. & Mrs. Gene Van DykeMr. & Mrs. Wil VanLohC. Harold & Lorine WallaceMs. Elizabeth WolffMr. & Mrs. Jeff Wray

Mr. and Judge Cary P. YatesEdith & Robert zinn

Sustaining Patron’s Circle $1,000 - $�,499Anonymous (9)Dr. & Mrs. George J. AbdoMr. & Mrs. Samuel AbrahamMr. & Mrs. Elliot AbramsonMr. & Mrs. Edgar D. AckermanMrs. Harold J. AdamJoan & Stanford AlexanderMrs. Nancy C. Allen, President Greentree FundFrances & Ira AndersonJohn & Pat AndersonMr. & Mrs. William J. AndersonMr. & Mrs. Anthony P. ApolloMr. Maurice J. ArestyMr. & Mrs. John M. ArnspargerMr. Alan AronsteinPaul H. & Maida M. AsofskyMr. Jeff AutorMr. Jamil AzzamMrs. Nancy BaileyJulie Ann & Matthew BakerDr. & Mrs. Christie BallantyneMr. & Mrs. Carlos BarbieriMr. & Mrs. John A. BarrettMr. & Mrs. Joshua L. BatchelorMs. Deborah S. BautchDr. & Mrs. Arthur L. BeaudetBetty BellamyDrs. Henry & Louise BetheaDr. Joan H. BitarMrs. Thomas W. BlakeMr. & Mrs. Thomas BolamDr. & Mrs. Milton BoniukMr. Teodoro BosquezMr. & Mrs. Robert BrayJoe BrazzattiMr. & Mrs. John B. BrentMr. & Mrs. Maurice BresenhanMr. Malcolm Brewer & Mrs. Irina S. DudleyKatherine M. BriggsMr. & Mrs. Kevin BrophySteve & Diana BrownLilia Khakinova & C. Robert BunchMrs. Anne H. BushmanMs. Cheryl ByingtonMr. & Mrs. Raul CaffesseMs. Marjorie Carter CainMr. William CaudillDr. Robert N. ChanonMr. & Mrs. Paul D. ChapmanMr. & Mrs. Allen ClamenMr. & Mrs. Robert L. ClarkeMr. & Mrs. James G. CoatsworthMr. & Mrs. Todd ColterMr. & Mrs. Robert D. ColvinMr. Mark C. ConradMr. H. Talbot CooleyMr. & Mrs. Sam CooperDr. & Mrs. James D. CoxThe Honorable & Mrs. William C. CrassasMr. & Mrs. Robert CreagerSylvia & Andre CrispinMr. & Mrs. T. N. CrookMr. & Mrs. James W. CrownoverMr. & Mrs. Harry H. Cullen Jr.Mr. Carl CunninghamMr. & Mrs. Jeremy DavisMr. Denis A. DeBakey & Ms. Lavonne Cox

John & Tracy DennisMr. & Mrs. Mark DiehlMike & Debra DishbergerMr. & Mrs. Jack N. DohertyMr. & Mrs. James P. DornDrs. Gary & Roz DworkinJohn & Joyce EagleMr. & Mrs. Edward N. EarleCarolyn & David EdgarMrs. Carolyn Grant FayJerry E. & Nanette B. FingerDr. & Mrs. Ronald FischerJohn C. FitchMr. & Mrs. Tom FitzpatrickMr. Jeff FortMr. & Mrs. Vince D. FosterMs. Beth Freeman & Mr. Dave StanardPaula & Alfred FriedlanderMr. Douglas GarrisonMr. John GeeMr. Jerry GeorgeMr. Michael B. GeorgeMrs. Joan M. GieseDr. & Mrs. Jack GillWalter GilmoreMr. Mauro Gimenez & Ms. Connie CoulombGary & Marion GloberMr. & Mrs. Bert H. GoldingHelen B. Wils & Leonard GoldsteinRobert & Michelle GoodmarkDr. & Mrs. Brad GoodwinMr. Carlos GorrichateguiMs. Joyce z. GreenbergMr. Charles H. GregoryMary & Paul GregoryMr. & Mrs. Joseph A. Hafner Jr.Mr. Michael HaighMrs. Thalia HalenDr. & Mrs. Carlos R. HamiltonMr. & Mrs. Bob HammannMr. & Mrs. Robert C. HannaMr. & Mrs. Paul HansonMarion S. HargroveMr. & Judge Frank Harmon IIIMs. Claudia HatcherDr. & Mrs. Eric J. HaufrectMr. & Mrs. David L. HaugMr. & Mrs. Houston HaymonMr. & Mrs. David HemenwayMark & Ragna HenrichsMr. Azteca HenryMarilyn & Robert M. HermanceMr. & Mrs. Robert P. HerrmannAnn & Joe HightowerMr. & Mrs. Doug R. HinzieMr. Tim HoganMrs. Holly HolmesMr. & Mrs. Norman C. HoyerEileen & George HricikMr. Mark HughesMr. Bradford IrelanMr. & Mrs. Kenneth IshamDr. & Mrs. Robert IvanyMr. & Mrs. Edward F. JacksonMr. Jacek JaminskiDr. & Mrs. Joseph JankovicMr. Eric S. Johnson & Dr. Ronada DavisDr. & Mrs. Robert E. JordonMr. & Mrs. Walter KaseMr. & Mrs. Harvey KatzSam & Cele KeeperLinda & Frank S. KelleyMr. & Mrs. Mavis Kelsey Jr.

