Mariachi Sol De Mexico de José Hernández presents: José Hernández’ Merry-Achi Christmas

Violinist Lindsey Baggett joined the team of Community-Embedded Musicians in the Fall of 2023. She has been a frequent substitute for the Houston Symphony since 2013, including three seasons as a contracted substitute. She also enjoys performing locally with the Houston Grand Opera Orchestra and Houston Ballet Orchestra. She holds a Master of Music degree from the Cleveland Institute of Music and a Bachelor of Music degree from Florida State University. Her principal teachers include William Preucil and Frank Huang. As a Community-Embedded Musician, Lindsey is thrilled to be able to share music through performances, workshops, and education.

Julissa Y. Chapa taught general elementary music in the Houston area for 20 years. She earned her Kodály Certification from the Kodály Institute of Houston and has received additional training in Music Learning Theory. She is a doctoral candidate at the University of Houston and her intended areas of research are Emergent Bilinguals in the music classroom and music education accessibility in under-resourced areas. She has presented staff development sessions for several districts and conferences across the country, teaches summer courses for Fort Bend Kodály Institute, and is currently a lecturer and student teaching supervisor at the University of Houston.

Lucinda Chiu is a first violinist of the Los Angeles Opera, and a substitute musician with the Houston Symphony, Pacific Symphony, Houston Grand Opera, and Houston Ballet. She has appeared with the River Oaks Chamber Orchestra, Mercury Chamber Orchestra, Candlelight Concerts, and on films and albums recorded at Warner Bros, 20th Century Fox, and more. A dedicated educator, she teaches at the Houston Youth Symphony, British International School of Houston, Carver High School, and maintains a thriving private studio. Lucinda holds degrees from The Peabody Conservatory and Rice University. She enjoys crocheting, learning Japanese, and playing with her puppy, Pancake.

David Connor has served as a Houston Symphony Community-Embedded Musician since August 2015. He was born in Chelmsford, MA and began playing the double bass when he was nine years old. He joins the Houston Symphony as a Community-Embedded Musician after two seasons with the New World Symphony in Miami Beach, FL. Connor earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts at Carnegie Mellon University and his Masters of Music at Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music. While at Rice, he was a fellow of the Da Camera of Houston Young Artist Program for two seasons, which led to many community outreach opportunities and chamber music collaborations in the greater Houston area. Connor has participated in summer festivals including Music Academy of the West, Aspen, Sarasota, Domaine Forget, and the Britten Pears Young Artist Program. He has been a recipient of the Aspen Academy Orchestra Fellowship and was chosen in 2011 to be a member of the New York String Orchestra Seminar at Carnegie Hall under the direction of Jaime Laredo. As a member of the New World Symphony, he has had the opportunity to teach double bass both at home and abroad, traveling to Medellín, Colombia and Geneva, Switzerland in 2014.

Christian Harvey, double bassist from Riverdale, GA, is part of a wave of next-generation double bassists. Currently pursuing a Master’s in Music at Rice University, Christian studies with Paul Ellison. Christian is a Community Embedded Fellow with the Houston Symphony, organizing and performing engaging concerts in the community. He’s also in DACAMERA’s Young Artist Program, working to develop skills as an emerging artist. He achieved third prize in the 2023 Strings Competition for the National Association for Negro Musicians and was a finalist in the 2024 Ima Hogg Concerto Competition. Christian earned his Bachelor’s in Music Performance from Columbus State.

Alexis Mitrushi is a violist who has recently joined the Houston Symphony in the fall of 2024 as a Community Embedded Musician and is currently serving as a substitute violist for the New World Symphony. She served as a substitute violist of the Firelands Symphony Orchestra, Symphony of Southeast Texas, and Denver Philharmonic. She was also a principal & associate principal of the Chautauqua MSFO, NRO, and Westside Chamber Players. She holds an MM from Mannes School of Music and a BM + minor from Oberlin Conservatory. She believes music is a tool utilized for the expression of one’s soul.

Stephen Hudson is a Houston-based artist, voice coach, and educator with a passion for performance and music. He holds a B.A. in Music Education from Loyola University and an M.Ed. from the University of St. Thomas. He has taught in public schools, worked with organizations like Dreamyard Project, Broadway’s Babies, Houston Grand Opera, TUTS and co-directed the NYC Youth Pride Chorus. As the founder of Life Studios, he uses creativity to inspire others. Stephen is a producer continuing to impact communities through arts education.

Beginning with guitar and violin at a young age, Bianca Lozano is a full-time vocalist and violinist specializing in mariachi style and repertoire. She started her musical journey with the Multicultural Education and Counseling through the Arts (MECA), making her debut as a soloist and musical director in 2024. She has performed with professional mariachi ensembles throughout Houston, including current Grand Champions of the Houston Rodeo Mariachi Invitational, Mariachi del Bosque. Bianca teaches private violin and vocal students, giving masterclasses to local students and ensembles. Bianca graduated from Sam Houston State University in 2021, performing in the SHSU Symphony for 5 years.

Conductor/Composer/Producer Anthony J. Maglione is the Director of Choral Studies at William Jewell College in Liberty, Missouri where he holds the Robert H. McKee Chair of Music. Maglione is a graduate of Westminster Choir College of Rider University, East Carolina University, and the University of California, Los Angeles. Under his direction, William Jewell College choral ensembles performed at regional and national conferences, were twice named Runner Up (2nd Place) for the American Prize in Choral Performance College/University Division, and released two commercial recordings on Centaur and Albany records. Maglione is founder and Artistic Director of the professional choir, Cardinalis, and Director of Music and Choirmaster at St. Mary’s Episcopal Church in Kansas City. In addition to his responsibilities in Kansas City, he serves on the summer faculty of Westminster Choir College.

An active composer, Maglione’s choral works are growing in popularity and are published on James Jordan’s “Evoking Sound” choral series through GIA Publications as well as “The Amanda Quist Signature Choral Series” on Gentry Publications. His music has appeared at state-, regional-, and national-level conventions, on TV, in video games, and has been recorded on Albany Records, Centaur Records, GIA Choral Works, and Gothic Records. In 2016, he was awarded the William Jewell College Spencer Family Sabbatical, a year-long fully funded sabbatical to compose a large-scale cantata, The Wedding of Solomon, which premiered at the 2018 American Guild of Organists National Convention. The Miami University Men’s Glee Club premiered Maglione’s On Life the at the 2019 National ACDA Conference. In early 2020, Verdigris Ensemble premiered his extended dramatic work Dust Bowl as part of the AT&T Performing Arts Center’s Elevator Project in Dallas, Texas. Dust Bowl was recently revised and performed again at the Wyly Theatre in Dallas through a grant from the National Endowment of the Arts and several other organizations. Maglione is currently serving as Composer-In-Residence with Te Deum, a professional choir based in Kansas City and looks forward to additional premieres in 2025.

As a producer, Maglione lends his ears to recording projects around the country and recently received national attention through his production work with Sam Brukhman and Verdigris Ensemble on Betty’s Notebook by composer Nicholas Reeves. This ground-breaking programmable art music is the first of its kind and the first to be sold using block chain technology.

As a tenor, Maglione has appeared with Artefact Ensemble, Kansas City Baroque Consortium, Kantorei KC, The Same Stream, The St. Tikhon Choir, Sunflower Baroque, Spire Chamber Ensemble, and made his debut with Portland-based Capella Romana on the 2021–2022 season.

A sought-after clinician and frequent guest conductor, Maglione regularly teaches workshops and has conducted All-State and honor choirs in California, Kansas, Mississippi, Missouri, New Mexico, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania.

Dr. Betsy Cook Weber is the Madison Endowed Professor of Music Emeritus and former director of choral studies at the University of Houston Moores School of Music. She is also Director Emeritus of the Houston Symphony Chorus, where she prepared programs for some of the world’s leading orchestral conductors including Juraj Valčuha, Andrés Orozco-Estrada, Jane Glover, and Nicholas McGegan, among many others. Before coming to the University of Houston, Betsy taught vocal music, K-12, in the public schools. She is currently active internationally as a conductor, clinician, adjudicator, and lecturer. Choirs under her direction, including the University of Houston Concert Chorale, have been featured at multiple state and national conventions, including the American Choral Directors Association national conventions in Miami in 2007 and Minneapolis in 2017, and the NCCO convention as featured choir in 2017.

Internationally, under her leadership, Concert Chorale won top prizes at prestigious competitions in Wales, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Norway, the Netherlands, and Austria.In the summer of 2013, Betsy became the 13^th person and first woman to receive the Texas Choral Directors Association’s coveted Texas Choirmaster Award. She serves as editor of the Betsy Cook Weber Choral Series with Alliance Music Publishing. Betsy has prepared singers for early music orchestras Ars Lyrica and Mercury Houston and is also routinely called upon to prepare singers for touring shows, including Josh Groban, NBC’s Clash of the Choirs, Telemundo’s Latin Grammys, Star Wars in Concert, Andreas Bocelli, Eric Whitacre, and The Eagles. Betsy is grateful for the education she has received. She holds degrees from the University of North Texas, Westminster Choir College (Princeton, NJ), and the University of Houston.

The Houston Symphony Chorus is the official choral unit of the Houston Symphony and consists of highly skilled and talented volunteer singers. Over the years, members of this historic ensemble have learned and performed the world’s great choral orchestral masterworks under the batons of Juraj Valčuha, Andrés Orozco Estrada, Hans Graf, Christoph Eschenbach, Robert Shaw, and Helmuth Rilling, among many others.

In addition, the Chorus enjoys participating in the Houston Symphony’s popular programming under the batons of conductors such as Steven Reineke and Michael Krajewski. Recently, the ensemble sang the closing subscription concerts with the Prague Symphony Orchestra in the Czech Republic. Singers are selected for specific programs for which they have indicated interest. A singer might choose to perform in all 45 concerts, as was the case in a recent season, or might elect to participate in a single series. The Houston Symphony Chorus holds auditions by appointment and welcomes inquiries from interested singers.

The Houston Chamber Choir is a Grammy-winning professional ensemble whose mission is to share choral music performed at the highest level. Proud to be a part of Houston's vibrant arts scene, the Chamber Choir looks forward to collaborations with some of the city's finest groups during its 30^th anniversary season featuring everything from an exciting world premiere to traditional crowd favorites. Led by Founder and Artistic Director Robert Simpson and Artistic Director Designate Betsy Cook Weber, the Houston Chamber Choir has been described by The Tallis Scholars founder Peter Phillips as “one of this country’s leading ensembles." The Choir comprises 24 professional singers, most of whom have studied at the top music schools and conservatories in the United States. These musicians are selected through rigorous auditions from the finest singers in our region and are compensated for all rehearsals and performances. The Chamber Choir’s travels have taken it on tour in this country and abroad. Its first national exposure came in 1999, four years after its founding, when it was invited to perform at the national convention of the American Choral Directors Association in Chicago’s famed Orchestra Hall. The Chamber Choir has received similar invitations from Chorus America, The American Guild of Organists,

The Association of Anglican Musicians, the Association of Lutheran Musicians, the Texas Choral Directors Association, and the Organization of American Kodály Educators. It will tour Latvia, Estonia, and Sweden in 2025 in celebration of its 30^th anniversary. The Chamber Choir is proud to offer a wide breadth of recorded albums. Highlights include Ravishingly Russian, a collection of 19^th- and 20^th-century Russian secular choral music; the world premiere recording of Psalmi ad Vesperasby 17^th-century Italian composer Giovanni Paolo Colonna; and the Grammy-winning Duruflé, Complete Choral Works. Winner of Best Choral Performance at the 62^nd Annual Grammy Awards and winner of Chorus America's 2018 Margaret Hillis Award for Choral Excellence, the Houston Chamber Choir has established itself as one of the premier professional choirs in the United States, serving Houston through concerts and educational initiatives that enlighten, entertain, and educate people of all ages.

The Houston Symphony Chorus is the official choral unit of the Houston Symphony and consists of highly skilled and talented volunteer singers. Over the years, members of this historic ensemble have learned and performed the world’s great choral orchestral masterworks under the batons of Juraj Valčuha, Andrés Orozco Estrada, Hans Graf, Christoph Eschenbach, Robert Shaw, and Helmuth Rilling, among many others.

In addition, the Chorus enjoys participating in the Houston Symphony’s popular programming under the batons of conductors such as Steven Reineke and Michael Krajewski. Recently, the ensemble sang the closing subscription concerts with the Prague Symphony Orchestra in the Czech Republic. Singers are selected for specific programs for which they have indicated interest. A singer might choose to perform in all 45 concerts, as was the case in a recent season, or might elect to participate in a single series. The Houston Symphony Chorus holds auditions by appointment and welcomes inquiries from interested singers.

The Houston Children’s Chorus was founded in 1989 by Director Stephen Roddy. More than 200 children in grades two through eight are enrolled in Chorus activities, including a Music in The Schools program for inner-city schools that cannot afford a music teacher. The Chorus represents the diverse cultures of Houston and performs at numerous civic events throughout the year. It has been featured with the Houston Symphony, Houston Symphony POPS, Masterworks Chorus, Houston Choral Society, and Rice University Chorale. Along with President George H. W. Bush, the Chorus was featured on Glad Tidings, a recording of the Houston Symphony POPS.

The Houston Children’s Chorus has performed for the U.S. President on 34 occasions and was featured in the national broadcast of the “Celebration of the Life of Barbara Bush.” Favorite performances include the recording of the Blue Bell Ice Cream commercial, a concert with Celine Dion, the opening ceremonies of the 2004 Super Bowl with Josh Groban, the premiere of a major commissioned work at Carnegie Hall entitled “Heartsongs”, and most recently, the world premiere of the opera, “Can We Know the Sound of Forgiveness” by internationally recognized composer, Gabriela Ortiz. The Chorus will premiere a new commissioned work, “Lessons Learned From Kids” at Carnegie Hall in June, 2025.

Award-winning Jamaican-American violist Jordan Bak has achieved international acclaim as a trailblazing artist, praised for his radiant stage presence, dynamic interpretations, and fearless power. The recipient of the London Philharmonic Orchestra’s Alexandra Jupin Award and a former Young Classical Artist Trust’s (YCAT) Robey Artist, Bak was also a prizewinner in the Sphinx, Lionel Tertis, and Concert Artists Guild Competitions.

For the 2025–26 season, Bak will join the world-renowned Takács Quartet on a tour of rarely  performed Mozart viola quintets, in addition to making his concerto debuts with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and Houston Symphony Orchestra. Bak will also give the world premiere of composer Michael Frazier’s new viola concerto, Los quetzales, commissioned by Eastman School of Music, The Sphinx Organization, and American Composers Orchestra.

Bak’s enthusiastically received sophomore album, Cantabile: Anthems for Viola (Delphian Records), has garnered significant international attention, featuring works by Arnold Bax, Benjamin Britten, and Ralph Vaughan Williams, paired with contemporary compositions by Jonathan Harvey, Bright Sheng, and Augusta Read Thomas. Bak is a proud advocate of new music.

Bak has appeared as soloist with such orchestras as London Philharmonic Orchestra, Sarasota Orchestra, London Mozart Players, New York Classical Players, Juilliard Orchestra, and Brandon Hill Chamber Orchestra, among others. As a recitalist and chamber musician, he has been heard at some of the world’s greatest performance venues. Bak has been a presence at numerous chamber music festivals such as Marlboro Music Festival, Tippet Rise, Chamber Music Northwest, and Newport Classical.

Passionate about education, Bak currently serves as Assistant Professor of Viola at University of North Carolina School of the Arts and as an Ambassador for UK Music Masters in London.

Only the third violist to earn the Artist Diploma from The Juilliard School, Jordan Bak holds a Bachelor of Music degree from New England Conservatory and a Master of Music degree from The Juilliard School where he was awarded the prestigious Kovner Fellowship. His principal teachers were Dimitri Murrath, Hsin-Yun Huang, and Samuel Rhodes.

Jordan Bak plays on two violas both made by Jon van Kouwenhoven. He is married to violist Rubina Bak.

With a contagious smile and captivating charm, conductor, trumpet virtuoso, singer, and actor Byron Stripling ignites audiences across the globe. He was named principal pops conductor of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra in 2020 and the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra in 2024. He also serves as artistic director and conductor of the highly acclaimed Columbus Jazz Orchestra. Byron’s baton has led countless orchestras throughout the United States and Canada, including the Boston Symphony Orchestra at Tanglewood and orchestras from San Diego to Sarasota.

Since his Carnegie Hall debut with Skitch Henderson and the New York Pops, Byron has become a pops orchestra favorite throughout the country, soloing with more than 100 orchestras around the world. As a soloist with the Boston Pops, Byron has frequently performed under the baton of Keith Lockhart, as well as being the featured soloist on the PBS television special, Evening at Pops, with conductors John Williams and Lockhart.

An accomplished actor and singer, Byron starred in the lead role of the Broadway-bound musical, Satchmo; had a cameo performance in the television movie, The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles; and performed in the 42nd Street production of From Second Avenue to Broadway.

Television viewers have enjoyed his work as soloist on the worldwide telecast of the Grammy Awards, commercials, and theme songs. In addition to multiple recordings with his quintet, work with artists from Tony Bennett to Whitney Houston, his prolific recording career includes hundreds of albums with the greatest pops, Broadway, soul, and jazz artists.

