Inauguration Ceremony \ for the Honorable Mayor of Houston Sylvester Turner the Honorable City Controller Chris Brown and the Honorable City Council Monday, January 4, 2016 9:30 a.m. Jesse H. Jones Hall for the Performing Arts 615 Louisiana Street Inauguration Program Swearing – In Ceremonies Performances by The Houston Symphony Guest Conductor, Chelsea Tipton, II 4-Time Grammy® Award Winner, Yolanda Adams The High School for the Performing and Visual Arts Chorus The Church Without Walls Choir Carver High School Dance Department Mayor Sylvester Turner Mistress of Ceremonies Chau Nguyen John Williams – Liberty Fanfare The Houston Symphony Presentation of Colors Houston Police & Fire Departments Joint Honor Guard Pledge of Allegiance The River Performance Troupe The National Anthem Yolanda Adams and Combined Chorus Lift Every Voice and Sing Combined Chorus Invocation Pastor Ralph Douglas West Brookhollow Baptist Church City Controller Chris Brown Presided by the Honorable Vanessa D. Gilmore United States District Judge Southern District of Texas City Council Presided by the Honorable Sylvester Turner Mayor, City of Houston Brenda Stardig Jerry Davis Ellen R.Cohen Dwight A. Boykins Dave Martin Steve Le Greg Travis Karla Cisneros Robert Gallegos Mike H. Laster Larry V. Green Mike Knox David W. Robinson Michael Kubosh Amanda Edwards Jack Christie District A District B District C District D District E District F District G District H District I District J District K At-Large Position 1 At-Large Position 2 At-Large Position 3 At-Large Position 4 At-Large Position 5 Program Continued Never Give Up Yolanda Adams Inaugural Address The Honorable Sylvester Turner Mayor, City of Houston Inaugural Prayer Imam Wazir Ali, Houston Masjid Warithudden Mohammed Rabbi David Lyon, Congregation Beth Israel Danzon No. 2 The Houston Symphony Carver High School Dance Department Finale God Bless America Inaugural Participants The Houston Symphony The Houston Symphony continues in its second century as one of America’s leading orchestras. It is one of the oldest performing arts organizations in Texas with an ensemble of 87 professional musicians and 4 community-embedded musicians. They are the largest performing arts organization in Houston, presenting more than 300 performances for 400,000 people, including 97,000 children, annually. Chelsea Tipton, II, Guest Conductor, The Houston Symphony American conductor Chelsea Tipton, II has won over audiences and critics with his vibrant musicality, accessibility, versatility and extraordinary commitment to arts education. Tipton is now celebrating his seventh season as Music Director of the Symphony of Southeast Texas in Beaumont. Yolanda Adams, Featured Soloist Houstonian and gospel legend, Yolanda Adams is a four-time GRAMMY® Award winning singer with multiple BMI, Stellar, Gospel Music Association and NAACP Image awards. Inaugural Participants The High School for the Performing and Visual Arts Chorus The HSPVA Chorus’ mission is to provide students with a medium of musical expression in a creative learning environment that teaches appropriate fundamentals, provides opportunities for individual and shared performances, and represents the school throughout the community, region, nation, and world. The chorus is under the direction of Ms. Pat Bonner. The Church Without Walls Choir The Church Without Walls Choir under the direction of V. Michael McKay believes that all things are possible with God on your side. Their goal is to lead, evangelize, assimilate and proclaim the good word through their uplifting worship in song. Chau Nguyen, Mistress of Ceremonies Ms. Nguyen, formerly a news anchor with KHOU-TV, is the Manager of Community Involvement at The Women’s Home in Houston. She was named “Best Reporter” by the Houston Press in 2007. In 2010, she received her Master’s in Social Work from the University of Houston and began her new career as a social worker and psychotherapist. Her therapeutic expertise is focused on children and teens. The River Performance Troupe The River Performance Troupe is now in its 8th year of touring. They perform for theatres, hospitals, conventions and community programs. Through performing, they are able to show that disability is only a word. The troupe consists of 14 members from all areas of the Houston community. Pastor Ralph Douglas West, Brookhollow Baptist Church Pastor West received a BA in Philosophy/Religion from Bishop College in Dallas, Texas. He holds a Master of Divinity and Biblical Languages Degree from the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. He received his Doctorate of Ministry Degree at Samford University, Beeson