Houston Symphony Society

See Schedule OArtistic Endeavors: The Houston Symphony continues its second century as one of America's leading orchestras with a full complement of concert, community, education, and recording activities. Today, with an operating budget of $37.8 million (FY24), the full-time ensemble of professional musicians presents more than 130 concerts annually, making it the largest performing arts organization in Houston. After suspending concert activities in March 2020, the Symphony successfully completed the full 2020-21 season with in-person audiences and weekly livestreams of each performance, making it one of the only orchestras in the world to do so. The Houston Symphony remains committed to livestreaming to a broad audience in over forty-five countries and all fifty states, one of few American orchestras dedicated to transmitting live performances to a sizeable audience outside its home city through this technology. Highlights of the 2022-2023 classical season began with Music Director Juraj Valcuha opening his first season as Music Director conducting Verdi's Requiem; as well as performances of Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde (The Song of the Earth), Bartok's The Miraculous Mandarin, and Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring, closing the season with a semi-staged production of Stravinsky's Oedipus Rex. Memorable guest artists this season included violinists Joshua Bell, Augustin Hadelich, Itzhak Perlman, Tai Murray, and Elina Vahala; pianists Yefim Bronfman, Stephen Hough, Lucas and Arthur Jussen, Lise de la Salle, and Jeffrey Kahane; vocalists Ana Maria Martinez, Sasha Cooke, Michelle DeYoung, and Sean Panikkar; and conductors Jane Glover, Matthew Halls, Jonathon Heyward, Gemma New, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, and Osmo Vanska; as well as brilliant soloist turns from Houston Symphony Concertmaster Yoonshin Song, Principal Bassoon Rian Craypo, Acting Principal Viola Joan DerHovsepian, Principal Flute Aralee Dorough, Principal Oboe Jonathan Fischer, Principal Bass Robin Kesselman, Principal Clarinet Mark Nuccio, Principal Cello Brinton Averil Smith, and Principal Horn William VerMeulen. The POPS season launched with Principal POPS Conductor Steven Reineke presiding over the gravity-defying Cirque de la Symphonie. Powerhouse vocalist Capathia Jenkins returned for First Ladies of Soul, the orchestra screened Disney's Fantasia with the orchestra performing the score live to film, Michael Krajewski lead the annual holiday tradition A Very Merry POPS, Steven Reineke returned to lead The Music of Elton John and Billy Joel, Broadway star Jeremy Jordan sang his greatest Broadway hits with the orchestra, Steven Reineke conducted Let's Misbehave: The Songs of Cole Porter, and the POPS season closed with Broadway Goes Hollywood.

See Schedule OEducation and Community Engagement: The Houston Symphony is committed to increasing the quality of life in Houston by addressing priority community issues including education, healthcare, building community between disparate populations, and improving the welfare of underserved populations. The Symphony accomplishes this by presenting an extraordinary range of music education and community engagement programs both inside Jones Hall and in community venues throughout the Greater Houston area. Through nearly 1,000 events with Houston Symphony musicians and Community-Embedded Musicians, partnerships with schools, community centers, hospitals and other non-profits, the Society serves a wide range of Houstonians that reflects the diversity of the city. Whether they are underserved students, cancer patients, refugees, or homeless families, we put the people we serve first, asking how music can best meet their needs. Our goal is to remove economic and geographical barriers to music so that Houstonians from all walks of life can benefit from the art form. Traditionally, Houston Symphony Education and Community Engagement programs serve more than 200,000 Houstonians of all ages and backgrounds and these activities represented an investment of $4.15 million, or nearly 10% of the annual organization budget, during the 2022-23 Season.