2021-2022 "Artist Series" Season in San Antonio Resumes with In-Person Concerts

SAN ANTONIO, Dec. 30, 2021 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Tuesday Musical Club's Artist Series, which was paused in 2020 in response to coronavirus concerns, has resumed its 2021-22 in-person concert series of four world-class artists.

The club's first Musical Teas occurred in 1923 and evolved without interruption—except for the Covid year of 2020—into its Artist Series concerts featuring world-class artists. It is one of the oldest continuous musical series sponsored by women in the United States.

2021-2022 TMC Artist Series Schedule:

TAKEN PLACE: October 26, 2021, 7 p.m. - Jonah Kim, Cellist; Robert Koenig, Pianist
Sponsored by the Russell Hill Rogers Fund for the Arts, with marketing support from MACSA-Musical Arts Center of San Antonio. Two-time GRAMMY winning artist Jonah Kim made his solo debut with Wolfgang Sawallisch and the Philadelphia Orchestra in 2003. The same year, he also appeared with the National Symphony Orchestra where the Washington Post music critic Joseph McLellan called him "the next Yo-Yo Ma." Jonah has played in prestigious venues such as New York City's Carnegie Hall and Merkin Hall, Wigmore Hall in London, California's Montalvo Arts Center, the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia, the Kravis Center in Palm Beach, the Adrienne Arsht Center in Miami, and the John F. Kennedy Center in D.C., where Anne Midgette of the Washington Post praised, "he flirted with the line, shaped it, wrapped it around his fingers, pulled it out in a new dimension, all with practiced ease." In a review of his performance at Alliance Français, San Francisco Classical Voice critic David Bratman exclaimed, "this was an excellent performance, the best I've heard of this piece." ACCOMPANIST: Now in his third decade as a much sought-after performing artist, Canadian pianist Robert Koenig has performed throughout the world to great acclaim as a collaborative pianist and chamber musician. His partnerships with many of today's leading classical artists include appearances at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Washington's Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Boston's Jordan Hall, San Francisco's Herbst Theater, Seattle's Benaroya Hall, Vancouver's Chan Center, Tokyo's Suntory Hall, Taiwan's National Theater, Hong Kong's City Hall, London's Queen Elizabeth Hall, Paris' Louvre Museum, and Brussels' BOZAR. Koenig recorded a GRAMMY-nominated CD for Naxos of William Primrose Transcriptions for Viola and Piano with violist Roberto Diaz. A graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia where he studied with renowned pianist Dr. Vladimir Sokoloff, he has a decade long association with the Juilliard School where he served as staff pianist. Since 2007, Koenig has been Professor and Head of Collaborative Piano at the University of California Santa Barbara where he also serves as the Chair of the Music Department and Head of Performance.

TAKEN PLACE: December 21, 2021, 2 p.m. - Raehann Bryce-Davis, Mezzo Soprano; Heeyoung Choi, Pianist - With marketing support from WestEast Design Group - Hailed by the New York Times as a "striking mezzo soprano… [who] sang and spoke potently and moved vivaciously," and by the San Francisco Chronicle for her "electrifying sense of fearlessness," Raehann Bryce-Davis is a recipient of the prestigious George London Award, the 2017 First Place and Audience Prize-winner of the Concorso Lirico Internazionale di Portofino competition, and winner of the 2016 Richard F. Gold Career Grant, the 2015 Ninth International Hilde Zadek Competition at the Musikverein in Vienna, and the 2015 Metropolitan Opera National Council Pittsburgh District, and the 2015 Sedat Gürel - Güzin Gürel International Voice Competition in Istanbul. Opera News says she "...held the stage with admirable intensity and commitment… and didn't shy away from tapping into notes of lust, rage, and despair that were borderline animalistic." Raehann is a co-founder of the Black Opera Alliance and is an advocate for social justice in opera. As a producer/performer, Raehann released her first music video "To the Afflicted," which was chosen as official video for World Opera Day. Her second digital short "Brown Sounds" was co-produced with LA Opera and Aural Compass Projects, and won Best Music Video at the New York International Film Awards, New York Cinematography Awards, Hollywood Boulevard Film Awards, the Anatolian Short Film Festival and the Silk Road Film Awards - Cannes. LA Opera says: "Brown Sounds is masterminded by the extraordinary Raehann Bryce-Davis, a rising star whose 2020 LA Opera appearances made audiences stand up and take notice. It's an evocative vocal piece tailored specifically for her ravishing mezzo-soprano." She holds a Master of Music and Professional Studies certificate from the Manhattan School of Music and a Bachelor of Music from the University of Texas at Arlington. Visit TMC website for complete bio. Click here for video of Raehann singing "You'll Never Walk Alone." Heeyoung Choi actively works as a collaborative pianist and has appeared in song, instrument, and chamber music recitals. She has worked with great singers and instrumentalists and played also in orchestras and choirs. She has appeared on multiple recitals with partners including James Markey and Valerie Coleman. Additional instrumental collaborative experience includes working as staff pianist for the Pirastro Strings Elite Soloists Program and being invited as a collaborative pianist in the International Women's Brass conference in 2022. She also has worked as a staff pianist for operas.

