Houston Symphony Orchestra

Houston, Texas, serves as home to the Houston Symphony Orchestra while ranking among the nation’s leading port cities, even though dozens of miles separate it from the Gulf of Mexico and only bayous and canals provide the link. The metropolis also functions as a hub for the U.S. petroleum sector and houses NASA headquarters. That same resourceful outlook shaped the orchestra’s uneven path from a modest, largely amateur ensemble into one of the country’s leading symphonic organizations.

Ima Hogg proved the central force behind the ensemble’s founding, revival, and subsequent growth. In 1913 she galvanized a circle of civic figures who created the Symphony Society to launch a permanent local orchestra; previously Houston had depended on visiting groups for its symphonic fare. The initial roster consisted of modestly compensated part-time musicians whose precise size and wages remain disputed, yet compensation proved insufficient to sustain the group through World War I. Julian Paul Blitz conducted from 1913 to 1916, after which Paul Bergé assumed leadership until the orchestra disbanded in 1918. Hogg’s Society nevertheless endured, expanding its support for regular visits by leading American orchestras. Despite the economic hardship of the Depression, a fresh orchestra was assembled in 1930, though the institution continues to mark 1913 as its official founding year. Uriel Nespoli guided the players from 1931 to 1932, followed by Frank St. Leger from 1932 to 1935.

Music director Ernst Hoffman (1936–1947) converted the ensemble into a fully professional orchestra and raised its artistic level, a standard Efrem Kurtz (1948–1954) elevated still further. Kurtz introduced Houston audiences to notable contemporary scores by Ives, Honegger, Bartók, and Shostakovich. The orchestra has since maintained a practice of engaging established conductors: Ferenc Fricsay held the post briefly in 1954, succeeded by Leopold Stokowski (1955–1961) and Sir John Barbirolli (1961–1967). André Previn served from 1967 to 1969 while already enjoying a decade-long career as a prominent jazz and popular pianist. Subsequent directors Lawrence Foster (1971–1978), Sergiu Comissiona (1979–1988), and Christoph Eschenbach (1988–1999) sustained the orchestra’s artistic development. Since the Kurtz and Stokowski eras the HSO has upheld its commitment to new music. Hans Graf assumed the music directorship in 2000 and remained until 2013; Andrés Orozco-Estrada began his tenure in 2014.

Jesse Jones Hall, the orchestra’s permanent home, opened in 1966. By 1971 the ensemble had become a year-round, 52-week organization and was recognized among America’s premier orchestras. Hogg maintained her guiding influence until her death in 1975. The HSO now presents more than 200 concerts each season, records regularly, and broadcasts a program on Houston Public Radio. The Houston Symphony Chamber Players, drawn from the orchestra’s principal players and featuring Eschenbach as conductor and pianist, began performing in 1993. The group concentrates on classical and contemporary repertoire and maintains an independent touring schedule alongside the HSO’s established touring tradition.

The orchestra’s discography spans Pro-Arte, PentaTone Classics, and Virgin Classics. Its first Grammy nomination and win arrived in 2018 for the 2017 live Naxos recording of Alban Berg’s Wozzeck. Also in 2018, the HSO under Orozco-Estrada issued two PentaTone Classics recordings: Music of the Americas and Haydn’s The Creation.