Mozart, Farrenc & Haydn

Acclaimed as “a wonderfully talented violinist…whose sound and technique go well beyond her years”,  violinist Yoonshin Song was born in South Korea, where she began her musical studies at age 5. Making her solo debut with the Seoul Philharmonic at age 11, she has since built a successful performing career internationally.

Yoonshin was appointed as Concertmaster of the Houston Symphony in August 2019. Prior to that she has held the same position with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra for seven seasons. Yoonshin has also served as guest concertmaster of the Budapest Festival Orchestra under Iván Fischer.

Beyond her first chair duties, Yoonshin has performed as a soloist with many orchestras around the world, including the Houston Symphony, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, the Utah Symphony, the New Mexico Philharmonic Orchestra, the Bayreuth Festival Orchestra, the Paul Constantinescu Philharmonic Orchestra, the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, the KBS Philharmonic Orchestra, among many others. The highlights of her 2020-2021 season as a soloist include concertos with the Budapest Festival Orchestra, the Houston Symphony and the New Mexico Philharmonic Orchestra.

She has also participated as a soloist and chamber musician in numerous leading music festivals, including the Marlboro, Deer Valley, Great Lakes, and Aspen Music Festivals in the United States; the Miyazaki Chamber Music Festival in Japan; and the Verbier, Lucerne, and Bayreuth Festivals in Europe.

Yoonshin has earned many prestigious prizes throughout her career, including top prize awards in the Lipizer International Violin Competition in Italy; the Lipinski & Wieniawski International Violin Competition in Poland; the Henry Marteau International Violin Competition in Germany; and first prize at the Stradivarius International Competition in the United States. She studied under the tutelage of Donald Weilerstein at the New England Conservatory and continued her studies with Robert Mann and Glenn Dicterow at the Manhattan School of Music.

Aralee Dorough began her tenure with the Houston Symphony as second flute in 1985, becoming the orchestra’s principal flutist in 1991. Dorough teaches orchestral repertoire at the Texas Music Festival and the Festival-Institute at Round Top and is an affiliate artist on the faculty of the Moores School of Music at the University of Houston.

She first appeared as a soloist with the Houston Symphony performing Mozart’s Concerto in C Major for Flute, Harp, and Orchestra with internationally-renowned harpist, Marisa Robles, and led by then-Music Director Christoph Eschenbach, for the 1992–93 season Opening Night gala concert. Dorough also performed Mozart’s Concerto in G Major with Eschenbach and the Houston Symphony in 1993 for a triple CD set released by IMP Records in 1994, and again in concert in 2004 under former Music Director Hans Graf. Her latest performance of the popular D major flute concerto completed her personal “Mozart cycle.”

Dorough gave the world premiere of Bright Sheng’s concerto, Flute Moon in 1999, which was commissioned by the Houston Symphony and broadcasted live on PBS. In 2003, she gave the U.S. premiere of a Salvador Brotons’s concerto, which Brotons himself conducted for the National Flute Association Convention. In 2006, Dorough and Houston Symphony colleagues presented the premiere of a chamber work by composer Gabriela Frank on a collaborative program between the Houston Symphony and the Da Camara Society. Other solo appearances with the Symphony have included Quantz’s Concerto in G major with conductor Nicholas McGegan and Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 with conductor Joshua Rifkin and violinist Eric Halen.

An avid chamber player and contemporary music performer, Dorough has played with the Houston Symphony Chamber Players, whose recording of Schoenberg’s Quintet for Winds on the Koch label has been met with critical acclaim. She has also performed with the Da Camera Society of Houston, The Foundation for Modern Music, Musiqa, the Festival-Institute at Round Top, and Chicago’s Ravinia Festival in collaboration with Christoph Eschenbach at the piano. Dorough can be heard on over 20 Houston Symphony recordings and performances aired on PBS and American Public Media’s Performance Today, and she has worked with a distinguished roster of conductors and guest artists including Eric Leinsdorf, Michael Tilson Thomas, Leonard Slatkin, and Yo-Yo Ma.

She also collaborated with her father, jazz artist and Schoolhouse Rock composer Bob Dorough, on The Houston Branch CD project in 2005, available at cdbaby.com. The album features Dorough along with her husband, father, and three of Houston’s top jazz musicians performing standard tunes and her father’s originals, including one of her own compositions. Because of her father, Dorough has been peripherally involved with jazz and studio work throughout her career, including a speaking part on “My Hero Zero” for ABC TV’s Schoolhouse Rock at age nine.

Dorough received her undergraduate degree from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music in 1983, where she studied with master teacher Robert Willoughby and met her future husband, Houston Symphony oboist Colin Gatwood. She continued her studies as a graduate student at the Yale School of Music where she worked with renowned teacher, the late Thomas Nyfenger.

