Graf and the HSO celebrate the Shostakovich centenary with the Symphony No. 7 ("Leningrad") November 9-12 and the Suite on Sonnets of Michelangelo Buonarroti (alongside Beethoven's "Eroica" Symphony) March 1-4.
February 23-25 brings the world premiere of a viola concerto by Gabriela Lena Frank, commissioned by the HSO for its principal violist, Wayne Brook. Other contemporary American works on tap for the season include Steven Stucky's Son et lumire and Michael Gandolfi's Impressions from "The Garden of Cosmic Speculation".
Visiting soloists this season include cellist Yo-Yo Ma, pianists Lang Lang and Yefim Bronfman, and violinists Itzhak Perlman (who will conduct as well), Sarah Chang, Joshua Bell and Hilary Hahn. Among the guest conductors on the program are the Atlanta Symphony's Robert Spano, the Colorado Symphony's Jeffrey Kahane and the Toronto Symphony's Peter Oundjian.
Information on and tickets for the Houston Symphony's 2006-07 season are available at www.houstonsymphony.org.
