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
When YTA Artistic Director Dr. Emelyne Bingham began pursuing her doctor of musical arts degree several years ago, she couldn’t have imagined that lightning would strike, both figuratively and literally, before she was through. Bingham, who officially became Dr. Bingham in late 2020, unlocked a promising teaching method while researching her doctoral dissertation. She found … Read more
Young Texas Artists (YTA) will re-focus 2021 activities on providing free cultural programs; securing important performance opportunities, increased cash awards and career development for winners of the Young Texas Artists Music Competition; enhancing awareness of YTA across the state; and planning a major YTA arts weekend for March 2022. Performance Series in 2021 Keynoting the … Read more
If collaborative pianist Neal Kurz could offer one piece of advice to classical musicians interested in his specialty, it would be… not to specialize. Being an effective accompanist, he says, calls for being ready to play just about anything. “The thing I would emphasize for anybody who’s interested in this kind of work is you … Read more