HOUSTON (April 24, 2018) – The Houston Symphony and Music Director Andrés Orozco-Estrada welcome back violin virtuoso Augustin Hadelich May 10 and 11 at 8 p.m. and May 13 at 2:30 p.m. at Jones Hall. Hadelich will be featured in the program Brahms and Sibelius; the orchestra’s penultimate classical subscription concert of the 2017-18 season.
Known for his phenomenal technique and poetic sensitivity, the Grammy award-winning violinist takes center stage in Sibelius’ passionate Violin Concerto, which features one of the most captivating openings in the violin repertoire. Orozco-Estrada will also lead an exciting performance of Brahms’ epic Symphony No. 3, which will showcase the orchestra’s powerful sound and a beautiful horn solo. The evening’s program concludes with Brahms’ homage piece Variations on a Theme of Haydn.
Prior to each concert, audience members can enjoy an intimate chamber music performance that will set the scene for the main program. Principal Second Violin Mu-Chen Hsieh, Associate Principal Viola Joan DerHovsepian and Principal Cello Brinton Averil Smith will join guest concertmaster Kevin Lin before each concert for a performance of Haydn’s String Quartet Opus 76, No. 4, nicknamed Sunrise quartet for its evocative opening. An extension of the concert experience, the prelude performance begins 45 minutes prior to the concert.
The concert will take place at Jones Hall for the Performing Arts, 615 Louisiana Street, in Houston’s Theater District. For tickets and information, please call (713) 224-7575 or visit houstonsymphony.org. Tickets may also be purchased at the Houston Symphony Patron Services Center in Jones Hall (Monday–Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.). All programs and artists are subject to change.
BRAHMS AND SIBELIUS
Thursday, May 10, 2018, at 8 p.m.
Friday, May 11, 2018, at 8 p.m.
Sunday, May 13, 2018, at 2:30 p.m.
Andrés Orozco-Estrada, conductor
Augustin Hadelich, violin
Brahms: Symphony No. 3
Sibelius: Violin Concerto
Brahms: Variations on a Theme of Haydn
About Andrés Orozco-Estrada
Houston Symphony Music Director Andrés Orozco-Estrada began his tenure in the 2014–15 season. He immediately established a dynamic presence on the podium and a deep bond with the musicians of the orchestra. He carefully curates his programs to feature engaging combinations of classical masterworks paired with the music of today, significant artistic collaborations with composers and guest artists, and innovative use of multimedia and visual effects, all in order to make meaningful connections with the audience.
In the 2017–18 season, Orozco-Estrada continues to engage with audiences both with casual commentary from the stage and discussions with guests in “Behind the Scenes with Andrés” videos. Upon the commercial release of the critically acclaimed Dvořák series featuring the composer’s last four symphonies, he and the orchestra recently released a Haydn—The Creation recording in collaboration with the Houston Symphony Chorus and a Music of the Americas disc featuring Gershwin’s An American in Paris, Revueltas’ Sensemayá, Piazzolla’s Tangazo and Bernstein’s Symphonic Dances from West Side Story.
Born in Medellín, Colombia, Andrés began his musical studies on the violin and started conducting at age 15. At 19, he entered the renowned Vienna Music Academy, where he studied with Uroš Lajovic (pupil of the legendary Hans Swarowsky), and completed his degree with distinction conducting the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra at the Musikverein. Andrés burst onto the international scene with two substitutions with the Vienna Philharmonic: the first, his debut in 2010, standing in for Esa-Pekka Salonen, and then in 2012, substituting for Riccardo Muti at the Musikverein. Andrés now regularly appears with many of the world’s leading orchestras, including the Vienna Philharmonic, the Santa Cecilia Orchestra in Rome, the Orchestre National de France, the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra and the Mahler Chamber Orchestra.
