Join us – young musicians, looking for a life-transforming, career-launching learning experience.  Houston is a vibrant, supportive, artistic city.  Please apply to one of our TMF Institutes.  

Join us – Music lovers! Help us celebrate world-renowned performers coming to Houston and young talent reaching new heights of artistry during four weeks of exhilarating, uplifting concerts.  

Festival Schedule:

Thursday, June 5, 2025

7:30 p.m: Sharon Ley Lietzow Piano Series - Barry Douglas Recital

The Texas Music Festival is thrilled to open our 2025 Festival with a recital from one of the world’s most admired and in-demand virtuosos, Irish pianist/conductor Barry Douglas. Since winning the gold medal at the 1986 Tchaikovsky International Piano Competition, Moscow, Douglas has become a highly sought-after recitalist, concerto soloist, and chamber musician, annually performing across the globe from Royal Albert Hall, Barbican and Wigmore Hall and the Verbier Festival to the Forbidden City Concert Hall in Beijing, Grand Theatre in Shanghai and other cities in China.

Program:

Schubert: Four Impromptus, D.899, Op. 90

Tchaikovsky: Romance, No. 5 from  Six Pieces, Op. 51, Valse Sentimentale, No. 6 from  Six Pieces, Op. 51, Nocturne in F Major, Op. 10, No. 1, Danse Charactéristique, No. 4 from  Eighteen Pieces, Op. 72

Liszt: Sonata in B minor

Location: Dudley Recital Hall

Friday, June 6, 2025

7:30 p.m: Chamber Music I: Formosa Quartet and Faculty

Join us for an eclectic and adventurous concert of chamber music. Texas Music Festival faculty artists share this program with the “Spellbinding” (The Strad magazine), Formosa Quartet UH’s string quartet in residence.

Program:

Fazil Say: The Moving Mansion (Hommage à Atatürk) for Piano Quintet

W. A. Mozart: Gran Sestetto Concertante

Location: Dudley Recital Hall

Saturday, June 7, 2025

7:30 p.m: Festival Orchestra I - Mahler's Fifth Symphony

Mahler’s fifth symphony: an exhilarating journey from despair to elation, with a musical love letter in the middle! Come celebrate with us, as we launch our 2025 summer season of symphonic concerts, featuring an all-star orchestra of emerging professionals from across the world. Witness amazing young talent reaching new heights of artistry.

This concert is dedicated the Alan Austin, an extraordinary artist/leader, who was director of the Texas Music Festival for three decades. From the thousands of TMF alumni now performing and teaching worldwide: Thank you, Alan!

Program:

Mahler: Symphony No. 5

Franz Anton Krager, conductor

Location: Moores Opera House

Other festivities this evening include:

6:30 - 7:20 p.m: Pre-concert performance by members of Virtuosi of Houston at Moores Opera House Lobby

6:30 - 7:10 p.m: Settling the Score:  Pre-concert lecture with Dr. Andrew Davis at MSM Room 108

Sunday, June 8, 2025

2 p.m: Mitchell-Hogg Young Artist Competition Finals

Cynthia Woods Mitchell - Ima Hogg Competition, Final Round

TMF’s young artists compete for the chance to perform as soloist with the festival orchestra and cash prizes. A distinguished panel of judges chooses the winner, but YOU can help to choose the Audience Favorite prize. Come discover Classical music’s rising star soloists!

Location: Dudley Recital Hall

Tuesday, June 10, 2025

7:30 p.m: Chamber Music II: Harpsichordist Matthew Dirst, Faculty, and Fellows

Music has the power to transport us across time, around the world, and into the sublime and mysterious realms of the spirit. This concert begins with a sonic portrait of Houston’s own Rothko Chapel, then whirls through the famous churches of Rome, lounges in an ornamented interior of Venice, then swaggers, carefree through the streets of roaring-twenties Paris. We are honored to feature the renowned harpsichordist and Ars Lyrica Houston Artistic Director, Mathew Dirst, as he helps guide select Texas Music Festival fellows and our faculty through an eclectic tour of baroque and new music masterworks.

