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Annual Texas Music Festival to hold free concert

Wasting the summer by the pool doesn’t strike a chord with these musicians.

Now in its 18th season, the Texas Music Festival is a four-week summer program at the Moores School of Music that rising musicians participate in to hone their skills and to have the opportunity to perform with other talented musicians.

"Every year is pretty interesting because of the growth of the festival," Assistant Director of the Texas Music Festival Adria McDonald said. "More students come internationally and from better schools, and it’s turning into some sort of Aspen-level festival."

A high level of dedication is expected for all participants in the TMF. Practices begin Monday, and the students have less than a week to familiarize and master the new repertoire they were given, which is about the same amount of time that professional musicians are given to learn a program.

"There are all of these different components in the TMF. The orchestra students perform each Saturday night at the Moores Opera House with a different conductor and different program," McDonald said. "There are more opportunities for (the students) to perform on stage in a number of ways. So the actual schedule is more intensive for them because they have to figure out all of these different available times for when they can schedule in their lesson."

With about 100 students in this year’s TMF, vying for a slot has been extremely competitive. The age range for students is 18 to 30, with only a few exceptions, such as a 15-year-old student from Iceland. With a large pool of talented musicians, the audition process is a long, arduous one.

"This year we did a recruitment tour. We went to New York, Cleveland, Dallas, Austin and Chicago, just various places with schools we wanted to hit to see if students were interested. We did live auditions in the early spring at those big schools and for a lot of students that’s really helpful because they might not have recording equipment to make a good digital recording," McDonald said. "Once everyone has submitted an audition – whether one they did at home or a live audition -those go onto a different panel of professors where they evaluate the auditions and give their suggestions to our director. From there students get invited to come."

Funded mainly through the Immanuel and Helen Olshan Foundation, TMF pays the tuition and housing for the orchestra symphony, which makes a place in the TMF all the more appealing.

While the performances at the Moores Opera House might be a little expensive for students, TMF’s symphony orchestra will perform a free show Friday night at the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion. Besides big name concerts, the Pavilion, which is a non-profit organization, also brings the performing arts to a wider audience.

"Our goal is introduce the performing arts for the community. What we try to do is to offer free seating for performing arts events. Not only TMF, but Houston Symphony, a ballet performance or just any art performance every year," Mandi Hunsicker-Sallee, marketing and public relations manager for the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion, said. "Families can come here and listen and see world class performing arts for free. They can bring picnic lunches in and don’t have to pay for dinner."

And being witness to such performances is incredibly rewarding, Hunsicker-Salle said.

"I’m blown away of the quality of the musicians that come and perform for TMF," she said. "The energy and enthusiasm they bring to the stage is very infectious."

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