A family-friendly concert featuring Camille Saint-Saëns’s beloved Carnival of the Animals invites young listeners and their families into the vibrant world of chamber music, with interactive activities and games that create an engaging, playful environment. Music fans of all ages will enjoy an inspiring, accessible experience that bridges generations and sparks a lifelong love for music. Narrated in both English and Spanish by Armstrong Community Music School’s Monica Salas. Featured performers include Coltman Competition grand prize winners Kodak Quartet, acclaimed pianists Michelle Schumann and Sohee Kwon, and musicians from the Butler School of Music and the Austin Symphony.
Subject to availability, $12 Student Rush (with student ID) and $25 General Admission may be purchased at the box office on the day of the concert. Children 5 years and under are eligible for a free ticket. The box office will open one hour before the concert begins, and hall doors will open for seating 30 minutes before.
Program
Carnival of the Animals | Camille Saint-Saëns (1835–1921)
- Introduction and Royal March of the Lion | Introducción y Marcha real del león
- Hens and Roosters | Gallinas y gallos
- Wild Asses (Swift Animals) | Asnos, animales salvajes
- Tortoises | Tortugas
- The Elephant | El elefante
- Kangaroos | Canguros
- Aquarium | Acuario
- Characters with Long Ears | Personajes con largas orejas
- The Cuckoo in the Depths of the Woods | El cucú en el fondo del bosque
- Aviary | Pajarera
- Pianists | Pianistas
- Fossils | Fósiles
- The Swan | El Cisne
- Finale
KODAK QUARTET
Edgar Donati, Martin No, violins | Daniel Spink, viola | Blake Kitayama, cello
Monica Salas, narrator | Ebonee Thomas, flute | Tyler Webster, clarinet | Jonathan Rouse, bass | Sohee Kwon & Michelle Schumann, pianos | Tom Burritt, percussion
Approximate run time: 45 minutes
Kodak Quartet
Praised for their “electrifying eye contact and rhythmic flexibility” (Sean MacLean, KING-FM), the award-winning Kodak Quartet is highly regarded for their work with contemporary composers on new compositions and for presenting traditional works with a contemporary flavor. Kodak Quartet formed in Rochester, NY, while attending the Eastman School of Music and are currently based in New York, NY. Kodak’s members hail from the US, Canada and France.
The quartet won the first prize at the 2023 Frances Walton Competition and the 2023 Coltman Chamber Music Competition. Their international career brings concerts to a great diversity of people, including concerts at Carnegie Hall, Merkin Hall, the Banff Centre, and MISQA. They have appeared on KING-FM Classical Northwest and have been featured on NPR LiveSessions. They have also performed for thousands of children at non-traditional performance venues such as school concerts, movie theaters, and other outreach programs such as Rob Kapilow’s “What Makes it Great?” and James Blachly’s “Listening as Leadership.”
Monica Salas
Monica Salas is a classically trained flautist, vocalist, ukulelist, guitarist, composer, music teacher, and early childhood music specialist who enjoys playing, singing, and learning different genres of music. She currently resides, performs, composes, and teaches family music classes and flute at Armstrong Community Music School, and is a full-time music specialist for JoyRX where she gets to share her gifts with hospitalized children and their families at pediatric hospitals in and around Austin, TX. During the pandemic, she and her husband had dreams of recording their compositions and made those dreams come true by investing time on writing, recording, and practicing. La Luz Verde Band is made up of world class, accomplished musical friends out of Austin from all grooves of life, who love to compose, play, and record music together. You can find their single release “Ay La Vida” from their upcoming album on all streaming platforms.
Ebonee Thomas
Hailed for her “verve and pizazz” and the “gleaming purity” of her artistry by the Miami Herald, Ebonee Thomas is Second Flute and Piccolo of The Dallas Opera. Ebonee is a Piccolo Artist for Burkart Flutes and spends her summers as Second Flute and Piccolo with the Central City Opera. She previously served as Principal Flute of the Knoxville Symphony and the Florida Grand Opera, and as Second Flute of the Houston Symphony. She has performed as Guest Principal Flute with the Seattle, San Antonio, and Fort Worth Symphonies; and the Santa Fe Opera. A passionate pedagogue, Ebonee maintains a full studio and serves on the faculty at Brookhaven College in Dallas. Ebonee serves as a member of the board of the Greater Dallas Youth Orchestras, the National Advisory Board of the Memphis Youth Symphony Program, and the Piccolo Committee for the National Flute Association.
