July 14, 2023
The Butler School of Music is delighted to announce our 2023-2024 season!
Join us this year for first-class concerts, immersive opera productions, and many world premieres. Our students and faculty will be joined by exceptional guest artists, such as Clarice Assad, Terence Blanchard, Eighth Blackbird, and many more. We have much to celebrate this year, including the 20th anniversary of the Butler Opera Center, the 50th anniversary of the Wind Ensemble, as well as our new Director of the Butler School, Susan Thomas.
“I am beyond thrilled to join the talented student and faculty artists, scholars, educators, and innovators at the Butler School of Music as the new director,” Thomas said.
The season kicks off with a concert from the Wind Ensemble on September 10, which includes Adam Schoenberg’s impressive setting of Losing Earth for wind ensemble. Schoenberg’s piece comments on the global impact of climate change and is dedicated to percussionist Jacob Nissly, who is featured as a soloist in the performance. The Wind Ensemble’s second concert on October 8 will feature our new Associate Professor of Trumpet, Caleb Hudson.
Jazz Orchestra, now entering its second year under the helm of director Diego Rivera, will welcome several guest artists, including drummer Carl Allen and Terence Blanchard, a composer, trumpet player, and winner of the 2023 Eddie Medora King Prize.
For its 20th anniversary season, the Butler Opera Center has planned a wide-ranging season including a modern adaptation of Puccini’s La Bohême and the world premiere of Maria, a one-act opera exploring generational trauma in the Latiné community by undergraduate composer Josíah Garza.
The Wind Ensemble, New Music Ensemble, and Miró Quartet will feature music by Brazilian-American composer Clarice Assad in September. This past May, Assad completed a residency with KMFA 89.5, Austin’s classical music radio station. KMFA commissioned her to write a new piece for the UT Symphony Orchestra, which will be premiered on September 24. According to Assad, the piece–Baião 'n' Blues–is “a conversation between classical music and Latin America.”
We hope you will join us for this packed and joyful season. For an overview of the whole season, visit our Season Highlights page. To receive major discounts on tickets, purchase a subscription package.