January 2012 �7


Lucy & Victor KormeierMs. Deborah KosichMr. & Mrs. Kevin LaneMs. Joni LatimerDr. & Mrs. Kenneth Eugene LehrerMr. & Mrs. Gordon LeightonH. Fred & Velva G. LevineMrs. Ann LewisMr. William W. LindleyMr. & Mrs. Michael LinnMs. Barbara ListerMr. & Mrs. H. Arthur LittellMs. Nancey LobbMr. & Mrs. John LollarRobert & Gayle LongmireMr. & Mrs. Paul F. LongstrethMs. Alissa MaplesMr. & Mrs. Michael L. MasonMr. & Mrs. J.A. Mawhinney, Jr.Mr. & Mrs. James W. McCartneyMr. & Mrs. Andrew McFarlandMr. & Mrs. John M. McGillMr. & Mrs. Michael McGuireMr. & Mrs. Martin McIntyreMr. & Mrs. David R. McKeithan Jr.Mr. & Mrs. Lance McKnightBarnett & Diane McLaughlinAlice R. McPherson, M.D.Melba Hoekstra Miers EstateMr. & Mrs. David A. MireMr. & Mrs. John C. MolloyMr. David MonkDr. Eleanor D. MontagueMs. Marsha L. MontemayorMr. & Mrs. Gerarld MoynierMr. & Mrs. Marvin MuellerDaniel & Karol MusherMr. & Mrs. Stephen NewmanMr. & Mrs. Charles G. NicksonSteve & Sue OlsonMr. & Mrs. John S. OrtonMr. Austin M. O’Toole &

Ms. Valerie SherlockJane & Kenneth OwenMr. & Mrs. Robert PaciniMr. & Mrs. Robert PageMr. & Mrs. Robert PastorekMr. & Mrs. Raul PavonMichael & Shirley PearsonPamela & James PennyDr. & Mrs. Bruce PerryMr. Carlton PerryJoAnn & John PetzoldDr. & Mrs. Jorge PineraMr. James D. PitcockDr. & Dr. Eduardo PlantillaMr. & Mrs. James PostlMr. John PottsMrs. Dana PuddyDarla & Chip PurchaseMr. Dale Qualls &

Mrs. Melissa McWilliamsDr. & Mrs. Henry H. Rachford, Jr.Mr. Thomas P. RandtClinton & Leigh RappoleMr. & Mrs. Mark S. RauchAnne D. ReedMr. & Mrs. Michael A. ReevesMr. Charles M. ReimerDr. Alexander P. Remenchik &

Ms. Frances BurfordMr. & Mrs. Allyn Risley

Ms. Janice Robertson & Mr. Douglas Williams

Mr. & Mrs. James T. RobinsonMs. Franelle RogersMs. Regina J. RogersDr. & Mrs. Franklin RoseMr. Edward RossMr. Kent RutterMr. Barry SamuelsMary Louise & David SandersonHarold H. Sandstead, M.D.Mr. & Mrs. David SapersteinMr. & Mrs. Raymond E. SawayaMr. & Mrs. Lawrence SchanzmeyerBeth & Lee SchlangerMr. Ed Schneider & Ms. Toni A. OpltDrs. Helene & Robert SchwartzMr. Ralph D. SikesMr. & Mrs. Steve SimsBarbara & Louis SklarMr. & Mrs. William T. Slick Jr.Ms. Marcia SmartMr. Brinton A. Smith &

Ms. Evelyn ChenMr. & Mrs. Wesley SmithMr. & Mrs. William A. SmithDean & Kay L. SniderMs. Aimee SnootsMr. & Mrs. John SpeerCarol & Michael StamatedesRichard P. Steele & Mary J. McKerallCassie B. Stinson & Dr. R. Barry HoltzMrs. Christie SullivanEmily C. SundtMrs. Mary SwaffordMs. Jeanine SwiftMr. & Mrs. Nicholas L. SwykaMr. & Mrs. Albert S. Tabor Jr.Mr. Mark TaylorMr. Jim Teague & Ms. Jane DiPaoloMr. & Mrs. Patrick ThielkeJean & Doug ThomasMr. & Mrs. Ralph B. ThomasMr. & Mrs. Trevor TurbidyMr. & Mrs. Timothy J. UngerMr. & Mrs. Thomas ValleeMr. Donn K. Van ArsdallMs. Barbara Van PostmanMr. & Mrs. William A. Van WieMs. Jana VanderleeMr. Danny Ward & Ms. Nancy AmesMr. & Mrs. Peter S. WareingMr. & Mrs. Eden N. WenigMr. John Wetsel &

Mrs. Joanne Breihan-WetselMr. & Mrs. Patrick J. WhelanMr. David Ashley WhiteCarlton & Marty WildeDr. & Mrs. Rudy C. WildensteinMr. & Mrs. Thomas H. WilsonDr. & Mrs. Jerry S. WolinskyMr. & Mrs. Kevin YankowskyMr. & Mrs. William A. YoungMr. & Mrs. Charles zabriskieMrs. Betsy I. zimmer

Composer’s Circle$�00 - $999Anonymous (16)Wade & Mert AdamsMs. Henrietta K. AlexanderMs. Joan AmbrogiMr. & Mrs. Thurmon Andress

Corbin & Char AslaksonMr. & Mrs. John C. AverettMr. & Mrs. David M. BalderstonDr. David BarryMr. Allen J. BeckerMs. Bernice BeckermanCarolyn & Arthur BernerMr. & Mrs. Stephen BickelMr. Edward P. BornetMs. Joan BossBob F. BoydstonMs. Sally BrassowMr. Chester Brooke &

Mrs. Nancy PoindexterMr. & Mrs. Jos C. BrownFred & Judy BrunkMs. Courtney BrynesMr. & Mrs. Fred BuckwoldMr. Christopher Buehler &

Ms. Jill HutchisonJohn T. & Elizabeth BurdineMr. & Mrs. Charles CalleryMr. & Mrs. Joseph L. CampbellMr. Len CannonMr. & Mrs. Bruce Cantrell, Jr.Mr. John CarmichaelMr. Petros CarvounisMr. & Mrs. John M. CavanaughMr. & Mrs. E. Thomas ChaneyK.D. Charalampous, M.D.Mr. William H. Choice IIIVirginia A. ClarkMrs. Cielle ClemenceauMrs. Barbora ColeMr. & Mrs. Robert A. ColtonMr. & Mrs. Dave CoolidgeMs. Miguel A. CorrellMr. William S. &

Dr. Mary Alice CowanMr. & Mrs. Timothy J. CrullDr. & Mrs. Clotaire D. DeleryMs. Aurelie DesmaraisPaul & Debbie DoughartyMr. Paul DoughartyElizabeth H. DuerrMr. & Mrs. A. C. DumestreDr. Burdett S. &

