A free concert series providing a mid-day arts break occurring on select Fridays in the semester from 12-1pm in the NHB 5th floor atrium.
2025-26
Friday, September 12, 2025
THE CHAMBER MUSIC TRIO
Double bassist Mark Bernat trained at the Juilliard School and has led an active career as a soloist, chamber musician and orchestral player. Bernat established Musical Memories and is Director of the Red River Ensemble that performs at Dell Seton Medical Center.
Violinist David Bernat leads a multifaceted career as a performer, educator and artistic director. Bernat received his bachelor’s degree from the New England Conservatory and master’s degree from the Juilliard School.
Pianist Jiarong Li is based in New York City and is a Collaborative Piano Fellow at the Yale School of Music. She is pursuing her doctorate in collaborative piano with an assistantship at Manhattan School of Music
Friday, October 3, 2025
MARIACHI PAREDE de TEJASTITLÁN
The University of Texas Mariachi, known as the The Mariachi Paredes de Tejastitlán, was founded in 1977. It was named in honor of Dr. Américo Paredes (1916-99), a seminal figure in the history of border studies, Mexican American studies and the post-modern movement in anthropology. The Mariachi are directed by Greg Cavazos Assistant Professor of Practice in Music and Human Learning at the UT Butler School of Music.
Friday, November 14, 2025
THE ORIM QUARTET & The CANELÉ STRING QUARTET
Programs
The Orim Qaurtet
Franz Schubert: String Quartet no 14 in D minor, D. 810, “Death and the Maiden”
I Allegro
II Andante con moto
The Canelé String Quartet
Ludwig van Beethoven: String Quartet No.5 in A Major, Op. 18, No. 5
I. Allegro
II. Menuetto - Trio
III. Andante Cantabile
IV. Allegro Assai
The Orim Quartet
Nicole Parker (Cellist)
Reese Chen (Violist)
Misa Stanton (1st violin)
Wai Shan (Yvonne) Ma (2nd violin)
The Canelé String Quartet
Zichuan (Kevin) Wang (violin)
Summer Bradshaw (violin)
Yusong Zhao (violin)
Yilin (Selina) Xu (cello)
Friday, January 30, 2026
CHELSEA de SOUZA - Concert pianist
Indian pianist Chelsea de Souza is a Steinway Young Artist internationally acclaimed for her dynamic artistry and thought-provoking recital programming. She is a four-time All-India Piano Competition winner who brings together a diverse range of musical influences from Western and Indian classical to jazz in her versatile, genre-defying artistry. Chelsea is currently Mitchell Center Scholar in Residence at the University of Houston’s Moores School of Music, teaching classes in improvisation and music of the Indian diaspora, and curating interdisciplinary performances.
Tuesday, February 10, 2026
GAO HONG - Chinese Pipa
Gao Hong, a master of the pear-shaped lute, the pipa, graduated from China’s premier music school, the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing, where she studied with the great pipa master Lin Shicheng. In China and the US Gao has received numerous top awards and honors including becoming the first musician in any genre to win five McKnight Artist Fellowships for Performing Musicians. In 2018 Gao became the first Chinese musician to win a Sally Award from the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts. Gao has performed throughout Europe, Australia, Argentina, Japan, Hong Kong, China and the US in solo concerts and with symphony orchestras, jazz musicians and musicians from other cultures. Her performances have included those at the Lincoln Center Festival, Carnegie Hall, the San Francisco Jazz Festival, the International Festival of Perth, Australia and the Festival de Teatro d’Europa in Milan, Italy. She is currently teaching Chinese music instruments and directing a Chinese Music Ensemble at Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota.
Friday, February 20, 2026
CLAIRE CHIANG- Concert Pianist
Claire Chiang, an avid soloist and chamber musician, has performed internationally and in the United States as a frequent prize winner of solo and concerto competitions. She is currently completing her Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance with Anton Nel at the Butler School of Music, where she has been nominated by the school for the 2026 Presser Undergraduate Scholar Award.
Friday, March 13, 2026
THE BUTLER OPERA CENTER MUSICIANS
Arias from Alcina sung in Italian with recitatives in students’ native language.
Alcina – Xinshu Li
Morgana – Yuxin Liu
Oronte – Kayla Suter
Ruggiero – Wen Liu
Bradamante – Ziqi Wang
Melissa – Joohyun Kim
Vakhtang Zaalishvili – Piano
Tamar Sanikidze – Harpsichord, Music Director
Friday, April 3, 2026
ANTON NEL
Anton Nel is an internationally acclaimed concert pianist with an over four decade-long career performing with major orchestras including Cleveland, Chicago, San Francisco, Seattle, Detroit, and London. He was inducted into the Steinway Teacher Hall of Fame in 2019 and the Austin Arts Hall of Fame in 2025. Anton is the Priscilla Pond Flawn Regents Professor of Piano and Chamber music at The University of Texas at Austin - Butler School of Music, where he teaches an international class of students and heads the Division of Keyboard Studies.