Along with their son, Corin, Dorough and her husband enjoy traveling, most recently on the Houston Symphony’s The Planets–An HD Odyssey tour to the UK. They also participated in the Walled City Music Festival in Derry, Ireland.

Jonathan Fischer joined the Houston Symphony as principal oboe in September 2012 and was invited to join the faculty of the University of Houston in September 2014. Prior to his appointment with the Houston Symphony, Fischer served as associate principal oboe with the San Francisco Symphony for nine seasons. He has also held positions with The Cleveland Orchestra, the Lyric Opera of Chicago, Grant Park Orchestra, Santa Fe Opera, Canadian Opera Company, Savannah Symphony, and the New World Symphony. Fischer has performed as a guest principal with many of the nation’s leading orchestras including the Boston, Chicago, and Baltimore Symphony Orchestras, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the St. Louis and Atlanta Symphonies, and the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra. He has performed as a soloist with the Houston Symphony, Grant Park Symphony, New World Symphony, and the San Francisco Symphony.

Fischer currently teaches at the University of Houston’s Moores School of Music and Texas Music Festival. He has taught and performed at the Aspen Music Festival and the Oberlin Conservatory. He has given masterclasses at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, the San Francisco Conservatory, Rice University, and University of Michigan, and has been a coach at the New World Symphony. He holds a degree from the Curtis Institute of Music, where he studied with Richard Woodhams.

A native of South Carolina, Fischer now enjoys living in the Heights with his dog, a Louisiana Catahoula mix.

Critics have praised clarinetist Mark Nuccio for both his solo and chamber appearances,  describing him as “the evening’s highlight”, full of “mystery and insight” and “shaping his phrases beautifully with a rich, expressive tone.” (New York Times)

Mr. Nuccio is currently the Principal Clarinetist of the Houston Symphony since 2016.  Prior to that, he was a member of the New York Philharmonic having joined in 1999 as Associate Principal and Solo  E-flat Clarinetist. During Nuccio’s 17 years in the NYP, he served as Acting Principal Clarinet for four years from 2009-2013. Prior to his service with the Philharmonic, he has held positions with orchestras in Pittsburgh, Denver, Savannah, and Florida working with distinguished conductors such as Lorin Maazel, Kurt Masur, Mariss Jansons, Riccardo Muti, Zubin Mehta, Erich Leinsdorf, Alan Gilbert, Claudio Abbado, Riccardo Chailly, André Previn, Christoph von Dohnányi, Valero Gergiev, Charles Dutoit, Gustavo Dudamel, Esa Pekka Salonen, Andres Orozco Estrada, and Juraj Valcuha. Additionally, Mr. Nuccio has toured extensively with the Houston Symphony, the New York Philharmonic and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and in numerous countries, recorded with all three orchestras, and performed regularly with the Philharmonic on the award-winning series, Live from Lincoln Center, broadcast on PBS. Recent highlights include the Philharmonic’s historic and newsworthy visits to North Korea and Vietnam.

An active solo and chamber musician, Mr. Nuccio has been featured with various orchestras in the United States and made multiple appearances as a featured performer at the International Clarinet Association conventions. He made his subscription solo debut with the Houston Symphony in 2018 with several other appearances since then, with the subscription solo debut with the New York Philharmonic on Feb. 10, 2010 and returned to perform the Copland Concerto with the NY Philharmonic under the baton of Alan Gilbert on May 31 and June 1 of 2013. Other highlights include a New York recital debut at Carnegie Hall in 2001, his Japanese recital debut in 2002. He continues to regularly perform recitals in  Asia and Europe as well as across the United States and in New York, he can often be heard at Merkin Concert Hall, 92nd Street Y, Carnegie Hall, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Mr. Nuccio also participates in the chamber music series at the Strings Music Festival in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, performs/teaches at Festival Napa Valley, and teaches at ARIA Music Festival, among others.

As a studio musician, Mr. Nuccio is featured on numerous movie soundtracks, including Failure To Launch, The Last Holiday, The Rookie, The Score, Intolerable Cruelty, Alamo, Pooh’s Heffalump, Hitch, The Manchurian Candidate, as well as various television commercials, Super Bowl music and the Master’s Golf Tournament. Additionally he has performed on the Late Show with David Letterman and on the 2003 Grammy Awards. His own debut album featuring the clarinet quintets of Mozart and Brahms, Opening Night, was released in November 2006.

A Colorado native, Mr. Nuccio was recently awarded the “Distinguished Alumni Award” from his alma mater, the University of Northern Colorado. He also holds a master’s degree from Northwestern University where he studied with renowned pedagogue Robert Marcellus. Beyond his active performing schedule, Mr. Nuccio is committed to training the next generation of musicians and currently serves as music faculty for Northwestern University’s Bienen School of Music in Evanston, IL.  He also teaches masterclasses in the U.S. and abroad. Mark Nuccio is a D’Addario Advising Artist & Clinician and a performing artist/clinician for Buffet Music Group.