Mrs. Kathleen C.E. DunbarMs. Consuelo Duroc-DannerMr. Ramsay M. ElderMr. & Mrs. Peter EricksonDr. Kenneth L EulerMr. & Mrs. William EvansDr. & Mrs. Louis A. FaillaceRobert H. Fain, Jr., M.D.Mr. Robert FisherRachel FrazierMrs. Martha GarciaMartha & Gibson Gayle, Jr.Ms. Lucy GebhartMr. & Mrs. Duane V. GeisMr. & Mrs. Harry GendelMs. Carolyn Gibbs & Mr. Rick NelsonWilliam E. GipsonMr. & Mrs. Herbert I. GoodmanMs. Melissa GoodmanMr. Bert GordonDr. & Mrs. Harvey L. GordonMr. Garrett GrahamMr. & Mrs. Nicholas GreenawMr. Dane GrenobleDennis Griffith & Louise RichmanMr. Doug Groves

Gaye Davis & Dennis B. HalpinRita & John HannahMr. & Mrs. Stephen HarbachickMichael D. HardinBruce Harkness & Alice BrownW. Russel Harp &

Maarit K. Savola-HarpMr. & Mrs. Robert S. HarrellDr. & Mrs. William S. HarwellMr. & Mrs. Brian HaufrectMs. Ann Lents & Mr. J. David HeaneyMr. & Mrs. Frank L. Heard Jr.Ms. Lynn HerbertMr. & Mrs. Fred D. HerringMr. & Mrs. John R. HeumannMr. & Mrs. W. Grady HicksMr. & Mrs. Ross K. HillMr. John HodginMr. & Mrs. John HomierDr. Matthew Horsfield &

Dr. Michael KauthMr. Steve HulseyMr. & Mrs. Kenneth C. IshamMr. Mark JohanssonMr. & Mrs. Okey B. JohnsonMr. & Mrs. Wesley A. JohnsonMs. Karen Juul-Nielsen &

Mr. Rick GarnettMr. Guido KanschatMr. & Mrs. Yoshi KawashimaMr. & Mrs. Edward KelleyMs. Karen KelleyMr. John Kelsey & Ms. Gaye DavisMr. & Mrs. Tom KelseyDr. & Mrs. Sherwin KershmanNora J. Klein M. D.Mr. & Mrs. William H. Knull IIIMr. & Mrs. Wilfred M. KrenekMr. Vijay KusnoorMs. Diane LabordeMr. James LeatherbyMr. & Mrs. William LeightonMs. Golda K. LeonardMr. James C. LindseyLisle Violin ShopMr. Kelly Bruce LobleyMrs. Sylvia LohkampMr. & Mrs. Barry H. MargolisMr. & Mrs. Robert MartinMs. B. Lynn Mathre &

Mr. Stewart O’DellMr. & Mrs. Rod McAdamsMr. & Mrs. James McBrideLawrence McCullough &

Linda Jean QuintanillaDr. A. McDermott & Dr. A. GlasserWilliam E. Joor, III &

Rose Ann MedlinMrs. Diane MerrillMr. Ronald A. MikitaMr. & Mrs. Arnold M. MillerMs. Kristen MillerMr. & Mrs. Herbert G. MillsMr. Willis B. MitchellJohn & Ann MontgomeryMs. Deborah MoranMr. William R. MowlamMr. & Mrs. Richard MurphyAlan & Elaine MutMs. Jennifer NaaeMr. & Mrs. Geoffrey B. NewtonMr. Robert NicholsMs. Dorothy Nicholson



John & Leslie NiemandNils & Stephanie NormannMr. & Mrs. Rufus W. Oliver IIIKaty OptiksMr. & Mrs. Morris OrocofskyMr. & Mrs. Enrique OspinaMrs. Caroline OsteenMr. Patrick C. OxfordMr. & Mrs. Marc C. PaigeMr. Jonathan PalmerRachel & Michael PawsonMr. & Mrs. James L. PayneMrs. Preston A. PeakDr. & Mrs. Joseph PennMs. Glena PfenningGrace & Carroll PhillipsMr. & Mrs. W. Hugh Phillips IIIMs. Meg PhilpotMr. Carmelo PieriMr. Warren B. Pond, Jr.Mr. Robert W. PowellDoris F. PryzantElias & Carole QumsiehDr. Mike RatliffMr. & Mrs. William B. RawlMr. & Mrs. Hugh M. RayMr. & Mrs. Dwain ReevesMs. Rachaelle ReynoldsMrs. Constance RhebergenHilda & Hershel RichMrs. Barbara RiddellMr. & Mrs. Charles E. RinehartMr. & Mrs. Fabrice RocheDrs. Herbert & Manuela RoellerMr. & Mrs. Keith A. RogersMilton & Jill RoseMr. Autry W. RossR. R. Family FoundationMrs. Holly RubboBrittany SakowitzMs. Donna ScottMr. & Mrs. Rufus ScottCharles & Andrea SeayMr. & Mrs. Vic ShainockMr. Hilary SmithMr. Marcus B. SmithMr. & Mrs. Stephen N. SmithMr. & Mrs. William SmithJohn L. SnyderMrs. Lynn SnyderMr. Nicholas SollenneMrs. Donna SprudzsMr. Myron F. StevesDr. & Mrs. David SufianMrs. Louise SuttonMr. & Mrs. George TallichetMrs. Nina P. TateMr. & Mrs. Glenn TaylorMr. Kerry TaylorMr. Brian TeichmanMs. Betsy Mims &

Mr. Howard D. ThamesJacob & Elizabeth ThomasMr. & Mrs. Tom ThweattDr. & Mrs. Karl TornyosMr. Daniel S. TrachtenbergMs. Cathleen J. TrechterMr. & Mrs. Robert A. TremantMr. Gerard TrioneMr. & Mrs. D.E. UtechtDr. & Mrs. Gage VanHornMr. Earl VanzantDean B. Walker

