Photo gallery: Symphony of the Hills makes 2026-2027 season debut

Guest vocalists Brandon Morales and Bronwyn White drew standing ovations Thursday night as the Symphony of the Hills opened its 2026-27 season at the Cailloux Theater.

The pair sang “All I Ask of You” and the title song in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Symphonic Suite from “The Phantom of the Opera,” the first half of the “Webber & Brahms” program that launched the orchestra’s “Season of Story & Song.”

Morales, a bass-baritone and San Antonio native, has sung with Portland Opera, Opera Orlando, Queen City Opera, Opera San Antonio and Austin Opera. White, a soprano, is an alumna of young artist programs from the Fort Worth Opera to the iSing! International Festival in China. She has won prizes at the Young Texas Artists Music Competition and other international competitions.

Conductor Eugene Dowdy had predicted the moment when he previewed the concert Tuesday on The Lead Live.

“You remember these iconic moments from the Phantom of the Opera,” Dowdy said. “It doesn’t get any better.”

The second half was Johannes Brahms’ Symphony No. 1 in C Minor. Brahms spent about two decades on the work, weighed down by Beethoven’s legacy, before finishing it in 1876.

“There’s moments in it that are so poignant you’ll just feel like you’re part of a divine presence with all your friends in the community,” Dowdy said before the concert. “And then there’s moments of triumph where it’s just like confetti flying.”