His engagements for the 2017-18 season featured debuts at the Tonhalle Orchester Zürich and the Staatskapelle Dresden with two concerts at the Salzburg Easter Festival. As a guest, he performed once again with the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra and with the Vienna Philharmonic, which he led on a tour to Paris and Budapest. In June 2018, he tours Asia for two weeks with his Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra.
In addition to his post in Houston, Andrés is chief conductor of the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra and principal guest conductor of the London Philharmonic Orchestra. He was recently named music director of the Vienna Symphony as of the 2021-2022 season.
About Augustin Hadelich
Musical America’s “2018 Instrumentalist of the Year,” Augustin Hadelich has firmly established himself as one of today’s great violinists. He has performed with every major orchestra in the United States, many on numerous occasions, as well as an ever-growing number of major orchestras in the United Kingdom, Europe and the Far East.
One of the highlights of Augustin’s 2017-18 season was a return to the Boston Symphony Orchestra, performing the Ligeti Concerto with Thomas Adès on the podium and featuring the world premiere of Adès’ cadenza for the concerto. Additional highlights have included performances with the orchestras of Houston, San Francisco, Atlanta, Detroit, Fort Worth, Indianapolis, Montréal, Nashville, Oregon, Pittsburgh, Seattle, St. Louis and Utah.
Among recent worldwide performances are engagements with the BBC Philharmonic in Manchester; the BBC Symphony Orchestra in London; the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam; the Danish National, Bournemouth and São Paulo Symphony Orchestras; the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra; the Hamburg, Hong Kong, London, Netherlands and Seoul Philharmonic Orchestras; the Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg; the Norwegian Radio Orchestra; the NHK Symphony Orchestra in Tokyo; the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra; the Royal Scottish National Orchestra; and the radio orchestras of Cologne, Frankfurt, Saarbrücken and Stuttgart.
A prolific recording artist, Augustin won a 2016 Grammy® Award, Best Classical Instrumental Solo, for his recording of Dutilleux’ Violin Concerto, L’arbre des songes, with the Seattle Symphony under Ludovic Morlot (Seattle Symphony Media). His newest disc, the complete Paganini Caprices (Warner Classics) was released in January.
Augustin Hadelich’s career took off when he was named Gold Medalist of the 2006 International Violin Competition of Indianapolis. Since then, he has garnered an impressive list of honors, including the inaugural Warner Music Prize in 2015 and an honorary doctorate from the University of Exeter in England (2017). He plays the 1723 “Ex-Kiesewetter” Stradivari violin, on loan from Clement and Karen Arrison through the Stradivari Society of Chicago.
About the Houston Symphony
During the 2017-18 season, the Houston Symphony celebrates its fourth season with Music Director Andrés Orozco- Estrada and continues its second century as one of America’s leading orchestras with a full complement of concert, community, education, touring and recording activities. The Houston Symphony, one of the oldest performing arts organizations in Texas, held its inaugural performance at The Majestic Theater in downtown Houston June 21, 1913. Today, with an annual operating budget of $33.9 million, the full-time ensemble of 88 professional musicians presents nearly 170 concerts annually, making it the largest performing arts organization in Houston. Additionally, musicians of the orchestra and the Symphony’s four Community-Embedded Musicians offer over 900 community-based performances each year, reaching thousands of people in Greater Houston.
The Grammy Award-winning Houston Symphony has recorded under various prestigious labels, including Naxos, Koch International Classics, Telarc, RCA Red Seal, Virgin Classics and, most recently, Dutch recording label Pentatone. In 2017, the Houston Symphony was awarded an ECHO Klassik award for the live recording of Alban Berg’s Wozzeck under the direction of former Music Director Hans Graf. The orchestra earned its first Grammy nomination and Grammy Award at the 60th annual ceremony for the same recording in the Best Opera Recording category.
For tickets and more information, please visit houstonsymphony.org or call 713-224-7575.
MEDIA CONTACT:
Vanessa Astros: (713) 337-8560, vanessa.astros@houstonsymphony.org
Mireya Reyna: (713) 337-8557, mireya.reyna@houstonsymphony.org
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