Betty & Bill WalkerMr. & Mrs. Dave WardMr. & Mrs. William B. WareingMr. Kenneth W. WarrenMr. & Mrs. James A. WattJ. M. WeltzienDrs. A. & J. WerchMr. Burt WilsonMr. Randall WrightMr. & Mrs. Emil Wulfe

Patron’s Circle $��0 - $499Anonymous (16)William & Nancy AkersMr. & Mrs. Edward AllenMr. & Mrs. Steve AmeenMr. & Mrs. Les AntalffyDr. & Mrs. Roy AruffoMr. John B. AshmunMr. & Mrs. Gabriel BaizanThe Honorable & Mrs. James A. Baker IIIMr. & Mrs. John BakerMr. & Mrs. Saul BalaguraMs. Virginia C. BallardMr. & Mrs. Don BarnhillMr. & Mrs. Seth BarrettMr. Daniel BarrettoMr. A. Greer Barriault &

Ms. Clarruth A. SeatonDr. & Mrs. Robert C. Bast, Jr.Barbara & Jim BeckerMs. Roberta BensonMrs. Robert L. BergeMr. & Mrs. Matthew BeshearsMr. & Mrs. Randall BesteMr. & Mrs. Ed BillingsBonnie L. Siff & Ira J. BlackMs. Fannette BlumMr. & Mrs. George BoergerMr. Arno S. BommerMr. Philip BoothMs. Suzie BoydDr. Arthur W. BraceyMr. & Mrs. Steven BrosvikMr. J. W. BrougherSally & Laurence BrownMrs. Norma Jean BrownJoan K. Bruchas & H. Philip CowdinMr. Frank BryanMr. & Mrs. William BumpusMrs. Shirley BurgherMr. & Mrs. Gerald J. BushMr. Robert CabesMr. Gary CacciatoreVirginia & William CamfieldMr. & Mrs. J. Scott CampbellMr. Carlos CampoMrs. Marjorie H. CapshawMr. & Mrs. Fowler T. CarterMr. & Mrs. Kevin J. CaseyMr. & Mrs. Christopher L. ChandlerMs. Anna CharltonMr. & Mrs. Kent ChenevertDr. Diana S. ChowJim R. & Lynn CoeShirley & Alan CohnMr. & Mrs. Tulio ColmenaresMichael T. CoppingerMr. & Mrs. David CorderMs. Jeanne A. CoxMr. & Mrs. John F. CrawfordNigel CurtletDr. & Mrs. Joel CyprusMrs. Christina DanielsMr. Michael DeaversMs. Caroline DeetjenMr. & Mrs. Rene DegreveMs. Kay S. DerryMr. & Mrs. Joseph B. DerzapfMs. Dora DillistoneMs. Judy DinesMr. & Mrs. Ira DinitzMr. & Mrs. Malcolm Ditto

Col. & Mrs. John Jay DouglassPatrick & Risha DozarkMrs. Lesa DucharmeMr. & Mrs. Clifford C. DukesMr. Kevin F. DvorakMr. & Mrs. Alfred H. Ebert Jr.Mrs. Karen A. EdgmonMr. & Mrs. William J. EgglestonMr. & Mrs. Dean EicherMr. Howard EisnerMs. Leslie ElkinsMildred & Richard EllisDr. Lillian R. Eriksen & Dr. James TurleyMr. Lee EubanksMr. Mike EzzellMr. Gregg FajkusMr. & Mrs. John R. FarinaMs. Ann S. FarrellMs. Ursula H. FelmetCathy FishburnMr. & Mrs. Joe F. Flack IIIMs. Lori FleesMr. & Mrs. Theodore C. FlickMr. James B. Flodine & Ms. Lynne LiberatoMrs. Lisa Forgan DewittsMr. & Mrs. John M. ForneyMr. & Mrs. Michael S. FranciscoMr. Ralph F. FrankowskiMs. Diane L. FreemanRobert A. Furse, M.D.Dr. Abdel K. FustokMr. & Mrs. Mike GallagherMrs. Holly GarnerMr. & Mrs. Neil GaynorMr. & Mrs. John GerdesMs. Margaret Wendy GermaniMr. Glen GettemyDebbie & Kyle GibsonMr. & Mrs. Peter GilletteMr. Charles J. GillmanMr. & Mrs. Paul GoodDr. & Mrs. David GorensteinMr. Jon Kevin GossettMr. Ned GraberMrs. Howard GrekelMr. & Mrs. Laurent GressotMr. Steve K. GrimsleyMs. Jo Ann C. GuilloryDr. & Mrs. Howard Gutsteinzahava HaenoshMr. Teruhiko HagiwaraMr. & Mrs. Curtis D. HainesMr. & Mrs. Uzi HalevyMs. Vickie HamleyMr. Jeff Hansen & Mrs. Kelly MartsMs. Karen HardingMr. Paul HarmonMs. Anna K. Hathaway-McKeeMr. & Mrs. Michael HawesWilliam & Lana HazlettMr. & Mrs. Walter A. HechtMr. David T. Hedges Jr.Mr. John HeinyMr. & Mrs. Dean HenningsMs. Hilda R. HerzfeldMr. David HoffmanMs. Constance HoldererJacque HollandS.y. & Y.j. Kim HongMr. & Mrs. Aaron HowesMrs. Patricia P. HubbardMs. Vicki HuffMs. Cynthia HumphriesMr. & Mrs. James R. HuttonMs. Jennifer IsadoreMr. Joseph IveyMs. Ariel JamesMr. & Mrs. Edwin R. JanesMr. & Mrs. Paul M. JanickeMrs. Paula JarrettDr. Margaret S. Jelinek Lewis & Dr. David