January 25, 2022, 2 p.m. - Gabriela Martinez, Pianist - Sponsored in part by Mattie-Jennie Trust Grant, with marketing support from Appraisals and Estate Sales by June Hayes - Versatile, daring, and insightful, Houston-based pianist Gabriela Martinez is establishing a reputation both internationally for the lyricism of her playing, her compelling interpretations, and her elegant stage presence. "Martinez had her Steinway ringing and reeling in lofty, hyperbolic sounds, a symphonic movement for the keyboard that brought the delighted Steinway audience to its collective feet." (Peninsula Reviews). Since making her orchestral debut at age seven in her native Venezuela, she has played with such distinguished orchestras as the San Francisco, Chicago, Houston, New Jersey, Tucson, Pacific and Fort Worth symphonies; Germany's Stuttgarter Philharmoniker, MDR Rundfunkorchester, Canada's Victoria Symphony Orchestra; the Costa Rica National Symphony; and the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra in Venezuela. "….a riveting performance of Prokofiev's visceral Piano Concerto No. 2 in g, with the brilliant Gabriela Martinez as soloist. The young Venezuelan pianist was effortless in her handling of the 30-minute concerto's technically challenging writing. But it was her instinctive music-making that made for a thrilling listening experience." (ClevelandClassical.com). Visit TMC website for complete bio.

March 22, 2022 - 7:30 p.m. – Damin Spritzer DMA, Organist - Sponsored by Trinity University and Elaine & John Ehlers, in memory of Madolyn Fallis (with marketing support from MACSA-Musical Arts Center of San Antonio) – Venue: Margarite B. Parker Chapel, Trinity University
A frequent guest on the nationally-syndicated "Pipedreams®" broadcast, Damin Spritzer, DMA, is a full-time Assistant Professor of Organ at the University of Oklahoma. Choir & Organ magazine says: "Her programme of English late romantic rhapsodies fits the instrument like a glove and her attention to detail in managing and showing off the panoply of solo colours, is no less than brilliant." She continues to work with the Cathedral Church of Saint Matthew in Dallas as Artist-in-Residence for Cathedral Arts, and was recently Adjunct Professor at the University of North Texas teaching Organ Literature and Sacred Music. She serves on the Board of Directors for the Leupold Foundation which is dedicated to the preservation of pipe organ music and culture, and is active in the Dallas and Southern Plains Chapters of the American Guild of Organists in various roles. Visit TMC website for complete bio.

All concerts occur on Tuesdays for 90 minutes to two hours with a short intermission. The December and January concerts occur at 2 p.m. in Laurel Heights United Methodist Church, 227 W. Woodlawn Avenue. The March 22 concert occurs at 7:30 p.m. in the Margarite B. Parker Chapel, Trinity University.

Accessible seating is available; there is complimentary parking. Seating is first come-first served.
Full Season Tickets (four tickets) is on sale now for $75; these season tickets can be used at ANY concert, in ANY combination, for maximum flexibility and enjoyment. Season tickets sold on the website or at the gate.
Individual Tickets–sold on the TMC website or at the gate–are $25 each. STUDENTS ARE ADMITTED WITHOUT CHARGE, WITH SCHOOL ID.
NOTE: There is no charge for the Damin Spritzer concert on March 22, 2022, thanks to underwriting by Trinity University, and Elaine & John Ehlers in memory of Madolyn Fallis. Tickets will not be required (nor sold) for this concert.
The Tuesday Musical Club will continue to monitor recommendations of the CDC, all city/state regulations and Laurel Heights United Methodist Church's safety protocols and will act accordingly when concert dates near. Visit the website at http://www.satmc.org for updates.

"When Anna Hertzberg arrived in San Antonio, she met the challenge of the city's cultural void by forming the Tuesday Musical Club with five like-minded women. The Artist Series evolved from the club's Musical Teas in 1923 and continued until 2020, when another challenge erupted: Covid. True to its founder's spirit, TMC only dimmed its lights on our club's musical performances as we continued to sponsor performances of our club and Junior TMC members via Zoom," says Anna C. Armstrong, MD, Chair for the Artist Series. "We thank the four stunning musicians of the Artist Series—originally scheduled for the 2020-21 season—for their amazing support through the Covid-mandated delay, and so look forward to enjoying them live."

Tuesday Musical Club also fosters the enjoyment of classical music to the youth of the San Antonio community through its age-appropriate Junior Tuesday Musical Club and Young Artists Competitions. Since 1956, the Tuesday Musical Club holds a Young Artists Competition for serious students of music, age 18-26, who reside or study in Texas. The competition is held for piano, voice and strings in rotating years. The competition focusing on voice is scheduled for March 5, 2022. The Junior Tuesday Musical Club was established in 1924 to give young people in grades 1-12 an appreciation of the beauty of music. The club's monthly meetings encourage the performance of fine repertoire, excellence in musical performance, and friendship among young musicians. The Junior TMC Competition, held on the last Saturday in February at the TMC Clubhouse, is open to the public.

TMC's exclusively female membership includes some of San Antonio's best musicians, teachers and classical aficionados, who all keep up with the international music scene. "The Tuesday Musical Club is one of the fine institutions—created by and for ladies—that survived the suffrage movement, two World Wars, the tumult of the late 20th century and the vicissitudes of the early 21st to maintain its position as one of the city's foremost presenters of classical music." (San Antonio Current)

For more information about or to purchase tickets for the Artist Series, visit http://www.satmc.org or contact 210-710-7582 or [email protected].

NOTE: Advance interviews, CDs, video and photos of artists are available by contacting Jeanne Albrecht at 210-392-9047 or [email protected].

Media Contact

Jeanne Albrecht, Tuesday Musical Club, 210392-9047, [email protected]

SOURCE Tuesday Musical Club