Phylicia Rashad Joins the Houston Symphony for Beethoven's FIDELIO, 3/31, 4/2

The Houston Symphony announced today that Tony Award winner and three-time Emmy Award nominee Phylicia Rashad will join the cast of its new semi-staged, concert version of Beethoven's Fidelio, the composer's only opera, March 31 and April 2.

Houston-native Rashad joins the orchestra and Music Director Andrés Orozco-Estrada as a narrator in a streamlined production of Beethoven's masterpiece, a politically-charged drama that follows the heroic struggles of a devoted wife who disguises herself as a man to rescue her husband, a political prisoner. Although the music remains central in this version of Fidelio, the spoken German-language dialogue in the original score is replaced with Rashad's narration of excerpts from iconic speeches, poetry and literature that engage with the timeless themes of the opera.

Houston-based Tara Faircloth, a seasoned director of opera productions across the United States, worked closely with Orozco-Estrada to develop this fresh, exciting take on Fidelio. Commenting on the role Rashad will play in the production, Faircloth explains "I've created a character who sits outside of the action, but provides comments and thoughtful reflection on the events we see unfolding on the stage. Fidelio has so many themes to explore, but perhaps the strongest is the power of hope in the face of tyrannical oppression."

Newly-designed projections and atmospheric lighting and video effects, created by lighting and projection designer Sarah Tundermann, will be a significant component of the experience, framing the story and reflecting its emotional content. The singers' clothes will be stylized in a way to support the unfolding drama as they perform on walkways and platforms in, around and in front of the orchestra musicians to support the incredible musical message and to focus the drama in specific areas of the stage.

The concert will take place at Jones Hall for the Performing Arts, 615 Louisiana Street, in Houston's Theater District. For tickets and information, please call (713) 224-7575 or visitwww.houstonsymphony.org. Tickets may also be purchased at the Houston Symphony Patron Services Center in Jones Hall (Monday-Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.). All programs and artists are subject to change.

About Andrés Orozco-Estrada
Houston Symphony Music Director Andrés Orozco-Estrada began his tenure in the 2014-15 season. He immediately established a dynamic presence on the podium and a deep bond with the musicians of the orchestra. Andrés carefully curates his programs to feature engaging combinations of classical masterworks paired with the music of today, significant artistic collaborations with composers and guest artists, and innovative use of multimedia and visual effects, all in order to make meaningful connections with the audience.
In the 2016-17 season, Andrés will continue to engage with audiences both with casual commentary from the stage and discussions with guests in "Behind the Scenes with Andrés" videos. On the recording front, Andrés and the Symphony will release the third disc in their critically acclaimed Dvo?ák Symphony series. Additional projects with Dutch recording label PENTATONE are recordings of the Music of the Americas, which will include Gershwin's An American in Paris and Revueltas' Sensemayá; Rachmaninoff's complete orchestral piano works with Denis Kozhukhin; and Haydn's The Creation.
Born in Medellín, Colombia, Andrés began his musical studies on the violin and started conducting at age 15. At 19, he entered the Vienna Music Academy, where he studied with Uroš Lajovic (pupil of the legendary Hans Swarowsky), and completed his degree with distinction conducting the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra at the Musikverein. Andrés burst on the international scene with two substitutions with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra: the first, his debut in 2010, standing in for Esa-Pekka Salonen, and then in 2012, substituting for Riccardo Muti at the Musikverein. Orozco-Estrada now regularly appears with many of the world's leading orchestras, including the Vienna Philharmonic, Munich Philharmonic, and Leipzig Gewandhaus orchestras, the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, the Santa Cecilia Orchestra in Rome, and the Orchestre National de France.
Recent debuts have included the Philadelphia Orchestra, Pittsburgh Symphony, the Cleveland Orchestra, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Oslo Philharmonic and the Israel Philharmonic. In the summer of 2014, he also made his debut at Glyndebourne Festival Opera conducting Don Giovanni, which immediately led to an invitation to conduct La Traviata in 2017. The 2016-17 season includes debuts with the San Francisco Symphony, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra.
In addition to his post in Houston, Andrés is chief conductor of the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra and principal guest conductor of the London Philharmonic Orchestra.

About Phylicia Rashad

Whether she is bringing laughter to millions of television viewers around the world, Moving Theatre-goers to tears, thrilling movie fans, offering new insights to students by teaching Master Classes at renowned learning institutions that include Howard University, Julliard, and Carnegie Mellon, serving on Boards of prestigious organizations, or breaking new ground as a director, Phylicia Rashad is one of the entertainment world's most extraordinary performing artists.

