The Austin Chamber Music Festival takes over the classical music world in Austin every summer. By presenting local, emerging, and international-touring chamber artists, ACMC energizes the community with chamber music.

Schedule of Events:

June 7, 2024:

7:30 PM: Emerson Quartet’s Philip Setzer

Kick off the Austin Chamber Music Festival with Philip Setzer, founding violinist of the nine-time Grammy-winning Emerson String Quartet. This chamber music legend is joined by fellow violinist Sandy Yamamoto and pianist Michelle Schumann for a program featuring Franz Schubert, Béla Bartók, Edvard Grieg, and Setzer’s own “Elegy.”

Program:

Violin Sonata in A Minor, D. 385 | Franz Schubert (1797–1828)

Allegro moderato
Andante
Menuetto: Allegro
Allegro

44 Duos for Two Violins (Selections) | Béla Bartók (1881–1945)

INTERMISSION

Elegy | Philip Setzer (b. 1951)

Sonata No. 3 for Violin and Piano in C Minor, Op. 45 | Edvard Grieg (1843–1907)

Allegro molto appassionato
Allegretto espressivo alla Romanza
Allegro animato

FEATURING:

Philip Setzer & Sandy Yamamoto, violins | Michelle Schumann, piano

Philip Setzer:

Violinist Philip Setzer is a founding member of the Emerson String Quartet. He has appeared as soloist with the National Symphony, Aspen Chamber Symphony, Memphis Symphony, New Mexico Symphony, Puerto Rico Symphony, Omaha Symphony, Anchorage Symphony, and the Cleveland Orchestra. Mr. Setzer currently serves as Distinguished Professor of Violin and Chamber Music at SUNY Stony Brook and Visiting Faculty at the Cleveland Institute of Music. He is also the Director of the Shouse Institute, a program for emerging artists of the Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival in Detroit. He plays a violin made by Samuel Zygmuntowicz in Brooklyn in 2011.

Sandy Yamamoto:

Violinist Sandy Yamamoto has dazzled audiences in concert performances around the globe for the past three decades as a soloist and as a member of the Miró Quartet. The New York Times describes her performance as playing with “explosive vigor and technical finesse.” With the Quartet, she performed on the major concert stages of the world, regularly concertizing in North America, South America, Europe and Asia. She was a recipient of the Naumburg Chamber Music and Cleveland Quartet Awards, won First Prize at the Banff International String Quartet Competition and was one of the first chamber musicians to be awarded an Avery Fisher Career Grant. Currently, she is the Associate Professor of Practice in Violin Performance at the Butler School of Music at the University of Texas at Austin and was the recipient of the 2016 Butler School of Music Teaching Excellence Award. In the summers, she teaches at the Green Mountain Chamber Music Festival.

Michelle Schumann:

Hailed for her “sensitive, flexible, and tempestuous dexterity” (Fanfare Magazine), pianist Michelle Schumann has built a reputation for evocative and moving performances. Since 2006, Michelle has served as Artistic Director of the Austin Chamber Music Center, where she “is fearlessly expanding our definition of chamber music” (Austin-American Statesman). Her brand of performance includes an enthusiastic interplay with audiences, bringing diverse music together under a narrative blanket. She was named “Best Classical Musician” in the Best of Austin 2019 Readers Poll by the Austin Chronicle. Schumann is Professor of Piano at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor.

Subject to availability, $12 Student Rush (with student ID), $30 General Admission, $45 Preferred, and $80 Premium tickets may be purchased at the box office on the evening of the concert. The box office will open at 6:30 PM that day.

June 8, 2024:

7:30 PM: The Sound of Science with Jeffrey Zeigler

Dexterous cellist formerly of the Kronos Quartet, Jeffrey Zeigler performs The Sound of Science, a project originally produced by Graham Reynolds and his music laboratory, Golden Hornet. This multimedia program features seven renowned composers from around the globe, who have each created a unique soundscape inspired by a scientist of their choosing.

Subject to availability, $12 Student Rush (with student ID), $30 General Admission, $45 Preferred, and $80 Premium tickets may be purchased at the box office on the evening of the concert. The box office will open at 6:30 PM that day.

