2024-25 Harry and Cora Sue Mach Student Concert Series

By Lauren Buchanan

The school year is well underway in the Greater Houston area and with it comes the 2024-25 Harry and Cora Sue Mach Student Concert Series. The Houston Symphony’s beloved concert series, curated and led by Associate Conductor Gonzalo Farias, provides low-cost full orchestra concerts for upper elementary and middle school students at Jones Hall and other Houston venues during the school day. This season, the Symphony plans to have 17 concerts and serve an anticipated 40,000 students.

The Upper Elementary Student Concerts at Jones Hall kicked off on October 29 with a 50-minute concert designed to introduce 4^th and 5^th grade students to the components of an orchestra and how they work together. This season’s upper elementary program explores the concept of "musical opposites” and gives students the opportunity to identify differences in dynamics and articulation. The Middle School Student Concerts, presented by the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, are centered around the themes of teamwork, how the different sections of the orchestra support each other, and identifying contrasting layers in music. Since the Middle School Concerts are designed for students who participate in their school’s orchestra or band programs, the aim of this concert is to help them identify how their instrument and part within a piece of music can support the others in their ensembles.

This season also saw the return of the pre- and post-concert classroom visits. This year, our Community-Embedded Musician Lindsey Baggett will be joined by two musicians from the orchestra for these classroom visits at select middle schools. These visits enhance the students’ experience by allowing them to get a deeper understanding of music that is featured in the concert and have conversations with the musicians about their experiences. “Our experiences with the [CEM] brought it more on a personal level,” said Stovall Middle School Assistant Band Director, Erwin Vreugdenihil, about last season’s pre-and post-concert visits. “It showed the students that, yes, these are amazing musicians, but they’re also great human beings and they just love doing what they do.”

You may have also noticed that the concerts have a new name this year—the 2024–25 Harry and Cora Sue Mach Student Concert Series. This is in recognition of Cora Sue Mach and her late husband of 58 years, Harry Mach, for their longstanding support of the Symphony, particularly our educational programs.

Over the years, Cora Sue has contributed both her time and treasure to the Symphony including serving as former Chair of the Education Committee on the Board, President of the League, and chair of several special events which benefit our Education and Community Engagement initiatives. We thank Cora Sue for her steadfast dedication to Houston students and the Symphony. Enhancing the lives of Houston students by providing direct access to our orchestra and improving access to quality music education is integral to the Symphony’s mission. Last season, we served more than 167,000 Houstonians through our music education programs, free/low-cost concerts, hospital or senior center visits, and more. These initiatives are only possible thanks to the generosity of supporters like you. To support our Education and Community Engagement initiatives, scan the QR code below.