S. LewisMr. & Mrs. George C. JohnMr. & Mrs. John W. JohnsonMr. & Mrs. Mark JohnsonMr. Robert E. Johnson

Mrs. & Mr. Laura JonesMr. Raymond JonesDr. & Mrs. Andrew P. KantMr. & Mrs. Kenneth KantorMr. & Mrs. Curtis R. KayemMs. Arlette KeeneMr. & Mrs. James A. KellerMr. & Mrs. David KendallMs. Malgorzata Kloc-StepkowskaMr. & Mrs. John KlugDr. & Mrs. Michael KoehlMr. & Mrs. Thomas KoskiMr. & Mrs. Sam KosterMr. & Mrs. William J. KretlowMr. & Mrs. Melvin Krezer Jr.Mr. Quin KrollSuzanne A. & Dan D. KubinMr. Tom KvintaMr. Kent LacyMr. & Mrs. Joel C. LambertMr. & Mrs. James C. LamoreuxMr. Doug LawingDr. & Mrs. William R. Leighton Jr.Mr. & Mrs. Robert LeonardMr. & Mrs. Earl L. Lester Jr.Paula & Steve LetbetterCharles H. (Eric) & Lucy LewisMr. & Mrs. Philip LewisMr. & Mrs. Robert LineberrySharon Lipsky, M.D.Ms. Priscilla L. ListJ. M. Little & Asso.Mr. William LooserMr. Carlos J. LopezLouise & Oscar LuiMr. & Mrs. Peter MacGregorMr. & Mrs. Harry E. Mach IIITom & Kathleen MachMr. John MaguireMs. Renee MargolinDr. & Dr. A. J. MarianCarole Nadelman MarmellMr. & Mrs. Laban MarshMr. David MartinMr. Mark MatovichDr. Toshimatsu MatsumotoMr. Chad MavityMs. Suzanne McCarthyMr. & Mrs. Edward McCulloughMr. George McKeeMr. & Mrs. James L. Mc NettMr. & Mrs. D. Bradley McWilliamsMr. & Mrs. Thomas MehlhoffMr. & Mrs. Joseph R. Melanson Jr.Mrs. Dorri MelvinDr. Robert A. MendelsonMr. Russell J. Miller &

Mrs. Charlotte M. MeyerMr. & Mrs. Thomas J. MirelesMr. & Mrs. Michael MithoffMs. Jenny Mohr & Mr. Matt ParkerMr. & Mrs. John H. Monroe Jr.Mr. & Mrs. Jess R. MooreMs. Lauren MorganMr. & Mrs. Ryan MossMs. Joan B. MurphyMr. & Mrs. Robert N. MurrayMr. Arturo NarroMr. & Mrs. R. Michael NashMr. & Mrs. Albert OngMrs. Louisa OrdwayMr. & Mrs. Ken O’RearMr. Edgar J. OrtizMr. & Mrs. Sheldon I. OsterMs. Jennifer OwenLinda & Jerry PaineMs. Linda PetersonMark H. & Lynn K. PickettMr. Timothy N. Pitts &

Mrs. Kathleen WinklerMr. & Mrs. Arthur H. PrattMr. & Mrs. Richard PrinsteinMr. & Mrs. Larry & Nita PyleMr. & Mrs. Paul RamirezMr. & Mrs. William M. RamosMr. & Mrs. Venu Rao

January 2012 �9


Principal Pops Conductor’s Circle $�,000 or MoreMr. & Mrs. Edward F. Blackburne Jr.Ms. Sara J. DevineMr. & Mrs. Fred L. GormanAllen & Almira Gelwick - Lockton CompaniesDr. & Mrs. Bernard KatzDr. & Mrs. Paul M. MannPaul & Rita MoricoMary & Terry MurphreeMr. & Mrs. Robert E. NelsonMr. Robert J. PileggeMr. & Mrs. Allan QuiatMr. & Mrs. William K. Robbins Jr.Mr. & Mrs. Ken N. RobertsonMrs. Sybil F. RoosMrs. Maryjane ScherrDavid & Paula SteakleyMr. & Mrs. Leland Tate

Grand Patron Pops $�,�00-$4,999Rita & Geoffrey BaylissMr. & Mrs. Byron F. DyerRoman & Sally ReedMr. & Mrs. George A. Rizzo Jr.Linda & Jerry RubensteinMr. & Mrs. Lawrence D. WallaceSally & Denney Wright

Pops Patron $1,�00-$�,499Ellen BoxMr. & Mrs. James E. DorsettCarol & Larry FradkinMr. Robert GrantMr. & Mrs. Jerry L. HamakerMichael & Darcy KrajewskiMr. Anthony G. OgdenMr. & Mrs. Ben A. ReidShirley & Marvin RichDr. & Mr. Adrian D. ShelleyMr. Roger TrandellMs. Jody VerwersMr. & Mrs. William B. Welte III

Headliner $1,000-$1,499Stanley & Martha BairMr. & Mrs. Stephen J. BanksMr. & Ms. Bruce BuhlerMs. Ann CurrensMrs. Alan GaylorMr. & Ms. Eric J. GongreMr. & Mrs. George A. HellandMr. & Mrs. Alex HowardMr. & Mrs. Robin LeaseMr. & Mrs. Alan MayDr. & Mrs. Raghu NarayanMr. & Mrs. John T. RiordanMrs. Annetta RoseMr. Morris RubinMs. Virginia TorresMs. Amanda Tozzi

Producer $�00-$999Rev. & Mrs. H. Eldon AkermanMr. John S. BeuryMs. Tara BlackMs. Barbara A. BrooksMr. & Mrs. Warren J. CarrollBarbara DokellMr. Evan B. GlickMr. & Mrs. Robert L. HansenMr. Don E. KingsleyDr. George S. KnappBill & Karinne Mc CulloughMr. & Mrs. Joe T. McMillanW. R. PurifoyMs. Phyllis SchafferMr. & Mrs. Tim ShauntyNorbert F. StangMr. & Mrs. Robert C. ThompsonDr. & Mrs. James A. Twining

Director $��0-$499Anonymous (2)Mr. & Mrs. Kingsley AgborMr. & Mrs. David Archibald