Byron earned his stripes as lead trumpeter and soloist with the Count Basie Orchestra. He has also played and recorded with the bands of Dizzy Gillespie, Woody Herman, Dave Brubeck, Lionel Hampton, Clark Terry, Louis Bellson, Buck Clayton, the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, the Carnegie Hall Jazz Band, and the GRP All Star Big Band.

Educated at the Eastman School of Music and Interlochen Arts Academy, one of his greatest joys is to return to both as a guest lecturer.

A resident of Ohio, Byron lives in the country with his wife Alexis, a former dancer, writer, and poet, and their beautiful daughters.

Christina Wells is a nurse, singer, actress, and motivational speaker from Houston, Texas. After years of caring for othersas a Registered Nurse, and single mother to her two incredible sons, Christina embarked upon a journey of

self-discovery that would lead her to national recognition. While in her 40s, she shifted focus toward her passion for singing and performance and found herself auditioning for America’s Got Talent. She not only landed a spot in the competition but was a semifinalist earning praise from the infamous Simon Cowell while winning over the hearts of America.

In addition to her musical talent, she discovered that her message of self-love, confidence, and positivity would inspire millions. She encourages everyone to pursue their own dreams and learn to accept themselves just as they are. News publications such as USA Today, Forbes, The Houston Chronicle, Billboard Magazine, The Washington Post, NPR, Outsmart Magazine, and more have featured her as a performer with a message of positivity, love, and hope who also has a powerhouse voice that will blow the roof off of any stage.

Since her time on America’s Got Talent, Christina has appeared in professional productions such as Ursula in The Little Mermaid (Theatre Under the Stars TUTS), Sour Kangaroo in Seussical (TUTS), Medda Larkin in Newsies! (TUTS), Charilee in Honky Tonk Angels Holiday Spectacular (Stages), Deloris Van Cartier in Sister Act the Musical (Art Park Players), and Motormouth Maybelle in Hairspray (Art Park Players). Christina also spent 2022 and 2023 touring the country as Matron “Mama” Morton in the Broadway National tour of Chicago the Musical.

Christina has sung the National Anthem for the MLB, NFL, and NBA. She has also released two original singles, “Ready or Not” and “Somebody,” available for streaming on Spotify, Apple Music, SoundCloud, and YouTube Music. Each song bears her message of confidence and self-love.

From her time inspiring others as a Semi-Finalist on America’s Got Talent to her appearances at schools, women’s conferences, and benefits across the nation, Christina uplifts her audience with her own unique brand of motivational entertainment.  Visit christinawells.com for more information.

Originally from Barquisimeto, Venezuela, Gabriela Lara began her violin studies at age eight and later became a member of the Latin American Violin Academy, where she was a student of Jose Francisco del Castillo and Francisco Diaz. She was also a member of El Sistema in Venezuela and, as part of that ensemble, had the opportunity to make a 2014 Europe Tour with the Teresa Carreño Symphony Orchestra. She performed with Gustavo Dudamel and the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra as part of a 2016 European tour that included a concert at the Berliner Philharmonie and performed with Sir Simon Rattle as part of a tour that included concerts at the Salzburg Festival.

Since moving to the United States in 2017, Lara was recognized as the winner of the 28^th Sphinx Annual Competition as well as placing second place in the 25^th edition, and was the winner of the 2021 Frank Preuss International Violin Competition. She was also the recipient of a 2022 Project Inclusion Fellowship from the Grant Park Symphony Orchestra and the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra. In 2022, Lara received a Bachelor of Music degree in Violin Performance from the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University, where she was a student of Almita Vamos and went on to receive a Master’s degree in Suzuki Pedagogy from Roosevelt University in 2024.

In the 2022–23 Season, Lara was a member of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago serving as Civic’s Concertmaster in 2023 to later become the first Chicago Symphony Orchestra Fellow. As a CSO Fellow, Lara performed on tour in North America and Europe with Riccardo Muti performing in prestigious halls like the Grand Hall of the Musikverein, the Paris Philharmonie, and the Teatro alla Scala. Lara held that position with the CSO first in the 2022–23 Season and continued in the program during the 2023–24 Season before her appointment to the second violin section of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra. In 2025, Lara became the first CSO musician appointed by Klaus Mäkelä as a member of the first violin section.

José Hernández is a master of mariachi music.

The Grammy-winning world-renowned musician, composer, and music educator, is founder of the world-famous Mariachi Sol de México and America’s first all-female professional mariachi ensemble Mariachi Reyna de Los Angeles. He also directs the mariachi ensemble that plays at L.A. Rams football games.

José’s family hails from Miraflores, Jalisco. He is a seven-generation mariachi whose family, arguably the longest continuous mariachi family, has played music professionally since the 1700s when Mexico was New Spain. José’s daughter, Crystal, is following the family tradition, joining her father’s ensemble Mariachi Reyna de Los Angeles.

José and his Mariachi Sol de México received their latest Latin Grammy nomination in 2022 for their album 40 Aniversario Embajadores del Mariachi, a collection of classic rancheras. José has nine Latin Grammy nominations, and the ensemble has seven. His arrangements and orchestrations have led his mariachi to share the stage with Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Diego Symphony, San Francisco Symphony, and Jalisco Symphony. Recently, the City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra debuted his composition Rapsodia para un mariachi. Mariachi Sol de México has played sold-out concerts from Madison Square Garden to Beijing, China, and Pyongyang, North Korea. It has played for five U.S. presidents from Ronald Reagan to Barack Obama.

The versatility of Mariachi Sol de México de José Hernández led to amazing collaborations with legacy artists such as The Beach Boys, Willie Nelson, Selena, Linda Ronstadt, Juan Gabriel, Jose Feliciano, Vicente Fernández, and a record-breaking tour with superstar Luis Miguel. The ensemble has also provided music for the soundtracks for films Old Gringo, American Me, Rango, Glory Road, Sea Biscuit, Don Juan de Marco, Beverly Hills Chihuahua, and many more.

José works tirelessly to inspire and empower the next generation of musicians, helping to create mariachi music programs in schools in 37 states. He founded The José Hernández' Mariachi Nationals and Summer Institute and the Mariachi Heritage Society. In 2021, he received the Cesar Chavez Legacy of Service Award, recognized for his work elevating the perception of mariachi music throughout the world.

In 1981, at the age of 23, Mr. Jose Hernandez founded Mariachi Sol de Mexico in Los Angeles, California. As true representatives of a treasured musical heritage, the 33 year old Mariachi Sol de Mexico has grown to become a dynamic team that has accepted the mantel as the nation’s mariachi ambassadors. More than any American citizen, Maestro Hernandez is responsible for the recognition that this musical tradition is receiving throughout the world. His ensemble of musical artists brings together refined vocal power and superb musicianship. His 13 member concert mariachi ensemble is one of the finest mariachi ensembles to be found both in Mexico and the United States.

Mr. Hernandez' compositions are bright, splashy celebrations. No one else in the mariachi music scene navigates traditional Mexican folk, classical, and pop music with such grace. Their 8th CD was nominated for a Grammy in 2001 (Tequila con Limon con El Mariachi Sol de Mexico). This nomination made them the first mariachi ensemble to receive such an honor. Their 13th CD, 25 Anniversario José Hernández y Su Mariachi Sol de México, was also nominated for a Grammy in 2007.

Their most recent recording, LA MUSICA, Mariachi Sol de México de José Hernández con La Sinfónica Nacional de Las Américas, was nominated for a Latin Grammy in 2013. Hernandez has taken his ensemble to perform with the New Mexico, Denver, Sacramento, San Francisco, and Los Angeles symphony orchestras. Sol has recorded with American and Mexican artists such as Linda Ronstadt, Willie Nelson, Juan Gabriel, Lola Beltran, Vicente Fernandez, Green Day, Luis Miguel, Shaila Durcal, and Vikki Carr.

Mr. Hernandez has grown to become an American cultural ambassador having toured to Spain, Chile, Venezuela, and Colombia, as well as holding the distinction of being the first mariachi to perform in the People’s Republic of China and North Korea.

Jose Hernandez comes from a family that has been performing mariachi music for five generations. He has shared the stage with his five brothers since the age of three. His fluent mastery of the medium has led him to assist in many film scores. He has participated in more than 20 Hollywood soundtracks including Rango, Seabiscuit, Don Juan De Marco, and A Million to Juan. Mariachi Sol de Mexico represents 126 years of mariachi tradition. 2016 marks their 35^th Anniversary.

Juan Del Castillo is a singer-songwriter born and raised in San Diego, California. He began making music at a very young age. As a child, Juan sang in choir and performed in plays and musicals. He also acted in television shows and commercials throughout his teens. Juan is a polished, dynamic showman whose passion for performing, natural charisma, and innate ability to completely captivate audiences with his stage presence have led him down a path of artistry and success.

As a recording artist, formerly on Sony’s BMG US Latin label, Juan is known for his vocal timbre, range, and fierce control which have more recently drawn comparisons to the former Journey frontman, Steve Perry.

Juan is also the founder and lead vocalist for the internationally touring DSB Band tapped by Ryan Seacrest and Mark Cuban’s AXS TV as “The World’s Greatest Journey Tribute Band.”

Juan is thrilled to share his talents and honored to perform with Windborne and Journey’s catalogue of timeless classics.

Marina Prudenskaya studied at the Saint Petersburg Conservatory and began her career at the Stanislavski Theatre in Moscow. After engagements at Staatstheater Nürnberg, she was a member of the Deutsche Oper Berlin (2005–07) and the Staatsoper Stuttgart (2007–13). Since 2013, she has been an ensemble member at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden Berlin, where she has performed roles such as Herodias (Salome), Venus (Tannhäuser), Composer (Ariadne auf Naxos), Marfa (Khovanshchina), Eboli (Don Carlos), Azucena (Il Trovatore), Ortrud (Lohengrin), Octavian (Rosenkavalier), and Euphrates (Babylon).

She has appeared as a guest at major opera houses worldwide, including Royal Opera House Covent Garden (Azucena, Fricka), Vienna State Opera (Herodias, Mescalina), Teatro Real Madrid, Zurich Opera House (Eboli), Bavarian State Opera (Octavian), Opéra de Paris (Kundry), Grand Théâtre de Genève (Amneris), Washington National Opera, as well as at the Bayreuth Festival (Fricka, Waltraute) and the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence.

She has collaborated with renowned conductors such as Daniel Barenboim, Philippe Jordan, Christian Thielemann, Mariss Jansons, Fabio Luisi, Marek Janowski, Simone Young, Daniel Harding, Hartmut Haenchen, and Plácido Domingo.

As a sought-after concert singer, her highlights include Verdi’s Requiem with the Berlin Philharmonic under Mariss Jansons (Salzburg Easter Festival), Janáček’s Glagolitic Mass with the Vienna Symphony Orchestra under Philippe Jordan (Vienna Konzerthaus), Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde with Vladimir Jurowski (Moscow Philharmonic), and Berlioz’s Les nuits d’été and Verdi’s Messa da Requiem with Marek Janowski (Dresden Philharmonic, RSB Berlin). She has also performed at Berlin Philharmonie, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Musikverein Vienna, and Théâtre des Champs-Élysées.

Highlights of the 2024–25 season include Fenena (Nabucco) at Staatsoper Berlin, her debut as the Nurse (Die Frau ohne Schatten) at Deutsche Oper Berlin, and Fricka (Die Walküre) at ROH London, as well as concert engagements in Boston, Houston, Leipzig, and Dresden.

Known around the world for its eclectic repertoire and dazzling virtuosity, the Grammy Award-winning vocal ensemble Chanticleer—under the leadership of Music Director Tim Keeler—has been hailed by the Boston Globe as “breathtaking in its accuracy of intonation, purity of blend, of color and swagger of style.” Founded in San Francisco in 1978 by singer and musicologist Louis Botto, Chanticleer quickly took its place as one of the most prolific recording and touring ensembles in the world, an “orchestra of voices” performing thousands of live concerts and selling more than one million recordings.

Rooted in the Renaissance, Chanticleer’s repertoire has expanded to include a wide range of classical, gospel, jazz, and popular music. With a deep commitment to the commissioning of new compositions and arrangements, Chanticleer foregrounds American repertoire and a distinctively American sound, complementing the group’s signature diversity in terms of membership and genre. The ensemble has dedicated much of its vast recording catalogue to these commissions, garnering Grammy Awards for its recordings of Sir John Tavener’s Lamentations and Praises and the ambitious collection of commissioned works entitled Colors of Love. Chanticleer is the recipient of Chorus America’s Dale Warland Commission Award and the Chorus America/ASCAP Award for Adventurous Programming. The group’s Music Director Emeritus, Joseph H. Jennings, received the Brazeal Wayne Dennard Award for his contribution to the African American choral tradition during his 25-year tenure as both singer and Music Director.

Chanticleer—named for the “clear-singing” rooster in Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales—was named Ensemble of the Year by Musical America in 2008 and inducted into the American Classical Music Hall of Fame. The group’s award-winning education programs were recognized with the 2010 Chorus America Education Outreach Award, and have engaged tens of thousands of students since the ensemble began.

A Gilmore Young Artist and winner of Salon de Virtuosi, Janice Carissa has “the multicolored highlights of a mature pianist” (Philadelphia Inquirer) and “strong, sure hands” (Voice of America) that “convey a vivid story rather than a mere showpiece” (Chicago Classical Review). Her artistry has been showcased at an array of renowned stages, including the Sydney Opera House, Carnegie Hall, the United Nations, the Kennedy Center, Jay Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park, and the Saratoga Performing Arts Center.

Following her Philadelphia Orchestra debut at age 16, Janice has since performed with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and the Pittsburgh, San Diego, Nashville, Kansas City, Delaware, Amarillo, Des Moines, Knoxville, and Jakarta symphonies, among others. Highlights of the 2025–26 season include concerto appearances with the Minnesota Orchestra, Houston Symphony, ProMusica Chamber Orchestra of Columbus, Jackson (MI) Symphony, and Florida Orchestra, as well as a solo recital at Pepperdine University and a duo with cellist Sterling Elliott for Capital Region Classical.

Janice’s passion for chamber music has led her to performances with Bravo! Vail where she was a piano fellow, the Brooklyn Chamber Music Society, and Jupiter Chamber Concert Series; collaborations with Vadim Gluzman, Miriam Fried, Paul Neuebauer, Lucy Shelton, Marcy Rosen, David Shifrin, Jennifer Cano, and Peter Wiley, among other distinguished musicians; and appearances at Marlboro, North Shore, Ravinia, Caramoor, and Kneisel Hall festivals.

Born in Indonesia, Janice left there in 2013 to enter the Curtis Institute of Music with a full scholarship from Gerry and Marguerite Lenfest, where she was a pupil of Gary Graffman. She went on to earn a Master of Music at The Juilliard School where she studied with Robert McDonald. When away from the piano, Janice is an avid foodie and loves going on strolls with her camera.

As one of the youngest in a rare art form, Brett Miller is an active organist, conductor, and arranger who specializes in the art of silent film accompaniment. As an award-winning organist, Brett has continued his academic involvement and advocacy for the education and preservation of silent films through performing “live to picture.”

In 2021, he was appointed music director of the Empire Film and Media Ensemble, a non-profit based in Rochester, New York, that advocates for the education, performance, and production of film music. He was recently appointed artistic director of the organization. Brett shares a close relationship between the ensemble and the Beal Institute of Film Contemporary Media at the Eastman School of Music. His recent scores have been recorded with organizations such as the Eye Filmmuseum, the Friedrich-Wilhelm-Murnau Foundation, Kino Lober Classics, and Milestone Films. He has been featured at various film festivals and has played events in conjunction with film preservationists from the Library of Congress and George Eastman House. In 2023, Brett played to a sold-out performance of Nosferatu at Marian Anderson Hall in conjunction with the Philadelphia Orchestra. Season highlights include performances for the Houston Symphony, The Boston Pops, The Great Auditorium at Ocean Grove, Atlantic City’s Boardwalk Hall, and the Historic Colonial Theater.

Brett studied organ with renowned organist Jelani Eddington and piano with Beth Crompton and Joseph Rackers of the Eastman School of Music. He studied film accompaniment with Ben Model and Bernie Anderson. A native of Bedminster, Pennsylvania, Brett is an alumnus of the Philadelphia Youth Orchestra Institute. He currently studies at the Eastman School of Music pursuing his masters in orchestral conducting with Neil Varon.

A cappella sensation Voctave has had over 160 million social media views of their videos, and their albums frequently debut in the top 10 on the Billboard and iTunes charts. In 2024 they released the third volume in their popular The Corner of Broadway & Main Street series and recorded a number of collaborations with guest artists including Tituss Burgess and The Swingles. Last season Voctave released a brand-new holiday album It Feels Like Christmas and embarked on a North American holiday tour. Other recent highlights include an album of lullabies entitled Goodnight, My Someone and tours of their popular show The Corner of Broadway & Main Street. Formed in 2015 by producer and arranger Jamey Ray, the voices that bring their arrangements to life represent a wealth of diverse backgrounds and musical experiences. Hailing from Central Florida, the eleven members of Voctave have performed across the globe and appear on countless recordings. The group has performed with GRAMMY, Dove and American Music Award recipients including Sandi Patty, Pentatonix's Kirstin Maldonado, Mark Lowry, David Phelps, and Jody McBrayer. Voctave’s albums are digitally available on all platforms.

