27th ANNUAL IMMANUEL AND HELEN OLSHAN TEXAS MUSIC FESTIVAL (TMF)
PHOTO CREDIT: Jeff Grass Photographer
This summer the 27th Annual Immanuel and Helen Olshan Texas Music Festival (TMF) will chart several musical firsts, including the TMF debut of distinguished Austrian conductor Hans Graf, who holds the distinction of having been the longest serving Music Director in Houston Symphony history. The June 3 – July 2 international music residency, based at the University of Houston (UH) Moores School of Music, attracts classical music’s rising stars from top tier music conservatories worldwide to study and perform in concert with world-class soloists, conductors and faculty artists at the UH Moores Opera House and the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion.
TMF Orchestra Series will open Saturday, June 11 with a rich “Roman Holiday”-themed musical getaway. Mark Hughes, Houston Symphony Principal Trumpet, will provide fitting fanfare as guest soloist under the baton of TMF Music Director & Chief Conductor Franz Anton Krager. For TMF Week 2, June 18, Hans Graf will conduct three “Musical Firsts:” Rachmaninov: Symphony No. 1 in D Minor, Op. 13; Webern: Passacaglia, Op. 1; and Berg: Three Pieces for Orchestra, Op. 6. (See release of "first" details.)
TMF Week 3 will be “The Audience’s Guide to the Orchestra,” TMF’s first approach to an orchestral “primer” program for classical music lovers of all ages. Guest Conductor Mei-Ann Chen will be on the podium for the June 24 and 25 concerts, which will boast the student winner of the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Young Artist Competition as soloist (work TBA), complemented by the following family-friendly program: Piotr Tchaikovsky: Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture – Fantasy; Benjamin Britten: Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra, Op. 34 narrated by Houston Public Media’s St. John Flynn; and Igor Stravinsky: Petrouchka.
Topping off the four-week festival will be the Grand Finale Saturday, July 2, featuring Richard Strauss: An Alpine Symphony, Op. 64, an epic piece about an 11-hour physical and spiritual journey climbing an Alpine mountain, and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Sinfonia Concertante for Four Winds, Op. 297b. The concert will spotlight four of TMF’s faculty members with native Texan Carl St. Clair conducting. The soloists are Richard Beene, bassoon, Dean Emeritus of the Colburn School Conservatory of Music; Leone Buyse, flute, a professor at the Rice University Shepherd School of Music; Jonathan Fischer, oboe, principal oboe of the Houston Symphony; and Robert Johnson, horn, associate principal horn of the Houston Symphony. Fischer and Johnson are both affiliate artists at the UH Moores School of Music.
Background: TMF is a rigorous training ground for serious music fellows to learn and perform 13 major classical works over four weeks with four different conductors. “Our demanding schedule is on par with a professional symphony orchestra’s,” says TMF General and Artistic Director Alan Austin, 1990 TMF alum. “Our number of applicants continues to rise because conservatory students desire the depth and scope of our repertoire. They have to stretch themselves here, but they relish the opportunity.”
Four hundred applicants from the U.S. and 22 foreign countries applied for the prestigious TMF Orchestral Institute this year, representing 112 conservatories and schools of music, including such noted music schools as Cleveland Institute of Music, Eastman School of Music, Juilliard School, Manhattan School of Music, New England Conservatory, Northwestern University, Rice University Shepherd School of Music, University of Houston Moores School and Yale University. Those chosen to participate are from all over the US, as well as Bolivia (twin brother and sister!), Canada, China, Dominican Republic, Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Poland, Singapore, South Korea and South Africa.
The 95 fellows who comprise the Festival Orchestra are chosen by highly competitive live and recorded auditions held in January and February each year. All receive a full fellowship to underwrite their time in Houston.
2016 Texas Music Festival Season Highlights
TMF Orchestra Series: Saturday evenings, 7:30 p.m., Moores Opera House
Pre-concert performances by members of Virtuosi of Houston begin 6:30 p.m.
Settling the Score, preconcert lectures with Dr. Andrew Davis, begins at 6:40 p.m., Rm. 108 Moores School of Music (MSM)
Tuesday, June 7, 7:30 p.m., DRH
PERSPECTIVES: Faculty Chamber Music
Parisian Holiday
Loeffler: Two Rhapsodies for Oboe, Viola and Piano
Debussy: Sonata for Flute, Viola and Harp
Ravel: Trio for Violin, Cello and Piano
Performers include: Robert Atherholt, English horn; Kirsten Yon, violin; Wayne Brooks, James Dunham, viola; Desmond Hoebig, cello; Timothy Hester, piano; Aralee Dorough, flute; Paula Page, harp
Friday, June 10, 7:30 p.m., DRH, Free
LE CHIAVI di BEL CANTO
The final performance of TMF’s program of bel canto training for young singing artists, featuring arias and ensembles by Rossini, Bellini, and Donizetti.
Saturday, June 11, 7:30 p.m., MOH
TMF ORCHESTRA – WEEK 1
Franz Anton Krager, conductor
Mark Hughes, trumpet
Roman Holiday
Tartini: Trumpet Concerto in D Major
Clark: Carnival of Venice from Trumpet and Orchestra
Respighi: Fountains of Rome, Roman Festivals, Pines of Rome
Sunday, June 12, 2 p.m., DRH, Free
CYNTHIA WOODS MITCHELL YOUNG ARTIST COMPETITION, Final Round
TMF’s young artists compete for the chance to perform as soloist with the festival orchestra, cash prizes, and an international appearance in Leipzig, Germany.
