A music festival at the University of the Incarnate Word kicks off this weekend and the four-day two weekend event has plenty of variety.
"We have orchestral concerts, we have chamber music concerts. And all of our performers are not only professional musicians, but we have some nationally recognized and internationally recognized soloists," says Terence Frazor, producer of the Mozart Festival Texas.
As to the breakdown of performances, here's how the lineup will play out.
"The opening night concert is this Saturday, July 29th, and we have an all-Mozart program. And then we continue Sunday, July 30th. Rick Rowley is in the process of playing the complete piano sonatas of Mozart over a 5-concert period," Frazor says.
The festival continues to a second weekend at the University of the Incarnate Word.
"Then we continue the next weekend on August 5th with the chamber music concert," he says. "The Artisan Quartet and Toby Blumenthal will be performing the Dvorak A Major Piano quartet, and we'll also be doing the Debussy quartet, and a one-movement piece by Schubert, the Quartettsatz in C Minor. And then the festival wraps up Sunday afternoon with a program of Mozart and Haydn, featuring the Mozart Concerto for Flute and Harp."
Frazor says that the newly renovated concert hall at UIW is an ideal place for the festival.
"University of the Incarnate Word actually has a new concert hall and it's a state of the art acoustic. And it makes a huge difference," Frazor says. "We can have it with a very intimate sound or we can make it a beautiful concert hall sound."
The fully professional orchestra serves as an inspiration to UIW music students.
"We do have a lot of students who attend the concerts. Our audiences have been growing over the last –well, this is our 7th year now and we're expecting a sell-out crowd for a couple of the concerts," he says.
But tickets are still available, Frazor reminds and says the Mozart Festival in the dead of summer is a welcome respite from the heat.
"Our concert hall is very cool in the summer, and there's free parking at University of the Incarnate Word; the parking is great there," he says.
Find more on the Mozart Festival here.