Established by an Act of Congress in 1798, the United States Marine Band is America’s oldest continuously active professional musical organization. Its mission is unique—to provide music for the President of the United States and the Commandant of the Marine Corps. President John Adams invited the Marine Band to make its White House debut on New Year’s Day, 1801, in the then-unfinished Executive Mansion. In March of that year, the band performed for Thomas Jefferson’s inauguration and it is believed that it has performed for every presidential inaugural since. In Jefferson, the band found its most visionary advocate. An accomplished musician himself, Jefferson recognized the unique relationship between the band and the Chief Executive and he is credited with giving the Marine Band its title, “The President’s Own.” Whether performing for State Dinners or South Lawn arrivals, events of national significance, or receptions, Marine Band musicians appear at the White House an average of 200 times each year. These performances range from small ensembles such as a solo pianist, jazz combo or brass quintet to a country band, dance band or full concert band. The diversity of music often presented at the Executive Mansion makes versatility an important requirement for Marine Band members. Musicians are selected at auditions much like those of major symphony orchestras, and they enlist in the U.S. Marine Corps for permanent duty with the Marine Band. Most of today’s members are graduates of the nation’s finest music schools, and more than 60 percent hold advanced degrees in music. In addition to its White House mission, “The President’s Own” performs an annual season showcase series of indoor concerts and a popular outdoor summer concert series on the National Mall. Musicians from the band are frequently highlighted in solo performances and participate in more intimate chamber ensemble recitals that feature a wide range of smaller instrumental groups. Marine Band musicians also perform in many different types of ceremonies and events throughout the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area including the Presidential Inauguration, Full Honors funerals at Arlington National Cemetery, Honor Flight ceremonies for veterans at the National World War II Memorial, Friday Evening Parades at Marine Barracks, Washington, D.C., and educational programs in schools throughout the National Capital Region. Each fall, the Marine Band travels throughout a portion of the continental United States during its concert tour, a tradition initiated in 1891 by “The March King” John Philip Sousa, who was the band’s legendary 17th Director. As Director from 1880–92, Sousa brought “The President’s Own” to an unprecedented level of excellence and shaped the band into a world-famous musical organization. Since Sousa’s time, the band’s musical reach has extended beyond America’s borders on several occasions with performances in England, Norway, Ireland, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Singapore, and the former Soviet Union. During Sousa’s tenure, the Marine Band was one of the first musical ensembles to make sound recordings. By 1892, more than 200 different titles were available for sale, placing Sousa’s marches among the first and most popular pieces ever recorded. While the Marine Band is firmly dedicated to preserving the unique musical traditions established over its long history, it is equally committed to serving as a leading ensemble in the development of new repertoire for winds. In 2000, “The President’s Own” commissioned David Rakowski’s Ten of a Kind, a piece honored as a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in music in 2002. In 2007, the band commissioned “Scamp” by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Melinda Wagner, and the Marine Band premièred Scott Lindroth’s Passage at the 2010 Midwest Clinic in Chicago. In 2011, the band commissioned and premièred Flourishes and Meditations on a Renaissance Theme by Michael Gandolfi at the American Bandmasters Association’s annual convention in Norfolk, Va. Most recently, music written for the Marine Band has included Gerard Schwarz’ Above and Beyond, Jacob Bancks’ The Information Age and Laurence Bitensky to write Fearsome Critters, the latter of which was premièred at the Texas Bandmasters Association Convention in San Antonio in July 2012. On July 11, 1998, the Marine Band celebrated its 200th anniversary with a command performance at the White House and a gala concert at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington attended by President and Mrs. Clinton. Also during its bicentennial year, the Marine Band was the only ensemble inducted into the inaugural class of the American Classical Music Hall of Fame in Cincinnati. Given its status among American musical organizations, “The President’s Own” continues to attract prominent guest conductors from major orchestras around the globe, including Osmo Vänskä, Leonard Slatkin, José Serebrier and Gerard Schwarz. On July 12, 2003, the Marine Band returned to the Kennedy Center to celebrate its 205th anniversary in a concert featuring guest conductor John Williams, renowned composer of American film and concert works and laureate conductor of the Boston Pops Orchestra. Williams returned to the podium in 2008 to conduct the final concert of the Living History concert series celebrating the Marine Band’s 210th anniversary. In honor of the Marine Band’s 215th birthday, John Williams composed and dedicated an original work to the Marine Band aptly titled “For ‘The President’s Own.’” The Marine Band’s integral role in the national culture and in the government’s official life has affirmed the importance of the arts as a bridge between people. Since 1798, the Marine Band’s mission has been to provide music for the President of the United States and the Commandant of the Marine Corps. As the only musical organization with that mission, the Marine Band looks to the future, viewing its history and tradition as the foundation upon which to build its third century of bringing music to the White House and to the American people.   Marine Chamber orchestra Established by an Act of Congress in 1798, “The President’s Own” United States Marine Band is America’s oldest continuously active professional musical organization. Its mission is unique—to provide music for the President of the United States and the Commandant of the Marine Corps. Due to the musical demands of this mission, “The President’s Own” began using stringed instruments for performances at the White House as early as 1878. This practice continued during the directorship of John Philip Sousa (1880-92) and records indicate that an orchestra derived from the Marine Band also gave regular concerts at the Marine Barracks auditorium in Washington, D.C., as early as 1893. The U.S. Marine Symphony Orchestra officially emerged as a concert ensemble in 1899 under the leadership of Captain William H. Santelmann (1898-1927), and was staffed by band musicians who doubled on a stringed instrument. In an effort to achieve a level of performance commensurate with that of the concert band, the doubling requirement in “The President’s Own” ended in 1955 under Colonel Albert Schoepper (1955-72), and a chamber orchestra with full-time string players was formed. Downsizing the ensemble also increased its flexibility within the tight quarters of the Executive Mansion and this model has continued to the present day. Whether performing for State Dinners, events of national significance, ceremonies, or receptions, Marine Chamber Orchestra musicians appear at the White House approximately 200 times each year. These performances range from small ensembles such as a solo harp or string quartet to events that feature the full chamber orchestra, making versatility an important requirement for members. The musicians of today’s Marine Chamber Orchestra hail from some of the nation’s most prestigious universities and conservatories. Musicians are selected at auditions much like those of major symphony orchestras, and they enlist in the U.S. Marine Corps for permanent duty with “The President’s Own.” Marine Chamber Orchestra public performances significantly increased beginning in 1978 and a regular concert series took shape under the directorship of Colonel John R. Bourgeois (1979-96) and Colonel Timothy W. Foley (1996-2004).Today, the Marine Chamber Orchestra frequently performs for the public during both the annual showcase and summer concert series. Performing a wide variety of music from the staples of the orchestral repertoire to modern works, Broadway and light classical selections, these concerts give patrons a virtual glimpse inside the Executive Mansion. The musicians are frequently highlighted in solo performances and also participate in chamber ensemble recitals and educational outreach programs that feature a variety of smaller instrumental groups. Whether performing for Presidents, heads of state, concert patrons or students across the National Capitol Region, “The President’s Own” Marine Chamber Orchestra continues to be a cornerstone of the historic artistic life of the White House and a proud representative of the rich and diverse musical heritage of America.

Angel Blue has emerged in recent seasons as one of the most influential sopranos before the public today. The two-time Grammy Award winner, 2020 Beverly Sills Award recipient, and the 2022 Richard Tucker Award winner is celebrated worldwide for her honeyed soprano and affecting deliveries of many of the most beloved roles in the operatic repertory, such as the title roles in Aida and Tosca, Violetta in La Traviata, Bess in Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess, Mimì in La bohème, and Destiny/Loneliness/Greta in Terrence Blanchard’s Fire Shut Up in My Bones.

Her 25–26 season starts with her performances as Bess in Houston Grand Opera’s anticipated new production of Porgy and Bess, celebrating the anniversary of the house’s first production of the piece. Angel also returns to the Opéra national de Paris to sing the title role in Tosca, and to the Metropolitan Opera to sing both Mimì in La bohème and Liu in Turandot.

On the concert stage, she performs Florent Schmidt’s Psalm 47 with the Houston Symphony, the Christmas in Vienna concert at the Konzerthaus Vienna, and concerts at the Grafenegg Festival and Annapolis Symphony. She also performs recitals with pianist Bryan Wagorn at Reykjavik Arts Festival, Spivey Hall, and Four Arts Palm Beach.

Angel kicked off her 24–25 season with the hugely popular Last Night of the Proms, and then returned to her home stage at the Metropolitan Opera, where she spent a major portion of her season. In the fall, she played Margarita Xirgu in Osvaldo Golijov’s first opera, Ainadamar, and in two separate stints over the winter and spring, she made her long-anticipated debut as Aida, conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin. She joined Nézet-Séguin and the Rotterdam Philharmonic on tour in the Netherlands, Germany, and France. Angel also made a company debut as Mimì in the Bayerische Staatsoper’s production of La bohème. She appeared twice at Carnegie Hall, first in recital with the legendary pianist Lang Lang, and again with the Met Opera Orchestra and Nézet-Séguin. Concert engagements included a solo recital at the Los Angeles Opera and Aida in concert at the Baltimore Symphony.

The search for inspiration is a never-ending and vital journey in a person‘s life. In the case of the Greek artist Stathis Karapanos, he found this inspiration by playing the flute and conducting. His international career spans solo, orchestral, chamber, and increasingly, symphonic repertoire. He studied at the National Conservatory in Athens and the University of Music in Karlsruhe, which he completed with distinction in 2018.

He has performed as a member of youth and professional orchestras, such as the Staatstheater Karlsruhe, the Cologne Chamber Orchestra, the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, and others. His teachers and mentors included Mathieu Dufour, Vangelis Papathanassiou, and Peter Lukas Graf, as well as Prof. Philippe Bernold at the Conservatoire National Superieur in Paris. After his graduation, he was appointed principal flute of the Athens State Symphony Orchestra.

Since 2018, Karapanos has been invited to perform with renowned conductors such as Zubin Mehta, Christoph Eschenbach, Valery Gergiev, and Yutaka Sado; orchestras like the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Mariinsky Theater Orchestra, and NHK Symphony Orchestra; and artists such as Gidon Kremer, Vilde Frang, Matthias Goerne, Nicolas Altstaedt, Daniel Hope, Chen Reiss, and Marisol Montalvo.

In May 2024, Karapanos released a critically praised album, Hindemith’s Complete Works for Flute on Ondine Records, followed by recordings of Michael Shapiro’s In the Light of the Sun with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. He has been featured on international podcasts and media and is increasingly active in environmental and cross-cultural projects.

In 2025, he was named Flutist Artistic Liaison to Greenpeace, reflecting his commitment to musical ‘artivism’ and together they have released a series of videos on online platforms to help raise awareness of some of today’s most pressing environmental issues.

Karapanos has received several awards for his musical skills, such as the Bernstein Award of the Schleswig Holstein Music Festival (2020), the Lotto Prize of the Rheingau Festival (2019), and numerous prizes at international competitions.

He regularly performs on a wide range of flutes including alto, bass, contrabass, piccolo, pan-flute, recorder, conch shell, and ancient Greek lyra—blending classical, contemporary, and traditional idioms into a distinctive artistic voice.

Yoonshin Song 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. In Europe, Yoonshin has served as guest concertmaster of the Budapest Festival Orchestra under Iván Fischer for several years, and she has led the Verbier Festival Chamber Orchestra under numerous top-tiered conductors, such as Sir Simon Rattle, Klaus Mäkelä, Daniel Harding, Mikhail Pletnev, and Antonio Pappano. She also served as guest concertmaster of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, and the KBS Symphony Orchestra. Beyond her first chair duties, Yoonshin has performed as a soloist with many orchestras around the world, including the Houston Symphony, Budapest Festival Orchestra, 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, and the KBS Symphony Orchestra, among many others. She has also participated as a soloist and a chamber musician in various roles in leading music festivals, including the ones in Verbier, Lucerne, Samos and Bayreuth in Europe, the Marlboro, Great Lakes, and Deer Valley in the United States. Yoonshin has earned many prestigious prizes throughout her career, including top prize awards in the Lipizer International Violin Competition, the Lipinski and Wieniawski International Violin Competition, the Henry Marteau International Violin Competition, 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 with Robert Mann, Glenn Dicterow, and Lisa Kim at the Manhattan School of Music.

Winner of Third Prize at the 2013 Michael Hill International Violin Competition, Boson was named as one of Canada’s “30 under 30 Top Classical Musicians of 2015” by CBC Radio-Canada. He is a recipient of the “Prix Joseph-Rouleau” at the 2010 Montreal International Violin Competition as well as a top 25 candidate at the 2015 International Tchaikovsky Competition, and is a winner of Canada’s prestigious Sylva Geber Foundation Award. Additionally, he is a two-time winner of Canada Council for the Arts’ Musical Instrument Bank loan. Mo served as Acting Assistant Concertmaster of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra in the autumn of 2017 and is now a member of the Houston Symphony. He will forever be a student of mentors Keqiang Li and Paul Kantor, and he currently performs on a violin by MacArthur “Genius Grant” recipient Joseph Curtin.

Qi Ming, violin, was born in Canton, China. She was educated at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music and the Cleveland Institute of Music in Ohio. She came to Houston to study at the University of Houston’s Moores School of Music and in 1993 won a position in the violin section of the Houston Symphony. In 1998, she was named assistant concertmaster, a post she holds today. Ming has appeared as soloist with many orchestras, both in the United States and in her native country of China.

Marina Brubaker, violin, was born in Tucson, Arizona, into a family of musicians. Her father was a violist, conductor, composer and educator, and her mother was a violinist in the Barcelona Symphony and currently plays viola with the Tucson Symphony. She has music degrees from Wichita State University and Yale School of Music. Brubaker began her career in the Fort Worth Symphony and has served as concertmaster of the Grand Rapids Symphony in Michigan. She joined the violin section of the Houston Symphony in 1988 and is currently serving as acting assistant concertmaster. Other family members involved in orchestral playing include a brother in the Minnesota Orchestra and a sister in the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

A winner of international competitions, Tong Yan has claimed first prize at the International Music Competition of Union Francaise des Artistes Musiciens in Paris, International Violin Competition in Kazakhstan, International Chinese Violin Competition in New York, and string winner at the Gisborne International Orchestral Instruments Competition in New Zealand. She has also placed in the top three at the Andrea Postacchini International Violin Competition in Italy and the Brahms International Violin Competition in Austria. Yan has had many recitals and solo performances with orchestras in Austria, Italy, Germany, France, Australia, New Zealand, China, Canada, and the United States. Yan is currently an active chamber musician and has participated in festivals such as the Summer Strings Academy in Australia, Canada’s Morningside Music Bridge, Colorado College Summer Music Festival, Bar Harbor Music Festival in Maine, Pacific Music Festival in Japan, Spoleto Music Festival in South Carolina, Britt Music Festival in Oregon, and the Meadowmount Summer School in New York. Yan joined the Houston Symphony in 2012 while pursuing her Graduate Diploma at the New England Conservatory of Music, where she studied with Donald Weilerstein. She also holds a Master of Music degree from New England Conservatory, and a split bachelor’s degree from the Vienna University of Fine Arts, Joseph Haydn Conservatory, and the Oberlin Conservatory of Music. Her teachers include Elisabeth Kropfitsch, Klaus Maetzl, and Marilyn McDonald.

MiHee Chung was born in Seoul, Korea. She left her family at age 15 to attend Interlochen Arts Academy on a full scholarship. She attended the academy for three years and upon graduation received the Young Artist Award. Chung earned her Bachelor of Music degree from The University of Michigan and Master of Music from The Juilliard School. She studied under Paul Makanowitzky and Ivan Galamian. In 1981, she joined the Houston Symphony.

Sophia Silivos, violin, has been a member of the Houston Symphony since 1992. Silivos began her career as first violinist of the Dakota quartet and then was named principal second violinist of the New Mexico Symphony. She has performed as soloist with the Houston Symphony and served as Associate Concertmaster for the 2005–06 season. An ardent proponent of chamber music, Silivos has appeared with ensembles throughout the United States and has performed live for public radio stations in Chicago, Houston, and Minneapolis. Here in Texas, she is a featured violinist for the St. Cecilia Chamber Music concert series. She has served on the faculties of the University of Houston and Augustana college, teaches privately, and gives master classes. In the summer of 2007, Silivos was an invited participant in a three-week tour of China, giving master classes and performing recitals and solos with orchestra.