A native of Houston, Texas, Rashad graduated Magna Cum Laude from Howard University.

A versatile performer, Rashad became a household name when she portrayed "Claire Huxtable" on The Cosby Show, a character whose appeal has earned her numerous honors and awards for over two decades. She teamed up with Bill Cosby again on television as "Ruth Lucas" on Cosby. Currently, she has a recurring role as "Diana Dubois'"on the popular Fox TV series Empire and is slated to appear in the upcoming Amazon series, Jean Claude Van Johnson.

While television was a catalyst in the rise of Rashad's career, she has also been a force on the stage, appearing both on and off Broadway, often in projects that showcase her musical talent such as Jelly's Last Jam, Into The Woods, Dreamgirls, and The Wiz.

In 2016, Ms. Rashad was inducted into the Theater Hall of Fame, received the 2016 Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Leading Actress in a Play for her performance as "Shelah" in Tarell Alvin McCraney's Head of Passes at The Public Theater, and performed the role of George Seurat's mother in the highly acclaimed New York City Center production of Stephen Sondheim's Sunday in the Park with George, starring Jake Gyllenhal.

On Broadway. Ms. Rashad has performed as "Violet Weston" in August Osage County, "Big Mama" in Tennessee Williams' Cat on a Hot Tin Roof ( a role that she reprised on the London Stage), "Aunt Ester" in August Wilson's Gem Of The Ocean,( Tony Award nomination) and "Queen Britannia" in Shakespeare's Cymbeline at Lincoln Center.

Ms. Rashad received both the Drama Desk and the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play for her riveting performance as "Lena Younger" in the Broadway revival of Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin In The Sun. She appeared in Ryan Coogler's Creed, Tyler Perry's Good Deeds, and starred in Perry's highly acclaimed version of Ntozake Shange's For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When The Rainbow Is Enuf.

Phylicia made her directorial debut at the Seattle Repertory Theater with August Wilson's Gem of the Ocean. Critics gave her first foray into the directing world rave reviews, saying "Rashad steers Seattle Rep's show with great sensitivity and understanding - for both the text and actors."

Of her work at the helm of The Ebony Repertory Theatre's production of A Raisin in the Sun in the Spring of 2011, the Los Angeles Times hailed Rashad's California directing debut by stating that she "...nails the play's rich humor in a solidly rendered production." She remounted the production at the Kirk Douglas Theatre in Los Angeles and at the Westport County Playhouse in Westport, Connecticut. Ms.

Rashad has also directed August Wilson's Ma Rainey's Black Bottom and Joe Turner's Come and Gone at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles( 2014 NAACP Theatre Award for Best Director) and Fences at the Longwharf Theatre and the McCarter Theatre. She returned to the Mark Taper Forum in 2015 to direct Paul Oakley Stovall's Immediate Family.

Respected in the academic world, Rashad is the first recipient of the Denzel Washington Chair in Theatre at Fordham University. She received an Honorary Doctorate from Spelman College where First Lady Michelle Obama delivered the 2011 commencement address. Ms. Rashad conducted Master Classes at the prestigious Ten Chimneys Foundation for the 2015 Lunt Fontanne Fellows. She also holds Honorary Doctorates from Fordham University, Carnegie Mellon University, Howard University, Providence College, Morris Brown College, Clark Atlanta University, Barber Scotia College, St. Augustine College, and Brown University.

In 2015, Ms. Rashad received the BET Honors Theatrical Arts Award, Chicago Shakespeare Theatre's Spirit of Shakespeare Award, and the Inaugural Legacy Award of the Ruben Santiago Hudson Fine Arts Learning Center. Among the other awards that decorate her walls and shelves are the 2014 Mosaic Woman Legend Award of Diversity Woman Magazine, the Texas Medal of Arts, the National Council of Negro Women's Dorothy L. Height Dreammaker Award, AFTRA's AMEE Award for Excellence in Entertainment, the Board of Directors of New York Women In Film and Television's Muse Award for Outstanding Vision and Achievement, Dallas Women In Film Topaz Award, Peoples' Choice Awards, several NAACP Image Awards, and the Pan African Film Festival's Lifetime Achievement Award.

Rashad serves on the Advisory Board of the PRASAD Project and the Board of Directors of True Colors Theatre, the Broadway Inspirational Voices, The Actors Center, the Center for African American Studies at Princeton University, and the ADEPT Center which is steering the restoration of the historic Brainerd Institute.

Phylicia Rashad is also the mother of two adult children.

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