Mr. & Mrs. Don S. AronMr. Donald BatesMr. & Mrs. Gerald BeardDr. & Mrs. R. L. BrennerMr. Jay T. BrownMs. Carol BrownsteinMr. & Mrs. Rick A. BurrisW. M. CalvertMr. & Mrs. Michael F. CookMs. Debbie CulpMr. & Mrs. Joseph DemeterMr. & Mrs. George DobbinMr. & Mrs. Charles GrantJim & Johanna GuntherMr. & Mrs. Dale HardyJess Hines, Jr.Mr. Larry JanuaryMr. & Mrs. Bill JohnstonMs. Mary KeathleyCharles C. & Patricia KubinMr. & Mrs. Roger LindgrenMs. Doris M. MageeMr. & Mrs. Carrol R. McGinnisMr. & Mrs. Roger MedorsMr. Gerard & Mrs. Helga MeneillyMr. James MinerMary Murrill NorthMr. & Mrs. Roland W. PringleJudy & Bill PursellMr. Robert SchickMr. & Mrs. David K. SmithJames C. StankaMr. Charles StewartMs. Jane B. ThompsonMr. & Mrs. Carl N. TongbergMr. Lam TranMr. & Mrs. Eugene N. TulichDr. Holly & Mr. Michael VarnerDr. & Mrs. William C. WatkinsMr. & Mrs. Don Wilton

As of December 1, 2011

Houston Symphony Pops Patrons............................................................................................................

Ms. Joanna RaynesLoreta & Ronald ReaMr. & Mrs. John Q. ReansVicki & J.B. ReberRalph & Becky ReedRobert & Anne ReedMr. & Mrs. Ron RestrepoMr. & Mrs. Norman T. ReynoldsMr. & Mrs. Walter RhodesMr. & Mrs. Phil RiceMr. & Mrs. Claud D. RiddlesMr. & Mrs. William F. RikeMr. James L. RobertsonMs. Shari RochenJohn & Peggy RomeoMr. Daniel J. RomeroMs. Charlotte A. RothwellMr. & Mrs. Gregory M. RuffingMr. & Mrs. John E. RyallMr. & Mrs. Bruce SaltzbergDr. & Mrs. David SapireMr. & Mrs. Kent SavageMr. Donald SchmuckMrs. Jill SchroederJean & Robert SchwarzMr. & Mrs. Paul Shack

Jonathan & Marcia ShearArt & Ellen SheltonPamela & Richard SherryMr. & Mrs. Charles C. ShumakerMr. Barrett SidesMrs. Ray SimpsonMrs. Josephine SmithMr. & Mrs. Richard SmithMr. & Mrs. Tom SmithHans C. SonnebornMs. Blanche StastnyMr. & Mrs. Donald K. SteinmanMr. & Ms. Gary StenersonWilliam F. SternMr. & Mrs. James W. StovallMr. & Mrs. William G. StraightDr. John R. Stroehlein &

Ms. Miwa SakashitaMr. & Mrs. Hans StrohmerMr. & Mrs. John L. SutterbyMs. Barbara SwartzMs. Rhonda J. SweeneyMr. & Mrs. Robert B. SymonMs. Jessica TaylorMrs. Marjorie TherrellMr. & Mrs. P. H. G. Thompson

Ms. Susan L. ThompsonDrs. Eric M. Timmreck &

Carol W. TimmreckMr. & Mrs. M. Dale TingleafDavid & Ann TomatzMr. Tom TomlinsonMr. & Mrs. Louis E. TooleMr. Jon D. TotzMr. Herbert TowningMr. & Mrs. Edmunds Travis Jr.Mr. James TrippettDr. Robert Ulrich & Ms. June R. RussellDr. & Mrs. Brad UrquhartMr. & Mrs. Paolo ValenteMr. & Mrs. Dixon Van HofwegenDr. Allen R. VogtJan & Don WagnerMr. William WalkerMr. & Mrs. Bill WarburtonMs. Sandria WardLeone Buyse & Michael WebsterMr. Paul WehnerMr. & Mrs. Kane C. WeinerMs. Bryony Jane WelshMrs. Corinne H. WheelerMr. Richard White

Mr. Russell WhiteMrs. Amber WilbanksMr. Patrick WilsonMiriam & Marcos WittMr. Tony WongMr. & Mrs. Stephen R. WoodMiss Susan WoodMs. Laura WoodsMrs. Michael WoolcockMs. Kristi WrightMrs. Peggy J. WylieMr. Le Roy YeagerMr. Elan YogeswarenMr. Ray YoungMr. & Mrs. Mark YzaguirreMs. Carmen zatorski



Annual Campaign Donors.................................................................................


$100,000-$499,999 BBVA Compass Fidelity Investments United Airlines

$�0,000-$99,999 Baker Botts LLP * Cameron International Corporation Chevron ConocoPhillips * ExxonMobil Frost Bank * GDF SUEz Energy North America * Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo * Marathon Oil Corporation The Methodist Hospital * Shell Oil Company TOTAL * Weatherford International Ltd.

$��,000-$49,999 American Express Philanthropic Program Andrews Kurth, LLP * The Boeing Company Chubb Group of Insurance Companies Fulbright & Jaworski L.L.P. JPMorgan Chase KPMG LLP

$10,000-$�4,999 * Bank of America Bracewell & Giuliani LLP * CenterPoint Energy Cooper Industries, Inc. Crown Castle International Corp. * Enbridge Energy Company, Inc. Ernst & Young * Macy’s Northern Trust Palmetto Partners The Rand Group, LLC Regions Bank SPIR STAR, Ltd. Star Furniture USI Insurance Services LLC Vinson & Elkins LLP

* Wells Fargo * Wood Group

$�,000-$9,999 Beck, Redden & Secrest, LLP Bloomberg, L.L.P. * Devon Energy Corporation Google, Inc. Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc. Oceaneering International Inc. * Randalls Food Markets, Inc. Russell Reynolds Associates, Inc. Stewart Title Company * Swift Energy Company

Gifts below $4,999 Allen Edmonds Shoe Corp. The Blue Jeans Bar Corp GEM Insurance Agencies Geste LLC Intercontinental Exchange Marvin Consulting SEI Global Institutional Group Smith, Graham & Company

* Sponsors of Houston Symphony Education & Outreach Programs

Corporations......................................................................................................


