Episcopal High School Concerts during the week of the festival in June 2018 are held in the Chapel. 

For family members of enrolled festival participants:
Admission to Friday and Saturday night concerts is included in tuition for those enrolled in the festival; family members are admitted at $5 each.

General Admission to Concerts:
Friday and Saturday nights – each concert $15 General Admission, $10 Senior Citizens, $5 Students & Children.
Concert package for both nights - $25 General Admission & $18 Senior Citizens

Complete CM Schedule 591 KB

Upcoming Events

Jun15

Jesus Serrano Huitron & Adam Holzman

Episcopal High School - Chapel , 4650 Bissonnet , Bellaire, Texas 77401

Jesus Serrano Huitron from Mexico City, is the winner of the Classical Minds 2017 Performance Competition. He won First Prize at two dozen national and international competitions and he has an active performance schedule in Mexico, United State, Canada and Turkey.

Adam Holzman, international performer, recording artist and teacher is founder of the Guitar Department at the University of Texas–Austin’s Butler School of Music, Holzman is considered one of America’s leading guitar pedagogues and he has performed nationally and abroad For Further Information: Nadene Crain, President, Board of Directors nacrain@comcast.net - 713-305-2335

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 Friday, June 17: The Friday evening concert featured passionate flamenco solo guitar with Jeremías García and classical guitar virtuosity with D’Addario sponsored artist Matt Palmer. Jeremías’ program included original works such as Alegrías, Tarantas, and Colombiana and masterfully executed flamenco favorites by Mario Escudero (Granaina- Patios de la Alhambra) and Sabicas (Farruca – Punta y Tacon).
Although his renditions of the flamenco classics by Escudero and Sabicas were executed with precision and power, the highlight of the concert was hearing him perform his own compositions. It was extra special for the festival participants who were able to see him demonstrate in concert the very techniques he taught during his workshops. For example, he taught the fundamental right hand moves using the thumb and index finger and the 12-beat flamenco rhythms. I found myself/Workshop attendees were able to identify the varying rhythms and accentuations. Having flamenco guitar on the program brings such diversity to the over-all concert programing and showcases another facet of this incredible instrument. Garcia's flamenco technique was mesmerizing and the audience did not want the concert to end. 
 
Matt Palmer dazzled the audience with compositions by Olga Amelkina-Vera, Štěpán Rak, Johann Sebastian Bach and Sergei Rudnev. He performed a piece called Fantasy on Crimson Moon by Sergei Rudnev. It was refreshing to hear new music and the story behind the composition. The piece is based on a tragic story about a man who cheats on his wife and gets enticed by her to board a small boat. The boat goes further and further out to sea where they are met by a storm.  Because of his betrayal, the wife stabs him and he falls into the water.  She then throws herself into the water after him and drowns. The music mirrors the anger, betrayal, violence, and tragedy told in the story. Matt did a phenomenal job bringing the story to life. Another equally moving work on his program was The Heaven’s Hundred by Olga Amelkina-Vera, which was new to Houston audiences.  Olga was deeply affected by the tragic events in Kiev, Ukraine in 2013-2014.  This piece was written to preserve the memory of the ultimate sacrifice made by The Heaven’s Hundred, as the slain protesters came to be known. Not only did Matt play this with technical aplomb, but the music brought tears to many in the audience who were mesmerized by his performance. Matt ended the concert with his signature piece Sonata Mongoliana by Štěpán Rak.

Saturday, June 18: The Saturday evening concert featured the internationally acclaimed Duo Amiche artists Tamara McCoy (pianist and mezzo-soprano) and Valérie Hartzell followed by widely admired and critically acclaimed virtuoso, Gohar Vardanyan. Duo Amiche's execution of Introduction and Fandango by Luigi Boccherini (arr. by Bream) and the Gran Duo Op. 86 by Ferdinando Carulli for piano and guitar was consummate. It was followed by a flawless solo performance by Valérie Hartzell that included the Texas premiere of A Moment Alone by English composer Chris Dumigan and her own arrangement of Asturias by Albéniz. Hartzell's solo performances displayed beautiful tone and powerful, yet intimate phrasing. The duo returned, this time with Tamara McCoy singing/on voice performing de Falla’s Seite canciones españolas arranged by Hartzell/Llobet. The duo's interpretation displayed a great sensitivity on the delicate pieces such as Nana and Asturiana while emoting a great sense of drama and humor on songs such as Jota and Polo.  The fact alone that Tamara can perform equally well as a pianist and mezzo-soprano was mind-blowing and the altering between solo guitar with chamber music was refreshing.

The finale of the evening was the masterful performance by Strings by Mail Artist Gohar Vardanyan. Her repertoire included classical guitar favorites such as Agustín Barrios’ Un Sueño en la Floresta, Isaac Albéniz’s Sevilla, Joaquín Rodrigo’s Invocación y Danza, and Manuel de Falla’s La Vida Breve among others. Gohar’s tremolo in Sueño is awe-inspiring and, it was the opinion of many that her performance was one of the best performance of this piece in concert or on a recording. It was interesting that both Duo Amiche and Gohar Vardanyan ended their programs with de Falla; this created a balanced effect on the listener’s ear by nicely tying the two programs together.  Gohar’s performance of de Falla was fiery and her grasp of massive dynamic contrasts kept me on the edge of my seat. 

written by CM festival participant, Greg Hendrickson