Texas Music Festival & Houston Shakespeare Festival Postponed

By: Apr. 01, 2020
Get Access To Every Broadway Story

Unlock access to every one of the hundreds of articles published daily on BroadwayWorld by logging in with one click.




Existing user? Just click login.

The Texas Music Festival & Houston Shakespeare Festival have been postponed. Read an important message with further details here:

Friends of the McGovern College of the Arts:

The disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic continue to upend plans for arts programming worldwide. As you know, we are not immune to these disruptions in the McGovern College of the Arts. Therefore it is with great disappointment that we announce that the 2020 iterations of two of our most treasured programs, the Immanuel and Helen Olshan Texas Music Festival and the Houston Shakespeare Festival, will be postponed until 2021.

Please note that the postponement of TMF does not affect plans for the Middle and High School Jazz Institute or other summer institute programming in the Moores School of Music; any decisions on such programs will be made separately. The postponement of HSF also implies nothing with regard to the calendar for Houston's Miller Outdoor Theatre; any decision on summer programming at Miller will be made by Miller management.

We must make this decision not simply because we cannot predict what the pandemic situation will look like in the summer, but also because-as is the case for numerous organizations, arts events, sporting events, and others worldwide-final preparations to execute our plans for these festivals should be occurring right now. Travel must be booked, housing reserved, venues confirmed, programming advertised, and funds raised. Given the current public health situation, many of these activities are simply not possible.

We understand that this means that we, and the city of Houston, must temporarily do without the opportunity for immersion in classical music in June and in the works of Shakespeare in July and August-both of which we have come to rely on for arts and cultural sustenance during the summer. We understand, furthermore, that this loss comes at a time when we need these works of art the most. Unfortunately, at this moment we have no other responsible alternative.

All of us take this decision very seriously and understand the enormous value of these festivals. We are making every effort to consider ways of delivering content virtually during the summer. While no substitute for the festivals themselves, doing so would help keep these cultural institutions on the forefront of summer arts programming in Houston even during the current crisis.

Each of us eagerly looks forward, as we know you do as well, to welcoming these festivals back to Houston in summer 2021.

Sincerely,

Andrew Davis

Dean and Professor of Music

Cullen Foundation Endowed Chair

Courtney Crappell
Director
Moores School of Music

Rob Shimko
Director, School of Theatre & Dance
Executive Director,

Houston Shakespeare Festival

Alan Austin
General and Artistic Director
Immanuel and Helen Olshan

Texas Music Festival

Jack Young
Artistic Director
Houston Shakespeare Festival



Videos