Rodica Gonzalez is an accomplished violinist who has been studying and performing since the age of 4. She has been a member of the first violin section of the Houston Symphony since 1990. Originally from Romania, Gonzalez studied, as a child, at the George Enescu Music School, giving her first solo performance with an orchestra at the age of 11. As a teenager, she studied with the acclaimed Romanian music teacher, Modest Iftinchi, at the Ciprian Porumbescu Conservatory in Bucharest. In the mid-eighties she was awarded scholarships at prestigious music academies in Italy and Switzerland. It was then that she had the opportunity to meet and study with Sergiu Luca, who was at Houston’s Rice University. Her life took an exciting turn when Luca invited her to study with him at Rice’s Shepherd School of Music. She received her master’s degree in music at Rice University in 1990. Early in her career, Gonzalez performed with the Houston Ballet Orchestra and was concertmaster and soloist with the National Repertory Orchestra in Keystone, Colorado. She was winner of the Shepherd School Concerto Competition as well as the Campanile Orchestra Concerto Competition. She has been soloist with the Houston Symphony on many occasions, including the Sounds Like Fun! music festival. In the spring of 1996, Gonzalez embarked on her first solo tour of Switzerland and her native Romania. Since then, she has performed extensively as a recitalist and in chamber ensembles in Romania, Italy, Canada, Mexico, and the United States. She has performed as a soloist with the Bucharest and Constanta Philharmonic, Doctor’s Orchestra of Houston, Galveston Symphony, the Houston Civic Symphony, and Houston Chamber Orchestra, where she was concertmaster. She is the founding violinist of the Tre Voci Trio and the Fidelis Quartet, ensembles that perform extensively in Houston and other parts of the United States. Gonzalez has had the great honor of performing at Carnegie Hall several times. She performed her debut recital at Carnegie Hall in 2002 with her colleague John Hendrickson and had the privilege of returning twice with Tre Voci and pianist Ilgin Aka. She performed again in Carnegie Hall with the Fidelis String Quartet and was privileged to be invited back to perform with her sister Mihaela and pianist Ilonka Rus. In June 2011, Gonzalez performed a program of Brahms and Piazzola in Carnegie Hall with the Fidelis Quartet, flutist Judy Dines and clarinetist Danny Granados. This program was released in 2019 on CD by Delos label to rave reviews. Music is the centerpiece of Gonzalez’s life, more than a profession, it is her avocation and passion. Of her playing, Atencion San Miguel wrote that she “uses the most delicate and articulate phrasing in her playing, yet her capriciousness at times yields the exciting singing of strings that audiences revere…her playing shows a polished and confident style.” In addition to her performing duties, Gonzalez enjoys teaching young, aspiring musicians. She taught for many years at Houston Baptist University and is now on the faculty of The University of Saint Thomas. She and her husband Robert are proud parents of their son, Matthew.

Ferenc Illenyi, violin, is a native of Hungary where his first teacher was his father, a violinist with the Hungarian State Opera. He made his debut in Budapest performing the Beethoven and Tchaikovsky violin concertos. He has performed recitals in Hungary, Germany, Switzerland, Canada and the United States, and has recorded works by Paganini, Saint-Saens and Schubert for Hungarian radio and television. Illenyi has a master’s degree in music from the Liszt Music Academy in Budapest and has done graduate work at the Banff Center in Alberta, Canada, the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana, Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music and the University of Houston‚ Moores School of Music. Illenyi has been a member of the Houston Symphony since 1991.

Si-Yang Lao, originally from China, began his violin studies with his father at the age of 7. After receiving his bachelor’s degree from the prestigious Shang-Hai Conservatory of Music, he became a violin teacher at the Xin-Hai Conservatory of Music for two years before coming to the United States to further his studies. He earned his master’s degree from the Moores School of Music at the University of Houston. Lao was first Prize winner of the 1990 Leopold Shopmaker Award (a Mid-American violin competition) and 1992 Texas Music Teacher Association Competition. He was awarded a full scholarship and was one of a few who received the Dorothy Sterling Foundation Scholarship from the school, which provided him the opportunity to serve as assistant teacher to Ms. Fredell Lack while he was in school. Lao joined the Houston Symphony during the 1997–1998 season and has performed as solo artist with Galveston Symphony Orchestra, Austin City Symphony Orchestra, and Kansas City Symphony Orchestra. He has toured the United States, Hong Kong, Japan and all major cities in Europe with the Chinese Virtuoso Orchestra and the Houston Symphony. He performs on an old Italian violin made in 1750 by Gulius Caesar Gigli.

Christopher Neal joined the Houston Symphony in 2001. Prior to that he was a member of the Michigan Opera Theatre, North Carolina Symphony, and Naples Philharmonic. He holds degrees from Loyola University New Orleans and the Cleveland Institute of Music. Neal has participated in festivals at Spoleto USA, Tanglewood, and Norfolk and has performed as a soloist with several orchestras, including the Houston Symphony. As a chamber musician, he has performed in venues as varied as KUHF radio and Saez and Zouk, a midtown nightclub. Neal enjoys teaching and has been on the faculty of the American Festival of the Arts in Houston. He is married to Mila Ivkovich Neal, a professional violinist who works with the Houston Grand Opera and Ballet, and has two grown children, Maja and Luka.

A native of Moscow, Russia, Sergei Galperin began studying violin at the age of 5 and shortly thereafter gave his first public performance in the Concert Hall of the Moscow Conservatory. Galperin comes from a family of musicians – a choral conductor mother, a recording engineer father, and a younger sister who plays the piano. After studying at the Moscow Conservatory with professor N. Boyarsky, Galperin received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the Juilliard School, where he was a full-scholarship student in the class of Dorothy DeLay and Hyo Kang. He later earned Artist Diplomas from Indiana University and Peabody Conservatory in the class of Z. Gilels, N. Shkolnikova, and H. Greenberg. Galperin made his American solo orchestral debut in May 1982 at the age of 16, playing the Wieniawski Violin Concerto with the New York Philharmonic at Avery Fisher Hall in Lincoln Center. He has also performed as a soloist with the Houston Symphony in their Educational and Pops Series, as well as with the Indiana University, Aspen Symphony, and Dallas Festival orchestras. As a winner of Artist International auditions, Galperin made his New York solo recital debut in March 1988 at the Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall. After winning New York’s National Arts Club Competition in 1987, he was featured in recital on live ABC and PBS news shows. Subsequently he appeared in recital at Alice Tully and Merkin Concert Halls at Lincoln Center. In May 1993, he won an honorable mention award as a finalist of a prestigious Concert Artist Guild competition. Currently a first violinist of the Houston Symphony, Galperin has also been invited to serve as Concertmaster with the Rochester Philharmonic for the 2004–05 season, as well as with the Adelaide Symphony in Australia. Prior to his current position, Galperin was a member of the Pittsburgh Symphony first violin section from 1999–2002. He has also worked with the Chicago and Baltimore symphony orchestras, as well as the Grant Park, Aspen, and Grand Teton festival orchestras, A. Schneider String Seminar, and Taos Chamber Music Festival. As a member of chamber and symphony orchestras Galperin has toured internationally in Australia, Malaysia, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Brazil, Argentina, Israel and Europe. Sergei Galperin teaches privately and has served as a faculty member at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh in 1999–2003, as well as a Professor of Violin at the University of St. Thomas in Houston in 1998–99 and teaching assistant at the Indiana University School of Music from 1990–1994.

Originally from the Philadelphia area, Amy joined the Houston Symphony in 2019. Before starting in the Houston Symphony she completed her Masters of Music degree at the Shepherd School of Music at Rice studying with Kathleen Winkler. She earned her Bachelor of Music degree at the Juilliard School under the tutelage of Naoko Tanaka. Amy has performed as an orchestral musician with ensembles around the US and abroad, including the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, New World Symphony, Aspen Music Festival Orchestra, Music Academy of the West Festival Orchestra, Tanglewood Music Center Festival Orchestra, and National Youth Orchestra of the USA. In the summers, Amy performs at the Grand Teton Music Festival in Jackson Hole, WY. Amy has also performed as soloist with orchestras around the US and Asia, including the Shanghai Philharmonic. In her spare time outside of the orchestra, Amy enjoys long distance running and spending time with her Australian Shepherd, Haven.

A native of Taiwan, Annie Chen began her musical studies at age 6 on piano and at age 8 on violin. At age 14, she moved to the United States to continue her music education at the Walnut Hill School for the Arts and the New England Conservatory Preparatory Program in Boston. Chen has been a participant of numerous summer music festivals including the Heifetz International Music Institute, the Music Academy of the West, where she was a winner of the 2011 concerto competition, and the Tanglewood Music Center. She has toured with the Youth Orchestra of the Americas and was a regular member of Discovery Ensemble, a Boston-based chamber orchestra that provides outreach concerts to inner-city schools with no music programs. She has also been featured as a soloist with the Dorchester Symphony Orchestra. Chen holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the New England Conservatory in Boston and a master’s degree from the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University, where she held the Shepherd School Distinguished Fellowship in Violin. Her principal teachers have included Lynn Chang, James Buswell, and Kathleen Winkler.

Mihaela Frusina, violin, was born in Bucharest, Romania. Before coming to Houston to study with Sergiu Luca at Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music, she received a high school diploma in Violin Performance from the George Enescu Conservatory. Frusina earned both her Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees at the Shepherd School. She played with the Houston Ballet and Houston Grand Opera orchestras before joining the Houston Symphony in 1995. Her sister, Rodica Gonzalez, is also a member of the orchestra’s violin section.

Jing Zheng, originally from Beijing, has played with the Houston Symphony since 2015. She earned her Master of Music degree on a full scholarship under Kathleen Winkler at the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University as a recipient of Dr. Mischa Caplan Endowed Scholarship. Jing also holds a Bachelor of Music degree on a full scholarship from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, where she was a student of Ian Swensen as a recipient of the Walter & Elise Haas Scholarship. Her principal teachers include William van der Sloot, and Lin Yao Ji. Jing has participated in Kneisel Hall, Meadowmount School of Music, Morningside Music Bridge, and the New York String Orchestra Seminar under Jaime Laredo. Jing is a prizewinner of the Shean competition, Berkley Piano Club, and concerto competition at SFCM. She has performed as a soloist with several orchestras including Calgary Philharmonic. Jing has had the privilege to work with Ron Leonard, Laurence Lesser, Cho Liang-Lin, Desmond Hoebig, James Ehnes, Pierre Amoyal, Pamela Frank, Donald Weilerstein, Pinchas Zukerman, and members of the Diaz Trio and Concord Quartet.

Tianjie Lu was born in Qingdao, China, and is currently a violinist at the Houston Symphony. He received his Master of Music degree from the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University, where he was offered a full scholarship to study with Kathleen Winkler. In 2014, Lu won second Prize in the Ruth Burr Music Competition. Lu completed his Bachelor of Music at Mannes College, where he studied with Sally Thomas. He previously studied with Tong Weidong at the middle school attached to Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing. In June 2005, he attended the Great Wall International Music Academy. The following year, Lu studied with Kathleen Winkler, took first prize in the concerto competition at the second Beijing International Music Festival and Academy, and was honored at China’s eighth National Violin Performance Competition. He attended the Music Academy and studied with Kathleen Winkler in 2008, 2009 and 2010. He was at Meadowmount Music School as a student with a full scholarship and teaching assistance of Sally Thomas in the summer of 2012.

A native of St. Petersburg, Russia, Anastasia Iglesias joined the second violins of the Houston Symphony in 2017 while performing in their first violin section as a contracted substitute. After Anastasia moved to the United States at the age of 17, her musical career took a diversion into jazz and contemporary music. Realizing her passion for orchestral playing, she returned to her classical training and earned full scholarships to attend the Boston Conservatory studying with Lynn Chang, Indiana University with Jaime Laredo, and Rice University with Kathleen Winkler. Anastasia has attended numerous music festivals including the Music Academy of the West, Sarasota Music Festival, Britten Pears Young Artists Program, and the New York String Orchestra Seminar at Carnegie Hall.

Tina Zhang has been a violinist with the Houston Symphony since 2011. Prior to joining the orchestra, she received her bachelor’s degree in both music and mathematics at Bard College where she studied with Weigang Li. She completed her master’s degree at Rice University with Cho-Liang Lin. After starting the violin at age 6 with Keqiang Li in Montreal, Tina placed second in the national round of the Canadian Music Competition at age 11 and made her solo debut a year later with the FACE Symphony Orchestra. She went on to place first in the Canadian Music Competition, the New World Philharmonic Orchestra Competition, and the Montreal Classical Music Festival; she placed third in the HAMS Competition of Chicago. Tina is an active chamber musician and has participated in festivals such as the Kneisel Hall Chamber Music Festival in Maine; the Pacific Music Festival in Sapporo, Japan; the Aspen Music Festival in Colorado; the Kent Blossom Music Festival in Ohio; the Académie Domaine Forget in Quebec; and the National Academy Orchestra of Canada in Hamilton, Ontario. In her spare time, Tina enjoys teaching violin, playing board games, and spending time with her husband and 1-year-old daughter.

A native of Istanbul, Turkey, Yankı Karataş joined the Houston Symphony in April 2024. Prior to her appointment, she was a violin fellow at the New World Symphony and performed with many orchestras including the San Diego Symphony, Borusan Istanbul Philharmonic, and Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra. She moved to the United States in 2014 and received her Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees at Stony Brook University studying with Hagai Shaham, Philip Setzer, and Arnaud Sussmann. She also holds a Bachelor of Music degree from Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University Istanbul Conservatory, studying with Pelin Halkaci Akin and graduating with the highest honors. An avid chamber musician, Yankı studied under the Emerson String Quartet Intensive program and won the Lauren V. Ackerman Chamber Music Prize performing Ligeti’s Horn Trio. Additionally, she’s had the privilege of performing alongside artists such as Yo-Yo Ma, Lawrence Dutton, Paul Watkins, Colin Carr, and Arnaud Sussmann during her studies. As a soloist, Yankı played various concertos with the Mersin University Academic Chamber Orchestra, Mimar Sinan Symphony, and Stony Brook Symphony. Outside of performing, Yankı has maintained and enjoyed her private teaching studio for many years and plans to keep teaching an integral part of her life.

A native of Belle Plaine, Iowa Hannah began violin studies in 2004 under the guidance of John Schultz. She is an alumna of the Cleveland Institute of Music having been mentored by Jessica Lee and Joan Kwuon. Additionally, she holds a minor in acting from Case Western Reserve University and is a recent graduate with her master’s degree at the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University under Kathleen Winkler. As an avid chamber musician, she was the first violinist of the ILO Quartet, who won accolades at the Coltman Competition and the Stockholm International Music Competition (2021). Hannah’s artistry has been showcased with the Cleveland Women’s Orchestra, where she also served as concertmaster, and NPR’s From the Top where she was the recipient of the Jack Cooke Kent Scholarship. She frequently gives violin recitals to benefit different charities and the local communities. She was a member of Carnegie Hall’s NYO-USA (2017 & 2018) touring both South America and Asia. She was also awarded a fellowship to perform alongside the London Symphony Orchestra after attending the Music Academy of the West on full scholarship. Aside from performing, she enjoys making jewelry, baking, and designing practice planners.

Violinist Alexandros Sakarellos has performed as a soloist, chamber and orchestral musician across five continents and in 25 countries.

A native of Greece, Sakarellos received his early musical training at the Athens Conservatory, Greece's leading musical institution. While in Greece he enjoyed a satisfying performing career from a very early age. Before turning 20 he was already appearing frequently as a soloist and recitalist, serving as Concertmaster of the City of Athens Symphony Orchestra and as a first violinist with the Athens State Orchestra.

In 2005 Alexandros moved to New York. He studied at the Manhattan School of Music with New York Philarmonic's Concertmaster Glenn Dicterow, Assistant Principal Lisa Kim and Professor Isaac Malkin.

During his years in New York, his activities included performances with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, Concertmaster appearances under renowned artists such as Kurt Masur and Pinchas Zuckerman, performances in Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, the Museum Of Modern Arts, the Onassis Foundation and other such venues.

Sakarellos is a leading violinist with the Verbier Festival Chamber Orchestra under the direction of Gabor Takacs Nagy and has worked closely with artists such as Martha Argerich, Maxim Vengerov and Yuri Bashmet.

Other appearances include the Festivals of Ravello in Italy, Miyazaki in Japan, Bellerive in Switzerland and Santo Domingo. In 2009 he was privileged to be invited by the prestigious Athens-Epidaurus Festival to give the Greek premiere of several works by the awarded American-Greek composer George Tsontakis.

Before joining the Houston Symphony, Sakarellos has been a member of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra since 2014. Prior to that he played for two years in the 1st Violin section of the San Francisco Opera.

Since 2022 he has been working very closely with world renowned violinist Leonidas Kavakos as part of the ApollΩn Ensemble , under the leadership of the great artist.

He is playing on violins by Joseph Gagliano (made in 1760) and Stephan von Baehr (made in 2020).

