MULTI-PLATINUM JAMAICAN ARTIST SHAGGY’S “MR. SYMPHONIC” PERFORMANCE WITH THE HOUSTON SYMPHONY MOVED TO JANUARY 11, 2026

High-Resolution Photos HERE

Photo Credit: PARSONS

HOUSTON, TX (March 26, 2025) — Due to scheduling conflicts, Shaggy's performance with the Houston Symphony has been rescheduled to January 11, 2026. Previously scheduled to take place this summer, the Jamaican icon’s “Mr. Symphonic” show is an orchestral concert that pays tribute to the rich tapestry of reggae music, featuring Shaggy’s most beloved hits, with Principal POPS Conductor Steven Reineke conducting the Houston Symphony on January 11, 2026 at Jones Hall.

Created and curated with Houston Symphony Principal POPS Conductor Steven Reineke, this ground-breaking symphonic program explores the beginnings of Mento, Ska, Rock Steady and Reggae to modern Dance Hall. Featuring arrangements by David Serkin Ludwig, the multi-GRAMMY Award-winning Shaggy, his dynamic band, conductor Steven Reineke, and the Houston Symphony present a survey of Jamaican popular music including Shaggy’s own culture-changing contributions such as “It Wasn’t Me,” “Angel,” “Mr. Boombastic,” and more.

For tickets to Mr. Symphonic: Shaggy with the Houston Symphony, as well all Houston Symphony Concerts, please call or text 713.224.7575 or visit houstonsymphony.org. Patrons with tickets to the rescheduled performance will be automatically transferred to the January 11 performance. For assistance, call or text our Patron Services Center at 713.224.7575 (Mon–Sat, 12 noon–6 p.m.), or email patronservices@houstonsymphony.org.

About SHAGGY

Born Orville Richard Burrell and raised in Kingston, Jamaica, Shaggy got his start as an MC in New York City’s burgeoning dancehall scene soon after moving to Brooklyn in his teens. Not long after serving four years in the U.S. Marines (including two tours of duty in the Middle East as part of Operation Desert Storm), he inked his first record deal and quickly scored a global crossover smash with “Oh Carolina.”

Throughout the following decade, he further established himself as one of the most influential reggae/dancehall artists propelled by the immense popularity of albums such as the 1995 breakthrough “Boombastic” and the multi-platinum sensation “Hot Shot” in 2000. This career defining album now holds the prestigious title of the highest-ranked album by a Caribbean artist on Billboard’s Top 200 Albums of the 21^st century

As the only diamond-selling dancehall artist in music history, Shaggy, managed by Martin Kierszenbaum/Cherrytree Music Company, has sold more than 40 million album units to date, in addition to landing 8 singles on the Billboard Hot 100 and 7 albums on the Billboard 200 (including 4 in the top 40). He has received 2 Grammy Awards and is among the top 3 streamed reggae artists of all time on Spotify.

Facebook: @Shaggy

Instagram, TikTok & Twitter: @direalshaggy

About Steven Reineke

Houston Symphony Principal POPS Conductor Steven Reineke is one of North America’s leading conductors of popular music. He is in his second decade as music director of The New York Pops at Carnegie Hall. Additionally, he is principal pops conductor of the National Symphony Orchestra at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra.

Steven is a frequent guest conductor and can be seen on the podium with the Chicago, Philadelphia, Dallas, San Francisco, and Detroit Symphony Orchestras.

On stage, he creates and collaborates with a range of leading artists from the worlds of hip-hop, R & B, Broadway, television, and rock including: Maxwell, Common, Kendrick Lamar, Nas, Ne-Yo, Bob Weir, Trey Anastasio, Barry Manilow, Cynthia Erivo, Ben Rector, Cody Fry, Sutton Foster, Amos Lee, Dispatch, Jason Mraz, and Ben Folds, among others.

In 2024, he led the National Symphony Orchestra (NSO) on PBS’s Next at the Kennedy Center featuring Ben Folds DeClassified with Jacob Collier, Laufey, and dodie. He was previously seen with the NSO on PBS on Great Performances with hip-hop legend Nas performing his seminal album Illmatic. In 2017, he was featured on National Public Radio’s All Things Considered leading the NSO—in a first for the show’s 45-year history—performing live music excerpts between news segments.

Steven is the creator of hundreds of orchestral arrangements, and his work is performed worldwide and can be heard on numerous Cincinnati Pops Orchestra recordings. His symphonic works Celebration Fanfare, Legend of Sleepy Hollow, and Casey at the Bat are frequently performed in North America, including performances by the New York Philharmonic and Los Angeles Philharmonic. His Sun Valley Festival Fanfare was used to commemorate the Sun Valley Summer Symphony’s pavilion, and his Festival Te Deum and Swan’s Island Sojourn were debuted by the Cincinnati Symphony and Cincinnati Pops Orchestras. His numerous wind ensemble compositions are published by the C.L. Barnhouse Company and are perennially performed by concert bands.

A native of Ohio, Steven is a graduate of Miami University of Ohio (2020 Alumnus Distinguished Achievement Medal), where he earned bachelor of music degrees with honors in both trumpet performance and music composition. He currently resides in New York City with his husband Eric Gabbard.

About Houston Symphony

Under Music Director Juraj Valčuha, the Houston Symphony continues its second century inspiring and engaging a large and diverse audience in Houston and beyond through exceptional musical performances, and creating enduring impact in the Houston community. One of the oldest performing arts organizations in Texas, the Symphony held its inaugural performance at The Majestic Theater in downtown Houston on June 21, 1913. Today, with an operating budget of $40.7 million, the full-time ensemble of professional musicians presents more than 130 concerts annually, making it the largest performing arts organization in Houston. Traditionally, musicians of the orchestra and the Symphony's Community-Embedded Musicians also offer nearly 600 community-based performances each year at various schools, community centers, hospitals, senior centers, and churches, annually reaching nearly 200,000 people in Greater Houston in addition to Jones Hall.

After suspending concert activities in March 2020, the Symphony successfully completed a full 2020–21 season with in-person audiences and weekly livestreams of each performance, making it one of the only orchestras in the world to do so. The Houston Symphony remains committed to livestreaming its 2024-25 Season to a broad audience in over 45 countries and all 50 states, one of few American orchestras dedicated to transmitting live performances to a sizeable audience outside its home city through this technology. The Grammy Award-winning Houston Symphony has recorded under various prestigious labels, including Koch International Classics, Naxos, RCA Red Seal, Telarc, 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 60^th annual ceremony for the same recording in the Best Opera Recording category. The Symphony’s most recent recordings include a Pentatone release in January 2022 of its world premiere performances of Jimmy López Bellido’s Aurora and Ad Astra, and a Naxos release in July 2023 of its world premiere performance of Jennifer Higdon’s Duo Duel.