Program to include:

Lee R. Kesselman: Blocks for Bassoon Quartet

Geminiani: Concerto Grosso in D Minor, H. 143 "La Folia" (after Corelli Violin Sonata, Op. 5 No. 12)

Caroline Shaw: "Stucco & Brocatelle"

Andrew Norman: “Sabina” from A Companion’s Guide to Rome

Francis Poulenc: Sextet for Winds and Piano FP 100

Location: Dudley Recital Hall

Wednesday, June 11, 2025

7:30 p.m: Piano Institute Chamber Music

Location: Dudley Recital Hall - FREE

Thursday, June 12, 2025

7:30 p.m: Sharon Ley Lietzow Piano Series - Clayton Stephenson Recital

Program

Arlen—Jarrett: "Over the Rainbow"

Albéniz: Iberia, Book I

Stravinsky: Trois mouvements de Petrouchka

Gershwin: "Rhapsody in Blue"

Gershwin, arr. Fazil Say: "Summertime" Variations

Price, arr. C. Stephenson: Piano Concerto in One Movement (III. Andantino–Allegretto)

Tatum: "Tea for Two"

Uehara: "Green Tea Farm"

Uehara: "The Tom and Jerry Show"

Location: Dudley Recital Hall

Saturday, June 14, 2025

2:00 p.m: Piano Institute Final Performance

Location: Dudley Recital Hall - FREE

4:30 – 6:30 p.m: RED Carpet Night!

Met-Ball-esque fashion runway + signature-Houston, Art-Car-esque, DIY artistry + a family-friendly concert = RED Carpet Night at the Texas Music festival.

From 4:30 – 6:30 p.m. Houston artists will help you create an art-car inspired, RED-carpet-ready fashion make-over! At 6:30 p.m., get seen at our glamorous RED carpet parade, inspired by a 21st century Cinderella’s ball. Then, enjoy The Texas Music Festival Orchestra’s performance of Cinderella inspired music by Prokofiev and other fantastic symphonic masterworks.

RSVP HERE for RED Carpet Night!

Location: Moores Opera House - FREE

7:30 p.m: Festival Orchestra II: Cinderella

Daring, glamorous, fantastic, and thrilling! Fairy tales come to life in the Moores Opera House. The Texas Music Festival Orchestra, led by one of Spain’s most renowned and established conductors, Josep Caballé-Domenech, perform Respighi’s enchanting Fountains of Rome. Houston’s own hometown-virtuoso violinist, Kirsten Yon, performs Prokofiev’s alluring and adventurous Violin Concerto, followed by music from the ballet Cinderella – a sonic fairy tale that music lovers of any age will love.

This concert is a celebration of Houston’s home-grown arts. Join us as we celebrate our local Art Car Parade and Art Bike Parade winners, plus other local artists that make our city great.

Program:

Josep Caballé-Domenech, conductor
Kirsten Yon, violin soloist
Respighi: Fountains of Rome
Prokofiev: Violin Concerto No. 1 in D; Suite from Cinderella

Location: Moores Opera House

6:30 - 7:20 p.m: Pre-concert performance by members of Virtuosi of Houston at Moores Opera House Lobby
6:30 - 7:10 p.m: Settling the Score:?Pre-concert lecture with Dr. Andrew Davis at MSM Room 108

Tuesday, June 21, 2025

3:00 p.m: No Zoning - a musical exploration of Houston  

Student Chamber Music in collaboration with DACAMERA

DACAMERA Presents DACAMERA Young Artists and Texas Music Festival Fellows at the Menil Collection

Location: Menil Collection - FREE

7:00 p.m: No Zoning - a musical exploration of Houston  

Student Chamber Music in collaboration with Houston Saengerbund

An evening of German chamber music, social singing, and general good times at the Saengerhalle with Houston Saengerbund.

