Live from Jones Hall: Vivaldi’s Four Seasons

Recognized by the Houston Chronicle as a Houston favorite, Houston Symphony Co-Concertmaster Eric Halen’s violin playing has been described by critics as “sterling” and “tenderly expressive and dramatic.” A review in the Chicago Sun-Times of the Houston Symphony Chamber Players Ravinia Festival performance of Messiaen’s “Quartet for the End of Time” states, “…as the final, sustained tone of Eric Halen’s violin faded to close… there was no doubt that the evening had offered the best kind of virtuosity.”

Halen joined the Houston Symphony as Assistant Concertmaster in 1987. In 1997, he assumed the position of Associate Concertmaster and served as Acting Concertmaster for the 2005–06, 2008–09, and 2009–10 seasons. Halen grew up in a family of violinists. His parents were both professionals, and his brother David is Concertmaster of the Saint Louis Symphony.

After earning his bachelor’s degree at Central Missouri State University where he studied violin with his father, Dr. Walter Halen, he received his master’s degree at the age of 20 from the University of Illinois, while studying with Sergiu Luca. At age 23, he became artist-teacher of violin at Texas Christian University.

Halen has performed in solo and chamber music programs in the U.S. and abroad, including solo appearances with the St. Louis and Houston Symphonies. As a chamber musician, he has collaborated with many pre-eminent artists including violinist Sergiu Luca, violist Lawrence Dutton, cellists Gary Hoffman and Ralph Kirschbaum, and pianists Christoph Eschenbach and John Kimura Parker.

Halen has made frequent guest appearances with DA CAMERA of Houston, MUSIC IN CONTEXT, and performed at summer music festivals including the Aspen Music Festival, the Pacific Music Festival in Sapporo, Japan and Cascade Head Festival in Oregon. As a member of the Houston Symphony Chamber Players with Christoph Eschenbach, he has toured the U.S., Japan, and Europe and made recordings for Koch International, including Messiaen’s “Quartet for the end of Time” and Alban Berg’s Adagio for Violin, Clarinet and Piano from the Chamber Concerto.

Halen has performed as soloist many times with the Houston Symphony on Classical Subscription concerts, including a performance of Prokofiev’s Concerto in G minor with Christoph Eschenbach conducting, and the Mozart Duet Aria “Non Temer Amato Bene” with soprano Barbara Bonney and Hans Graf conducting at New York’s Carnegie Hall. He has also performed as soloist on the “Interact‚” “Mozart and More‚” and the “Exxon Pops‚” series.

In September 2006, Halen was invited by the Nashville Symphony and their Music Advisor Leonard Slatkin to join them as guest concertmaster to open their new symphony hall, the Schermerhorn Center. The opening night concert was broadcast nationally several times on PBS and PBS HD, as a special titled “One Symphony Place.”

Halen plays a violin made in 1616 by Antonio and Hieronymus Amati.

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 children: Maja, 13 and Luka, 10.

MuChen (Jessica) Hsieh, from Taiwan, joined the Houston Symphony as principal second violin in 2017. Prior to her appointment in Houston, she worked with conductors including Thomas Adès, Charles Dutoit, Larry Rachleff, David Robertson, Joshua Weilerstein, and Hugh Wolff. She studied with Kathleen Winkler at the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University, and Malcolm Lowe and Masuko Ushioda at the New England Conservatory.

Hsieh regularly performs recitals, chamber music concerts, and in orchestras in the United States and Taiwan. Her festival performances include New York String Orchestra, Sarasota Festival Orchestra, and Music Academy of the West Festival Orchestra. Hsieh has served as concertmaster of the Shepherd School Symphony Orchestra on numerous occasions, including for the orchestra’s 2016 tour to Carnegie Hall. She has also 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, Kathleen Winkler, and Larry Wheeler. When Hsieh is home in Taiwan, she enjoys organizing chamber music concerts with friends. She also has a passion for coaching and leading local orchestra concerts during the summer in Taiwan with the concertmaster of the National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra, Ray-Chou Chang.

Aside from playing violin, Hsieh enjoys cooking and baking with friends, jogging, or dreaming about getting a dog.

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. In his spare time, he likes playing tennis and enjoys traveling with his wife Sherry and two young children, Luke and Alice.

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 Greensmith.

Originally from Valencia, California, Matthew Roitstein joined the Houston Symphony in 2014 as associate principal flute, the first appointment made by Music Director Andrés Orozco-Estrada. He was previously a member of the Honolulu Symphony and Sarasota Opera Orchestras, as well as a fellow of the New World Symphony in Miami Beach, Florida, where he inaugurated the Solo Spotlight recital series in 2011 in the newly-built New World Center.

Roitstein has performed as guest principal flute with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, and River Oaks Chamber Orchestra. He has also performed with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, and Louisiana Philharmonic. During the summer, he has participated in the Tanglewood Music Center, Music Academy of the West, and Aspen and Sarasota Music Festivals. Roitstein has twice appeared on the PBS series Great Performances from Tanglewood and the New World Center, and he can be heard on recordings with the Houston Symphony and New World Symphony, as well as on Gloria Estefan’s album, The Standards.

An enthusiastic educator, Roitstein has taught extensively in the United States as well as throughout South and Central America. He received his bachelor’s degree in both architecture and music from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he was the 2007 winner of the MIT Symphony Concerto Competition. While at MIT, he studied flute with Seta Der Hohannesian. He received his Master of Music in Flute Performance with Leone Buyse at Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music. Other influential teachers include Mark Sparks, Stephen Kujala, Gary Woodward, Pedro Eustache, and his mother, Rosy Sackstein.

Megan Conley (née Levin) had a musical upbringing in Austin, Texas. She began harp lessons at the age of five. The daughter of musician Danny Levin, she grew up playing music with her father and siblings in the family band. By the time she was 15, she had played on several albums of Austin musicians, including the Grammy Award-winning album ‘Los Super Seven.’

Megan received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Rice University, where she studied with Paula Page. In 2005, she was awarded a Fulbright Grant to study with Isabelle Perrin at the Ecole Normale de Musique in Paris, France. In 2012, Megan won first place in the Ima Hogg Competition and subsequently performed the Ginastera Harp Concerto with the Houston Symphony.

Megan joined the Sarasota Opera Orchestra as Principal Harpist for their 2011 and 2012 seasons. She also served as Principal Harpist of the chamber orchestra CityMusic Cleveland from 2007–2012. As a freelance harpist, Megan has performed with the New York City Ballet, the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, The Knights, American Symphony Orchestra, Irish Chamber Orchestra, and the Bang On a Can All-Stars, among others. She also performed for ‘The Fantasticks’ on Broadway.

Megan joined the Houston Symphony as Principal Harpist in January 2015.