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Orchestras · Texas

Major orchestra · Houston, Texas · founded 1913

Houston Symphony

Conducted this season by Juraj Valčuha, Steven Reineke, Gonzalo Farias and 3 more · Jones Hall

62 concerts 28 programs Sep to Apr 2027
Official site ↗ Nearby concerts Ask the regulars About & history

Next up

Whole season ↓
Wed9Sep

When Instruments Roamed The Earth

7:30 PM · The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion

  • "When Instruments Roamed the Earth!®" © 2019 Agnes Day Music, BMI, composed by Bob Singleton, narration by Stephen White.
Fri18Sep

Fiesta Sinfónica

7:30 PM · Jones Hall

  • Arr. E. LOPEZ-YAÑEZ - Vista alegre
  • Soro: Tres aires chilenos
  • Villoldo: El choclo & la cumparsita
  • +10 more
Fri2Oct

Rachmaninoff Festival: Rachmaninoff's Second Symphony

3 performances · 7:30 PM · Jones Hall

  • Rachmaninoff: The Isle of the Dead, Op. 29
  • Rachmaninoff: The Spring, cantata for baritone, chorus and orchestra, Op. 20
  • Rachmaninoff: Symphony No. 2 in E minor, Op. 27
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The season

28 programs · 62 performances

September 2026

Fri187:30 PM

Fiesta Sinfónica Pops

Arr. E. LOPEZ-YAÑEZ - Vista alegre · Soro: Tres aires chilenos · Villoldo: El choclo & la cumparsita · T. ÁLVAREZ/DÁVILA - Marinera trujillana · Beethoven: Cinco Salsa · Mejía: Acuarela · Gutiérrez: Alma llanera · Lecuona: La comparsa · Cortés: Cielito lindo · Arr. E. LOPEZ-YAÑEZ - Vista alegre · Arr. E. LOPEZ-YAÑEZ - La llorona · Bach: Salsaria · Arr. R. WENDEL - Fiesta Mexicana Mexican Hat Dance-- La Cucaracha-- La Bamba

Gonzalo Farias, conductor

Jones Hall · Houston, TX

October 2026

November 2026

December 2026

Sat192:00 PM

Joyful Fanfares: Holiday Brass Spectacular Holiday

Gonzalo Farias, conductor · William VerMeulen, Horn · Robert Johnson, Horn · Nathan Cloeter, Horn · Ian Mayton, Horn · Brian Mangrum, Horn · Spencer Bay, Horn · Mark Hughes, Trumpet · John Parker, Trumpet · Richard Harris, Trumpet · Nick Platoff, Trombone · Bradley White, Trombone · Phillip Freeman, Trombone · Kelton Koch, Trombone · Dave Kirk, Tuba · Leonardo Soto, Timpani · Matthew Strauss, Timpani · Mark Griffith, Percussion

Jones Hall · Houston, TX

Sun206:30 PM

Joyful Fanfares: Holiday Brass Spectacular Holiday

Gonzalo Farias, conductor · William VerMeulen, Horn · Robert Johnson, Horn · Nathan Cloeter, Horn · Ian Mayton, Horn · Brian Mangrum, Horn · Spencer Bay, Horn · Mark Hughes, Trumpet · John Parker, Trumpet · Richard Harris, Trumpet · Nick Platoff, Trombone · Bradley White, Trombone · Phillip Freeman, Trombone · Kelton Koch, Trombone · Dave Kirk, Tuba · Leonardo Soto, Timpani · Matthew Strauss, Timpani · Mark Griffith, Percussion

Jones Hall · Houston, TX

January 2027

February 2027

March 2027

April 2027

About the Houston Symphony

The Houston Symphony is the resident orchestra of Houston, Texas, performing most classical programs at Jones Hall downtown and outdoor summer concerts at the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion in The Woodlands. It is one of the larger American orchestras, with a season mixing full classical subscription programs, pops concerts, holiday shows, family concerts, and the occasional live film score with orchestra. Guest and staff conductors this season include Juraj Valčuha, who leads the bulk of the classical programs, along with pops conductor Steven Reineke and several other conductors appearing across a handful of dates each. A first-time visitor can expect a traditional concert hall experience downtown, or a relaxed lawn-and-blanket atmosphere at the outdoor pavilion series, depending on the venue chosen.

History

The Houston Symphony gave its first concert in 1913, organized by a group of local music supporters led by Ima Hogg, the daughter of a Texas governor and a lifelong advocate for the orchestra. The early years were intermittent, with seasons that stopped and restarted, but by the 1930s the ensemble was on steady footing and grew quickly after the Second World War.

A striking list of conductors passed through the podium in the postwar decades. Efrem Kurtz, Ferenc Fricsay and Leopold Stokowski each led the orchestra, Stokowski bringing his taste for big sound and unusual repertoire; Sir John Barbirolli followed, then André Previn, Lawrence Foster, Sergiu Comissiona, Christoph Eschenbach, Hans Graf and Andrés Orozco-Estrada. Eschenbach's tenure in the 1990s raised the orchestra's national profile and produced a substantial run of recordings.

Home has changed twice. The orchestra played for years in the City Auditorium, then in the Music Hall, and since 1966 has performed at Jones Hall for the Performing Arts, a modernist building in the downtown theater district whose ceiling panels can be raised or lowered to adjust the sound for different sizes of ensemble. Jones Hall was renovated in the 2000s and remains the orchestra's base.

The Houston Symphony has recorded widely, toured Europe and Asia, and commissioned new orchestral works. It also stayed visible through hard local moments, playing benefit concerts after Hurricane Harvey flooded the city in 2017. Today it presents a full year-round schedule of classical, pops, family and film programs, plus summer concerts at the outdoor pavilion in The Woodlands.
Inaugural Season Members who join by August 31, 2027 keep the Inaugural Member badge forever, and every September 1 everyone moves up a chair: Prelude, Second Violin, First Violin, Principal, Concertmaster, Soloist, Guest Conductor, Music Director, Maestro, Laureate. The ranks