Location: Houston Saengerbund Saengerhalle - FREE

Sunday, June 22, 2025

1:00 p.m: No Zoning - a musical exploration of Houston  

Student Chamber Music in collaboration with The Orange Show Center for Visionary Art

A Beer Can House Block Party with percussion and brass chamber music at Houston’s iconic folk art masterwork, the Beer Can House.

Location: The Beer Can House - FREE

Tuesday, June 24, 2025

7:30 p.m: Chamber Music III: Collaboration Celebration!

Our Texas Music Festival faculty and fellows join together for one last evening of collaborative chamber music. The art of sacrifice; the art listening; the art of consensus; the art of leadership; the art of bold experimentation; the art of mutual support – that’s chamber music. Come celebrate Young professional musicians reaching new heights of maturity and artistry, as they collaborate directly with our worldclass Texas Music Festival faculty.

Join us for the finale of our 2025 chamber music series, when faculty and fellows will perform their most beloved and often most challenging chamber masterworks.

Program to include:

Stravinsky: Octet

Brahms: Piano Quintet in F minor, Op. 34

Location: Dudley Recital Hall

Thursday, June 26, 2025

7:30 p.m: Sharon Ley Lietzow Piano Series - Gabriela Martinez Recital

Music by Missy Mazzoli, Reynaldo Hahn, Caroline Shaw, Beethoven, Viet Cuong, Villa-Lobos, and more.

A Venezuelan superstar concert pianist who calls Houston her home, Gabriela Martinez makes her Texas Music Festival debut with a stunning and unexpected program. The repertoire features Beethoven and Villa-Lobos alongside works by two brilliant young American women composers: Missy Mazzoli and Rice University alumna Caroline Shaw.

Program:

Rachmaninoff: Moments Musicaux, Op. 16 (Selections)

Jessica Meyer: Halcyon Skies

Caroline Shaw: Gustave Le Gray

Heitor Villa Lobos: Bachianas Brasileiras No. 4

Intermission

Federico Ruiz: Triptico Tropical (Selections)

Mozart/Anderson: Lost Fantasy in F minor

Karol Szymanowski: Variations in B-flat minor

Location: Dudley Recital Hall

Friday, June 27, 2025

5:00 p.m: Pre-College Institutes

Jazz Institute Middle School and High School Orchestras
Noe Marmolejo, director
Percussion Ensemble
Blake Wilkins, director

Location: Moores Opera House - FREE

6:00 p.m: High School Wind Ensemble Institute

David Bertman, director
Percussion Ensemble
Blake Wilkins, director

Location: Moores Opera House - FREE

Saturday, June 28, 2025

7:30 p.m: Festival Orchestra III: Festival Finale

Swoon! Get swept off your feet! The Texas Music Festival Orchestra presents their Festival Finale concert, featuring Rachmaninoff’s notoriously enchanting Symphonic Dances. The concert opens with GRAMMY-nominated composer Anna Clyne’s Restless Oceans. Then, meet a new shooting star, as we enjoy a solo performance from this year’s Cynthia Woods Mitchell – Ima Hogg Competition.

This concert is dedicated to Houston’s all-star arts educators! The Musicians of the Texas Music Festival owe so much to their incredible teachers. Join us as we honor and celebrate our city’s extraordinary and talented music, theater, dance, and art teachers.

Teacher’s come for FREE! Register here for special pre-concert arts education workshop (three hours of CPE credit), reception, and concert tickets.

Program:
Mei-Ann Chen, conductor
2025 Mitchell – Hogg Competition Winner, soloist
Anna Clyne: Restless Oceans, TBA solo
Rachmaninoff: Symphonic Dances

Location: Moores Opera House

6:30 - 7:20 p.m: Pre-concert performance by members of Virtuosi of Houston at Moores Opera House Lobby
6:30 - 7:10 p.m: Settling the Score:?Pre-concert lecture with Dr. Andrew Davis at MSM Room 108

Fest Date: June 5 - 28, 2025

Location: Dudley Recital Hall & Moores Opera House at Moores School of Music - 3333 Cullen Blvd Houston, TX 77204

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