Anyone who regularly attends Young Texas Artists’ Bach, Beethoven & Barbecue gala likely associates it with at least three things: Texas swing music, Lone Star attire ranging from “jeans to jewels” — and the charismatic stage presence of auctioneer Lady Lyn Howard. Howard, also a successful entrepreneur and long-time Montgomery County resident, has been a … Read more
Clarinetist Jonathan Jones won YTA’s Audience Choice Award in 2006 and 2007. He also won YTA’s Gold Medal in the Winds, Brass, Percussion, Harp and Guitar division in 2008 and the Silver Medal in that division in 2006. He recently shared an update on his career with us. It’s been 14 years since you won … Read more
Pianist Sergei Kuznetsoff is Young Texas Artists’ 2005 Grand Prize Winner and Gold Medalist in Piano. He recently shared an update on his career with us. It’s been about 17 years since you won YTA’s Grand Prize and Gold Medal in Piano. What have you been up to since then? It’s been a long time; … Read more
Several years before James A. “Jim” Pokorski helped establish Young Texas Artists, he volunteered to line up professional entertainment for the newly refurbished Crighton Theatre in downtown Conroe. But not everyone was excited when he booked a performance of Mozart’s “The Marriage of Figaro.” “People said you can’t do opera in Conroe; no one will … Read more
Artem Kuznetsov, Young Texas Artists’ 2019 Grand Prize winner and Gold Medalist in Piano, will present a piano solo during Texas Medical Center Orchestra’s May 7 concert, Celebration of Hope. The concert, scheduled to begin at 7 p.m., will take place at Hobby Center’s Zilkha Hall, 800 Bagby St., No. 300, in downtown Houston. Kuznetsov … Read more
For Ken Sebek, both accounting and classical music have been important aspects of his life. Now the retired CPA and former Texas Medical Center Orchestra (TMCO) executive director is looking forward to bringing those worlds together to help emerging artists. Sebek is developing a financial coaching component for the career development workshop that YTA will … Read more
Pianist Andrew Staupe is a 2010 and 2013 YTA Gold Medalist and a 2009 Silver Medalist. He recently shared an update on his career with us. It’s been nine years since you won Young Texas Artists’ Gold Medal in Piano — for the second time! How would you say your experiences with YTA impacted you … Read more
Violinist Natalie Lin Douglas is Young Texas Artists’ 2009 Gold Medalist in Strings and Audience Choice Award winner. She recently shared an update on her career with us. It’s been more than 12 years since you won Young Texas Artists’ Gold Medal for Strings and the Audience Choice Award. How would you say your experience … Read more
Baritone Michael Mayes is YTA’s 2002 Gold Medalist in Voice. He recently shared an update on his career with us. How would you say your experience with YTA has impacted you and your music career? At that point in my career, I was in grad school, which ain’t cheap. I had a lot of scholarships … Read more
In the early 1990s, when St. John Flynn first began working as a classical music announcer for WUGA-FM, part of the Georgia Public Broadcasting radio network, the conventional wisdom was that each piece of music should be given a suitable introduction that might include the history of the composer and the music, and an explanation … Read more