Tuesday, June 14, 7:30 p.m., DRH
PERSPECTIVES: Faculty Chamber Music
Classical Mashup
Beethoven: Sonata No. 1 in D Major for Piano and Violin
Performers include: Emmanuel Borok, violin
Thursday, June 16, 7:30 p.m., DRH
PERSPECTIVES: Faculty Chamber Music
A Texas Original: Chamber Music of David Ashley White
Elegy and Exaltation for Piano Trio; The Peace of Wild Things for Mezzo-Soprano and Piano; L’isola di S. Michele for Oboe and Piano; Six Miniatures for Three Players; Gathering the Lost Garden for Mezzo-Soprano, Clarinet and Piano; Lagniappe for Solo Piano; Phantasy and Toccata for Solo Piano; Four Madrigals of Michelangelo for Soprano, Violin and Piano; Divertimento for Violin and Viola
Performers include: Robert Atherholt, oboe; Wayne Brooks, viola; Timothy Hester, piano; Melanie Sonnenberg, mezzo-soprano; Valkov-Sulyga-Kostov Trio (Oleg Sulyga, violin; Lachezar Kostov, cello; Viktor Valkov, piano); Michael Webster, clarinet/bass clarinet; Kirsten Yon, violin; Megan Stapleton, soprano
Saturday, June 18, 7:30 p.m., MOH
TMF ORCHESTRA – WEEK 2
Hans Graf, conductor
Musical Firsts
Rachmaninov: Symphony No. 1 in D Minor, Op. 1
Webern: Passacaglia, Op. 1
Berg: Three Pieces for Orchestra, Op. 6
Tuesday, June 21, 7:30 p.m., DRH
PERSPECTIVES: Faculty Chamber Music
American Voices
Previn: Trio for Oboe, Bassoon and Piano
Kevin Puts (premiere): In at the Eye for Baritone, Flute, Violin, Cello and Piano
Performers include: Jonathan Fischer, oboe; Elise Wagner, bassoon; Brian Suits, piano; Timothy Jones, baritone
Thursday, June 23, 1:30 and 3:40 p.m., MOH
Ars Lyrica Houston
Houston’s premier early music ensemble presents Summer Zephyr: Music of Vivaldi, Bach, and Mozart. Presented as part of the American Guild of Organists National Convention. Open to the public. Tickets at the door.
Thursday, June 23, 7 p.m., MSM 160, Free
YOUNG ARTIST CHAMBER MUSIC - Ensembles of classical music’s rising stars, featuring festival percussion ensembles.
Saturday, June 25, 10 a.m., DRH, Free
HIGH SCHOOL PIANO INSTITUTE ENSEMBLES RECITAL -Gifted high school pianists perform ensemble works.
Friday, June 24, 8 p.m., Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion - Free
Saturday, June 25, 7:30 p.m., MOH
TMF ORCHESTRA – WEEK 3
Mei-Ann Chen, conductor
St. John Flynn, narrator
Cynthia Woods Mitchell Young Artist Competition Winner, soloist
The Audience’s Guide to the Orchestra
Tchaikovsky: Romeo and Juliet Fantasy
Britten: Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra
Stravinsky: Suite from Petrouchka (1947)
Sunday, June 26, 10 a.m. AND 1 p.m., MOH, Free
HIGH SCHOOL PIANO INSTITUTE SOLO RECITAL - Gifted young pianists offer polished solo performances.
Tuesday, June 28, 7:30 p.m., DRH
PERSPECTIVES: Faculty Chamber Music
Side by Side: Faculty and students perform together, including Stravinsky’s L’histoire du soldat
Thursday, June 30, 7 p.m., DRH, Free
YOUNG ARTIST CHAMBER MUSIC - Ensembles featuring classical music’s rising stars.
Friday, July 1, 7 p.m., MOH, Free
HIGH SCHOOL JAZZ INSTITUTE CONCERT - Classical to contemporary jazz in a big band setting. Directed by Noe Marmolejo.
Friday, July 1, 7 p.m., DRH, Free
YOUNG ARTIST CHAMBER MUSIC - Ensembles featuring classical music’s rising stars.
Saturday, July 2, 7:30 p.m., MOH
TMF ORCHESTRA – WEEK 4
Carl St. Clair, conductor
Richard Beene, bassoon
Leone Buyse, flute
Jonathan Fischer, oboe
Robert Johnson, horn
Mozart: Sinfonia Concertante for Four Winds, K.297b
Strauss: An Alpine Symphony, Op. 64
Locations:
MOH-Moores Opera House, Moores School of Music
DRH—Dudley Recital Hall, Fine Arts Building
MSM 160—Choral Recital Hall, Moores School of Music
Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion, The Woodlands, TX
Full season packages (13 concerts), Orchestra Series only packages (4 Saturdays), PERSPECTIVES Series only packages (4 Tuesdays, plus bonus Thursday, June 16) available online and through box office. Senior/students packages available, too.
Individual Orchestra Series Tickets: $25 gen., $15 student/senior
Individual PERSPECTIVES Series Tickets: $20, $15 student/senior
Box Office: 713-743-3313
Festival Contact: Alan Austin, Gen. and Artistic Director, ph. 713-743-3167,
All faculty, guest artist, and conductor biographies and photos may be found at http://www.tmf.uh.edu