Every year at the Austin Chamber Music Center, something magical happens. Young musicians who once sat nervously in their first chamber music rehearsal return as confident teachers, guiding the next generation. This full-circle journey is at the heart of our “Summer of Impact” campaign.

Sophie Mathieu: A Journey of Musical Growth

Sophie first came to ACMC in 2010 as a 7th grader through our Saturday Academy program. Recognizing her talent and passion, she was later awarded a spot in our Merit Scholarship Ensemble.

“ACMC gave me my first opportunity to study composition seriously” Sophie recalls. “The scholarship gave me that much more confidence to continue exploring this new musical world. ACMC changed everything for me—I discovered not just a love for chamber music, but a whole community that believed in my creative potential.”

Today, Sophie is a professional composer who has collaborated with renowned ensembles like Grammy winners Eighth Blackbird. This past year, she was named KMFA’s Composer-in-Residence as well as Austin Chronicle’s Best Classical Musician. Sophie is currently teaching composition through Golden Hornet’s Young Composers Collective and is returning to teach at ACMC’s Summer Workshop for the second time this year. Her students consistently cite her as an inspiration, not just for her musical expertise, but for her ability to connect with and nurture young talent.

Your Gift Creates This Legacy

Sophie’s story represents dozens of similar journeys made possible by supporters like you. When you give to ACMC, you’re not just funding a single learning experience—you’re helping create a sustainable cycle of musical excellence in our community.

A gift of $650 provides a half-scholarship for a deserving student to attend our Summer Workshop, potentially starting them on their own transformative journey. A full scholarship of $1,300 makes this experience completely accessible to a talented young musician regardless of financial circumstances.

Will you help continue this legacy with a gift today?

Donate Now

Photo Credit: Jack Kloecker

David is a junior at LBJ/LASA High School who has been involved with ACMC since he was in middle school at Sarah Beth Lively. He writes in support of ACMC’s 2020 Amplify Austin campaign, which will provide funding to the In-School Coaching Program. Read David’s story below to learn just what an incredible impact our program has had on him. You can join David and support a young musician by donating to our Amplify Austin campaign. Your gift will have double the impact as the first $15,000 raised will be matched 1:1. By donating between 6 AM and 7 AM on Friday March 6, you can help ACMC earn a $1,000 bonus prize for having the most donors during that hour. Amplify the difference you make in young artists’ lives!

Amplify Chamber Music for a Student

Chamber music has provided some of the most valuable and genuine experiences I’ve ever had, developing my skills as well as my ability to work in groups and build new friendships through music. For almost five years, ACMC has given me the opportunity to participate in rewarding chamber music ensembles.

The in-school program in particular has been a formative influence on my musical progression. In middle school, my best friend and I were interested in chamber music, playing duets for our teachers and parents. When ACMC invited us to participate in a weekly quartet rehearsal in class, we were absolutely ecstatic. The two of us have been doing it ever since, and I truly believe that the positive change these sessions have left me with extends far beyond the stage or practice room.

Through this program, I have made close friendships with talented musicians and fellow students that have lasted long after the ensembles played their final concerts. The musical intuition and sensitivity that chamber music inspires has helped me get closer to other friends as well. Chamber music has also helped me become more effective in the academic field. Being able to receive and implement criticism professionally, as well as working productively in small groups, are both skills that translate across musical and academic pursuits alike.

Besides all that, I genuinely look forward to quartet rehearsals during the school day. It lifts my mood when I get to go away for an hour and do something I really care about, and so the opportunity to work with chamber music for free and without time constraints has been one I continue to value to this day.

Amplify Chamber Music for a Student

In this week’s Chamber Chat, we’ll delve into why our Valentine’s Weekend program will be our most emotionally charged concert of the season. Learn about the virtuosity and drama of Vieuxtemps, the holy aura of Beethoven, and the “heart-on-sleeve” romanticism of Fauré. Friday night and Saturday premium seats are sold out; complete your Valentine’s plans and get your Saturday General Admission tickets now! As usual, we will have complimentary wine starting at 6:30 PM on Saturday.

Get Details

In this week’s Chamber Chat, Michelle Schumann discusses friendship. Learn about the friendship between Beethoven and Anton Reicha that influenced their music making, and about one piece that Michelle’s friend, award-winning Austin composer Graham Reynolds, wrote for her. Hear this music live on January 18 with ACMC and all your chamber music friends!

Get Details

Venture inside a piano to learn a few modern techniques from Michelle Schumann. She’ll also discuss your next season concert, Crumb & the Innovators, and what makes each piece on the program so experimental for its time. Hear these innovative works by George Crumb, Dmitri Shostakovich, and Ludwig van Beethoven on November 2!

Get Details

We spoke with this month’s featured artists KASA Quartet about their new Marvin Hamlisch project. Learn about their collaboration with the Hamlisch family to honor one of America’s most beloved and highly acclaimed composers, and about how the quartet interprets music from around the globe. KASA, the first prize winners of the 2017 Coltman Chamber Music Competition, will be premiering their arrangement of Hamlisch’s Sweet Smell of Success on April 26 and 27 at The Melting Pot alongside music by Robert Schumann and Joaquín Turina. Friday tickets are sold out and limited Saturday tickets are available, including only a few Premium seats; buy your Saturday tickets now!

Tell us about your Marvin Hamlisch project.

Our Marvin Hamlisch project began two years ago upon connecting with Terre Blair Hamlisch, Marvin’s widow. Kyle was asked to arrange a few of Marvin’s selections for quartet by Ms. Blair Hamlisch to be performed at an event commemorating Marvin’s life. She was very enthusiastic about the result, which led her to ask if we could explore doing more string quartet arrangements of his pieces. This includes the Sweet Smell of Success, a musical written by Marvin that premiered in 2001 on Broadway only a mere month following the 9/11 tragedy. The brilliance of this work as one of his last major Broadway musicals holds a special place for Marvin and Terre, which led us to choosing it. She knows we are performing this in Austin at the Austin Chamber Music Center Season Finale and wishes she could be there, but is thrilled to hear that this arrangement will be given its premiere at the series.

How does this project embody the idea of the pioneering American spirit?

Marvin Hamlisch was often known as the “composer of the people.” His music resonated with American concert, movie, and theater goers leading to his PEGOT honors [Hamlisch is one of only two people to have won Pulitzer, Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony awards]. For us personally, taking the music of one of the greatest American composers who has multiple genre interests fits directly within our goal to create innovative and versatile programs that feature a variety of styles. We believe his music and this project embody his versatility, and how it resonates with those trailblazing new paths.

You’re also performing works by Turina (of Spanish origin) and Schumann (of German origin). Tell us how you approach music from different cultural backgrounds and how your own cultural backgrounds inform your performances.

We feel that listening to the language of the culture and understanding the history of the composer and the context of their place within that culture’s history helps inform our interpretation and sound. The slight differences in storytelling styles and articulation affect everything from phrasing to the way we use our bows and vibrato. Some of it is conscious decisions being made and other parts of it are out of instinct that has developed through years of performing these composers’ works in various settings across the globe.