John Williams and Rachmaninoff
April 2, 4, 5, 2009
You can hear John Williams’ life-long love of the horn in his concerto, which was written as he was completing the music to the third Harry Potter film. Imagine your own picture to the concerto’s movements—Angelus, The Battle of the Trees, Pastorale, The Hunt and Nocturne.
Peter Oundjian, conductor
William VerMeulen, horn
Vaughn Williams: Fantasia on a Theme of Thomas Tallis
John Williams: Concerto for Horn and Orchestra
John Williams: Celebration Fanfare
Rachmaninoff: Symphonic Dances

Leila Josefowicz Plus  Brahms’ First
April 17, 18, 19, 2009
Composer John Adams says, “The violin commands incredible lyric intensity and has a fantastic capac­ity to deliver a white-hot message.” The second movement of his concerto was inspired by the Pachelbel Canon.
Thomas Dausgaard, conductor
Leila Josefowicz, violin
Nielsen: Prelude to Act II of Saul and David
Adams: Violin Concerto
Brahms: Symphony No. 1

Slatkin’s Beethoven Eighth
April 30, and May 2, 3, 2009
Leonard Slatkin premiered the Sierra Missa Latina at the Kennedy Center and now brings it to Houston with the same soloists. The Washington Times said, “Mr. Sierra’s new work is, quite simply, shockingly brilliant.” In 2008-2009 Slatkin be­comes Music Director in Detroit and Principal Guest Conductor in Pittsburgh. His more than 100 recordings have earned five GRAMMY® Awards and more than sixty nominations.
Leonard Slatkin, conductor
Heidi Grant Murphy, soprano
Nathaniel Webster, baritone
Houston Symphony Chorus
Charles Hausmann, director
Beethoven: Symphony No. 8
Roberto Sierra: Missa Latina

Beethoven’s Violin Concerto
May 8, 9, 10, 2009
When the Bartók Concerto was premiered in 1944, legendary Boston Symphony Orchestra conductor Serge Koussevitzky called it “the best orchestral work of the past twenty-five years.”
Hans Graf, conductor
Christian Tetzlaff, violin
Beethoven: Overture to The Creatures of Prometheus
Beethoven: Violin Concerto
Bartók: Concerto for Orchestra

Respighi’s Pines of Rome
May 14, 16, 17, 2009
Colorful and evocative, The Pines of Rome will spur your imagination with images of the Borghese Gardens filled with children playing, a Roman temple under the stars and a Roman legion’s thundering march along the Appian Way.
Hans Graf, conductor
Eugene Ugorski, violin
Rossini: Overture to La scala di seta
Paganini: Violin Concerto No. 1
Puccini: Preludio sinfonico
Respighi: The Pines of Rome