Hailed as “one of today’s superstars of the international brass scene,” William VerMeulen leads a varied musical life of soloist, orchestral principal, chamber musician, master teacher, and music publisher. VerMeulen has been principal horn of the Houston Symphony since 1990 and has performed as a guest principal horn with the Chicago Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Cincinnati Symphony, St. Louis Symphony, Pittsburgh Symphony, and St. Paul Chamber Orchestra. Prior to joining the Houston Symphony, he was employed with the orchestras of Columbus, Honolulu, and Kansas City.

VerMeulen has been an artist of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and participates as a performer and on faculty with the finest music festivals and chamber music presenters, among which include the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Aspen Music Festival, Music@Menlo, Banff Centre, Da Camera of Houston, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Joshua Bell and Friends, Tanglewood, Sarasota Music Festival, Strings Music Festival, Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, Orcas Island Chamber Music Festival, New World Symphony, Domaine Forget, Chamber Music Northwest, and the Sun Valley Summer Symphony where he also serves as principal horn.

VerMeulen has performed to critical acclaim on four continents as a soloist and chamber musician and is a popular artist at International Horn Society Symposiums where he was a member of the advisory council. He serves as a board member of the International Horn Competition of America. Along with the dozens of orchestral recordings in his discography are numerous solo and chamber recordings, including the complete Mozart Horn Concerti with Christoph Eschenbach and the Houston Symphony, Texas Horns featuring the Dallas and Houston horn sections, and “The Christmas Horn” which features VerMeulen combined with his students from Rice University, conducted by Dale Clevenger. He has recorded live the Brahms Trio op. 40, Mozart Quintet K. 407, Beethoven Septet, Ravel Tombeau de Couperin for wind quintet, Schubert Octet, Spohr Nonet, Ligeti Bagatelles, and the Bach Brandenburg Concerto No. 1. A champion of new music, VerMeulen has had numerous pieces written for him including concerti by esteemed American composers Samuel Adler, Pierre Jalbert, Tony DiLorenzo, and the horn cantata “Canticum Sacrum” by Robert Bradshaw. He recorded the Canto XI by Samuel Adler for a CD called First Chairs. Among his awards and honors, VerMeulen received first prize at the 1980 International Horn Society Soloist Competition and the Shapiro Award for Most Outstanding Brass Player at the Tanglewood Festival.

Regarded as one of the most influential horn teachers of all time, VerMeulen is a professor of horn at the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University and brass artist-in-residence at the Royal Conservatory of Music’s Glenn Gould School. His students perform in numerous major orchestras throughout the world including the New York Philharmonic, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Israel Philharmonic, Canadian Brass, Cleveland Orchestra, and the San Francisco, Cincinnati, Montreal, St. Louis, Toronto, Detroit, Dallas, and Houston Symphonies. Over 250 positions of employment have been offered to his students. In 1985, he was invited to the White House to receive a Distinguished Teacher of America Certificate of Excellence from President Reagan and the White House Commission on Presidential Scholars.

VerMeulen received his training from Dale Clevenger at Northwestern University and the Interlochen Arts Academy and is founder and president of VerMeulen Music, L.L.C., which offers music and products for horn players worldwide at www.vermeulenmusic.com

VerMeulen is married to Houston Opera and Ballet violinist Sylvia VerMeulen, and they have two lovely children, Michael and Nicole. In his rare free time, he enjoys having good friends over to share in his passion for fine cooking and wine.

Principal bassoonist Rian Craypo has been with the Houston Symphony since 2007. Born in Virginia, she moved to Texas at 10 months of age and grew up east of Austin in a small intentional community.

After studying at the University of Texas at Austin with Kristin Wolfe Jensen, she attended Rice University, where she received her master’s degree under former Houston Symphony Principal Bassoon Benjamin Kamins.

In 2001, she was awarded a Federation of German/American Clubs Scholarship, which led to a year of study and performances in Germany and was a finalist in the Gillet-Fox International Bassoon Competition in both 2004 and 2006. Rian serves on the board of Third Space Music, which presents Houston Symphony musicians several times a year in intimate and engaging chamber settings. Rian is also the author of a book about bassoon reed making, published in 2017. She and her husband Sean have three children.

Joan DerHovsepian holds the position of Acting Principal Viola of the Houston Symphony Orchestra. She joined the viola section of the Houston Symphony in 1999, hired by Christoph Eschenbach, and began serving as Associate Principal in the fall of 2010. Ms. DerHovsepian was Principal Viola of the Charleston Symphony Orchestra for two seasons and played in the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra. She has appeared as guest principal viola with the Cincinnati Symphony.

