ABOUT THIS CONCERT
Get ready for a European adventure like no other when best-selling travel author and PBS star Rick Steves comes to Jones Hall! The breathtaking sights of Italy, England, France, Vienna, Norway, and more fill the giant screen while the Houston Symphony performs stirring selections like The Blue Danube Waltz, “Ode to Joy” and Pomp and Circumstance. Rick provides fascinating insight and cultural context at each stop.
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ARTISTS
Known for his entertaining programs and clever humor, Michael Krajewski is a much sought after conductor of symphonic pops. He is principal pops conductor of the Jacksonville Symphony and previously served as principal pops conductor of the Houston Symphony and Atlanta Symphony Orchestra as well as music director of The Philly Pops.
As a guest conductor, Michael has performed with The Cleveland and Philadelphia Orchestras; the Boston and Cincinnati Pops; the San Francisco, Baltimore, Detroit, Indianapolis, Seattle, Dallas, St. Louis, Pittsburgh, and National symphony orchestras; and numerous other orchestras across the United States. In Canada, he has led Ottawa’s National Arts Centre Orchestra, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony, and the Edmonton and Winnipeg Symphony Orchestras. Other international appearances include performances in Dublin and Belfast with the Ulster Orchestra as well as performances with the Hong Kong Philharmonic, the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra, the Iceland Symphony Orchestra, and Spain’s Bilbao Symphony Orchestra.
Michael is the conductor of the video Silver Screen Serenade with violinist Jenny Oaks Baker that aired worldwide on BYU Broadcasting. On recordings, he has led the Houston Symphony on two holiday albums: Glad Tidings and Christmas Festival. His collaborative programs have included such artists as flutist James Galway, mezzo Marilyn Horne, pianist Alicia de Larrocha, guitarist Ángel Romero, and pop artists Rufus Wainwright, Jason Alexander, Roberta Flack, Judy Collins, Art Garfunkel, Wynonna Judd, Kenny Loggins, Ben Folds, Doc Severinsen, Patti Austin, Sandi Patty, Ann Hampton Callaway, Chicago, Preservation Hall Jazz Band, The Chieftains, Pink Martini, Rockapella, Cirque de la Symphonie, The Doo Wop Project, Classical Mystery Tour, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, and The Midtown Men.
With degrees from Wayne State University in Detroit and the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, Michael furthered his training at the Pierre Monteux Domaine School for Conductors. He was a Dorati Fellowship Conductor with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and later served as that orchestra’s assistant conductor. He was resident conductor of the Florida Orchestra, and for 11 years, served as music director of the Modesto Symphony Orchestra. Michael lives in Orlando, Florida, with his wife, Darcy. When not conducting, he enjoys travel, photography, and solving crossword puzzles.
Guidebook author and travel TV host Rick Steves is America’s most respected authority on European travel. He took his first trip to Europe in 1969, visiting piano factories with his father, a piano importer. As an 18-year-old, Rick began traveling on his own, funding his trips by teaching piano lessons.
In 1976, he started his business, Rick Steves’ Europe, which has grown from a one-man operation to a company with a staff of 100 full-time, well-travelled employees at its headquarters in Edmonds, Washington. There he produces a best-selling guidebook series on European travel, America’s most popular travel series on public television, a weekly hour-long national public radio show, a weekly syndicated column, and free travel information available through his travel center and ricksteves.com.
Rick Steves’ Europe also runs a successful European tour program organizing small-group tours that annually take more than 30,000 travelers to Europe. His mission is to empower Americans to have European trips that are fun, affordable, and culturally broadening.
Over the past 20 years, Rick has hosted more than 100 travel shows for public television and numerous pledge specials, raising millions of dollars for local stations. His Rick Steves’ Europe TV series is carried by more than 300 stations, reaching 95 percent of U.S. markets. Rick has also created two award-winning specials for public television: Rick Steves’ European Christmas and the groundbreaking Rick Steves’ Iran, both of which he wrote and co-produced through his company Back Door Productions.
Rick hosts the weekly public radio program Travel with Rick Steves, which airs across the country and has spawned a popular podcast. He has also created a series of audio walking tour podcasts for museums and neighborhoods in Paris, Rome, Florence, Venice, London, and Athens.
Rick self-published the first edition of his travel skills book Europe Through the Back Door (now updated annually) in 1980. He has also written more than 50 other guidebooks, phrase books, and “snapshot” guides. For several years, Rick Steves’ Italy has been the best-selling international guidebook sold in the United States. In 2009, he tackled a new genre of travel writing with Travel as a Political Act, reflecting on how travel can be a significant force for peace and understanding in the world.
When not on the road, Rick is active in his church and with advocacy groups focused on economic and social justice, drug policy reform, and ending hunger. He lives and works in his hometown of Edmonds, Washington.