HOUSTON SYMPHONY 2008-2009 Season

THE PASSION AND JOY OF GREAT MUSIC PERFORMED LIVE REACH NEW HEIGHTS IN THE 2008-2009 SEASON
Hans Graf’s Eighth Season Features Great Musical Works and Great Artists

The Houston Symphony has announced details of its 2008-2009 Season, including a two-day musical “competition” between Bach and Vivaldi, the return of Sir André Previn, Yo-Yo Ma and Bill Cosby and performances of some of the world’s best-loved and exciting musical works.

Maestro Hans Graf and the musicians of your Houston Symphony take center stage for another season of innovation and excitement that includes:

• Many of the great musical masterpieces of all time, including Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony, Dvorák’s Symphony No. 9, From the New World, Rachmaninoff’s Second Piano Concerto, Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto and Respighi’s The Pines of Rome.

• Outstanding guest artists, including Sir André Previn, Yo-Yo Ma, Leila Josefowicz, Yefim Bronfman, Gil Shaham, Hélène Grimaud, five-time GRAMMY award winning conductor Leonard Slatkin, Yuja Wang, Jonathan Biss, Leonidas Kavakos, Alisa Weilerstein, Jon Kimura Parker, Christian Tetzlaff, Lars Vogt and Eugene Ugorski.

• Bach vs. Vivaldi, a two-day festival pitting all six of Bach’s Brandenburg concertos against works of Vivaldi featuring a variety of events throughout the 26-hour festival.

• SoundPlusVision, the Houston Symphony’s unique and innovative series of six concerts that combine the thrill of live music with concert video, dialogue, visual images or special lighting, returns beginning on September 26, 27 and 28, 2008 with a special appearance by Russian poet Yevgeny Yevtushenko, whose poetry inspired Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 13, Babi Yar, which will be performed by Maestro Graf and the Houston Symphony.

• Outstanding Guest Conductors who will take the Jones Hall stage during the 2008-2009 season include James Gaffigan, Christian Zacharias, Thomas Dausgaard, Jean-Marie Zeitouni and Xian Zhang.
  
  
• Another Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pops at Jones Hall season will take you from rock to swing and from the music of the movies to “Dancing with the Symphony.” Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, Wayne Brady and Peter Cetera highlight another season under the leadership of Principal Pops Conductor Michael Krajewski.
  
  
• World Premiere and Solo Appearances by Houston Symphony Musicians - Principal Harpist Paula Page and soprano Twyla Robinson will perform the world premiere of the Double Concerto for Harp and Soprano, a Houston Symphony commission composed by Augusta Read Thomas. It is the latest in an on-going series of commissions for the principal players in the orchestra. Principal trumpet Mark Hughes will join pianist Jon Kimura Parker as soloist in the Shostakovich Piano Concerto No.1.
  
  
• SYMPHONY SPECIALS – Includes a special presentation of the Music of the Eagles on November 14, 2008. Another in a series of innovative departures from traditional symphony programming, the performance will combine the orchestra, singer Randy Jackson of the band Zebra, rock show lighting and the music of one of America’s most beloved bands.
  
  
• CYNTHIA WOODS MITCHELL POPS - Revisit the ‘40s with swing revival band Big Bad Voodoo Daddy. The great musicals of Rogers and Hammerstein on Stage and Screen will be featured in the fall with remastered clips and original vocals from great movie musicals like Oklahoma!, The King and I, South Pacific, Carousel and The Sound of Music. The biggest hits of the ‘70s and ‘80s are on tap in January when Peter Cetera, legendary voice, songwriter and bassist for the group Chicago performs his popular solo favorites like “The Glory of Love,” “The Next Time I Fall” and Chicago’s greatest hits. Krajewski brings Star Wars and More John Williams to the Jones Hall stage in February with Indiana Jones, ET, Jaws and Harry Potter on the program. Krajewski and Classical Mystery Tour will delight audiences with Music of the Beatles, as well as other hits from the era made famous by artists such as Simon and Garfunkel, the Mamas and the Papas, and the Beach Boys.