Brent Havens
On June 17 and 18 at the Hobby Center, the Houston Symphony presents The Music of Led Zeppelin, a symphonic tribute to one of the best rock bands of all time, part of the Stella Artois Summer Sounds Series. Guest conductor Brent Havens will lead vocalist and guitarist Randy Jackson, along with the full force of the Houston Symphony and a complete rock band, to perform Led Zeppelin’s most popular hits for a rock concert like no other. In-person tickets for this program are now available at houstonsymphony.org/ledzeppelin
Known as one of the most influential bands of the 1970s, English hard rock band Led Zeppelin reaches fans from every corner of the world and continues to reign supreme as one of the most successful and innovative bands in the history of rock music. Awarded the prestigious Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2005 for its creative contributions to the field of music recording, Led Zeppelin continues to influence rock music to this day as one of the best-selling music acts of all time.
On June 17 and 18, the Houston Symphony rock and roll show will feature electrifying hits like “Black Dog,” “Since I’ve Been Loving You,” “The Immigrant Song,” “Whole Lotta Love,” and the all-time favorite “Stairway to Heaven.” Additionally, guests can enjoy a specialty beverage inspired by the band, dubbed the “Kashmir” cocktail. For tickets and more information, please call 713.224.7575 or visit houstonsymphony.org/ledzeppelin. All programs and artists are subject to change.
THE MUSIC OF LED ZEPPELIN
Friday, June 17 at 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, June 18 at 7:30 p.m.
Brent Havens, conductor
Randy Jackson, vocalist and guitar
George Cintron, guitar
Dan Clemens, bass
Powell Randolph, drums
About the Houston Symphony
During the 2022–23 Season, the Houston Symphony continues its second century as one of America’s leading orchestras with a full complement of concert, community, education, touring, and recording activities. One of the oldest performing arts organizations in Texas, the Symphony held its inaugural performance at The Majestic Theater in downtown Houston on June 21, 1913. Today, with an operating budget of $28.8 million (FY22), the full-time ensemble of professional musicians presents nearly 170 (FY19) concerts annually, making it the largest performing arts organization in Houston. Additionally, musicians of the orchestra and the Symphony’s two Community-Embedded Musicians offer over 1,000 (FY19) community-based performances each year at various schools, community centers, hospitals, and churches reaching more than 200,000 (FY19) people in Greater Houston annually, prior to COVID-19.
After suspending concert activities in March 2020 and cancelling the remainder of 2019–20 events due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Symphony resumed activities in May 2020, opening the 2020–21 Season on schedule in September 2020 with small audiences of 150, which the Symphony gradually increased to 450 audience members per performance. Due to the financial impact of the canceled 2019–20 Season events, plus the reduction of sales capacity due to audience social distancing in 2020–21, the Symphony cut expenses, reducing planned spending from $36.2 million in 2019–20 to $22.7 million in 2020–21. The Houston Symphony’s Education and Community Engagement team continued to fulfill its mission through creative and virtual means throughout this period. The Symphony successfully completed a full season with in-person audiences and weekly livestreams of each performance, making it one of the only orchestras in the world to do so.
The Grammy Award-winning Houston Symphony has recorded under various prestigious labels, including Koch International Classics, Naxos, RCA Red Seal, Telarc, Virgin Classics, and, most recently, Dutch recording label Pentatone. In 2017, the Houston Symphony was awarded an ECHO Klassik award for the live recording of Alban Berg’s Wozzeck under the direction of former Music Director Hans Graf. The orchestra earned its first Grammy nomination and Grammy Award at the 60th annual ceremony for the same recording in the Best Opera Recording category.
About Brent Havens
Berklee-trained arranger/conductor Brent Havens has written music for orchestras, feature films and virtually every variety of television program. His TV work includes movies for major networks, commercials, sports music for ESPN, and cartoons.
Brent worked with the Doobie Brothers and the Milwaukee Symphony, arranging and conducting the combined group for Harley Davidson’s 100th Anniversary Birthday Party Finale attended by more than 150,000 fans. He has worked with some of the world’s greatest orchestras, including London’s Royal Philharmonic; the Houston and Nashville Symphonies; the Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Indianapolis, Atlanta, Baltimore, Dallas and Fort Worth Symphony Orchestras; the Minnesota Orchestra; the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, and countless others. For the past several years, he has conducted the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra with Music of Michael Jackson, Led Zeppelin, Queen, and U2 shows.
Brent composed the score for the film Quo Vadis, a Premier Pictures remake of the 1956 gladiator film. In 2013, he worked with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and the NFL’s Baltimore Ravens to arrange and produce the music for the Thanksgiving Day halftime show between the Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers, adapting both classical music and rock songs into a single four-minute show.
He is arranger/guest conductor for 14 symphonic rock programs, including the Music of Led Zeppelin, the Music of the Doors, the Music of Pink Floyd, the Music of the Eagles, the Music of Queen, the Music of Michael Jackson, the Music of The Who, The Music of Whitney Houston, the Music of The Rolling Stones, the Music of U2, the Music of Journey, the Music of Elton John, the Music of David Bowie, and the Music of Prince. Brent Havens also premiered a full orchestral show for Lou Gramm, The Voice of Foreigner with Lou singing out front.
About Randy Jackson
Randy Jackson is the lead singer and guitarist of the rock band Zebra. His first foray into recording success began with the self-titled Zebra debut album, released on Atlantic Records in 1983. Critically acclaimed for its lush rock sounds, due in large part to Randy’s searing lead vocals and soaring guitar leads, the album sold 75,000 copies the first week. “Who’s Behind The Door” and “Tell Me What You Want,” written by Randy, received serious notice in the press and almost instantly helped to form legions of Zebra fans. He produced and engineered the group’s latest release, Zebra IV.
In 1989, Randy toured as keyboardist, guitarist and backing vocalist with the original, reunited Jefferson Airplane, their last tour together. He has also worked extensively in the area of musical software and hardware development.