Divinity School, Birmingham, AL. In 1987, he became the founding pastor of Brookhollow Baptist Church. Vanessa D. Gilmore, United States District Judge, Southern District of Texas The Honorable Judge Gilmore has served as a United States District Judge in the Southern District of Texas since 1994. She is the first graduate of the University of Houston to be appointed to the federal bench. At the time of her appointment, she was the youngest sitting federal judge in the United States. Rabbi David Lyon, Congregation Beth Israel Rabbi Lyon has served the Congregation Beth Israel since 2004. He is also a Board member of the United Way of Greater Houston and serves on its Community Impact Committee. He served on the Bush-Clinton Relief Committee for recovery from Hurricane Ike on the Gulf Coast. He is the immediate past Chairman of the Board of the Institute for Spirituality and Health at the Texas Medical Center. Imam Wazir Ali, Houston Masjid Warithudden Mohammed Imam Wazir Ali is the Director of Mercy Community Center and the Resident Imam of the Houston Masjid of Al-Islam and Masjid Al-Qur’an. He has been active in the Houston Islamic community for the last 14 years. Carver High School Dance Department The George W. Carver High School for Applied Technology, Engineering, & the Arts Dance Department creates productions that represent the vision and purpose of the Aldine Independent School District. Ms. Sarita Salinas, director, established a dance program for K–12 grade students with an understanding of the impact that early training makes in the development of a dancer. Chris Brown Controller Sylvester Turner Mayor Brenda Stardig Council Member District A Jerry Davis Council Member District B Ellen R.Cohen Council Member District C Dwight A. Boykins Council Member District D Greg Travis Council Member District G Karla Cisneros Council Member District H Dave Martin Council Member District E Steve Le Council Member District F Robert Gallegos Council Member District I Mike H. Laster Council Member District J Larry V. Green Council Member District K Mike Knox Council Member At-Large Position 1 Amanda Edwards Council Member At-Large Position 4 Jack Christie Council Member At-Large Position 5 Mayor Turner, Controller Brown and the members of the City Council thank each of the inaugural participants for making this a special day, the citizens of Houston for the opportunity to serve and the employees of the City who work hard every day to make City Hall effective and efficient. David W. Robinson Council Member At-Large Position 2 Michael Kubosh Council Member At-Large Position 3 Special Thanks Administrative Office of City Council District and At-Large Council Offices Economic Development Office Finance Department General Services Department Houston Fire Department Houston First Corporation Houston Office of Protocol and International Affairs Houston Police Department Houston Public Works and Engineering Department The Houston Symphony HTV – Houston Television Jones Hall for the Performing Arts Mayor’s Office of Intergovernmental Relations Inaugural Committee Cindy Clifford, Chair Willie Alexander, Vice-Chair Ron Franklin & Janet Gurwitch Zafar “Zaf ” Tahir Janice Weaver Jonathan Zadok Fred & Kay Zeidman Honorary Inaugural Committee United States Representative Sheila Jackson Lee Texas State Representative Ana Hernandez Texas State Senator John Whitmire Tammy Tran Inaugural Producer Mayor’s Office of Special Events Susan Christian, Director Special Thanks Rhonda Arnold James Batt Elizabeth Brock Waynette Chan The Clifford Group Sue Davis Russ Frank Jason Fuller Alex Griffin Lanny Griffith Sarah Gutierrez Alex Griffin Darrin Hall Noah M. Horwitz Houston Arts Alliance Argentina James Tom Jasien Pat Jasper Wayne Klotz Melinda Little The Honorable Sue Lovell David Mincberg Museum of Fine Arts, Houston Angel Quesada Pat Strong Jeff Syptak Neil Thomas Gary Tinterow Inaugural Events Sponsors Diamond Kelsey-Seybold Platinum Linebarger Goggin Blair & Sampson, LLP CenterPoint Energy Cobb Fendley Chris Pappas Houston Rockets Gold Andrews Kurth PAC Bracewell & Giuliani, LLP Silver Mr. & Mrs. Felix Amos Apex-RBI Engineering Binkley & Barfield CDM Smith PAC CH2M PAC Cigna Comcast Nijad I. Fares HDR HNTB Houston Professional Firefighters’ Association Richard & Nancy Kinder Link Group, LLC John Nau Dennis Petersen (LAN) United Healthcare Bronze Amegy Bank Mr. & Mrs. W. H. Easter BRH Garver FTI Consulting Geotest Engineering Jonathan Glus & Alton LaDay James Horwitz Houston 8 Team Isani Consultants KIT Wayne Klotz Louis Macey Norton Rose Fulbright US, LLP Shawn Taylor Texas Taxi PAC (Yellow Cab) * At time of printing.