Joan DerHovsepian is the newly appointed Principal Viola of the Houston Symphony after winning the international audition held in May 2023. She first joined the viola section of the Houston Symphony in 1999, hired by Christoph Eschenbach, won the audition for Associate Principal Viola in the fall of 2010 during the tenure of Hans Graf, and now begins serving as Principal with Music Director Juraj Valčuha. Recent solo performances with the Houston Symphony include Mozart Sinfonia Concertante with Concertmaster Yoonshin Song in October 2022 and Bruch Double Concerto with Principal 2nd Violin MuChen Hsieh in March 2022. Joan was formerly Principal Viola of the Charleston Symphony Orchestra and has appeared as guest principal viola with the Chicago and Cincinnati symphonies. Joan is Artist Teacher of Viola at Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music, instructing students in viola orchestral repertoire and independent study. Students who have come through her course have gone on to win positions in the Cincinnati Symphony, Colorado Symphony, Dallas Symphony, Fort Worth Symphony, Houston Symphony, Metropolitan Opera, Minnesota Orchestra, National Arts Center Orchestra, National Symphony, North Carolina Symphony, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Pittsburgh Symphony, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, San Diego Symphony, Washington National Opera, among others. She is regular guest faculty for the New World Symphony and has given masterclasses in the study of orchestral excerpts for viola students of the Juilliard School, the New England Conservatory and the University of Melbourne Conservatorium. Recent festival and chamber music appearances include the Seattle Chamber Music Society, Mainly Mozart Festival, Grand Teton Music Festival, Mimir Chamber Music Festival (Ft. Worth TX and Melbourne Australia), Music in Context, Peninsula Music Festival, National Orchestral Institute and Lake Lure Chamber 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. Joan was the second prize recipient of the Primrose International Viola Competition. She attended the Eastman School of Music studying with violist James Dunham, and the Hochschule für Musik in Freiburg Germany, with violist Kim Kashkashian.

Born in China, Wei Jiang began studying violin with his father at the age of 5 and began studying viola after being admitted to the prestigious Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing. Having graduated with the highest honor, he was subsequently offered a teaching position at the conservatory as the youngest member of the music faculty. During his five-year tenure at the Central Conservatory, Jiang was actively involved in performing both solo and chamber music and toured extensively with his string quartet in Asia and Europe. He was also a founding member of the Eclipse Ensemble, a unique performing group that showcases music by contemporary Chinese composers throughout China. Jiang came to the United States in 1996 to further his musical training at the Oberlin Conservatory and later at the University of Maryland. In 1999, he became a member of the Houston Symphony. Jiang is also a member of the Fidelis String Quartet which performed in recital at Carnegie Hall in 2005 and toured Puerto Rico in 2006.

Samuel Pedersen was appointed to the Houston Symphony viola section in April 2022. Prior to joining, he was a member of the New World Symphony and the Civic Orchestra of Chicago. Other engagements have been with the Lyric Opera of Chicago, Grant Park Music Festival, Houston Grand Opera, and New York Philharmonic as a Global Academy fellow. In addition to spending one summer as an orchestral fellow, Pedersen was a member of the New Fromm Players for two years at the Tanglewood Music Center. It was there that he dedicated time to the preparation and performance of contemporary repertoire, working alongside leading composers in the field. Highlights include the U.S. Premiere of Julian Anderson’s Third String Quartet as well as the World Premiere of Augusta Read Thomas’ Magic Box, for String Quartet and Percussion Quartet. His chamber music studies include mentors such as Norman Fischer, Andrew Jennings, Dawn Upshaw, and members of the Juilliard, Brentano and Pacifica quartets. Previous summers have been spent performing at the Madeline Island, National Repertory Orchestra, and Bowdoin music festivals. Pedersen was raised in Batavia, IL. He holds a master’s degree from Rice University and a bachelor’s degree from DePaul University. Principal teachers include Ivo van der Werff and Rami Solomonow, with additional instruction from Lawrence Neuman and Joan DerHovsepian. Outside of the orchestra, Pedersen enjoys cycling, frisbee, and spending time with his brother, Andrew, member of the Houston Symphony double bass section.

Hailed by audiences across North America and Europe for his commanding and expressive performances, Venezuelan/American violinist and violist Paul Aguilar currently resides in Houston, Texas. As an orchestral musician, he was recently appointed as a member of the Houston Symphony viola section, and he also maintains an active solo and chamber music performance schedule of over 40 recitals every year. As a chamber musician, Paul has appeared on concert series and in concert halls across North America and internationally, including Carnegie’s Weill Recital Hall, Ravinia Festival, ChamberFest Cleveland, Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts, La Jolla Summerfest, the Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival, the Schneider Concert Series, the Heidelberg String Quartet Festival, and the Emilia-Romagna Festival. Equally comfortable on both violin and viola, Paul has won top prizes in nearly every major chamber music competition, including the Banff International String Quartet Competition, the Bordeaux International String Quartet Competition, the Melbourne International String Quartet Competition, and the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition. He was selected as the only Orpheus Chamber Orchestra Performance Fellow for the 2020-2021 season, and he also performs regularly as a member of the Astralis Chamber Ensemble. His chamber music collaborators have included artists such as James Ehnes, Augustin Hadelich, Phil Setzer, Lawrence Power, Paul Watkins, Desmond Hoebig, Jon Kimura Parker, Frank Cohen, and Shirley Brill. Bringing total dedication and commitment to everything he does, Paul strives to educate the next generation on the importance of true excellence in every area of life, and of classical music’s role as simply a tool along that path. As an educator, Paul has appeared as guest artist faculty at festivals and institutions across the United States including Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music, the Cleveland Institute of Music Young Artist Program, the Intermountain Suzuki String Institute, and the Fine Arts Center in Greenville, SC. He is actively involved with the Sphinx Organization in both performance and outreach and was a 2019 MPower Grant recipient. A graduate of the Cleveland Institute of Music, Paul counts Jaime Laredo, Jan Mark Sloman, and Si-Yan Darren Li as some of his most formative musical influences; he also holds a degree from Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music where he participated in their String Quartet Residency. Paul pursued further chamber music studies in Europe at the Escuela Superior de Música Reina Sofía in Madrid and at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna where he was fortunate to study under Günter Pichler, Gerhard Schulz, Johannes Meissl, and Avri Levitan. In addition to his busy travel and performance schedule, Paul is committed to regularly sharing music in schools and organizations throughout his community. When not involved with music, Paul enjoys running, reading, and spending time with his family. Paul plays on a very fine violin and viola that were commissioned from master luthier Kevin Lee.

Praised by the Edmonton Journal for performing “with precision and grace,” and by NUVO Magazine for his “consistently rich tone [and] expressive, intense playing,” Sheldon Person is a violist in the Houston Symphony and enjoys an active career as a chamber musician, recitalist, and teacher. He has toured with the Houston Symphony in seven countries on three continents and performed with them on their live recording of Alban Berg’s Wozzeck that received the 2017 Grammy Award. Mr. Person was previously a member of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra and has also performed with the London Symphony Orchestra, the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, the Mainly Mozart Festival Orchestra, and as soloist and guest principal with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra. Since 2016 and 2017 respectively, he has been a faculty artist at the Sewanee Summer Music Festival and an artist at the Zenith Chamber Music Festival at Drake University. Mr. Person has appeared on the Houston Symphony Chamber Music Series Inaugural 2019-20 season, as well as at the Texas Music Festival, Musica Tra Amici, and Musiqa Houston. Radio broadcasts include appearances on Houston Public Radio and NPR. Mr. Person’s collaborations on new trios by Per Mårtensson and Karim Al-Zand were released on the Centaur Records label in 2017 and 2018. He has also given world and European premiere performances of Variations on a theme of Bartók, a work for viola and piano that was written for him by Mr. Al-Zand. Mr. Person has performed as a guest artist at Rice University, University of Houston, Indiana State University, and Michigan State University. He is the current President of Third Space Music, a non-profit partnership between musicians from the Houston Symphony and the Houston community that presents four chamber music concerts annually and contributes to Houston-area non-profit organizations. As first prize winner of the Royal Overseas League’s Bernard Shore Viola Competition, Mr. Person performed recitals in London, including an appearance at St. Martin-in-the-Fields. While a member of the Artea String Quartet, Leverhulme Fellows at the Royal Academy of Music, Mr. Person performed chamber music throughout the U.K., including appearances at Wigmore Hall, the South Bank Centre, the Brighton Festival, Buckingham Palace, and live on BBC Radio 3. He was also the winner of the Wayne Crouse Viola Prize at the Corpus Christi International Competition for Piano and Strings. Mr. Person holds degrees and certificates from The Guildhall School of Music and Drama (London), Indiana University, Rice University, and the University of Alberta. His principal teachers have included Atar Arad, David Takeno and Karen Ritscher. As a fellow of the Aspen Music Festival and School, he served as the Assistant Principal Viola of both the Aspen Festival and Chamber Orchestras. Mr. Person performs on a modern viola by Theodore Skreko that was awarded the silver medal for tone at the 2010 Violin Society of America Competition. He is a native of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. For more information, visit www.sheldonperson.com.

Fay Shapiro, born in Davenport, Iowa, received her Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from the University of Iowa, where she studied with William Preucil, Sr. She spent one season with the Oklahoma Symphony in Oklahoma City, then joined the viola section of the Houston Symphony in 1981. She is married to Mark Shapiro, a member of the Houston Symphony bass section.

Described as “mesmerizing” by The Burlington Hawkeye Times and “transportive” by the Santa Barbara Voice, 25-year-old violist Keoni Bolding has established a career across the United States and Europe. He has toured Europe with the New York Philharmonic and Rome Chamber Music Festival as well as performed with the Philadelphia Orchestra and London Symphony. Last year, he won the Transcription Prize at the Primrose International Viola Competition with his transcription of Tosca Act II. Earlier this year, he oversaw the premiere of his electronic chamber opera 52 Hz at Lincoln Center.

James (Jimmy) Cunningham IV was born in Pittsburgh, PA, and recently moved to Houston to study with James Dunham at Rice University. He holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan where he studied with Yizhak Schotten, and an Artist Diploma from the Robert McDuffie Center for Strings where he worked with Victoria Chiang and Rebecca Albers. During his Artist Diploma, he also worked closely with mentors Lawrence Dutton and Annie Fullard, and performed in numerous chamber ensembles alongside Amy Schwartz Moretti, Cho-Liang Lin, Andy Armstrong, Ettore Causa, and others. During summer of 2024, Cunningham was a member of the New Fromm Quartet at the Tanglewood Music Center. In addition to working with student composers to premier brand-new compositions, the quartet presented a wide variety of contemporary chamber works under the direction of curators Tania León and Steven Mackey. During summer 2023, Cunningham was an orchestral fellow at Tanglewood; and from 2018 to 2022, he spent four summers at the Aspen Music Festival as an orchestral fellow. While at Aspen, he performed as Principal Viola of the Aspen Opera Orchestra and Assistant Principal Viola of the Aspen Chamber Symphony. In 2016, Cunningham performed with the National Youth Orchestra of the USA at Carnegie Hall conducted by Christoph Eschenbach and Valery Gergiev. That fall, Cunningham debuted with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra performing the Telemann Double Concerto with his teacher at the time, Marylène Gingras-Roy. He hopes to have a viola studio of his own in the future, and at home he enjoys making pasta from scratch and exploring manual espresso.

Critics have described American cellist Brinton Averil Smith as a “virtuoso cellist with few equals,” hailing him as “a proponent of old-school string playing such as that of Piatigorsky and Heifetz.” Gramophone praised Brinton in his debut recording of Miklós Rózsa’s Cello Concerto as a “hugely eloquent, impassioned soloist,” writing “The sheer bravura of Smith’s reading is infectious.” BBC Music magazine wrote of his recent Naxos recording of Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco’s Cello Concerto, “his is a cast iron technique of verve and refinement put entirely at the service of the music… The artistry on display here is breathtaking,” while David Hurwitz of Classics Today wrote, “Smith plays the living daylights out of it. His full tone, impeccable intonation, and fleet passage work–never for a moment ungainly or stressed–lets the music soar.” Gramophone also wrote of Smith’s most recent Naxos recording, Exiles in Paradise, which explores the rich legacy of the émigré composers who gathered in Hollywood in the mid-20^th century, “Smith plays the bejesus out of it, making child’s play of the rapid-fire spiccatos and almost impossible-to-control harmonics. …and teems with old-school elegance and just the right dose of schmaltz.” Brinton’s North American engagements have included performances at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and recital and concerto engagements throughout the country, while his broadcast performances include CBS’s Sunday Morning and regular appearances on NPR’s Performance Today and Symphonycast. He has appeared regularly as a soloist with the Houston Symphony since joining the orchestra as principal cellist in 2005. Prior to this, he was the first musician chosen by Lorin Maazel to join the New York Philharmonic and the principal cellist of the Fort Worth and San Diego Symphony Orchestras. His live concert performances on YouTube have been viewed more than one million times, including more than 250,000 views of a live encore of Paganini’s 24^th Caprice. Devoted to expanding the cello repertoire, Brinton performs a wide variety of violin, piano, and vocal transcriptions, and gave the North American premiers of rediscovered cello works of Jean Sibelius and Alexander Zemlinsky as well as the world premiere of Castelnuovo-Tedesco’s Sonata for violin and cello. He also gave the first professional performance of Castelnuovo-Tedesco’s cello concerto since its 1935 premiere with Arturo Toscanini and Gregor Piatigorsky. An active chamber musician, Brinton has collaborated with violinist Gil Shaham on numerous occasions, including Carnegie Hall’s Gil Shaham and Friends series. He has also collaborated with cellists Yo-Yo Ma and Lynn Harrell; pianists Yefim Bronfman, Emanuel Ax, Jeffrey Kahane, and Kirill Gerstein; violinists James Ehnes, Cho-Liang Lin, and Sarah Chang; soprano Dawn Upshaw; and members of the Beaux Arts Trio; and the Guarneri, Emerson, Juilliard, Cleveland, and Berg quartets. He has performed with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, the Marlboro Music Festival, the Aspen Music Festival, the Sarasota Music Festival, the Seattle Chamber Music Society, the Mainly Mozart Festival, the Brevard Music Festival, and the Texas Music Festival. Brinton is currently an associate professor at the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University and a faculty member of the Aspen Music Festival. The son of a mathematician and a pianist, Brinton Averil Smith was admitted to Arizona State University at age 10, where he took courses in mathematics and German and, at age 17, completed a B.A. 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 an M.A. in mathematics at age 19. He subsequently studied with the legendary cellist Zara Nelsova at The Juilliard School. While there, he was a prize winner in several consecutive Juilliard concerto competitions and the Leonard Rose International Cello Competition and received a doctor of musical arts degree, writing on the playing of Emanuel Feuermann. Brinton lives in Houston with his wife, the pianist Evelyn Chen, and their enormous but benevolent dog. Their daughter, Calista, is a soprano studying at Northwestern University. His cello was made by Gaetano Pasta in Brescia, c.1710. Visit www.brintonaverilsmith.com

Christopher French is the associate principal cellist of the Houston Symphony. Before joining the orchestra in 1986, he held titled positions in both the Shreveport Symphony Orchestra and the Honolulu Symphony. French is the seventh of a full octave of musical siblings. He enjoys performing with the Bad Boys of Cello, the alter ego of the Houston Symphony cello section. The Bad Boys have played in homeless shelters and elementary schools in an effort to eliminate the classist misconceptions about classical music. French is a graduate of North Park University in Chicago, where he won the Performance Award. In addition to three concerto performances with the Houston Symphony, he has appeared on the Chamber Players series, and with Da Camera of Houston and the Greenbriar Consortium. He participates in the Mainly Mozart Festival in San Diego, Music in the Mountains in Durango, Colorado, and the Grand Teton Music Festival in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. French teaches orchestral repertoire at Rice University.

Anthony Kitai joined the Houston Symphony in 2001, serving as acting associate principal cellist from 2003–2005. Previously, he was a member of the Memphis Symphony and the Iris Chamber Orchestra. Kitai currently serves as an affiliate artist of cello at the University of Houston Moores School of Music. He is an artist faculty member at the Texas Music Festival and is the principal cellist of the AIMS Festival Orchestra in Graz, Austria. Kitai received his bachelor’s degree and performer’s certificate from the Eastman School of Music and his master’s degree from the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University. His major teachers have included Desmond Hoebig, Steven Doane, Paul Katz, and Peter Spurbeck.

Louis-Marie Fardet was appointed cellist with the Houston Symphony in January 2015. Previously, he served as assistant principal cellist for the Houston Grand Opera and Houston Ballet. Prior to moving to Houston, he was a tenured member of L’Opéra de Paris Orchestra for five years. Born in Rochefort, the south-west coast of France, Fardet moved to Paris to pursue his cello studies at the prestigious Paris Conservatory and then came to Houston in 1999 to study with Paul Katz at Rice University. Fardet has won top prizes at several international competitions, including the Antonio Janigro Cello Competition in Zagreb, Croatia and the Ima Hogg Competition in Houston, and has participated in numerous international music festivals such as the Ravinia Festival, Isaac Stern Chamber Music Workshop at Carnegie Hall, and Chamber Music Encounters in Jerusalem.

Maki Kubota was appointed a member of the Houston Symphony in 2017 by Music Director Andrés Orozco-Estrada. He has made appearances with the Dallas Symphony, Charleston Symphony, and the New York Philharmonic, performing with conductors such as Thomas Ades, Edward Gardner, Alan Gilbert, Osmo Vanska, Edo de Waart, and Christoph von Dohnanyi. As a chamber musician, he has performed at the Library of Congress, Morgan Library, and Embassy of Singapore, collaborating with artists such as Jeremy Denk, Richard O’Neill, and Lynn Harrell. Prior to joining the Houston Symphony, Kubota toured Mediterranean Europe and Central America with Lincoln Center Stage, Holland America Line’s partnership with Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. Kubota first began cello lessons while in high school as a student of Stanley Sharp. After completing his undergraduate studies with Alan Stepansky at the Peabody Conservatory, he graduated from Rice University under the tutelage of Desmond Hoebig. His training includes fellowships at the Music Academy of the West, Aspen Music Festival, and Takacs String Quartet Seminar, as well as studying abroad at the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music in Singapore with Li-Wei Qin and in residence with the New York Philharmonic as a Zarin Mehta Fellow. Outside of music, Kubota enjoys weight lifting and has recently picked up a liking of fine whiskey.

