“AIN’T NO MOUNTAIN HIGH ENOUGH: THE MUSIC OF MOTOWN”
Some of her regional credits include Rock & Roll Man (Lavern Baker), Mark Twain’s River of Song, Oklahoma (Laurey), Caroline or Change (Emmie), Dreamgirls (Deena Jones), Godspell (Joanne), Big River (Alice’s Daughter), and Little Shop of Horrors (Chiffon), for which she was nominated for a Kevin Kline Award. She has toured with the USO and the National touring companies of All Shook Up (Lorraine) and Mammo Mia (Lisa). She has participated in countless workshops and readings in the New York City area.
Some of her television credits include The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, CBS FBI: Most Wanted, The Blacklist, Blue Bloods, Live at Lincoln Center (Camelot), and the 60th and 67th Annual Tony Awards. Valisia is an ovarian cancer survivor and has been honored by the NOCC, OCRA, and Look Good Feel Better. She also served as the spokesperson for the NOCC, and has been the keynote speaker for cancer organizations across the country. Her journey has been featured in Elle.com, Vogue.com, Vanity Fair Magazine, Essence Magazine, Parade Magazine, USA Today, the New York Times, and many other publications. She has been honored three times by her alma mater, the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Vasilia is a graduate student in the M.A. Marriage & Family Therapy program at Syracuse University. She is in her clinical practice in New York as a Graduate Marriage & Family Therapist.
Celebrating the golden age of soul, “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough: The Music of Motown” breathes new life into songs from legendary artists such as The Supremes, The Temptations, Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell, Gladys Knight & The Pips, Stevie Wonder, Smokey Robinson, and The Jackson 5.
For tickets and more information about “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough: The Music of Motown,” or any of the 2024-25 Season Houston Symphony Bank of America POPS Series concerts, please call or text 713.224.7575 or visit houstonsymphony.org. Tickets are also available at the Houston Symphony Patron Services Center in Jones Hall (Monday-Saturday, 12-6 p.m.). All programs and artists are subject to change.
HOUSTON SYMPHONY PRESENTS AIN’T NO MOUNTAIN HIGH ENOUGH: THE MUSIC OF MOTOWN
Saturday, September 28, 2024 at 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, September 29, 2024 at 2 p.m. Jones Hall for the Performing Arts Steven Reineke, conductor
Valisia LeKae, vocalist Ryan Shaw, vocalist
Chelsea Cymone, background vocalist Raven Johnson, background vocalist Michael Dixon, background vocalist
About Houston Symphony
Under Music Director Juraj Valcuha, the Houston Symphony continues its second century inspiring and engaging a large and diverse audience in Houston and beyond through exceptional musical performances, and creating enduring impact in the Houston community. 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 $40.7 million, the full-time ensemble of professional musicians presents more than 130 concerts annually, making it the largest performing arts organization in Houston. Traditionally, musicians of the orchestra and the Symphony’s Community-Embedded Musicians also offer nearly 600 community-based performances each year at various schools, community centers, hospitals, senior centers, and churches, annually reaching nearly 200,000 people in Greater Houston in addition to Jones Hall.
After suspending concert activities in March 2020, theSymphony successfully completed a full 2020-21 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 Houston Symphony remains committed to livestreaming its 2024-25 Season to a broad audience in over 45 countries and all 50 states, one offew American orchestras dedicated to transmitting live performances to a sizeable audience outside its home city through this technology. 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. The Symphony’s most recent recordings include a Pentatone release in January 2022 of its world premiere performances of Jimmy Lopez Bellido’s Aurora and Ad Astra, and a Naxos release in July 2023 of its world premiere performance of Jennifer Higdon’s Duo Duel.