Ms. DerHovsepian is an Artist Teacher of Viola at Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music, instructing students in viola orchestral repertoire and chamber music. Students who have come through her orchestral repertoire course have gone on to win positions in the Cincinnati Symphony, Colorado Symphony, Dallas Symphony, Fort Worth Symphony, Houston Symphony, Metropolitan Opera, North Carolina Symphony, Pittsburgh Symphony, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, San Diego Symphony and Washington National Opera, among others. She is regular guest faculty for the New World Symphony and has given master classes in the study of orchestral excerpts at the New England Conservatory and for the viola students of the Juilliard School.

Ms. DerHovsepian participates annually at the Mimir Chamber Music Festival, the Grand Teton Music Festival, the National Orchestral Institute, and as Principal Viola of the Peninsula Music Festival.

She was the violist of the award winning Everest Quartet, top prize winners at the Banff International String Quartet Competition and the Fischoff Chamber Music Competition. Ms. DerHovsepian was the second prize recipient of the Primrose International Viola Competition.

Ms. DerHovsepian holds a Bachelor and Master of Music degrees and the Performer’s Certificate from the Eastman School of Music, studying with James Dunham of the Cleveland Quartet. She attended the Hochschule fur Musik in Freiburg, Germany, where she studied with violist Kim Kashkashian.

Cellist Brinton Averil Smith continues to win rave reviews for virtuosic performances with musical ideals rooted in the golden age of string playing. His debut recording of Miklós Rózsa’s Cello Concerto with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra won widespread international critical acclaim, with Gramophone praising Smith as a “hugely eloquent, impassioned soloist,” and his recording of the chamber music of Fauré with Gil Shaham was chosen by numerous critics as one of the year’s best albums. A passionate advocate of compelling unfamiliar repertoire, Smith recently gave the North American premieres of rediscovered works of Jean Sibelius and Alexander Zemlinsky. Smith’s performances, hailed as “stunningly beautiful” by the American Record Guide, have been broadcast on CBS’s Sunday Morning and on the radio throughout the United States, including American Public Media’s Performance Today and SymphonyCast.

Smith has appeared regularly as a soloist with the Houston Symphony since joining the orchestra as Principal Cellist in 2005. Prior to this appointment, he was the first musician chosen by Lorin Maazel to join the New York Philharmonic and was Principal Cellist of the San Diego and Fort Worth Symphonies. As a chamber musician, Smith has collaborated with artists including Yo-Yo Ma, Gil Shaham, Cho-Liang Lin, James Ehnes, Lynn Harrell, Sarah Chang, Dawn Upshaw, and members of the Beaux Arts Trio and the Guarneri, Emerson, Juilliard, Cleveland, and Berg quartets. Smith is also a faculty member of the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University and Aspen Music Festival.

The son of a mathematician and a pianist, Smith was admitted to Arizona State University at age 10, where he took courses in mathematics, music, and German. At age 17, Smith completed a Bachelor of Arts in Mathematics. He then became a student of Eleonore Schoenfeld at the University of Southern California, where he was also a teaching assistant in the mathematics department, and completed work for a Master of Arts in Mathematics at age 19. He subsequently studied with the renowned cellist Zara Nelsova at The Juilliard School, where he received a Doctor of Musical Arts, disserting on the playing of Emanuel Feuermann. Smith resides in Houston with his wife, pianist Evelyn Chen, their daughter, Calista, and two slightly evil, but kind-hearted dogs. For further information, please visit www.brintonaverilsmith.com

Robin Kesselman was appointed Principal Bass of the Houston Symphony Orchestra by Music Director Andrés Orozco-Estrada in 2014. He has performed as Guest Principal Bass with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra and Israel Philharmonic, travelled internationally with the Philadelphia Orchestra and Los Angeles Philharmonic, and appeared with the National, Atlanta, and Baltimore Symphonies.

Kesselman frequently performs as a soloist and chamber musician and presents recital programs and masterclasses at the top universities across the country. He has already appeared twice as soloist with the Houston Symphony, in subscription performances of the Koussevitzky Concerto for Double Bass and Missy Mazzoli’s bass concerto Dark with Excessive Bright. Previous season highlights include Krzysztof Penderecki’s Duo Concertante during the composer’s Carnegie Hall residency in collaboration with the Curtis Institute and Bottesini’s Concerto No. 2 with the Houston Civic Symphony. Recent festival engagements include leading the bass sections of the Grand Teton, Mainly Mozart, and Arizona Musicfest festival orchestras. He has also serves as faculty for the National Youth Orchestra – USA, Curtis Institute’s Summerfest, the Richard Davis Bass Conference, and the summer residency of the Youth Philharmonic of Colombia.

Kesselman holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Southern California and an Artist Diploma from the Curtis Institute of Music. His primary teachers have included David Allen Moore, Harold Robinson, Edgar Meyer, Paul Ellison, Chris Hanulik, and Virginia Dixon.