HOUSTON (KTRK) -- If you are in the mood for some live summertime classical and jazz music, Texas Music Festival summer concert series is now underway through July 1.
The Immanuel and Helen Olshan Texas Music Festival is series of world-class classical and jazz summer concerts. The series will feature nearly 50 shows by student musicians, distinguished conductors and artists from around the world.
But it's more than just a concert series. It's also an educational platform.
The TMF Orchestral Institute is a month-long music residency based at the University of Houston Moores School of Music.
The goal of the institute is to challenge the orchestra fellows each week by presenting a new, full symphonic program under a new conductor of international stature. They work to enhance skills in orchestral, chamber music and solo performance.
"A record number of students -- nearly 400 -- applied to The Texas Music Festival Orchestral Institute this year representing such noted music schools as The Juilliard School, Cleveland and Peabody Institutes of Music, Eastman School of Music, and Houston's Shepherd and Moores Schools of Music," General and Artistic Director Alan Austin said in a release.
According to Austin, who is also a former TMF participant, 95 orchestra fellows were chosen this year by competitive live and recorded auditions. This is the residency's 23rd season.
In addition to performing for public audiences, fellows will attend master classes and seminars at venues throughout the Houston area and at Texas A&M University in College Station.
The concert series will also include performances summer institutes for high school jazz and piano students, and there will be a Classical Minds Guitar Festival and Competition June 12-17.
Each concert will kick off with an outdoor festival on the University of Houston's Jane Blaffer Owen Plaza, featuring pre-concert musical performances and refreshments by local food trucks.
For more information, including the complete performance calendar and lineup, visit www.tmf.uh.edu.
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