Ravel’s full Daphnis et Chloé with chorus and music director Juraj Valčuha on the podium. Former Houston Symphony dirigent Christoph Eschenbach leading the massive Symphony No. 8 by Bruckner with more horns and Wagner tubas than one can count. An epic Mahler Symphony No. 6 with a hammer blow that would make one’s bones tremble with ominous ethos. And those are just a trio of highlights.
As the 2023-24 Houston Symphony season came to a sweet and satisfying cadence, it was the Young Associates Council group that marked such a celebratory coda with a gathering at Asia Society Texas Center on Wednesday, May 22. This musical squad, helmed by chair Kirby Lodholz, has been growing like the crescendo of Boléro, today becoming a lively group with a penchant for tunes and toasts.
The event chairs Kusum Patel, Liana Schwaitzberg, and Aerin Smith organized an amicable soirée that highlighted the relationship between the organizations. The run-of-show included a chamber music performance featuring an unusual double bass quartet composed of Houston Symphony instrumentalists Donald Howey, Timothy Dilenschneider, Robin Kesselman, and Andrew Pedersen, followed by a private walkthrough of Xu Bing: Word Alchemy. The exhibition’s woodcuts, prints, videos, drawings, and installations act as a 50-year retrospective of the Chinese-born artist’s imagination.
The flavorful Indian-, Vietnamese-, and Korean-inspired apps by Jashn Bespoke Catering added to the ambiance for the 50-plus guests and Houston Symphony staff and musicians, as well as Asia Society guests and team.
Spotted were Fiona Anklesaria, Charlotta Elizabeth Barø-Hill, Mandy Beatriz, Carrie and Sverre Brandsberg-Dahl, Dickinson and David Charles, Andria Elkins and David Cotten, Evin Ashley Erdoğdu, Florence Frances, Carolyn Gaidos, Amy Goodpasture, Roya Gordon, Mario Gudmundsson, Cristine Romeu and Claudio Gutierrez, Elaine and Jeffrey Hiller, Robin Kesselman, Sergio Morales, Stephanie Weber and Paul Muri, Anna Robshaw, Lori Harrington and Parashar Saikia, Chicovia Scott, Liana and Andrew Schwaitzberg, Tim Sesby, Carlos Sierra, Aerin Smith, Melanie Smith, and Marquis Wincher.