$1,000,000 & above * Houston Endowment, Inc. * Houston Symphony League The Wortham Foundation, Inc.

$100,000-$499,999 The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation * The Brown Foundation, Inc. The Cullen Foundation The Cullen Trust for the Performing Arts The Cynthia & George Mitchell Foundation * M. D. Anderson Foundation * Spec’s Charitable Foundation

$�0,000-$99,999 Albert & Ethel Herzstein Charitable Foundation The Alkek and Williams Foundation * John P. McGovern Foundation Ray C. Fish Foundation

$��,000-$49,999 Ann & Gordon Getty Foundation The Humphreys Foundation * Sterling-Turner Foundation

$10,000-$�4,999 * Bauer Family Foundation Carleen & Alde Fridge Foundation * The Melbern G. & Susanne M. Glasscock Foundation * George & Mary Josephine Hamman Foundation * Houston Symphony League Bay Area * The Powell Foundation * Vivian L. Smith Foundation The Schissler Foundation * Vaughn Foundation Warren Family Foundation

$�,�00-$9,999 Stanford & Joan Alexander Foundation * The Becker Family Foundation William E. & Natoma Pyle Harvey Charitable Trust The Hood-Barrow Foundation Huffington Foundation Leon Jaworski Foundation

William S. & Lora Jean Kilroy Foundation * Robert W. & Pearl Wallis Knox Foundation Lubrizol Foundation Mithoff Family Foundation * Kinder Morgan Foundation * Lynne Murray, Sr. Educational Foundation The Helmle Shaw Foundation Strake Foundation Susman Family Foundation

Government Donors * City of Houston National Endowment for the Arts State Employee Charitable Campaign * Texas Commission on the Arts

* Sponsors of Houston Symphony Education & Outreach Programs

Foundations......................................................................................................

Corporate Matching Gifts........................................................................................ AetnaAkzo NobelAT&TBaker HughesBank of AmericaBoeingCardinal Healthcare

CaterpillarChevronCoca-ColaEl Paso CorporationEli Lilly and CompanyExxonMobilFannie Mae

General ElectricGeneral MillsGoldman, Sachs & Co.HalliburtonHewlett-PackardIBMING Financial Services Corporation

JPMorgan ChaseKBRKirby CorporationOccidental PetroleumSMART Modular Technologies, Inc.Spectra Energy

January 2012 31

Mr. Thomas D. BarrowW. P. BeardMrs. H. Raymond BrannonAnthony BrigandiLawrence E. Carlton, M.D.Mrs. Albert V. CaselliLee Allen ClarkJack EllisMrs. Robin A. ElversonFrank R. Eyler

Helen Bess Fariss FosterChristine E. GeorgeMrs. Marcella Levine HarrisGeneral & Mrs. Maurice HirschMiss Ima HoggBurke & Octavia HolmanMrs. L. F. McCollumJoan B. McKerleyMonroe L. Mendelsohn Jr.Mrs. Janet Moynihan

Constantine S. NicandrosHanni OrtonStewart Orton,

Legacy Society co-founderDr. Michael PapadopoulosMiss Louise Pearl PerkinsWalter W. Sapp,

Legacy Society co-founderJ. Fred & Alma Laws Lunsford SchultzMs. Jean R. Sides

John K. & Fanny W. StoneDorothy Barton ThomasMrs. Harry C. WiessMrs. Edward Wilkerson

Legacy Society...................................................................................................

The Legacy Society honors those who have included the Houston Symphony in their long-term estate plans through bequests, life-income gifts or other deferred-giving arrangements. Members of the Legacy Society enjoy a variety of benefits, including an annual musical event, featuring a renowned guest artist. The Houston Symphony would like to extend its deepest thanks to the members of the Legacy Society – and with their permission, we are pleased to acknowl-edge them below. if you would like to learn more about ways to provide for the Houston Symphony in your estate plans, please contact our Development Department at: (713) 337-8500 or [email protected].

Anonymous (9)Mrs. Jan BarrowGeorge & Betty BashenDorothy B. BlackErmy Borlenghi BonfieldRonald C. BorschowAnneliese BosselerJoe Brazzattizu BroadwaterTerry Ann BrownDr. Joan K. Bruchas & H. Philip CowdinEugene R. BrunsSylvia J. CarrollWilliam J. Clayton & Margaret A. HughesLeslie Barry DavidsonHarrison R. T. DavisJudge & Mrs. Harold DeMoss Jr.Jean & sJack EllisThe Aubrey and Sylvia Farb FamilyGinny GarrettMichael B. GeorgeStephen & Mariglyn GlennMr. & Mrs. Keith E. Gott

Randolph Lee GroningerMrs. Gloria HermanMarilyn & Robert M. HermanceDr. Gary L. HollingsworthDr. Edward J. & Mrs. Patti HurwitzKenneth HydeMr. Brian JamesDrs. Rita & Blair JusticeDr. & Mrs. Ira Kaufman, M.D.John S. W. KellettAnn Kennedy & Geoffrey WalkerDr. & Mrs. I. Ray KirkMr. & Mrs. Ulyesse LeGrangeMrs. Frances E. LelandDr. Mary R. LewisE. W. Long Jr.Sandra MagersRodney H. MargolisMr. & Mrs. Jay MarksJames MatthewsDr. and Mrs. Malcolm MazowMr. & Mrs. Gene McDavidCharles E. McKerley

Mr. & Mrs. Alexander K. McLanahanMiss Catherine Jane MerchantDr. & Mrs. Robert M. MihaloRon MikitaKatherine Taylor MizeIone MoranSidney MoranSue A. Morrison and ChildrenMr. & Mrs. Richard P. MoynihanGretchen Anne MyersBobbie & Arthur NewmanDave B. NussmannEdward C. Osterberg Jr.Joan D. OsterweilImogen “Immy” PapadopoulosSara M. PetersonMr. Howard PieperGeraldine S. PriestDaniel F. ProsserGloria & Joe PryzantMrs. Dana PuddyWalter M. RossMr. & Mrs. Michael B. Sandeen

Charles K. SandersCharles King SandersMr. & Mrs. Charles T. Seay IIMr. & Mrs. James A. ShafferDr. & Mrs. Kazuo ShimadaJule & Albert SmithMr. & Mrs. Louis J. SnyderMike & sAnita StudeEmily H. & David K. TerryStephen G. TippsMr. & Mrs. Jesse B. TutorDr. Carlos Vallbona & ChildrenMargaret Waisman, M.D. &

Steven S. Callahan, Ph.D.David M. Wax & Elaine Arden CaliRobert G. WeinerGeoffrey WestergaardJennifer R. WittmanMr. & Mrs. Bruce E. WoodsMr. & Mrs. David Wuthrich

As of December 1, 2011sDeceased

We honor the memory of those who in life included the Houston Symphony in their estate plans. Their thoughtfulness and generosity will continue to inspire and enrich lives for generations to come!

in Memoriam.....................................................................................................