Xiao Wong was born in Beijing, China, where he first received ear-training and piano lessons from his father at the age of 3. He began to study cello when he was 7 and entered the pre-college at the Central Conservatory of Music at the age of 9. After graduating from high school, he was admitted to the Manhattan School of Music in New York. His cello teachers were Lian San Wang, David Geber, David Soyer, Nathaniel Rosen, and Evelyn Elsing. Wong was the recipient of numerous awards and prizes in both China and the United States. He won first prize in the Junior Division at the National Cello Competition in Beijing, China, and first prize at the Alexandria Symphony Concerto Competition, Paul Rolland String Competition, 5 Town Music and Arts Competition, and the University of Maryland Concerto Competition. He received a full scholarship to the Curtis Institute, the Manhattan School of Music, and an orchestra fellowship at the University of Maryland. He also attended music festivals such as the Tanglewood Music Festival, Music Academy of the West, and National Orchestra Institute. Before joining the Houston Symphony, Wong was the associate principal of the Fort Worth Symphony and frequently appeared with the National Symphony Orchestra and the Kennedy Center Opera House in Washington D.C. In 2006 and 2009, he was invited to perform with the world Chinese Orchestra in Beijing and Shanghai.

Cellist Charles Seo was appointed cellist of the Houston Symphony in the summer of 2018 at age 22. Previously, he served as principal cellist in the Colburn Orchestra. Charles, who made his solo orchestral debut at age 10, has performed as guest soloist with the Houston Symphony, Dallas Symphony Orchestra, and San José Chamber Orchestra. He is silver medalist of the 2014 Irving M. Klein International String Competition and bronze medalist of the 2014 Stulberg International String Competition. In 2013, he was the gold medalist of the Houston Symphony League Concerto Competition, the Lynn Harrell Concerto Competition, the Schmidbauer International Competition, and the 30^th Pasadena Showcase House Instrumental Competition. Charles performed Sarasate’s Zigeunerweisen with Christopher O’Riley on NPR’s From the Top. Charles has collaborated with cellists Lynn Harrell, Robert deMaine, Clive Greensmith, Wolfgang Emanuel Schmidt, David Geringas, Steven Isserlis, Jian Wang, Myung-wha Chung, Lluís Claret, Li-Wei Qin, Bion Tsang, and Laurence Lesser. He holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the Colburn School, where he studied with Ronald Leonard and Clive Greensmith.

Originally from Loveland, Colorado, Jeremy Kreutz was appointed a member of the Houston Symphony in 2020 by Music Director Andrés Orozco-Estrada. Prior to joining the orchestra, he worked under conductors such as Marin Alsop, Christoph Eschenbach, David Robertson, Robert Spano, Larry Rachleff, and Valery Gergiev. His primary studies were completed with Darrett Adkins at the Oberlin Conservatory, and Desmond Hoebig at Rice University’s Shepherd School. Kreutz has performed both domestically and abroad as an orchestral and chamber musician, including engagements with the Aspen Music Festival, Round Top Institute, National Youth Orchestra of the USA, and the Pacific Music Festival in Japan. An avid chamber musician, he has studied with members of the Juilliard, Borromeo, Miró, Verona, and Cleveland Quartets, and was a two time fellow at the Kneisel Hall Festival in Maine. In the summer of 2017, he was invited to perform alongside members of the International Contemporary Ensemble as part of the Ojai Festival, premiering works by Vijay Iyer and Courtney Bryan. While at Oberlin, he was featured in the premiere of Jesse Jones’ Snippet Variations, recorded for the Oberlin Music label. Kreutz began learning the cello at age 11 in his local public school system, where his father taught the orchestral program for 30 years. He continued his studies in high school with cellist Katherine Azari. He considers community engagement an incredibly important aspect of his life, and has worked with public schools in Colorado, Ohio, Texas, and Illinois, as well as Colorado’s El Sistema program. Outside of music, he enjoys exploring Houston’s vibrant food culture and marathons of competition reality shows.

Robin Kesselman was appointed Principal Bass of the Houston Symphony Orchestra in 2014. He has performed as Guest Principal Bass with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Singapore Symphony Orchestra, and the Israel Philharmonic, travelled internationally with the Philadelphia Orchestra and Los Angeles Philharmonic, and appeared with the National, Atlanta, and Baltimore symphonies. Kesselman has appeared multiple times as soloist with the Houston Symphony, in subscription performances of the Koussevitzky Concerto for Double Bass, Missy Mazzoli’s concerto Dark with Excessive Bright, and Bottesini’s Gran Duo Concertante with Gil Shaham. 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, Arizona Musicfest and Aspen Festival orchestras. Kesselman frequently performs as a soloist and chamber musician and presents recital programs and masterclasses at the Nation’s top universities. He has also served 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. He recently released Bow Speed Geography, a method book and video series dedicated to the improvement of legato and sustain from the standpoint of bow speed. 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.

Timothy Dilenschneider was appointed associate principal double bass of the Houston Symphony in January of 2019. Prior to joining the Houston Symphony, Dilenschneider was a member of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra under the baton of music director Marin Alsop. During the summers, he is the double bass faculty for the Blackburn Music Academy in California and an active performer in prestigious music festivals including Festival Napa Valley, Arizona Music Fest, and Classical Tahoe where he is the recipient of an endowed chair. He is an alumnus of the New World Symphony and a 2014 graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music. An avid lover of travel, Dilenschneider’s orchestral performances have taken him around the world. He has been invited to participate in international tours across Europe, Asia, and Africa with distinguished orchestras such as the Philadelphia Orchestra, Pittsburgh Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, and the Florida Orchestra. He has performed in some of the world’s most notable halls including Carnegie Hall, Concertgebouw, Musikverein, Suntory Hall, Theatre des Champs-Élysées, National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing, and most recently Royal Albert Hall in London for the 2018 BBC Proms. In addition to his orchestral work, Dilenschneider has performed in numerous recitals and chamber music programs including the Candlelight Chamber Series in Baltimore, Napa Valley Chamber Festival in California, and Marin Alsop’s New Music Festival. In 2018 he was invited on a chamber orchestra tour with musicians from the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra to Marrakech, Morocco to perform in the desert of Agafay. Dilenschneider is on faculty for the Blackburn Music Academy and his passion for music education has led him to work with students at the Peabody Institute of Music, Baltimore Symphony Youth Orchestra, and Philadelphia Youth Orchestra. He has been featured in magazines such as the ISB Bass World and Next Level Bassist. He is also recorded on the Grammy Award winning CD “East Coast 2×4”. Dilenschneider began playing the double bass at age 8 and studied with “Time for Three” bassist Ranaan Meyer, prior to his studies with Harold Robinson and Edgar Meyer at the Curtis Institute of Music.

Andrew Pedersen joined the Houston Symphony double bass section in August 2017. A native of Batavia, Illinois, Pedersen received his bachelor’s degree from DePaul University and master’s degree from Rice University, where he studied with Robert Kassinger and Timothy Pitts, respectively. Other mentors include Paul Ellison, Alexander Hanna, and Gregory Sarchet. While in Chicago, Pedersen was a member of the Civic Orchestra where he served as assistant principal bass from 2012 to 2014. During this time, he also worked closely with Yo-Yo Ma on stage and in community outreach programs. He has regularly subbed with the New World Symphony, including a recent tour to Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center. He has also attended the Aspen Music Festival, Music Academy of the West, and Verbier Festival. Outside of the orchestra, Pedersen enjoys arranging music for bass ensembles and exploring the unique cuisine of Houston.

Double bassist Eric Larson has been a member of the Houston Symphony since 1999. Larson pursued undergraduate studies at Boston University, where he earned a Bachelor of Music degree in Performance. Larson received his training from Edwin Barker and Hal Robinson. Larson has participated in several music festivals including the National Orchestral Institute, Tanglewood, Grand Teton Music Festival, and the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival. He has performed with the Philadelphia Orchestra, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, and Boston Symphony Orchestra, and was Principal Double Bass of the Haddonfield Symphony (now Symphony in C). As an active chamber musician, Larson has worked with the East Coast Chamber Orchestra and has collaborated with the T’ang String Quartet. An avid teacher, Larson spent three years teaching at the Settlement Music School in Philadelphia and 10 years teaching double bass and coaching chamber music at the Boston University Tanglewood Institute. Larson currently spends his summers teaching at the Texas Music Festival and the Wabass Institute for Double Bass.

Burke Shaw became a member of the Houston Symphony double bass section in 2000 under Christoph Eschenbach. His teachers included Homer Mensch at the Juilliard School and Roger Scott at the Curtis Institute of Music. He previously played with the Oregon Symphony under James Depriest, and was Co-Principal of the Orquesta Sinfonica de Galicia, Spain. He has performed with festival orchestras in Japan, Italy, Switzerland, and the United States.

Donald Howey has been a member of the Houston Symphony since 1999. He has performed with the Grand Teton Music Festival and the Sun Valley Summer Symphony, and has been principal and soloist with the Houston Chamber Orchestra. He began playing the bass at age 15 in his hometown of Sudbury, Massachusetts. Howey completed his Master of Music in Performance at Rice University in 1998 and graduated with distinction from Boston University in 1995. He is married to harpist Laurie Meister. In addition to their busy musical careers, Howey and his wife enjoy being the proud parents of their two sons, Gunther and Ian.

Avery Weeks joined the Houston Symphony in 2024 under the baton of Juraj Valčuha. Originally from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, Weeks received his bachelor’s degree in music performance and economics from Northwestern University, where he studied with Andrew Raciti. He continued his training at the University of Southern California, where he studied with David Allen Moore. Weeks has performed with various orchestras, including the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Utah Symphony, before joining the Houston Symphony. He has also been selected as a fellow for music festivals, including the Aspen Music Festival, The Music Academy of the West, and Spoleto (USA). In his spare time, Weeks enjoys losing golf balls on the golf course and searching for the perfect cup of coffee, the latter of which fuels the former

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.

Originally from Valencia, CA, Matthew Roitstein joined the Houston Symphony in 2014 as Associate Principal Flute, the first appointment made by Music Director Andrés Orozco-Estrada.   He served as Principal Flute of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra from 2022 to 2024, and has previously held positions with the Honolulu Symphony Orchestra and Sarasota Opera Orchestra. Roitstein has performed as a concerto soloist with the Houston Symphony and as guest Principal Flute with Dallas, Detroit, Pittsburgh, and San Francisco Symphony Orchestras. He has also performed with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. Music festival appearances include Tanglewood, Music Academy of the West, Arizona Musicfest, Aspen, Sarasota, Britt, and Lakes Area Music Festivals. Roitstein can be heard on recordings with the Houston Symphony and New World Symphony, as well as on Gloria Estefan’s 2013 album, The Standards. In 2018 he recorded Studies in Nature, a trio for flute, viola, and harp by award-winning composer Karim Al-Zand, on an album of Al-Zand’s chamber music. This year, Roitstein is releasing his own debut album, featuring John Harbison’s Duo for Flute and Piano, and the premiere recordings of newly commissioned pieces by Amanda Harberg, Karim Al-Zand, and Matthew’s father, David Roitstein. A passionate educator, Roitstein has been on the faculty of the Interlochen Arts Camp since 2018, and he has also taught at Boston University’s Tanglewood Institute and at Bard College. His orchestral path was shaped by a fellowship at the New World Symphony in Miami Beach under the direction of Michael Tilson Thomas, and graduate studies at Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music under conductor Larry Rachleff. He received his Bachelor’s Degrees in both architecture and music from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he was the 2007 winner of the MIT Symphony Concerto Competition. His primary flute teachers were Leone Buyse and Seta Der Hohannesian, and other significant influences include Mark Sparks, Elizabeth Rowe, Stephen Kujala, Gary Woodward, Pedro Eustache, and Matthew’s mother, Rosy Sackstein. Matthew Roitstein is a Powell Artist and plays on a handmade 14K Powell flute.

Flutist Judy Dines is a very active performer in Houston and beyond. Locally, she is a frequent performer in the Greenbriar Consortium, a diverse chamber group made up of Houston Symphony members and other musicians in the Houston area. She was also a member and frequent soloist with the former Houston Chamber Symphony. Other local groups Dines has played with include Mukuru, Aperio and the St. Cecilia Society. Outside of Houston, Dines is a member of the Ritz Chamber Players, a dynamic chamber ensemble which performs all around the country. She is also a member of the Grand Teton Music Festival Orchestra, which convenes every summer in beautiful Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Several times, most recently in August 2008, she performed at the National Flute Association Convention, a four-day extravaganza which celebrates the flute. In the orchestral world, Dines has performed selected weeks with the National Symphony Orchestra, the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra and the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra. Born in Washington, D.C., Dines attended Temple University in Philadelphia and the Peabody Institute in Baltimore before coming to Houston. She joined the Houston Symphony in 1992.

Kathryn Ladner joined the Houston Symphony in the fall of 2016. She moved to Houston from Nashville, Tennessee, where she played third flute and piccolo with the Nashville Symphony from 2012–2016. While in Nashville, Ladner also enjoyed playing with the Nashville Opera Orchestra and the Alias Chamber Ensemble, among other groups, and teaching flute lessons at the Blair School of Music at Vanderbilt and the W.O. Smith Music School. Born and raised in Seattle, Ladner began playing flute in public schools at age 10. She holds a Bachelors of Music and Performer’s Certificate from the Eastman School of Music and a Masters of Music from the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University. While at Eastman, she studied flute with Bonita Boyd and took piccolo lessons with Anne Harrow. In 2010, she was the Piccolo Fellow at the Aspen Music Festival, and she has also performed with the National Repertory Orchestra and the Pacific Music Festival. At the Shepherd School of Music Ladner studied with Leone Buyse, graduating in 2012.

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.

Anne Leek was educated at Juilliard where she received her bachelor of music, master of music and doctor of musical arts degrees. During her time in New York, she performed on a recital in Carnegie Hall sponsored by the Artists International Contest, which she won. During the 1980s, Leek was Solo Principal Oboe of the Mannheim Orchestra in Germany. Before joining the Houston Symphony, she played a two year position as principal oboe in the Pittsburgh Symphony, under the baton of Lorin Maazel. Along with her career as an orchestral musician, Leek has taught at Indiana University, Arizona State University and has taught at the University of Houston. As a recital soloist and chamber musician, she has appeared in numerous major cities across the world.

Colin Gatwood was born in Cleveland, Ohio but grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania where his father was principal oboist with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and his mother, a violinist, was a freelance musician and teacher. He began his musical studies on the piano at age 5, but by the time he was nine, he had begun taking oboe lessons from his father. Gatwood is a graduate of the Oberlin Conservatory of Music in Ohio. His first orchestra job was with the Pittsburgh Symphony, playing second oboe for four years. From there, he went on to join the Guadalajara Symphony Orchestra in Mexico, and in 1991, he won the position of second oboe with the Houston Symphony.

Adam Dinitz joined the Houston Symphony as solo English horn in September 2007. Prior to joining the Houston Symphony, Dinitz held positions with the San Francisco Symphony, The Florida Orchestra, and the Sarasota Orchestra. He has participated in many summer festivals, including the Tanglewood Music Center, Sun Valley Summer Symphony, Spoleto USA, and the St. Bart’s Music Festival, among others. Dinitz is an active soloist and chamber musician and was recently featured with Da Camera of Houston, as well as with The Greenbriar Consortium. In July 2005, Dinitz was selected to perform the world premiere of John Harbison’s Crossing in memory of Phil West at the Aspen Music Festival in Aspen, Colorado. Dinitz is the co-founder of Noncert, a concert series which seeks to perform classical music outside of traditional venues. A native of suburban Washington, D.C., Dinitz received his Bachelor of Music from Northwestern University and Master of Music from Rice University.

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.

Christian Schubert joined the Houston Symphony as Second Clarinetist in 1996, appointed by then music director Christoph Eschenbach. A native of Burbank, California, Mr. Schubert studied with Kalman Bloch (Principal Clarinet, Los Angeles Philharmonic) for seven years before moving to Chicago to study with Robert Marcellus at Northwestern University, where he received both his undergraduate and graduate degrees in music performance. As a member of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, Mr. Schubert also studied with Larry Combs of the Chicago Symphony. Prior to arriving in Houston, Mr. Schubert played extensively with numerous Chicago area ensembles including the Lyric Opera Orchestra, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Ravinia Festival Orchestra, The Chicago Ensemble, as well as performing commercial jingle session work in the Chicago studios. He also served as the second clarinetist and E-flat clarinetist with the Grant Park Music Festival in Chicago for 17 seasons between 1991 and 2016. Active as a chamber musician as well as a recitalist, he has been a featured performer at the Schlesswig Holstein Musik Festival, the Mainly Mozart Festival, the Grand Teton Music Festival and the Tanglewood Music Festival. Well known for his success in teaching young people, he has served on the music faculties of North Park College in Chicago and the University of Houston’s Moores School of Music. He is also the co-founder of Houston Clarinet Camp and has presented masterclasses across the country. A dedicated pedagogue, he has maintained a private instruction studio at home every year of his professional career as well as serving as a lead teacher in several music education initiatives sponsored by the Houston Symphony. In his time away from performing and teaching, Mr. Schubert owns and operates a recording engineering company, Schubert Recording Services, specializing in the quality digital recording of classical music. Mr. Schubert exclusively performs and records on Buffet clarinets, and on D’Addario Reserve Classic reeds, and has been a Performing Artist & Clinician for both companies since 2016.

