HOUSTON (June 7, 2019) – The Houston Symphony returns to Miller Outdoor Theatre for the ExxonMobil Summer Symphony Nights, a summer tradition that introduces outstanding soloists and conductors to Houstonians. Concertgoers can enjoy classical music in a free and relaxed outdoor setting appropriate for the entire family starting at 8:30 p.m. on June 21 and 22.
Finnish conductor Dalia Stasevska makes her North American conducting debut with the Houston Symphony, opening the ExxonMobil Summer Symphony Nights at Miller Outdoor Theatre with the program Sibelius and Rachmaninoff, Friday, June 21 at 8:30 p.m.
Principal Guest Conductor Designate of the BBC Symphony Orchestra, Stasevska leads the orchestra in an evening of music by Finnish composer Jean Sibelius. The program includes the Karelia Suite and The Swan of Tuonela, both prime examples of the composer’s signature lush, Romantic style. Also on the program is Sibelius’ most popular and patriotic work, the stirringly beautiful Finlandia—later reworked as the recognizable hymn “Be Still My Soul.” Stasevska concludes the program with Rachmaninoff’s rhythmical Symphonic Dances.
The Houston Symphony returns to Miller Outdoor Theatre the following evening—Saturday, June 22 at 8:30 p.m.—under the direction of guest conductor Ruth Reinhardt, former conductor assistant at the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, in the program Tchaikovsky’s Romeo & Juliet. Houston Symphony Principal Second Violin MuChen Hsieh takes center stage in Saint-Saëns’s Violin Concerto No. 3, a popular staple of the violin repertoire. Hsieh will make her Houston Symphony solo debut in the program. Reinhardt closes out the evening with Dvořák’s heartfelt Othello, and Tchaikovsky’s well-known romantic interpretation of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet.
The remaining concerts in the ExxonMobil Summer Symphony Nights series will take place Friday, June 28, Saturday, June 29, and Thursday, July 4. Admission is free, but tickets are required for the covered seated area. Tickets are available at the Miller Theatre Box Office the day of the performance between 10:30 a.m and 1 p.m. Any remaining tickets are released one hour before the performance time. Support for the Houston Symphony at Miller Outdoor Theatre comes from ExxonMobil, the City of Houston through the Miller Theatre Advisory Board, and The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. Visit milleroutdoortheatre.com and houstonsymphony.org for more information.
SIBELIUS & RACHMANINOFF
Friday, June 21, 8:30 p.m.
Dalia Stasevska, conductor
Sibelius: Karelia Suite
Sibelius: The Swan of Tuonela
Sibelius: Finlandia
Rachmaninoff: Symphonic Dances
TCHAIKOVSKY’S ROMEO & JULIET
Saturday, June 22, 8:30 p.m.
Ruth Reinhardt, conductor
MuChen Hsieh, principal second violin
Detlev Glanert: Prelude No. 1 from The American Preludes for Orchestra
Saint-Saëns: Violin Concerto No. 3
Dvořák: Othello Overture
Tchaikovsky: Romeo and Juliet Overture-Fantasy
About Dalia Stasevska
Finnish conductor Dalia Stasevska was appointed principal guest conductor designate of the BBC Symphony Orchestra in January 2019 and will take up the position next month.
Dalia’s charismatic and dynamic musicianship has established her as a conductor of exceptional versatility. This season, she will celebrate a number of debuts, including this one with the Houston Symphony, the Philharmonia Orchestra, the Orchestre National de Lyon at the Annecy Classic Festival, the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, the Swedish Chamber Orchestra, the Stavanger Symphony Orchestra, and the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra. She will return to the BBC Symphony Orchestra, the Trondheim Symfoniorkester, the Gävle Symphony Orchestra, and the Orchestra of Opera North. In December, she had the honor of conducting the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra at the Nobel Prize Ceremony in Stockholm.
In the 2017–18 season, she debuted with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, the Gürzenich-Orchester Köln, and the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra. Dalia also returned to the Oslo Philharmonic, the Trondheim Symfoniorkester, and the Gothenburg Symphony, where she celebrated the 100th anniversary of Finnish independence. She also returned to Finnish National Opera, conducting Sebastian Fagerlund’s Höstsonaten at the Baltic Sea Festival in Stockholm in a production featuring Anne-Sofie von Otter.
