Dear Houston Symphony family member,
On behalf of the Board, musicians and staff of the Houston Symphony, please know that we are thinking of you all during the process of recovering and rebuilding after Hurricane Harvey. The last two weeks have brought unprecedented challenges to Houston, but they have also seen our incredible community rally to help and support those impacted by the storm. I am very proud that many musicians of the Houston Symphony have visited the George R. Brown Convention Center and other temporary shelters elsewhere in the city, to provide the respite and comfort of music.
A dozen of our colleagues, both musicians and staff, have suffered damage to their homes. The Houston Symphony is nothing without these musicians and team members, who make great music possible for a great city. We invite you to help them by donating to the Houston Symphony Employee Assistance Fund, established by the Executive Committee of the Houston Symphony Society Board. Your contribution directly supports Symphony employees who are facing substantial home recovery costs directly related to Hurricane Harvey. And, because the Houston Symphony is an established nonprofit organization, your donation is tax-deductible. You can support these treasured Symphony colleagues through this link, and select “Employee Assistance Fund” in the dropdown menu.
Regarding our performance home, thanks to the hard work of Houston First, Jones Hall will re-open in the near future; we will share that date when available. We are pleased to announce that the Houston Symphony will open its 2017-18 Season at Stude Concert Hall at Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music, with our first Classical Series concert weekend. These concerts, on Thursday, September 14, Friday, September 15, and Sunday, September 17, will feature the orchestra and chorus under the leadership of Music Director Andrés Orozco-Estrada.
To help serve our community at this difficult time, we invite the public to attend all three of these performances for free. We are grateful to Rice University’s generosity in making Stude Hall available for these concerts. On Monday, our Patron Services Center will contact current ticketholders with reserved tickets to these concerts, and will share information with the public about how to secure free tickets for these performances.
We will also invite first responders to attend the second Classical Series weekend—Andrés Conducts Schumann on September 22-24—free of charge. The location of these concerts will be confirmed soon.
After Harvey, it’s more true than ever that we rely on the generosity of donors, so if you are able to consider a gift to the Houston Symphony’s Annual Fund here, you can make an invaluable contribution to our recovery.
We are, more than ever, proud to be Houston’s Symphony, and very eager to be back on stage to inspire a city that has been through so much. Thank you for all you do for the Houston Symphony. We look forward to seeing you soon.
#HouStrong #HouRecovers
Kind regards,
President
Houston Symphony Society Board
For more information about contributing to the Houston Symphony, please contact Michael Arlen, Associate Director, Individual Giving and Major Gifts at michael.arlen@houstonsymphony.org or (713) 337-8529.