Program:

The Brain (Kristen Harris) | Graham Reynolds (b. 1971)
Radiation in Moderation (Marie Curie) | Sarah Lipstate (b. 1984)
From the Bones to the Fossils (Andrew Kruczkiewicz) | Paola Prestini (b. 1975)
Salumba (George Washington Carver) | Foday Musa Suso (b. 1953)
Quest (Jill Tarter) | Felipe Pérez Santiago (b. 1973)
A Highway in State Space (Signe Kjelstrup) | Maja S.K. Ratkje (b. 1973)
Her Confirmation (Katherine Johnson) | Yuka C. Honda (b. 1961)
Pastaza (Barry Chernoff) | Graham Reynolds (b. 1971)

FEATURING:

Jeffrey Zeigler, cello

Jeffrey Zeigler:

Jeffrey Zeigler is one of the most innovative and versatile cellists of our time. Following his eight year tenure as the cellist of the internationally renowned Kronos Quartet, his work continues to push boundaries with a wide array of solo and collaborative projects. His most recent solo album, Houses of Zodiac, features music by Paola Prestini. Strings Magazine has described the album as “one of the greatest and most ambitious solo cello albums of all time.” Upcoming highlights include being featured in a new opera, The Old Man and the Sea, directed by Karmina Silec with music by Prestini and libretto by Royce Vavrek. Zeigler will also give the world premier of Andy Akiho’s Cello Concerto in 2024.

Jeffrey Zeigler is Assistant Professor of Chamber Music and Innovation at the Frost School of Music at the University of Miami.

June 9, 2024:

3:00 PM: American String Quartet with Anton Nel

Honoring their 50th Anniversary Season, the American String Quartet returns to the Austin Chamber Music Festival for a celebratory concert with long-time collaborator and legendary pianist, Anton Nel. The quartet performs a riveting program featuring Ludwig van Beethoven and Dmitri Shostakovich and will be joined by Nel in the exuberant Piano Quintet by Robert Schumann.

Program:

String Quartet No. 2 in G Major, Op. 18, No. 2 | Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827)

Allegro
Adagio cantabile
Scherzo: Allegro
Allegro molto, quasi presto

String Quartet No. 13 in B-flat Minor, Op. 138 | Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975)

INTERMISSION

Piano Quintet in E-flat Major, Op. 44 | Robert Schumann (1810–1856)

Allegro brillante
In modo d’una marcia. Un poco largamente
Scherzo: Molto vivace
Allegro ma non troppo

AMERICAN STRING QUARTET

Peter Winograd & Laurie Carney, violins
Daniel Av­sha­lo­mov, viola | Wolfram Koes­sel, cello

with Anton Nel, piano

American String Quartet:

Internationally recognized as one of the world’s finest quartets, the American String Quartet has spent decades honing the luxurious sound for which it is famous. The Quartet celebrated its 45th anniversary in 2019, and, in its years of touring, has performed in all fifty states and has appeared in the most important concert halls worldwide. The group’s presentations of the complete quartets of Beethoven, Schubert, Schoenberg, Bartók, and Mozart have won widespread critical acclaim, and their MusicMasters Complete Mozart String Quartets, performed on a matched quartet set of instruments by Stradivarius, are widely considered to have set the standard for this repertoire.

Anton Nel:

Anton Nel, winner of the first prize in the 1987 Naumburg International Piano Competition at Carnegie Hall continues to enjoy a remarkable and multifaceted career that has taken him to North and South America, Europe, Asia, and South Africa. Following an auspicious debut at the age of twelve with Beethoven’s C Major Concerto after only two years of study, the Johannesburg native captured first prizes in all the major South African competitions while still in his teens, toured his native country extensively and became a well-known radio and television personality. A student of Adolph Hallis, he made his European debut in France in 1982, and in the same year graduated with highest distinction from the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg. He came to the United States in 1983, attending the University of Cincinnati, where he pursued his Masters and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees under Bela Siki and Frank Weinstock. In addition to garnering many awards from his alma mater during this three-year period he was a prizewinner at the 1984 Leeds International Piano Competition in England and won several first prizes at the Joanna Hodges International Piano Competition in Palm Desert in 1986.

Subject to availability, $12 Student Rush (with student ID), $30 General Admission, $45 Preferred, and $80 Premium tickets may be purchased at the box office on the evening of the concert. The box office will open at 6:30 PM that day.
Program

June 21, 2024:

7:30 PM: Pedro Giraudo Tango Quartet

Pedro Giraudo and his tango superstars take us on a tour of Astor Piazzolla’s music, showing the transformation of tango from small cafes, bars and dance halls into the world of the concert hall. Piazzolla’s legacy of composing tango as concert music opened the door to the classical world, and to leading contemporary composers and performers like Pedro Giraudo himself, who continue to evolve tango even further into the world of chamber music.