Tyler Webster
Dr. Tyler Webster is an accomplished clarinetist and educator, serving as Lecturer in Clarinet at the University of Texas at Austin and the University of the Incarnate Word, as well as Assistant Professor of Clarinet and General Music at Texas Lutheran University. A dedicated teacher and mentor, he is committed to developing the next generation of musicians through applied instruction, chamber coaching, and innovative pedagogy.
An active orchestral performer, Dr. Webster is Associate Principal and E-flat Clarinetist with the West Texas Symphony and the Abilene Philharmonic. He also performs regularly as 3rd/Bass Clarinetist with the San Antonio Philharmonic and the Mid-Texas Symphony, in addition to freelancing across the region.
Jonathan Rouse
Jonathan Rouse has been Principal Bass of the Austin Symphony Orchestra since 2016 and Assistant Principal Bass of the Austin Opera since 2018. Other positions have included Assistant Principal Bass of South Carolina Philharmonic, Augusta Symphony and Winston-Salem Symphony, as well as Section Bass with Charleston and Greenville Symphony Orchestras. He has also performed with the Atlanta Symphony, Chattanooga Symphony, Charlotte Symphony, Atlanta Opera, Fort Worth Symphony and the Louisiana Philharmonic. He has worked with world renowned conductors such as Valery Gergiev, Kurt Masur, Robert Spano, Christoph Eschenbach, Paavo Järvi, Charles Dutoit, Alan Gilbert, Franz Welser-Möst and Gianandrea Noseda. Internationally, Jonathan has performed with the Schleswig-Holstein Festival Orchestra in Germany, as well as the Verbier Festival Orchestra in Switzerland. He also played for two seasons as section bassist with L’Orchestre Symphonique de Québec in Quebec City, Canada. Jonathan holds degrees from the Juilliard School, Manhattan School of Music and the University of South Carolina.
Sohee Kwon
Award-winning Korean pianist Dr. Sohee Kwon is celebrated for her artistry, exquisite pianism, and profound sensitivity. She has won top prizes in major international competitions, including First Prize at the 2020 MTNA Chamber Competition and Second Prize at the 2020 Fischoff National Chamber Competition.
A sought-after soloist and chamber musician, Dr. Kwon has performed at renowned venues and series worldwide, including Carnegie Hall, Beethoven-Haus Kammermusiksal (Bonn), Chamber Music International, Mid America Performing Alliance, Sarasota Music Festival, Austin Chamber Music Center, and ATX Chamber Music and Jazz. Known for her exceptional collaborative skill, Sun News Austin praised her ability to “provide a cohesive thread to the performances throughout the evening,” highlighting her “impeccable timing, fusing soft and bold bursts of sound.”
Michelle Schumann
Hailed for her “sensitive, flexible, and tempestuous dexterity” (Fanfare Magazine), pianist Michelle Schumann has built a reputation for evocative and moving performances. Michelle served as Artistic Director of the Austin Chamber Music Center 2006–2024, “fearlessly expanding our definition of chamber music” (Austin-American Statesman). Her brand of performance includes an enthusiastic interplay with audiences, bringing diverse music together under a narrative blanket. She was named “Best Classical Musician” in the Best of Austin 2019 Readers Poll by the Austin Chronicle.
Schumann is Professor of Piano at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor. She received a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Texas at Austin and additionally holds a Performance Diploma from the Vienna Conservatory.
Thomas Burritt
There are storied educators, and there are dynamic performers, and then there are those who are destined to be both. Always in search of new music and new ways to share it with others, Thomas Burritt is today’s percussionist. He has received degrees from Ithaca College School of Music (BM – Education and Performance), Kent State University (MM), and Northwestern University (DMA). Active in the creation and performance of new music for percussion, Burritt has built a reputation in chamber music, as a percussion soloist, and as a concert marimbist. He has performed regularly at the Leigh Howard Stevens International Marimba Seminar and was a featured faculty performer at the 2007 and 2009 Zeltsman Marimba Festival.
He is currently Professor of Percussion and Director of Percussion Studies at the University of Texas at Austin and is a clinician/endorser for Majestic Percussion, Innovative Percussion, Remo, Beetle Percussion and Grover Pro Percussion.