In Kind Donors......................................................................................................... As of December 1, 2011

Alexander’s Fine Portrait DesignBaker Botts L.L.P. Bergner & JohnsonBKD, LLPBright StarClassical 91.7 FMCogneticMr. Carl R. Cunningham

Darryl & Co.Deville Fine JewelryDocuData SolutionsThe Events Company Foster Quan LLPHilton Americas - HoustonHouston ChronicleJackson and CompanyJOHANNUS Organs of TexasJim Benton of Houston LLC

The Lancaster Hotel Limb DesignMartha Turner PropertiesMeera BuckMinuteman Press – Post OakMusic & ArtsNeiman MarcusNew Leaf Publishing, Inc.Nos Caves VinPaperCity

Rice UniversitySaint Arnold’s BreweryShecky’s Media, Inc.Spec’s Wines, Spirits & Finer FoodsUnited AirlinesValobra Jewelry & AntiquesJohn Wright/TexprintYahama

Chorus Endowment Donors...........................................................................................


AnonymousNadene and James CrainPaul and Vickie DavisTaylor Faulkner

Robert Lee GomezPhilip and Audrey LewisGerald and Shirley MathewsDave B. NussmannNina and Peter Peropoulos

Karen and Hank RennarHolly S. RubboJennifer Klein SalyerSusan ScarrowPaige and Rich Sommer

Beth Anne Weidler & Stephen M. JamesJennifer Young

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Thomas LeGrand, associate principal clarinet

birthplace: Richmond Virginia

Education: Curtis Institute of Music, Bachelor of Music in Clarinet. Before that, I attended the College-Conservatory of Music at the University of Cincinnati.

Joined the Houston Symphony: 1986

Looking forward to in the �011-�01� Season: There are two programs that stand out for me: last month’s return of Christoph Eschenbach performing Mahler 5 and the Mozart Gran Partita wind serenade in March.

beginnings: I started clarinet at age 10. My best friend and I had group lessons twice a week with my father over the summer before we started band.

Earliest musical memory: I remember my mother practicing violin.

All in the family: My mother and father were professional orchestral musicians. He is a clarinetist and she was a violinist. Other close rel-atives were music educators and serious amateur musicians. Large family gatherings often included chamber music. It was a great day for me as a high school student when I was allowed to play Brahms and Mozart Clarinet quintets with the strings.

becoming a musician: The summer after my junior year in high school, I attended Eastern Music Festival, where I performed major symphonic repertoire in an excellent student orchestra. From then on, I was deter-mined to become a professional musician. I was fascinated by the way that an orchestra sounds from within and by the depth of expression that is possible.

Favorite piece to perform: Any Mahler symphony.

Finding the perfect instrument: Much of the voice of a clarinet comes from the mouthpiece. When the orchestra was on tour in the United Kingdom (2010), I spent all of my free time in London working with a gifted young mouthpiece maker, Ramon Wodkowski, who brought a few of my antique Chedeville mouthpieces to life.

Daily grind: Reed work is always a challenge. If the reeds are not great, it is much more difficult to play well. I spend much of my practice time making minute adjustments in the balance and taper of the reeds to improve the tone and response.

Pastime and good company: Whenever I have free time, I travel as much as possible with my wife, Carol. Favorite destinations are Tuscany, the Big Island of Hawaii, the Teton Mountains, and the canyon country of the desert south-west. Travel in Italy feeds our love of cooking. When we return home, we work to duplicate all the wonderful food that we enjoyed.

Backstage Pass...................................................................................................

barbara and ulyesse LeGrange, musician sponsors

birthplace: We were both born in Louisiana and raised in Baton Rouge.

Education: Ulyesse has a B.S. in accounting from Louisiana State University and is a CPA. He retired from Exxon after 40 years.

beginnings: We were high school sweethearts and have been married for more than 62 years. We have three children and six grandchildren.

Joined the Houston Symphony: Ulyesse has been a Board of Trustee member for more than 25 years and has served on the Executive Committee much of that time. We are long-time Pops subscribers and were Honorees at the 2010 Opening Night Gala. We have hosted a number of Symphony social affairs in our home.

Earliest musical memories: We grew up during the Depression and listened to music on the radio (big band and vocals). This led to a love of that type of music.

Music-making: Ulyesse took piano lessons after retirement and became enamored with music composition. He has written more than 50 pieces, including a “Broadway-type” musical, which has been per-formed at the University of Houston’s Moores School of Music.

Favorite music moment: The greatest musical thrill was dancing at the Symphony Ball to one of Ulyesse’s songs that had been orchestrated by Richard Brown.

being a Musician Sponsor: We have been Musician Sponsors for about 15 years. We selected Thomas LeGrand because of our last name similarity. We met him and his wife, as well as many other musi-cians, at socials. We also got to know many Pops guest artists, as well as Michael and Darcy Krajewski. We consider these social contacts important, and they make the Symphony experience more personal, as well as entertaining.

Out and about: We support many other organizations in the arts, edu-cation and medical fields and have been recognized many times for our contributions.

Pass it on: For a rewarding experience, we recommend having a close personal attachment to the Symphony family through subscriptions, contributions and participation in social events.

houston symphony magazine - january 2012

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