Thirty years and counting — the Texas Music Festival wows at the University of Houston

by Trenton Hooker, Therese Grace Nuguid, Rheen Pascal and Baileigh Sheffied

Backstage at the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion, there’s an electricity in the air. The dark, blue lights cast an ethereal glow on the young musicians gathering instruments before the show, but as they come on stage, the electricity turns into anticipation.

The conductor, clad in a white tuxedo, arrives in front of the ensemble. As he lifts his baton, the fears, desires, and hopes of the musicians come together, and sounds radiate through the audience — it’s symphony season at the Texas Music Festival.

The 2019 season is the Texas Music Festival’s 30th anniversary at the University of Houston. For four weeks every June, young professionals travel to Texas and commit themselves to a strict schedule of practice and performance. The musicians, also called fellows, come from across the United States and the world to train with the world’s foremost classical performers.

“The festival is the highlight event of the year for us, and things can get a little chaotic,” said Alan Austin, the festival’s general and artistic director. Early in his career, Austin studied at the University of Houston in the late 1980s and performed during the inaugural 1990 season. This year marks the 23rd season Austin has helmed the festival as director.

Hari Parkash Khalsa, a graduate student from the University of Michigan, watches the conductor closely during rehearsals and plays the cello with surgeon-like precision. | Photo: Trenton Hooker

Immanuel and Helen Olshan, the festival’s founders, had no idea 30 years ago that the festival would become a hit sensation. The Olshans believed in supporting emerging artists, especially those from Texas, according to houstoniamag.

The University of Houston welcomed fellows from around the country in hopes to capture the exhilarating musical experience that the Texas Music Festival shows. Students from out of state filled the campus grounds and outnumbered those from Houston. Students had the experience of comparing skills and creating new relations over the time of their stay.

The festival filled many of the students visiting a city they have never been to before in hopes of what the festival might bring to them. One can only imagine the enthusiasm they must feel taking on the musical task that was ahead of them. The students take on a vigorous amount of music but still, have smiling faces as they gear up for their performances.

The 30th anniversary brought multiple guest conductors such as Carl St. Clair of the Pacific Symphony and Josep Caballé-Domenech of the Colorado Springs Philharmonic to give fellows the experience of different conducting styles and perspectives.

Fellows endure rigorous, hours-long rehearsals to perfect their music, as they perform well-known pieces like “Ride of the Valkyries,” “Scheherazade” and Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 6.

Guest performers also bring insight to the fellows, such as Kenny Broberg (piano) and Ernesto Tovar Torres (French horn), to inspire fellows about the rigors of a professional and allow them to learn how their superiors play in different environments. They provide fellows with insight into the world that is ahead of them.

This grand exposure highlights the goal of the festival itself, as “[their] goal really is to provide the best orchestral training that [the festival] can offer,” Austin said in a statement to the Houston Chronicle.

A prime example of this training is of Ernesto Tovar Torres, the newly-appointed hornist of the Philadelphia Orchestra. He was a fellow in the 2012 season and studied with William VerMuelen, principal hornist of the Houston Symphony. With careful practice and teaching, Torres was able to practice his instrument better and carve his career in the professional playing field, according to the Houston Chronicle.

For thirty years, the Immanuel and Helen Olshan Texas Music Festival gathers young musicians from across the country and the world together for four weeks of intense performance. The Moores School of Music at the University of Houston is the staging ground for festival fellows each summer. | The practice rooms inside the school’s building ring out with concentrated practice. Fellows arrive in the building early in the morning and usually don’t leave until late into the night. | Jacob Evans fits a brief moment of piano practice into a busy schedule before hustling to a festival master class. Evans, originally from Sacramento, California, recently graduated from the University of California, Berkeley. | Photos: Trenton Hooker

During their time at the festival, fellows receive full tuition fellowships. The festival’s master classes allow fellows to train with professionals of the Houston Grand Ballet Orchestra, the Houston Symphony and other guest artists from around the world. | Abigail Bracewell focuses on a piece by Johann Sebastian Bach. Bracewell is a second-year graduate student at the University of Houston, and she also serves as a teaching assistant for the Moores School of Music. | Sabrina Bradford, a graduate student from Washington, D.C., rehearses with other fellows before the night’s performance. Bradford currently studies at the Cleveland Institute of Music after earning a Bachelor of Music degree from Vanderbilt University. | Photos: Trenton Hooker

The festival selected only 93 fellows from almost 400 applicants this year. Young professionals aged 18 to 30, are chosen from across the United States and 22 countries. | Guest artist Kenny Broberg plays the piano during the festival’s opening performance at the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion in the Woodlands. Broberg has performed with symphonies across the world and is an internationally-recognized prizewinner. | Photos: Trenton Hooker

Many former fellows who are now professional players are grateful for the Texas Music Festival and the hard practices that came with it. Clarinetist Julian Hernandez and bassoonist Kara LaMoure, are Texas Music Festival alumni, these two are playing in some of the country’s leading orchestras, including the Houston Symphony and the orchestras for the Houston Ballet and Houston Grand Opera.

The festival is known for giving opportunities to young musicians helping them jump-start their careers into the world of music. This event is a promising experience that helps mold young artist into the innovators that they will become within their craft.

The festival concluded Saturday evening and was closed out by Josep Caballe-Domenech. Gustav Mahler’s Symphony №6 was the closing piece chosen by Caballe-Domenech, which for some may seem odd. However, the “tragic” symphony piece was a hit for the festival allowing the fellows to close out with a bang, according to the Texas Classical Review.

The orchestra ended with roaring applause to cap off the music piece and finally ending in a long still silence with the conductor and orchestra. This left the Moores Opera House with a dramatic feeling; allowing the audience to further take in the music piece. The Texas Music Festival ended on a high note and will follow the traditions they’ve set in place.