Jul. 10
Elgar’s Cello Concerto & Dvořák’s New World Symphony
About This Concert
Sphinx Competition Winner Andres Sanchez joins the Houston Symphony for Elgar’s Cello Concerto, a beloved cornerstone of the cello repertoire. Then, soar the skies with Tabakova’s Orpheus’ Comet and celebrate a New World with Dvořák’s iconic Symphony No. 9, a glowing love letter to America with unforgettable melodies.
Program
D. TABAKOVA
Orpheus’ Comet
ELGAR
Cello Concerto in E minor
- I. Adagio—Moderato—
- II. Lento—Allegro molto
- III. Adagio
- IV. Allegro—Moderato—Allegro, ma non troppo
DVORÁK
Symphony No. 9 in E minor (From the New World)
- I. Adagio—Allegro molto
- II. Largo
- III. Scherzo: Molto vivace
- IV. Allegro con fuoco
Tickets
Tickets
Friday, July 10
8:30 P.M. at Miller Outdoor Theatre
Event Details & Ticket Information
This is a free event, but tickets may be required. For details on ticketing, location, parking, and more, click the Learn More button.
Artists

Samuel Lee
Conductor
View Biography

Andres Sanchez
Cello
View Biography
Sponsors
End of Season Celebration
Video enhancement of Houston Symphony concerts is made possible by the Albert & Ethel Herzstein Foundation through a special gift celebrating the foundation's 50th anniversary in 2015
Sponsors
Presenting Sponsor
Extras
Visitor Info
Parking and Directions
Learn More >In-Hall Experience
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Conductor
Samuel Lee
Samuel Lee is the winner of the Malko Competition for Young Conductors 2024. Previously, he was awarded first prize winner of the BMI International Conducting Competition in Bucharest and the International Conducting Competition in Taipei. At the end of the 2024/25 season, he completed his tenure as Associate Conductor of the Cincinnati Symphony.
Lee’s 2025/26 season includes his conducting debuts with the Iceland Symphony, Tonkünstler Orchestra, Aarhus Symphony Orchestra, Copenhagen Philharmonic, Malmö Symphony Orchestra, Turku Philharmonic, Kansas City Symphony, Norwegian Radio Orchestra, Bodensee Philharmonic, Teatro Carlo Felice di Genova as well as returns to the Cincinnati Symphony and Stuttgarter Philharmoniker, as well as the Korean National Symphony Orchestra, where he leads a tour to Japan’s Tokyo Opera City and NHK Hall in Osaka. He also makes his first appearances with the Orquesta Cuidad de Granada and Arctic Philharmonic as soloist and conductor.
Amongst the orchestras Lee has conducted are Konzerthausorchester Berlin, Bamberger Symphoniker, Hamburger Camerata at the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg and the Leipziger Symphonieorchester at the Gewandhaus, Symphoniker Hamburg, Nuremberg Symphony Orchestra, Frankfurt State Orchestra, Brandenburg Symphony Orchestra, Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, Bucharest Symphony Orchestra, Arad Philharmonic Orchestra, Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, KBS Symphony Orchestra and the SAC Festival Orchestra.
An avid promoter of contemporary music, Lee has conducted premieres by Bryce Dessner, Giuseppe Gallo-Balma and Marc Migó. He was also a conducting fellow with the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music in 2021 and 2022.
Lee is an alumnus of Hochschule für Musik ‘Hanns Eisler’ Berlin, where he studied viola with Tabea Zimmermann and later, orchestral conducting with Christian Ehwald. Lee completed his studies in orchestral conducting at Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg with Ulrich Windfuhr.
As a violist, Lee has performed as a soloist with orchestras such as the Baden-Baden Philharmonic, Münchener Kammerorchester, Bodensee Philharmonic, Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, KBS Symphony and Korean National Symphony orchestras, and at the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Music Festival.
From 2009 until 2017, Lee was the violist of the Novus String Quartet, touring all over the world to venues such as the Berliner Philharmonie, New York’s Carnegie Hall, Vienna’s Musikverein, Kölner Philharmonie and Tokyo’s Suntory Hall. He also was the second prize winner of the 61st International Music Competition of ARD Munich, and first prize winner of the Salzburg International Mozart Competition. He served as a viola professor at Hochschule für Musik und Theater ‘Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy’ in Leipzig, Germany until 2022.

Andres Sanchez
Cello
Cellist Andres Sanchez-Linares, born in Allentown, Penn., began his cello studies at the age of eight years old under the wing of former Puerto Rico Symphony cello principal Miguel Rojas. He continued his studies with cellist Jesús Morales, member of the Dali Quartet and former principal of the Puerto Rico Symphony. At 10 years old, Andres made his solo debut at the Midwest Clinic of Chicago and the Ocean City Pops Orchestra. Three years later, he made his Carnegie Hall debut as soloist with the ArCoNet Chamber Orchestra and at age 16 was accepted to the Curtis Institute of Music, where he studied with cellists Peter Wiley and Carter Brey. Following his graduation from the Curtis Institute of Music in 2020, he continued his studies at the New England Conservatory with Paul Katz.
In January 2026, Andres was named the First Prize Winner in the Senior Division of the National Sphinx Competition and, in 2025, was a Semifinalist in the Schoenfeld International Cello Competition.
Andres is an avid chamber musician, and his piano trio, the AYA Piano Trio, was awarded First Prize in the 2020 Yellow Springs Competition, First Prize in the 2018 WDAV Competition, and has been a Semifinalist in the Naumburg Foundation and the Chesapeake Chamber Music competitions.
Andres has made solo appearances with the Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra, Longwood Symphony, Kenneth Square Symphony, the Central Jersey Symphony, the Summit Symphony, Pennsylvania Sinfonia, and the Gabrieli Ensemble. As a member of the AYA Trio, he made his Beethoven Triple Concerto debut with the Waterbury Symphony and performed across the United States in esteemed chamber series such as Concerts International in Memphis, Tenn., the Schneider Concert series at the Mannes School of Music, the Brevard Music Center, Merkin Concert Hall, and Chamber Music Tulsa.