Subject to availability, $12 Student Rush (with student ID), $30 General Admission, $45 Preferred, and $80 Premium tickets may be purchased at the box office on the evening of the concert. The box office will open at 6:30 PM that day.

Program:

Music by Astor Piazzolla to be announced.

PEDRO GIRAUDO TANGO QUARTET

Rodolfo Zanetti, bandoneón | Ahmed Alom, piano
Nick Danielson, violin | Pedro Giraudo, bass

Pedro Giraudo Tango Quartet:

Latin GRAMMY winner Pedro Giraudo Tango Quartet is a virtuoso quartet that elegantly brings the beauty and passion of the tango repertoire into the world of chamber music.

The Pedro Giraudo Tango Quartet is widely acknowledged as one of the most compelling tango ensembles today, moving forward from the giant footsteps of Astor Piazzolla, and continuing to take this musical genre into new territories. With immense respect for its roots and rich musical past, the ensemble effectively serves as an active ambassador of tango and a proponent of its evolution. The quartet’s fervent and virtuosic musical style takes elements from Argentine tango, European classical music, and American jazz, and combines them gracefully and organically, bringing something new and exciting to the form while retaining all the lushness and beauty that characterizes the genre.

June 22, 2024:

7:30 PM: Duo Mantar

Austin Chamber Music Center in partnership with Austin Classical Guitar presents Duo Mantar. Described as “visceral and imaginative” and “transcendental and exuberant,” the two virtuosi that make up Duo Mantar will perform music for guitar and mandolin by Astor Piazzolla and Yehezkel Braun, a world premiere of Avner Dorman’s Many Waters, and more.

Subject to availability, $12 Student Rush (with student ID), $30 General Admission, $45 Preferred, and $80 Premium tickets may be purchased at the box office on the evening of the concert. The box office will open at 6:30 PM that day.

Program:

Selections from The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires | Astor Piazzolla (1921–1992)

Winter
Autumn

Many Waters (World Premiere) | Avner Dorman (b. 1975)

?Red Sea
San Diego Bay
Susquehanna River
Green Lake
Jordan River

Three Songs Without Words | Paul Ben-Haim (1897-1984) Arr. Gregg Nestor

Arioso
Ballad
Sephardic Melody

INTERMISSION

Oriental Pantomime | Jan Freidlin (b. 1944)

Oración | Dalit Raij

Duo for Mandolin and Guitar | Ittai Rosenbaum (b. 1966)

Sonata for Mandolin and Guitar | Yehezkel Braun (1922–2014)

Fantasia
Aria
Variazione

DUO MANTAR
Adam Levin, guitar | Jacob Reuven, mandolin

Duo Mantar:

Duo Mantar is comprised of two virtuosos, American classical guitarist, Adam Levin, and Israeli Mandolinist, Jacob Reuven. They are described as “visceral and imaginative” and “transcendental and exuberant,”respectively. This novel pairing is rare in the chamber music world, however, the two plucked instruments are complementary and are natural extensions of one another. Levin and Reuven began playing together in 2017 and share a passion for Israeli Music, Hebrew and Jewish songs. Both of them are committed to expanding the repertoire available for mandolin and guitar by actively commissioning today’s most sought after Israeli composers. Additionally, they are performing works originally written for mandolin and guitar by Yehezkel Braun and fresh arrangements of traditional Hebrew songs by Marc Lavry and Maurice Ravel. They gave their debut in April 2018 at the University of Rhode Island Guitar Festival. In 2018–19, they toured in the United States, Israel and Spain. Their debut recording on Naxos Label (June 2021) reached no.1 on the Billboard Traditional Classical Album Chart and they are already planning a record with the Sonatas by Gabriele Leone.

June 23, 2024:

3:00 PM: Peter Bay and Festival Chamber Orchestra

The hand-sculpted Festival Chamber Orchestra celebrates Austin’s own fabulous talent, providing the quintessential Austin Chamber Music Festival experience. Austin Symphony Maestro Peter Bay leads the ensemble. The program includes music by Gerald Finzi (the ethereal “Eclogue”) and Divertimenti by Einojuhani Rautavaara and Mozart. Austin Chamber Music Center’s own Michelle Schumann will top off the concert with a performance of Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 11 in F Major.

