About the Festival

Mission Statement

The mission of the Immanuel and Helen Olshan Texas Music Festival is to prepare college aged and young professional musicians for careers in music through a four-week intensive summer orchestral training program. The Texas Music Festival serves communities in the greater Houston area, College Station, and throughout the Southeastern Texas regions with a diverse array of orchestral and chamber music performances by student participants, faculty, and guest artists.

Introduction

The Immanuel and Helen Olshan Texas Music Festival was founded in 1990 to provide young professional musicians with a challenging musical environment in which to develop skills in orchestral, chamber music, and solo performance. The intensive four-week orchestral fellowship program on the University of Houston campus is guided by distinguished artists from the Moores and Shepherd schools of music faculty, principals and members of the Houston Symphony, Houston Grand Opera and Ballet orchestras and internationally recognized guests. Many TMF faculty members perform as soloists with the Festival Orchestra and as part of the Festival Artist Series (TMF’s faculty chamber music series).

• Intensive four-week orchestral training program
• For college, graduate, and young professional players (Ages 18-30; younger participants will be considered on a case by case basis)
• Over 90 talented orchestral musicians are selected to participate each year
• All TMF participants receive full tuition fellowships valued around $4000
• International musical community
• Faculty from the Moores and Shepherd schools of music, the Houston Symphony, Houston Grand Opera and Ballet orchestras, and other distinguished music schools
• Master classes with renowned musicians, including guest artists, as well as principals and members of the Houston Symphony and other major orchestras
• Cynthia Woods Mitchell Young Artists Competition
• Weekly private lesson instruction
• Chamber music coaching
• Faculty artist chamber music series (Festival Artist Series)

Performance Opportunities

• Weekly orchestra programs
• Student chamber music concerts and outreach performances
• Master classes with faculty and guests
• Performances at:
  • Moores Opera House, University of Houston
  • Presidential Conference Center, Texas A&M University
  • Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion, The Woodlands

Cynthia Woods Mitchell Young Artist Competition

• Open to all TMF participants
• All finalists receive cash prizes. First place winner appears as soloist with both the TMF Orchestra and with the Akademisches Orchester, Leipzig in famed Gewandhaus.
• Audition requirements: Standard classical concerto with orchestra (25 minute maximum length)

Festival Representatives

• Alan Austin, General and Artistic Director
• Melissa McCrimmon, Assistant Director
• David Tomatz, Director Emeritus

Contact us »

Brought to you by

• Immanuel and Helen Olshan Foundation
• Texas A&M University's Summer Performance Series

Festival Site

TMF is housed in the Moores School of Music at the University of Houston’s central campus. University of Houston, Texas' premier urban research university, is located on a beautiful park-like campus in the country's fourth largest city. The Rebecca and John J. Moores School of Music Building is a spacious 144,000 square foot facility, located on the north side of campus. The Moores Opera House is an 800-seat hall praised for its acoustical excellence and celebrated mural by Frank Stella.

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