YTA Video Showcases Texas Arts Scene, Explores Group’s Commitment to Emerging Musicians

YTA Insights: Episode 4 will be available Feb. 20

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Texas – February 15, 2022 –Young Texas Artists (YTA), the nonprofit fine arts organization best known for the YTA Music Competition, will wrap up its free video series, YTA Insights—A Journey Into the World of Classical Music, with a look at Texas’ rich and thriving fine arts scene.

Episode 4,  “YTA & Friends: Inspiring the Fine Arts in Texas,” will be available to watch at 7 p.m. CST Sunday, Feb. 20, on YTA’s Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/YoungTexasArtists.

“We developed this video series to showcase some of the joys associated with classical music, and we thought it would be fitting to conclude the series by showing viewers the wealth of opportunities they have to enjoy the arts in the Lone Star State,” said Susie Moore Pokorski, President/CEO of Young Texas Artists.

The video will also provide a closer look at YTA and its far-reaching impact on emerging classical musicians and the performing arts in Texas.

Pokorski will describe YTA’s plans to celebrate its return—after the COVID-19 pandemic forced it to cancel programming in 2020 and 2021—with the Young Texas Artists Fine Arts Weekend March 10-13, 2022. In addition to its Bach, Beethoven & Barbecue Gala and the YTA Finalists’ Concert & Awards, YTA will present a Fine Art Invitational Show, a Contemporary Dance Showcase and a Young Texas Poets Showcase in historic downtown Conroe.

Episode 4 of YTA Insights also includes interviews with:

  • Emelyne Bingham, YTA Artistic Director
  • Jade Simmons, YTA career and branding consultant
  • Gary Gibbs, executive director of the Texas Commission on the Arts
  • Shannon Overby, director of Visit Conroe, the convention and visitors bureau of the Conroe area.
  • Libi Lebel, artistic director/conductor, Texas Medical Center Orchestra
  • Michael Mayes, baritone, 2002 YTA Gold Medalist, Voice Division (pictured with this press release)

The video also will feature interviews with those directing the 2022 Young Texas Artists Fine Arts Weekend, including:

  • LuAnne Carter, director of the Contemporary Dance Showcase
  • Dede Fox, director of the Young Texas Poets Showcase
  • Joseph Staley, curator of the Fine Art Invitational Show

Throughout the video’s Feb. 20 debut on Facebook, viewers are invited to share thoughts and questions for series producer and host St. John Flynn, who will be monitoring the video post’s comments and responding.

Flynn, former Arts and Culture Director for Houston Public Media, currently is a writer, speaker, and arts and culture consultant. He also will serve as master of ceremonies of YTA’s Finalists’ Concert & Awards March 12.

“The final episode of our video series is an excellent opportunity for audiences to learn more about Young Texas Artists, which has helped launch the careers of more than 2,500 classical musicians and is fast becoming a cultural jewel for Texas,” Flynn said.

The YTA Insights video series has been made possible by a grant from the City of Conroe.

About Young Texas Artists:

Young Texas Artists, founded in 1983, is a one-of-a-kind nonprofit presenter of music competitions and events, career development programs and cultural enrichment outreach. The nationally acclaimed Young Texas Artists Music Competition and the YTA Career Development Program provide professional guidance, mentoring and highly sought performance experience. An Official Music Competition of the State of Texas, it is one of the few competitions in the nation with four performance divisions: Voice; Piano; Strings; and Winds, Brass, Percussion, Harp and Guitar. The YTA contest is open to classical artists, ages 18-30 (20-32 for Voice), who are Texas residents or affiliated with a Texas music school.  Over the years, Young Texas Artists has helped produce many distinguished professionals who have gone on to join orchestras, opera companies, universities and music schools around the world.

Affiliations:

Young Texas Artists is a member of the Greater Conroe Arts Alliance, the Conroe/Lake Conroe Chamber of Commerce, the Texas Cultural Trust and Texans for the Arts.

Young Texas Artists, Inc. is a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit organization founded and headquartered in Conroe, Montgomery County.