Alexander Potiomkin joined the Houston Symphony as Bass Clarinet/Utility in October 2012. A native of Ukraine, he moved with his family to Israel in 1991, where he attended the Rubin Jerusalem Academy of Music, while appearing as a regular substitute clarinetist with Israel Philharmonic. He came to Houston in 1995 to study at Rice University, where he earned his Master of Music Degree in 1997. He has appeared as substitute Principal Clarinet of the Alabama Symphony on their Carnegie Hall tour in spring 2012. He has also performed as guest principal clarinet with the Kansas City Symphony and as a soloist with the Tel Aviv Symphony and the Brooklyn Philharmonic. He has participated in the Mozart, Bellingham, Blossom, and Tanglewood music festivals. Equally committed to teaching, he maintains a large, private studio. His main teachers include David Peck and David Weber, with additional studies with Michael Wayne and Mark Nuccio on clarinet and Chester Rowell and Ben Freimuth on Bass Clarinet.

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.

Associate principal bassoonist Isaac Schultz, a native of Exeter, New Hampshire, earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees at Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music, where he studied with Benjamin Kamins. While at Rice, Isaac was a fellow at the Music Academy of the West and the Aspen Music School. In 2015, he was a prize winner at the Fischoff International Chamber Music Competition and a finalist at the Coleman Competition. Away from music, he enjoys rock climbing and other outdoor activities.

Elise Wagner has been a member of the Houston Symphony bassoon section since September 2008. She also performs with the Strings Music Festival in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. She has performed with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Toronto Symphony, Wheeling Symphony, Sarasota Opera Orchestra, and Lake Tahoe Music Festival. She was also awarded fellowships to the Tanglewood Music Center and the Aspen Music Festival. When performing outside of the orchestra, Wagner is an advocate for modern music and a chamber musician. Wagner was part of the world premiere of “Who am I?”, a composition commissioned by the Foundation for Modern Music in March 2013. Following the premiere performance in Houston, she also performed the work at La Mama Theater in New York City in February 2014. As an active chamber musician, Wagner performs regularly with the Greenbriar Consortium and the St. Cecelia Chamber Music Series. In addition to her performance schedule, Wagner is a faculty member at the University of Houston, the Texas Music Festival, and the American Festival for the Arts. When not playing bassoon, she can be found biking, running, on the golf course, or making reeds. A native of Monroe, Wisconsin, Wagner earned her master’s degree at Carnegie Mellon University where she studied with Nancy Goeres, principal bassoon of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. She earned her bachelor’s degree at Temple University under the instruction of Daniel Matsukawa, principal bassoon of the Philadelphia Orchestra.

Originally from Portland, Maine, Adam Trussell is now the Contrabassoonist of the Houston Symphony. He won the position in 2018. Adam is also the Principal Bassoonist of Oregon Ballet Theater. In the past he has held full time positions with the Oregon Symphony (2011-2019) and the Omaha Symphony (2006-2011). During the summers Adam plays with the Colorado Music Festival. He’s played there since 2011 in addition to many other festivals. Adam is a dedicated teacher and has extensive experience teaching students of all ages. He has been on the faculties of Lewis and Clark College, University of Portland, Concordia University, University of Nebraska at Omaha, and Creighton University. Adam loves teaching younger students and has helped out with numerous schools and their band programs. When unable to teach in person, Adam has had a lot of success teaching students on line via FaceTime, Skype, and Zoom. Adam also teaches adults and retirees at Midsummer Musical Retreat in Walla Walla, WA. In addition to playing in orchestras and teaching, Adam has a business selling bassoons and finished bassoon reeds and contrabassoon reeds. He has been the owner of Portland Bassoon Company since 2015. He can also be found at adamtrusselldoublereeds.com.

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 recently retired as professor of horn at the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University. 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.

Robert Johnson enjoys a growing career as an orchestral and chamber musician, soloist, and teacher of horn. Before joining the Houston Symphony in 2012 as Associate Principal Horn, Johnson was Assistant Principal/Utility Horn of the Cincinnati Symphony and Pops Orchestras, Principal Horn of both the Dayton Philharmonic and Richmond Symphony, and Fourth Horn of the Honolulu Symphony. He has also performed with the Houston Grand Opera, IRIS Orchestra, Rochester Philharmonic, Saint Louis Symphony, San Antonio Symphony, and both the Los Angeles Philharmonic at Disney Hall and Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra as a guest Principal Horn. Johnson has performed as a Concerto Soloist with the Dayton Philharmonic, Houston Symphony, New World Symphony, Texas Music Festival, at Chicago’s Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic, and nationwide as a recitalist and chamber musician. In the summers, he has performed with the AIMS, Aspen, Cascade, Colorado, Strings, and Tanglewood Music Festivals, as well as the Perlman Music Program and Sun Valley Summer Symphony. He can be heard performing on numerous recordings, commercials, and soundtracks made with the Cincinnati Symphony and Pops Orchestras, Dayton Philharmonic, Nashville String Machine Studio Orchestra, and the Houston Symphony. In the Fall of 2013, Johnson joined the faculty of the Moores School of Music as an Affiliate Artist at the University of Houston, thus fulfilling a long-held dream of expanding his teaching to the collegiate level. Also a faculty member at the Texas Music Festival, he is in demand to lead masterclasses and lectures nationwide, most recently at the Colburn School in Los Angeles. Johnson’s previous students have enjoyed acceptance and appointment to a multitude of prestigious universities, conservatories, summer music festivals, and professional ensembles. Acceptances include the Banff Centre for the Arts, Boston University’s Tanglewood Institute, Carnegie Hall’s National Youth Orchestra of the United States, Interlochen Arts Camp and Academy, Yamaha’s Young Performing Artist Program, as well as the Brevard, Domaine Forget, Hot Springs, Lucerne, Pacific, Sarasota, and Texas Music Festivals. Collegiate acceptances include Carnegie Mellon, DePaul, Indiana, Northwestern, Rice, and Roosevelt Universities, the New England, Oberlin, and San Francisco Conservatories, as well as the University of Cincinnati-College Conservatory of Music, Eastman School of Music, and Peabody Institute. His students have performed with a number of professional ensembles, including City Music Cleveland, Hawaii Symphony, Houston Symphony, and the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra, among others. A graduate of Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music, he studied with William VerMeulen and received further training as a fellow with the New World Symphony. Johnson is a lifetime member of the International Horn Society and has authored for The Horn Call magazine. He is married to flutist and teacher Ariella Perlman, with whom he chases their twin boys, Ezra and Reuben.

Nathan Cloeter, a native of Lake Jackson, Texas, was appointed as Assistant Principal/Utility Horn of the Houston Symphony in 2023 by Music Director Juraj Valčuha. He has previously performed with the Houston Symphony, Houston Grand Opera, and the Naples Philharmonic, and he has spent summers as a fellow of the Tanglewood Music Center. While a fellow at Tanglewood, he earned many plaudits for a performance as the solo horn of Mahler’s Fifth Symphony conducted by Andris Nelsons. Cloeter holds a bachelor’s degree from Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music where he studied with William VerMeulen.

Second horn of the Houston Symphony since 1995, Brian Thomas is a native of Minneapolis and was influenced by his musical family and the rich artistic environment of his hometown. Both of his parents were cellists, and his father played with the Minnesota Orchestra for 50 seasons before his recent retirement. Brian took up the horn at an early age and was guided by mentor Dave Kamminga to Northwestern University, where he studied with Chicago Symphony hornists Norman Schweikert and Dale Clevenger. He proceeded on to positions in the orchestras of Louisville, Columbus, and Syracuse before assuming his current position in Houston. Thomas has performed with the orchestras of Minnesota, Cincinnati, and San Diego and played for many years in both the Colorado Music Festival in Boulder and the Skaneateles Festival in upstate New York. He has been second horn in the prestigious Sun Valley Summer Symphony since 1999 and is a frequent guest artist at Rice’s Shepherd School of Music. Thomas was recently an artist-in-residence at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas. He has also performed with the Scottish band The Rogues and recorded a CD and a live DVD with the group. Brian is an avid road cyclist, enjoys the artistic and technical aspects of high-end audiophile equipment, and nourishes his soul with Celtic music. He shares his home in the suburbs of Houston with his lovely wife, Victoria, and six grateful rescue cats.

Brian Mangrum joined the Houston Symphony as Third Horn in June of 2023. From Montreal, he started horn lessons with Denys Derôme in the sixth grade, later studying with John Milner at the Conservatoire de musique de Montréal and with John Zirbel at Collège Marianopolis and over the summers at the Aspen Music Festival and School. Brian attended Rice University in Bill VerMeulen’s studio, and began his tenure as Principal Horn of the Columbus Symphony upon graduation, in 2018. In addition to his positions in Houston and Columbus, Brian has performed with orchestras across North America, notably as guest principal horn with the San Francisco Symphony, the Detroit Symphony, the National Arts Center Orchestra of Canada and the Cleveland Orchestra.

Ian Mayton, a native of Durham, North Carolina, was appointed fourth horn of the Houston Symphony by Music Director Andrés Orozco-Estrada in November 2014. Mayton has performed with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra and the North Carolina Symphony. After completing his Bachelor of Music degree at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Mayton spent a year in the Master of Music program at Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music studying with William VerMeulen.

Mark Hughes “knows how to spin out a long line with the eloquence of a gifted singer,” says Derrick Henry of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Hughes developed his abilities at Northwestern University where he studied with the late Vincent Cichowicz of the Chicago Symphony. After graduation, he joined the Civic Orchestra of Chicago as a scholarship student of Adolph Herseth, the legendary Principal Trumpet of the Chicago Symphony. Hughes then began touring with Richard Morris as the popular organ and trumpet duo, “Toccatas and Flourishes,” performing throughout the United States and Canada. His appointment as Associate Principal Trumpet with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra followed, which he held for 12 years. During his time with the ASO, he appeared as soloist with the orchestra on numerous occasions, performed on dozens of recordings, and was an active studio musician. Hughes is currently Principal Trumpet of the Houston Symphony, a position he has held since 2006. He has appeared as soloist with the orchestra on several occasions, including the performance of the Shostakovich Concerto no. 1 for Piano and Trumpet with Jon Kimura Parker, a performance heard nationally on American Public Radio’s SymphonyCast. Since his arrival in Houston, Hughes has performed and recorded with the Boston and Chicago Symphony Orchestras and continues to be in demand as a soloist with orchestras and in recital. In addition, he serves on the faculties of the Brevard Music Center and the Texas Music Festival each summer. Hughes lives in Bellaire with his wife, Marilyn, and their two children, Thomas and Caroline.

John Parker, a native of High Point, North Carolina, joined the Houston Symphony in May of 2016 as Associate Principal Trumpet. Previously, he was Principal Trumpet with the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra, a position he attained after his undergraduate studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC). While at UNC, Parker was a recipient of the Kenan Music Scholarship and also the Frank Comfort Education Scholarship. Parker has also performed as Principal Trumpet of the Charleston Symphony, the Roanoke Symphony, and the Greensboro Symphony. He attended the Aspen Music Festival and School on a full fellowship in both 2012 and 2013 and has also performed twice as a soloist at the National Trumpet Competition.

Robert Walp joined the Houston Symphony as Assistant Principal Trumpet in 1983. Originally from Pasadena, California, Walp studied with Walter Laursen (Principal Trumpet, Pasadena Symphony) and Thomas Stevens (Principal Trumpet, Los Angeles Philharmonic) before moving to Chicago to study with Vincent Cichowicz at Northwestern University. As a member of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, Walp studied with Adolph Herseth and Arnold Jacobs of the Chicago Symphony. After graduating from Northwestern University in 1982, Walp worked with Albert Calvayrac in France, and Timofei Dokschitzer (Solo Trumpet, Bolshoi Theatre Orchestra) in Moscow. Well known for his success in teaching young people, Walp substituted for Vincent Cichowicz at Northwestern University, leading master classes, teaching, and giving a recital at his alma mater. Walp also served on the faculty of Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music for five years. His students are some of the most sought-after musicians by major conservatories and schools of music. An active chamber musician and recitalist, Walp has performed with the Carmel Bach Festival in California, Rheingau Musikfestival in Germany, Albi Festival in France, and Gidon Kremer’s Laurie Festival in Köln and St. Petersburg, Russia. His solo appearances include numerous recitals throughout the United States and Europe, and concerti performances with the Houston Symphony. After leading an amateur brass band for over a decade, Robert Walp has founded an all-professional group, The Magnolia City Brass Band. The debut concert will be at the Hobby Center’s Zilkha Hall on Sunday, November 14, 2021. Mr. Walp joined the faculty of the University of Houston’s Moores School of Music in January of 2015. Robert Walp is a Yamaha Performing Artist.

Richard Harris joined the Houston Symphony as second trumpet in 2018.  Previously, he was a member of the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra where he performed for 8 years. In March of 2018, Harris gained the distinction of being the only musician in an American orchestra to have won auditions for each position in one orchestral trumpet section.  He achieved this notable accomplishment during his tenure at the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra where he won nationally held blind auditions for the positions of Second Trumpet (2009), Associate Principal / 3rd Trumpet (2014) and Principal Trumpet (2018). As a soloist, Harris has performed J.S. Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto no. 2, Copland’s Quiet City, and Concerti by Vivalidi, Hummel, Haydn, and Neruda. As an artist for Conn- Selmer (Vincent Bach Trumpets), he has enjoyed performing in orchestras all over the world including the Seoul Philharmonic in South Korea and the Jalisco Philharmonic in Guadalajara, Mexico. He has also performed with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Kansas City Symphony, as well as many others. An avid educator, Harris has given masterclasses at universities and high schools across the country. Currently he serves on the faculty at Texas Tech University, and at AFA Texas. He served on the faculty at Winthrop University from 2013–2018 and at UNC Charlotte from 2007–2009.  He also had the privilege of serving as the brass coach for the Charlotte Symphony Youth Orchestra for 7 years. He strives to create a fun and relaxed atmosphere where students are encouraged and inspired to improve their playing. His primary goal is to ensure that their love of music remains an important and positive part of their lives, even beyond the stage. Harris’ students have enjoyed successful auditions for orchestras, wind ensembles, and prestigious programs of study. In addition to his passion for playing trumpet, Harris is a chess enthusiast.  His volunteer work with inner-city schools in Charlotte allowed him to teach and run chess camps for underprivileged kids. As a master level chess player, he uses this game as a teaching tool to foster a sense of patience, sportsmanship, strategic thinking, and calm under pressure. Harris has studied with Thomas Booth, Barbara Butler, and many others. His degrees from Texas Tech University and Southern Methodist University (SMU) gave him a strong foundation. While a student at SMU he had the honor of playing two seasons with the National Repertory Orchestra. During his time at SMU he was hailed by the Dallas Observer as “a dream of a principal trumpet player.” Also, while a student at Texas Tech he won the concerto competition. He performed the Haydn Concerto at the Las Vegas Music Festival in 2003 as an invited soloist. Harris was born in Lander, Wyoming as the youngest of five siblings. Originally, he began his musical studies at age 5 on the cello. At age 8, he discovered his lifelong passion as he also began studying the trumpet. When he was given his first trumpet he felt instantly that it was the instrument he couldn’t put down. In 2013, he met his wife, Angela, and they have two children between them, Edward and Eva.

Nick Platoff harnesses the power of music to deliver compounding benefit to the world. He enjoys a multi-faceted career as a trombonist, composer/producer, singer, educator, conductor, and concert producer. After eight seasons as Associate Principal Trombone of the San Francisco Symphony, where he was appointed by Michael Tilson Thomas at age 23, Nick joined the Houston Symphony Orchestra as Principal Trombone in September 2024. Nick loves using music to delight, inspire, and empower audiences, and does so in a wide variety of mediums and genres as a soloist as well as in collaboration with artists like Jacob Collier, KNOWER, esperanza spalding, Common, Metallica, Steve Lacy, Sigur Ros, Nu Deco Ensemble, the New York Philharmonic, and Yo-Yo Ma. Recent highlights include conducting the Stanford Brass Ensemble on a concert which included the world premiere of his “The Fanford Stanfare”, composing music for Ramazan Nanayev’s film “Ikigai” and producing a silly music video about spies, both to be premiered Fall 2024. In August 2024, he toured Spain with Zirzuví, a Santa Cruz based band specializing in Sephardic music. Other proud moments include the August 2023 world premiere of his Symphony No. 1 with the SF Civic Symphony, and the November 2022 release of his debut album “Limousine of Creative Potential” featuring songs written and recorded in his friend Joel’s limousine during the pandemic. Nick’s compositions center on themes of family, hope, mental health, and nature, and he genre-hops between the symphonic world, silly-pop, bumpin’ funk bangers, heartfelt tributes, and jungle soundscape. He regularly performs as a singer-songwriter on the Sofar Sounds series. Nick joined the faculty of the University of Houston Moores School of Music in September 2024, and has previously served as a faculty member at Stanford University, the San Francisco Conservatory of Music Pre-College Division, and the SF Symphony Youth Orchestra. As a guest educator, he has taught recently at Rice, Yale, Juilliard, the National Orchestral Institute, and Amateur Music Network. He has collaborated as video producer and co-host with his father, musicologist John Platoff, on various SF Symphony online educational events as well as the Professor Platoff YouTube channel. Nick is a proud alumnus of New Haven’s Neighborhood Music School, Northwestern University, and the New World Symphony.