A passionate opera conductor, this season Dalia debuts with Kungliga Opera Stockholm conducting a production of Don Giovanni directed by Ole Anders Tandberg as well as with Opéra de Toulon conducting Eugene Onegin. She has conducted The Cunning Little Vixen with Finnish National Opera and Lucia di Lammermoor with Norske Opera.
Dalia was originally educated as a violinist, violist, and composer at the Tampere Conservatoire and the Sibelius Academy. As a conductor, her teachers have included Jorma Panula, Leif Segerstam, Hannu Lintu, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Susanna Mälkki, Mikko Franck, and Sakari Oramo.
About Ruth Reinhardt
One of today’s most dynamic and nuanced young conductors, Ruth Reinhardt is building a reputation for her musical intelligence, programmatic imagination, and elegant performances. In the 2019–20 season, Ruth makes her debuts with the orchestras of Houston, Detroit, Indianapolis, Baltimore, San Antonio, and Grand Rapids, as well as the Los Angeles and St. Paul Chamber Orchestras. In Europe, debuts include the Orchestre national d’Île de France in Paris; Frankfurt Radio Symphony; DSO-Berlin; Tonkünstler Orchestra; and the MDR Leipzig Radio Symphony, Helsingborg Symphony, and Gävle Symphony Orchestras, among others. She will return to the Malmö Symphony Orchestra, Kristiansand Symphony Orchestra, and Dallas Symphony Orchestra, where she served as assistant conductor for two seasons under Jaap van Zweden, concluding at the end of the 2017–18 season.
Highlights of Ruth’s 2018–19 season included debuts with the symphony orchestras of Fort Worth, Omaha, Orlando, Portland, and Sarasota in this country; and the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, Grosses Orchester Graz, and Kristiansand Symphony Orchestra in Europe. She also returned to conduct The Cleveland Orchestra, Seattle Symphony, Malmö Symphony Orchestra, impuls Festival in Germany, and Dallas Symphony Orchestra for both a subscription week and the contemporary alternative ReMix series. In the summers of 2018 and 2019, she served as the assistant conductor of the Lucerne Festival Academy Orchestra.
Ruth received her master’s degree in conducting from The Juilliard School, where she studied with Alan Gilbert. Born in Saarbrücken, Germany, she began studying violin at an early age and sang in the children’s chorus of Saarländisches Staatstheater, Saarbrücken’s opera company. She attended Zurich’s University of the Arts to study violin with Rudolf Koelman and began conducting studies with Constantin Trinks with additional training under Johannes Schlaefli. She has also participated in conducting masterclasses with, among others, Bernard Haitink, Michael Tilson Thomas, David Zinman, Paavo Järvi, Neeme Järvi, Marin Alsop, and James Ross.
Prior to her appointment in Dallas, Reinhardt was a Dudamel Fellow of the Los Angeles Philharmonic (2017–19), conducting fellow at the Seattle Symphony (2015–16) and at the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s Tanglewood Music Center (2015), and an associate conducting fellow of the Taki Concordia program (2015–17).
About MuChen Hsieh
A native of Taiwan, MuChen Hsieh joined the Houston Symphony as principal second violin in 2017. Prior to her appointment in Houston, she worked with leading conductors, including Thomas Adès, Charles Dutoit, Larry Rachleff, David Robertson, Joshua Weilerstein, and Hugh Wolff. She studied with Kathleen Winkler at Rice University’s Shepherd School and with Malcolm Lowe and Masuko Ushioda at the New England Conservatory of Music.
MuChen regularly performs in recitals, chamber music ensembles, and orchestras in the United States and Taiwan. She has served as concertmaster of the Shepherd School Symphony Orchestra on numerous occasions, including the orchestra’s 2016 tour to Carnegie Hall. She has performed with the New York Philharmonic as a Zarin Mehta Global Academy Fellow.
An avid chamber musician, she has collaborated with James Dunham, Jon Kimura Parker, and Winkler. When MuChen is home in Taiwan, she enjoys organizing chamber music concerts with friends. She has a passion for coaching and leading youth orchestra concerts in her hometown of Puli.
About the Houston Symphony
During the 2019–20 season, the Houston Symphony celebrates its sixth 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 hundreds of 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.
MEDIA CONTACTS:
Eric Skelly: 713.337.8560, eric.skelly@houstonsymphony.org
Mireya Reyna: 713.337.8557, mireya.reyna@houstonsymphony.org
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