Subject to availability, $12 Student Rush (with student ID), $30 General Admission, $45 Preferred, and $80 Premium tickets may be purchased at the box office on the evening of the concert. The box office will open at 6:30 PM that day.

Program:

Eclogue | Gerald Finzi (1901–1956)

Divertimento in D Major, K. 136 | W. A. Mozart (1756-1791)

Allegro
Andante
Presto

Divertimento for Strings | Einojuhani Rautavaara (1928–2016)

Allegro
Adagio
Allegretto ma energico

INTERMISSION

Piano Concerto No. 11 in F Major, K. 413 | W. A. Mozart

Allegro
Larghetto
Tempo di Menuetto

FESTIVAL CHAMBER ORCHESTRA
Peter Bay, conductor
Michelle Schumann, piano

Peter Bay:

Peter Bay became Music Director and Conductor of the Austin Symphony Orchestra in 1998. He is also conductor of the Bravo! Big Sky Classical Festival Orchestra (MT) and Arizona Philharmonic, and the primary conductor for Ballet Austin.

A native of Washington, DC, Mr. Bay is a graduate of the University of Maryland and the Peabody Institute of Music. In 1994, he was one of two conductors selected to participate in the Leonard Bernstein American Conductors Program. He was the first prize winner of the 1980 Baltimore Symphony Orchestra Young Conductors Competition and a prize winner of the 1987 Leopold Stokowski Competition sponsored by the American Symphony Orchestra. In July 2012 he appeared in Solo Symphony, a choreographic work created for him by Allison Orr of Forklift Danceworks. He was inducted into the Austin Arts Hall of Fame in May 2016.

Michelle Schumann:

Hailed for her “sensitive, flexible, and tempestuous dexterity” (Fanfare Magazine), pianist Michelle Schumann has built a reputation for evocative and moving performances. Since 2006, Michelle has served as Artistic Director of the Austin Chamber Music Center, where she “is fearlessly expanding our definition of chamber music” (Austin-American Statesman). Her brand of performance includes an enthusiastic interplay with audiences, bringing diverse music together under a narrative blanket. She was named “Best Classical Musician” in the Best of Austin 2019 Readers Poll by the Austin Chronicle.

Schumann is Professor of Piano at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor. She received a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Texas at Austin and additionally holds a Performance Diploma from the Vienna Conservatory.

July 12, 2024:

7:30 PM: Takács Quartet with Michelle Schumann

In their 49th season, the world-renowned Takács Quartet joins the Austin Chamber Music Festival to perform works by Dvorak alongside a new work written for them by Nokuthula Ngwenyama. “Flow” is an exploration and celebration of the natural world which promises to be transcendent for audiences. Also featured is Anton Dvorak’s spectacular Piano Quintet in A Major in collaboration with ACMC Artistic Director and award-winning pianist, Michelle Schumann.

Subject to availability, $12 Student Rush (with student ID), $30 General Admission, $45 Preferred, and $80 Premium tickets may be purchased at the box office on the evening of the concert. The box office will open at 6:30 PM that day.

Program:

String Quartet No. 10 in E-flat Major, Op. 51 | Antonín Dvo?ák (1841–1904)

Allegro ma non troppo
Dumka: Andante con moto
Romanza: Andante con moto
Finale: Allegro assai

Flow | Nokuthula Ngwenyama (b. 1976)

Prelude
Lento
Quark Scherzo
Finale

INTERMISSION

Piano Quintet in A Major, Op. 81 | Antonín Dvo?ák (1841–1904)

Allegro ma non tanto
Dumka: Andante con moto
Scherzo (Furiant): Molto vivace
Finale: Allegro

TAKÁCS QUARTET
Edward Dusinberre & Harumi Rhodes, violins
Richard O’Neill, viola | András Fejér, cello

with Michelle Schumann, piano

Takács Quartet:

The world-renowned Takács Quartet is now in its forty-ninth season. Edward Dusinberre, Harumi Rhodes, Richard O’Neill and András Fejér are excited about the 2023-2024 season that features varied projects including a new work written for them: Nokuthula Ngwenyama’s ‘Flow,’ an exploration and celebration of the natural world. The work was commissioned by nine concert presenters throughout the USA.

