Archives for category: News
Katsuaki Arakawa (MM ’25), with his Soha Quartet, won First Prize at the 2025 MTNA Chamber Music Competition. Congratulations to Katsu, Mei Liu (violin), Chloe Yofan (violin) and Thomas Gougeon (viola), as well as a big thank you to their coach, Prof. Margarita Denenburg.
For more information, visit www.mtna.org.
Last month, Nick Photinos, four-time Grammy Award winner and founding cellist of Eighth Blackbird, was in residence at the Butler School. Amongst his events were a cello master class and recital performance, in which Wesley Xinke Fu (MM ’26), William Han (MM ’26) and Selina Yilin Xu (BM ’24, MM ’26) joined Nick on stage for Pamela Z’s “Raise” for four cellos, voice samples and multi-media.
This weekend, February 14-16, celebrate Valentine’s Day with Ventana Ballet and Austin Camerata (with artistic director Daniel Kopp, MM ’18) in a presentation showcasing the various forms love can take at the First Street Studio Theater. The performances features six different stories, including two new additions to the annual showcase. You’ll even see local Austin love stories unfold on stage. Organized with just three rows of seats arranged in a horseshoe shape, this intimate event is for couples, singles, and groups alike. Tickets are $30.00 for general admission, and $40.00 for a VIP option, which includes exclusive first-row seating. Arrive 30 minutes early for cocktails, including “Love Potion” wine, and jazz music. The show runs for an hour, without an intermission.
Friday | 6:30 p.m. & 8:30 p.m.
Saturday | 5:30 p.m. & 7:30 p.m.
Sunday | 3:30 p.m. & 5:30 p.m.
For more information, visit eventbrite.com
Hyugrai “Ray” Kim (DMA ’19, AD ’24) is on American Public Media’s Performance Today! Heard during the first hour of the broadcast is Ray’s performance of Mozart’s Sonata in D major, K. 381, with three of his fellow cellists in the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. The live recording was made at Symphony Hall in Atlanta on April 5, 2024.
APM’s Performance Today is America’s most popular classical music radio program and a winner of the 2014 Gabriel Award for artistic achievement. The show is broadcast on nearly 300 public radio stations across the country, and reaches approximately 1.4 million listeners each week. To find out where and when Performance Today is broadcast in your area, visit performancetoday.publicradio.org.
This past weekend, junior Javy Chie-Wei Liu (BM ’26) won the audition for the position of Section Cellist in the Victoria Symphony Orchestra. Now in its 51st season, under the direction of music director Darryl One, the Victoria Symphony Orchestra makes its home at the Victoria Fine Arts Center in Victoria, TX, and presents a Master Series of five performances, a POPS Series, and a Family Series.
Congratulations, Javy, and Hook ’em Horns!
This weekend, on Saturday and Sunday, December 7 and 8, from 10am to 2pm, celebrate the magic of the season with Austin Camerata at Yule in the Garden at the Zilker Botanical Garden. Bring your picnic, relax under the trees, and enjoy the soothing sounds of a live performance by the Austin Camerata String Quartet. Guests can enjoy crafts for all ages, cozy sips, and even a photobooth! It’s the perfect way to kick off the holidays with family and friends!
This event is included with general admission and is free for Conservancy members. No advance registration is necessary.
For more information, visit austincamerata.com.
This weekend, on November 17th at 5pm, Shanghai Jazz Project presents “Songs of the Era.” Founded by Selina Yilin Xu (BM ’24) on a Rainwater Grant, the Shanghai Jazz Project is dedicated to reviving the underrepresented music genre known as Shidaiqu (時代曲), which originated in Shanghai, China, in the 1920s. Shidaiqu emerged as a fusion of traditional Chinese melodies, Western musical elements, and influences from jazz and popular music of the time.
Sunday’s free event promises to be one of the most unique musical events in Austin, with live music, discussion of its history and traditional Shanghainese snacks. Reserve your spot now at EventBrite!
This weekend, on November 2nd, at 2 PM and 7:30 PM, Texas Performing Arts and Fusebox present Kid Koala: The Storyville Mosquito at the McCullough Theatre. David Campbell (MM ’10, DMA ’14) performs on cello with the touring team.
In The Storyville Mosquito, the audience will experience a live movie made before their eyes, in a production that combines live puppetry, cinematic camera techniques and music. The action is filmed and edited in real time on over a dozen miniature sets and projected on a movie screen, backed by an ensemble of strings, piano and turntables. Montreal-based DJ and composer Kid Koala returns with the enchanting follow-up to his live graphic novel Nufonia Must Fall with The Storyville Mosquito—an ambitious staging of a charming tale that follows the adventures of a mosquito who moves to the big city to pursue his dream of one day becoming a great jazz musician.
For more ticket, venue and more information, visit texasperformingarts.org.
Longhorn Cellos 