Bradley White, trombone, joined the Houston Symphony in the fall of 2001 as Associate Principal and Second Trombone. He is a native Houstonian and earned his Bachelor of Music in Trombone Performance from Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music in 1993. He went on to study at the Manhattan School of Music in New York City where he received a Master of Music in 1997. White has performed with Ambient Brass, the Houston Ballet and Grand Opera Orchestras, and the San Antonio and Hawaii Symphonies.

Phillip Freeman joined the Houston Symphony in 2007 after six seasons with the Sarasota Opera. He has also performed with the Dallas Symphony, the Grant Park Music Festival, the Houston Ballet, the Minnesota Orchestra, Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, the Sarasota Orchestra, the San Antonio Symphony, and the Utah Symphony. A graduate of the University of Houston, Freeman received his bachelor’s degree in composition. He went on to study bass trombone at the Manhattan School of Music and the Tanglewood Music Center. Formerly on faculty at the Shepherd School of Music, he teaches at the Moores School of Music and the Texas Music Festival, and has presented masterclasses and recitals at Baylor, McGill, Rice, UH, and UTSA. Freeman is a MICHAEL RATH TROMBONES performing artist.

Dave Kirk is Principal Tubist of the Houston Symphony and an Associate Professor at Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music, positions held since 1982. Kirk was selected for his teaching and playing positions during his final year of undergraduate studies at New York’s Juilliard School. While at Juilliard, he studied with Don Harry. Dave’s other teachers include Chester Schmitz, Warren Deck, Neal Tidwell, and his Houston Symphony colleagues. Kirk appears as a guest performer and teacher in North America and Japan. He enjoys an international reputation for his teaching of musicianship and physical aspects of wind playing. Locally, he is an active recitalist, chamber music collaborator, and conductor. His orchestral playing is heard on Houston Symphony recordings under conductors Sergiu Comissiona, Newton Wayland, Christoph Eschenbach, Michael Krajewski, Hans Graf, and Andrés Orozco-Estrada. Kirk’s solo playing is featured on Mark Custom Recordings’ The Music of Leroy Osmon, Volume 1.

Leonardo R. Soto, Jr. was appointed Principal Timpanist of the Houston Symphony in 2018. Before arriving to Houston, Leo served as Principal Timpanist of the Charlotte Symphony from 2009 to 2018, and the Michigan Opera Theatre-Detroit Opera House from 2003 to 2009. He was also an active member of Miami’s Nu-Deco ensemble. Leo has the unique distinction of being the first native Hispanic Timpanist to play in a major orchestra in the United States. As an educator, Leonardo was faculty at Queens University of Charlotte as well as Artist in residence at Central Piedmont College, and an instructor for the Charlotte Youth Symphony program. As a clinician, he has taught master classes including PASIC’s Pennsylvania day of percussion, the University of North Carolina, Eastern Michigan University, Filarmónica Joven de Colombia, University of Georgia, Rice University, University of Houston, Universidad de Antioquia de Colombia and schools throughout South America. Leo often travels back to his native Chile to perform recitals, master classes and clinics at the National University of Chile, the Youth Symphony Foundation and the National Symphony. Leonardo has appeared as a soloist with the Charlotte Symphony, Amarillo Symphony and the Houston Symphony. In January 2017 he performed the world premiere of “Evolution Percussion Concerto,” written for him by composer Leonard Mark Lewis. He began his musical education at the University of Chile and was the recipient of the Teatro Municipal of Santiago National Scholarship. Concurrently, he was trained as a Latin percussionist by his father, Mr. Leonardo Soto, Sr., one of Chile’s most prominent musicians in the field. Leo embarked on his professional career with the Santiago Philharmonic Orchestra and the National Symphony Orchestra of Chile, where he gained experience in orchestral, opera and ballet repertoire. In 1997, he received the Fundación Andes International Scholarship, which brought him to the US and Carnegie Mellon University, where he studied with Timpanist Timothy Adams from the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. He was made an honorary student at Cleveland State University by Tom Freer of the Cleveland Orchestra. Leonardo has worked with ensembles such as the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, New World Symphony, City Music Cleveland, Fort Wayne Philharmonic, Toledo Symphony, Grand Rapids Symphony, among others. As a Latin percussionist, he has recorded and toured with a number of artists from the Pennsylvania, Southern Michigan and New York areas. Working with Luft Mallets Leo launched this own signature line of Timpani sticks to the market and is a proud performing artist for Pearl/Adams Percussion, Adams Percussion, Remo Drumheads, and Luft Mallets.

Matthew Strauss has been applauded throughout the United States as an energetic percussionist and timpanist with a diverse musical background. In addition to his position as Associate Principal Timpanist / Section Percussionist with the Houston Symphony, Mr. Strauss is an Associate Professor of Percussion at Rice University and faculty member at the Texas Music Festival at the University of Houston. Prior to his post in Houston, Mr. Strauss performed as a member of the percussion section in the Chicago Symphony Orchestra throughout the 2002-03 and 2003-04 seasons. He also has performed with the Philadelphia Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Boston Symphony Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra, Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, to name a few. Solo appearances include performances with the Houston Symphony, Texas Music Festival Orchestra, Akron Symphony, New Hampshire Music Festival, Reading Symphony Orchestra and Delaware Symphony Orchestra. An active chamber musician, Mr. Strauss has performed with the Chicago Chamber Musicians, Da Camera of Houston, Foundation For Modern Music, Bard Festival Chamber Players, Tucson Winter Chamber Music Festival, Skaneateles Music Festival, and has participated in the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s contemporary chamber series, Music Now, under the batons of Pierre Boulez and Esa-Pekka Salonen. Mr. Strauss received his bachelor’s degree in Percussion Performance from the Juilliard School and his master’s degree in Performance from the Temple University. He is an alumnus of both the Tanglewood and Aspen Music Festivals and has participated in the Spoleto Music Festival in Charleston, South Carolina. Prior to his post at Rice University, Mr. Strauss taught percussion performance as a Visiting Lecturer at the Frost School of Music at University of Miami for ten years. He has presented master classes and clinics at numerous schools, festivals, and conventions such as the Percussive Arts Society International Convention, New World Symphony, Juilliard School, Aspen Music Festival, Northwestern University, Texas Bandmasters Association Convention, Conservatoire de Region in Paris, Koninklijk Conservatorium Brussel, Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw, Temple University, Bard Conservatory, New York University, Peabody Conservatory, Tanglewood Music Center, University of Maryland, George Mason University, Boston University Tanglewood Institute, Roosevelt University, and DePaul University. Mr. Strauss is a performing artist and clinician for Promark, Evans Heads, Zildjian Inc., and Pearl/Adams Corporation.

Brian Del Signore is the Principal Percussionist of the Houston Symphony. Brian joined the Houston Symphony in 1986. Prior to the Houston Symphony appointment, he held a one-year position as principal percussionist of the Grand Rapids Symphony in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and performed with numerous other orchestras including the Pittsburgh Symphony and Philadelphia Orchestra. Born in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania, Brian Del Signore earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Carnegie-Mellon University in 1981, where he studied with the Pittsburgh Symphony percussionists. In 1984, Mr. Del Signore earned a Masters in Music from Temple University where he studied with Alan Abel of the Philadelphia Orchestra. He began piano lessons at age six and drums at age eleven. His first drum teacher in the late 1960’s was Lou Carto, pop star Bobby Vinton’s drummer and bandleader at that time. Besides keeping a very busy schedule with Houston Symphony performances, Mr. Del Signore heads the percussion department at Houston Baptist University. Additionally, he has presented clinics and master classes at music schools around the USA including Baylor University, New England Conservatory, Boston Conservatory, Yale University, The Julliard School, Manhattan School of Music, New York University, Curtis Institute of Music, Temple University, Peabody Conservatory, Carnegie Mellon University, Cleveland Institute of Music, Texas A&M Commerce, Sam Houston State University, The Colburn School in Los Angeles, and San Francisco Conservatory. He also maintains a local education and outreach schedule, presenting percussion programs in elementary schools, and percussion clinics in high schools across the Houston area. As a composer and soloist, Brian Del Signore premiered his Percussion Concerto with Houston Civic Symphony in 2018 and performed the Marimba Movement from that concerto with Houston Symphony in 2021. Brian Del Signore endorses and is sponsored by manufacturers of high-quality percussion instruments. These companies: Remo Corporation, Sabian Cymbals, Pearl/Adams Percussion, ProMark Sticks (D’Addario), and Black Swamp Percussion, support Mr. Del Signore’s educational and outreach programs. For more information on these programs please visit www.briandelsignore.com. Brian and his wife Leah have three grown children, Damian, Dominique, and Dione.

Mark Griffith joined the Houston Symphony in 2004. Before coming to Houston, he was a member of the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra and the New World Symphony, performing regularly under the baton of conductor Michael Tilson Thomas. He has also performed with the Honolulu Symphony, Buffalo Philharmonic, Charleston Symphony, Naples Philharmonic, and the National Repertory Orchestra. Having grown up in Dallas, Griffith is a native Texan but received his education in various parts of the country. He did undergraduate music studies at Wheaton College outside of Chicago and earned a Master of Music from the University of Michigan. While at Wheaton, Griffith twice won the university’s concerto competition, performing marimba concertos by Paul Creston and Jorge Sarmientos. He was the recipient of the University of Michigan’s prestigious Charlie Owen Memorial Scholarship. His teachers include Alan Abel of the Philadelphia Orchestra, Salvatore Rabbio of the Detroit Symphony, Michael Udow of the Santa Fe Opera, and renowned marimba soloist Leigh Howard Stevens. Griffith’s playing can be heard on a growing number of Houston Symphony recordings, as well as those of the New World Symphony. One particularly unique recording features a concerto for electric guitar and orchestra, performed by composer and guitar soloist Steve Mackey with the New World Symphony. In addition to percussion, Griffith is a trained pianist and organist. He and his wife Katherine are the proud parents of their son, Benjamin, and daughter, Katie.

Matthew Strauss has been applauded throughout the United States as an energetic percussionist and timpanist with a diverse musical background. In addition to his position as Associate Principal Timpanist / Section Percussionist with the Houston Symphony, Mr. Strauss is an Associate Professor of Percussion at Rice University and faculty member at the Texas Music Festival at the University of Houston. Prior to his post in Houston, Mr. Strauss performed as a member of the percussion section in the Chicago Symphony Orchestra throughout the 2002-03 and 2003-04 seasons. He also has performed with the Philadelphia Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Boston Symphony Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra, Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, to name a few. Solo appearances include performances with the Houston Symphony, Texas Music Festival Orchestra, Akron Symphony, New Hampshire Music Festival, Reading Symphony Orchestra and Delaware Symphony Orchestra. An active chamber musician, Mr. Strauss has performed with the Chicago Chamber Musicians, Da Camera of Houston, Foundation For Modern Music, Bard Festival Chamber Players, Tucson Winter Chamber Music Festival, Skaneateles Music Festival, and has participated in the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s contemporary chamber series, Music Now, under the batons of Pierre Boulez and Esa-Pekka Salonen. Mr. Strauss received his bachelor’s degree in Percussion Performance from the Juilliard School and his master’s degree in Performance from the Temple University. He is an alumnus of both the Tanglewood and Aspen Music Festivals and has participated in the Spoleto Music Festival in Charleston, South Carolina. Prior to his post at Rice University, Mr. Strauss taught percussion performance as a Visiting Lecturer at the Frost School of Music at University of Miami for ten years. He has presented master classes and clinics at numerous schools, festivals, and conventions such as the Percussive Arts Society International Convention, New World Symphony, Juilliard School, Aspen Music Festival, Northwestern University, Texas Bandmasters Association Convention, Conservatoire de Region in Paris, Koninklijk Conservatorium Brussel, Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw, Temple University, Bard Conservatory, New York University, Peabody Conservatory, Tanglewood Music Center, University of Maryland, George Mason University, Boston University Tanglewood Institute, Roosevelt University, and DePaul University. Mr. Strauss is a performing artist and clinician for Promark, Evans Heads, Zildjian Inc., and Pearl/Adams Corporation.

Luke Bryson joined the Houston Symphony in 2021 and was named Principal Librarian two seasons later. He came to Houston from the Nashville Symphony, where he served as Librarian and later Acting Principal Librarian. Previously, he served as Assistant Librarian with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra and as a Library Apprentice with the Santa Fe Opera. After receiving a B.M. in Oboe Performance and Music History from the University of Memphis, Bryson trained as a performance library fellow at the Sarasota Music Festival and later as an intern with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. Bryson is an active member of the Major Orchestra Librarians’ Association, where he has served on the organization’s finance and pops committees. He also holds an M.A. in Arts Administration from the University of Kentucky and completed graduate studies in oboe performance at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. In his spare time, he enjoys reading, cycling, and spending time with his wife and two cats.

Houston Symphony Music Director Juraj Valčuha is recognized for his effortless expressiveness and depth of musicianship. With sharp baton technique and natural stage presence, the impressive ease of his interpretations translates even the most complex scores into immersive experiences.

Before joining the Houston Symphony in June 2022, Juraj was Music Director of the Teatro di San Carlo, Naples, from 2016 to 2022 and first guest conductor of the Konzerthausorchester Berlin. He was Chief Conductor of the Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della Rai from 2009 to 2016.

The 2005–06 Season marked the start of his international career on the podium of the Orchestre National de France followed by remarkable debuts in the United Kingdom with the Philharmonia London, in Germany with the Munich Philharmonic, in the United States with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, and in Italy with Puccini's La bohème in Bologna.

He has since led the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, Dresden Staatskapelle, Munich Philharmonic, Berlin Philharmonic, Swedish Radio Symphony, Amsterdam Royal Concertgebouw, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Orchestre de Paris, Maggio Musicale in Florence, Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia Rome, Milan's Filarmonica della Scala, Montréal Symphony, and the NHK and Yomiuri orchestras in Tokyo.

He enjoys regular collaborations with the Minnesota Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, and San Francisco Symphony. International touring with the Orchestra Sinfonica della Rai took them to the Musikverein in Vienna and Philharmonie in Berlin, Cologne, Düsseldorf, Zurich, Munich, to the Enesco Festival in Bucharest, and the Abu Dhabi Classics. With the Konzerthausorchester Berlin, he visited Riga, Vilnius, and Tallinn to mark the 100th anniversary of the Baltic nations.

In Europe, he is acclaimed on the podium of the Munich Philharmonic, the NDR Hamburg and Frankfurt Radio orchestras, as well as the Vienna Symphony, Czech Philharmonic, Orchestre National de France, Orchestre de Paris, BBC Symphony and Philharmonia London, and the Swedish Radio Orchestra.

Juraj champions the compositions of living composers and aims to program contemporary pieces in most of his concerts. He has conducted world premieres, including Christopher Rouse’s Supplica with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Steven Mackey’s violin concerto with Leila Josefowicz and the BBC Symphony in Manchester, and Nico Muhly’s Bright Idea with the Houston Symphony. In 2005, he conducted, in the presence of the composer, Steve Reich’s Four Seasons at the Melos-Ethos Festival in Bratislava. Other composers he has supported and continues to follow with interest are Bryce Dessner, Steven Stucky, Andrew Norman, James MacMillan, Luca Francesconi, Anna Thorvaldsdottir, Anna Clyne, Julia Wolfe and Jessie Montgomery, among others.

Including his engagements in Houston, the 2023–24 Season took him to the Pittsburgh and Chicago Symphony Orchestras, San Francisco Symphony, and Minnesota Orchestra as well as to the Yomiuri Nippon Orchestra in Tokyo. On the European stage, he performed Fanciulla del West and Tristan and Isolde at the Bavarian State Opera and at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, Jenufa at the Opera di Roma. He led concerts with the RAI Orchestra, the Orchestra dell'Accademia di Santa Cecilia, the Orchestre National de France, the NDR, SWR, and the Bamberg Symphony, among others.

In the 2024–2025 Season Juraj will join the Semperoper in Dresden with Strauss´ Salomé as well as the Paris Opéra Bastille with Janacek´s The Cunning Little Vixen and the Deutsche Oper Berlin with Tchaikovsky´s Pique Dame. In the coming months, in addition to his concerts with the Houston Symphony, he will return to the Munich Philharmonic, the Orchestre National de France, the London Philharmonic, the Berlin Konzerthaus Orchester, the San Francisco Symphony, the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, and the Yomiuri Nippon Orchestra in Tokyo.

Born in Bratislava, Slovakia, Juraj studied composition and conducting in his birthplace, then at the conservatory in St. Petersburg (with Ilya Musin), and finally, at the Conservatoire Supérieur de la Musique in Paris.

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