Steven Reineke Opens The Houston Symphony Season with Opening Night Gala and Concert

Next month, the Houston Symphony and Principal POPS Conductor Steven Reineke open the 2021-22 Season with two sensational programs at Jones Hall: the Bank of America POPS program, Once Upon a Time: Alan Menken's Broadway, Sept. 3-5, and the one-night only Opening Night Gala and Concert with Renée Fleming, sponsored by ConocoPhillips, on Sept. 11.

Once Upon a Time: Alan Menken's Broadway, Sept. 3-5, celebrates the music of eight-time Academy Award winning and eleven-time Grammy Award-winning composer Alan Menken, best known for his scores and songs that ushered in the Disney Renaissance era. Reineke and the orchestra are joined by Broadway vocalists Matt Doyle and Montego Glover, Houston native Katie Rose Clarke, and Jordan Donica, who currently is seen on the CW's Charmed series. The program features hits from musicals like Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid, Little Shop of Horrors, Aladdin, Newsies, and more. The Saturday, Sept. 4, 8 p.m. CT performance is also available for livestream. Audiences attending this family-friendly performance in person are encouraged to dress as their favorite Disney Renaissance character.

The following week, Reineke once again takes the podium for the glamorous Opening Night Concert and Gala on Sept. 11, 2021. The much-anticipated event features superstar soprano Renée Fleming with Steven Reineke leading the orchestra in a program of opera arias and songs from composers such as Handel, Corigliano, Leoncavallo and Cilea, as well as musical theater songs and classic Broadway overtures from Rodgers and Hammerstein's Carousel and The King and I, and Kander and Ebb's The Visit.

Following the concert, the celebration continues at The Corinthian Houston with an elegant, seated dinner by City Kitchen, featuring wine pairings by Lindy & John Rydman and Lisa Rydman of Spec's Wines, Spirits & Finer Foods, and musical entertainment by Houston's own Richard Brown Orchestra. The Opening Night Concert and Gala, chaired by long-time Symphony supporters and family members Robin Angly and Miles Smith, is generously supported by ConocoPhillips, the lead concert sponsor and corporate gala underwriter for the 35th consecutive year.

The livestream performance is available via a private link to ticket holders for $20. For patrons attending in person, these concerts will have a one-hour run time with no intermission. For tickets and information, please call 713.224.7575 or visit houstonsymphony.org. All programs and artists are subject to change.