Friday, April 24, 2026
THE MIRÓ QUARTET
Daniel Ching, violin
William Fedkenheuer, violin
John Largess, viola
Joshua Gindele, cello
The Miró Quartet is one of America’s most celebrated and dedicated string quartets, having been labeled by The New Yorker as “furiously committed” and noted by the Cleveland Plain Dealer for its “exceptional tonal focus and interpretive intensity.” For over twenty-five years the Quartet has performed throughout the world on the most prestigious concert stages, earning accolades from critics and audiences alike. Miró is the quartet-in-residence at the University of Texas at Austin and recipients of the prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant.
2024-25
Friday September 27, 2024
MARIACHI PAREDES DE TEJASTITLÁN OF THE UT BUTLER SCHOOL OF MUSIC
JOSÉ R. TORRES-RAMOS, director
Friday October 11, 2024
THE BUTLER SCHOOL OF MUSIC STUDENT CHAMBER MUSIC GROUPS
Bartok String Quartet No. 1
II. Allegretto
Mei Liu, violin
Chloe Yofan, violin
Thomas Gougeon, viola
Katsuaki Arakawa, cello
Beethoven String Quartet Op. 59, no. 3
II. Andante con moto quasi all
Margaret King, violin
Johyun Min, violin
Ellie Sievers, viola
Joshua Gindele, cello
Mendelssohn String Quartet No. 2 in A minor, Op. 13
I. Adagio - Allegro vivace
Misa Staton, violin
Lamu Zhaxi, violin
Kyle Adams, viola
Andrew Dang, cello
Friday November 1, 2024
SANDY YAMAMOTO & FRIENDS TRIO
Sandy Yamamoto, violin
Matthew Zalkind, cello
Julio Elizalde, piano
Friday December 6, 2024
THE BUTLER SCHOOL OF MUSIC SOHA QUARTET
Mei Lui, violin
Chloe Yofan, violin
Thomas Gougeon, viola
Katsuaki Arakawa, cello
Friday December 13, 2024
THE MIRO QUARTET
Friday January, 14 2025
BEAUTIES AND THE BEAT
The premier treble a cappella group at the University of Texas at Austin.
Friday Feburary, 28 2025
THE TROUT QUINTET
David Bernat, violin
Jiarong Li, piano
Yuchen Lu, viola
Audrey Chen, cello
Mark Bernat, double bass
Friday April, 18 2025
MEZZO SOPRANO JOANNE EVANS & PIANIST JAMES MAVERICK
Friday May, 19 2025
NINA BERNAT & FRIENDS
Nina Bernat, double bass
Colette Valentine, piano
Patrice Calixte, violin
Douglas Harvey, cello
2023-24
Friday September 29, 2023
MARIACHI PAREDES OF THE UT BUTLER SCHOOL OF MUSIC
JOSÉ R. TORRES-RAMOS, director
Friday October 27, 2023
12:00-1:00 PM
STUDENTS OF THE BUTLER SCHOOL OF MUSIC
Shostakovich Quartet No.3
Thomas Gougeon, violin
Leah Streety, violin
Emmanuel Aguilera, viola
Eddie Xu, cello
Debussy Piano Trio
Ellie Sievers, violin
Selina Xu, cello
Alyssa Liao, piano
Friday February 16, 2024
JOANNE EVANS, mezzo soprano
TZU KUANG TAN, piano
Friday March 29, 2024
SANDY YAMAMOTO, violin
MATT ZALKIND, cello
ANTON NEL, piano
Friday, April 26 2024
THE MIRÓ QUARTET
Daniel Ching, violin
William Fedkenheuer, violin
John Largess, viola
Joshua Gindele, cello
2022-23
Friday September 30, 2022
THE HISPANIC CARIBBEAN ENSEMBLE OF THE UT BUTLER SCHOOL OF MUSIC
Frank Cano, Bass
Richard Huntley, Percussion
Noah Simon, Piano
Thursday October 13, 2022
THE RISUS QUARTET
Haeni Lee, violin
Jieun Yoo, violin
Mary Eunkyung Chang, viola
Bobae Lee, cello
Friday January 13, 2023
THE MIRÓ QUARTET
Daniel Ching, violin
William Fedkenheuer, violin
John Largess, viola
Joshua Gindele, cello
Thursday March 2, 2023
SANDY YAMAMOTO, violin
ANTON NEL, piano
Friday April 14, 2023
ANDREW BROWNELL, piano
2021-22
Thursday, December 23, 2021
David Bernat, violin
Jiarong Li, piano
Nina Bernat, double bass
Featuring works of Bach, Britten, Schumann
Tuesday, March 1, 2022
David Bernat, violin
Elias Dagher, piano
Featuring works of Mozart, Schumann, Ravel, and Bartok
Thursday, April 14, 2022
A special concert to commemorate the generous donation of the Baldwin piano to the Department of Neuroscience
Anton Nel, piano