Houston Symphony Society

Programs: Pops seasonthe 2016-17 season was the final year for principal pops conductor michael krajewski, as he prepared to hand the baton to his successor, steven reineke. Between them, krajewski conducted five, and reineke four, of the nine pops season concert weekends. The season featured the musical talents of linda eder (linda eder sings judy garland), tony desare (i love a piano), aj swearingen and jonathan beedle (the sounds of simon and garfunkel), pink martini featuring china forbes (pink martini returns), debbie gravitte (bond & beyond), and lisa vroman, doug labrecque and rachel york (classic broadway). As part of its 70th anniversary celebration, the houston symphony chorus performed in two pops season concerts, very merry pops and classic broadway. Krajewskis tenure came to an end with the season's final concert weekend, classic broadway, over the memorial day weekend.

classical seasonunder the leadership of andrs orozco-estrada in his third season as music director, the orchestra continued a run of remarkable artistic accomplishments. The symphony released its first grammy-winning recording, a cd of berg: wozzeck, which was performed in 2013 under former music director hans graf. Andrs emphasis on the music of north and south america continued, with performances of works by george gershwin, silvestre revueltas, leonard bernstein and astor piazzolla, recorded for commercial release on the music of the americas cd. The houston symphony continues its dedication to new music: the season began in september with a program featuring works by the two winners of the young composer competition: pathways, by american composer benjamin krause, and el sombrern, by colombian composer victor agudelo. This was also the final season of gabriela lena frank's service as composer-in-residence; she closed her tenure with her innovative conquest requiem, performed in may 2017; her successor is a notable young peruvian-born composer, jimmy lpez. Guests artists for the season included violinists leonidas kavakos and gil shaham, and pianists daniil trifonov, jeffrey kahane, behzod abduraimov, denis kozhukhin, ingrid fliter and yefim bronfman. Andrs is also dedicated to inviting members of the houston community, particularly school children, to collaborate artistically with the orchestra. In september 2016, artwork by students at three area schools, inspired by haydns the creation, was projected on in-hall screens during a performance of that piece. Then, in may 2017, 50 students between ages 8 and 12 from partner school dance programs performed in accompaniment to stravinskys petrushka. The 2016-17 season also marked the 70th anniversary of the houston symphony chorus, which was spotlighted in a number of concerts, including haydns the creation. During the 2016-17 season, the orchestra expanded to 88 members with the addition of double bass andrew pederson. Andrs will continue to serve as the houston symphonys music director through the 2021-22 season, thanks to a contract extension announced in march 2017.

education and communitythe houston symphony continues to expand and professionalize its industry-leading education and community programming. The symphony 2016-17 was the second year of the community-embedded musician (cem) initiative, with four musicians who dedicated 80% of their working hours to serving the houston community through more than 700 services at schools, neighborhood centers, health care settings, and other community venues. In 2017, the cem initiative was recognized with a grant from the league of american orchestras new futures fund program. The cems played a crucial role in the second year of the symphony's residency at crespo elementary school, the music and wellness initiative, a summer program with the barbara bush houston literacy foundation, and pre- and post-concert school visits that enhance classroom instruction related to the student concert series. They also participated in the ongoing high school residency program, supported by occidental petroleum, which provides workshops, rehearsals, master classes and performances to music students at eight area high schools. The student concert series welcomed more than 50,000 students 367 public, private and home schools. Student concerts truly serve the entire greater houston area, with 34 local school districts participating.