The Takács Quartet was formed in 1975 at the Franz Liszt Academy in Budapest by Gabor Takács-Nagy, Károly Schranz, Gabor Ormai and András Fejér, while all four were students. The group received international attention in 1977, winning First Prize and the Critics’ Prize at the International String Quartet Competition in Evian, France. The Quartet also won the Gold Medal at the 1978 Portsmouth and Bordeaux Competitions and First Prizes at the Budapest International String Quartet Competition in 1978 and the Bratislava Competition in 1981. In 2014 the Takács became the first string quartet to be awarded the Wigmore Hall Medal. In 2012, Gramophone announced that the Takács was the first string quartet to be inducted into its Hall of Fame. The ensemble also won the 2011 Award for Chamber Music and Song presented by the Royal Philharmonic Society in London.

Michelle Schumann:

Hailed for her “sensitive, flexible, and tempestuous dexterity” (Fanfare Magazine), pianist Michelle Schumann has built a reputation for evocative and moving performances. Since 2006, Michelle has served as Artistic Director of the Austin Chamber Music Center, where she “is fearlessly expanding our definition of chamber music” (Austin-American Statesman). Her brand of performance includes an enthusiastic interplay with audiences, bringing diverse music together under a narrative blanket. She was named “Best Classical Musician” in the Best of Austin 2019 Readers Poll by the Austin Chronicle.

Schumann is Professor of Piano at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor. She received a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Texas at Austin and additionally holds a Performance Diploma from the Vienna Conservatory.

July 13, 2024:

7:30 PM: Daniel Fears

An evening of stories, songs, strings, and soul: Austin-based musician Daniel Fears pairs classical training with the R&B universe as he lifts up all music fans alike with a sound that soars. Featuring world premieres performed by Fears and his 10-piece string ensemble. Presented in collaboration with Golden Hornet.

Subject to availability, $12 Student Rush (with student ID), $30 General Admission, $45 Preferred, and $80 Premium tickets may be purchased at the box office on the evening of the concert. The box office will open at 6:30 PM that day.

Daniel Fears:

Singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Daniel Fears is obsessed with evolving–finding new ways to express emotion and feeling. Fears grew up soaking up different musical worlds—the Christian and gospel music of his family; the R&B, soul, and hip-hop his friends introduced to him; and the classical music he studied at The University of Texas and Yale University.

Fears has been a featured artist on NPR’s Live Sessions, named KUTX’s Artist of the Month in 2021, and been a recipient of grants from non-profit Sonic Guild and the City of Austin. He’s twice been nominated in the Austin Music Awards—for Best R&B and Best Horn Player. For his upcoming project “Close to Home,” Fears leveraged a Kickstarter campaign to create a live taping and recording of his original music with a string quintet.

July 14, 2024:

3:00 PM: Horszowski Trio

The Horszowski Trio has quickly become a vital force in the international chamber music world. Since their debut performance in New York City in 2011, they have toured extensively throughout North America, Europe, the Far East, and India, traversing the extensive oeuvre of traditional piano trio repertoire and introducing audiences to new music that they have commissioned and premiered.

Subject to availability, $12 Student Rush (with student ID), $30 General Admission, $45 Preferred, and $80 Premium tickets may be purchased at the box office on the evening of the concert. The box office will open at 6:30 PM that day.

HORSZOWSKI TRIO
Jesse Mills, violin | Ole Akahoshi, cello | Rieko Aizawa, piano

Horszowski Trio:

Giving performances that are “lithe, persuasive” (The New York Times), “eloquent and enthralling” (The Boston Globe), and described as “the most compelling American group to come on the scene” (The New Yorker), the Horszowski Trio has quickly become a vital force in the international chamber music world. Since their debut performance in New York City in 2011, they have toured extensively throughout North America, Europe, the Far East, and India, traversing the extensive oeuvre of traditional piano trio repertoire and introducing audiences to new music that they have commissioned and premiered.

The Horszowski Trio is based in New York City. It is the Ensemble-in-Residence at the Longy School of Music of Bard College in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and of the Leschetizky Association in New York City.

Dates: June 7, 2024 - July 14, 2024

Location:

UT Austin’s Bates Recital Hall,
2406 Robert Dedman Drive,
Austin, TX 78712.

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