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  • 2026 Season
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  • Past Seasons
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New voices, new stories, a new way to experience chamber music

Season 2: American Tapestry

Celebrating America 250 with world premieres, bold collaborations, and immersive experiences

Houston Music Festival’s 2025 season transformed spaces like Sängerhalle, Asia Society Texas, and Levy Park into immersive worlds of story, sound, and light. Original projections by visionary filmmaker XUAN Films, a new script by author and violinist Nanki Chugh, and a special appearance by acclaimed pianist Jon Kimura Parker animated programs that included four world premieres for string quartet alongside a kaleidoscope of works by American composers. American Tapestry reimagined 250 years of history as a vibrant, multi-sensory celebration of resilience, creativity, and community.

This City, Our Stories: A Diwali Celebration

October 26, Asia Society Texas

Written and directed by violinist Nanki Chugh, this original program interwove storytelling with four newly commissioned works for string quartet. Folk tales and musical traditions from four immigrant communities converged around Diwali's themes of light, resilience, and renewal. 


PERFORMERS

Emily Richardson and Nanki Chugh, violin

Tonya Burton, viola

David Dietz, cello

Chelsea de Souza, narrator

Program

Shruthi Rajasekar, Son of Pandu

Tian Qin, Uphill

Jaylin Vinson, Music for Foreign Bodies

Marco-Adrián Ramos, flor de camposanto

    American Tapestry: Sound & Vision

    November 9, Saengerhalle

    An immersive, multi-sensory celebration of American music, featuring New Media Artist and Filmmaker XUAN Films. Original light projections responded in real time to the live performance, transforming the concert space into a dynamic dialogue between sound and visual art. The program included John Adams’ monumental two-piano masterpiece Hallelujah Junction, performed by festival co-founder Chelsea de Souza and acclaimed pianist Jon Kimura Parker, alongside works by other leading American composers—woven together to honor 250 years of the nation’s musical heritage.


    PERFORMERS

    Mary Grace Johnson, violin

    David Dietz, cello

    Audrianna Hughes, mezzo-soprano

    Jon Kimura Parker, piano

    Chelsea de Souza, piano

    XUAN, visuals

    Program

    Mason Bates, String Band

    Jessie Montgomery, Duo for violin and cello

    Margaret Bonds, Three Dream Portraits (text by Langston Hughes)

    Reena Esmail, Piano Trio mvt. 1

    David Lang, Gravity

    Annika Socolofsky, Like a Diamond

    John Adams, Hallelujah Junction

    Mary Grace Johnson, violin

    David Dietz, cello

    Chelsea de Souza, piano

    Photo by Lynn Lane for Houston Music Festival

      Piano Trio, Reena Esmail

      Mary Grace Johnson (violin), David Dietz (cello), and Chelsea de Souza (piano) perform the first movement of Reena Esmail's Piano Trio.

      Accompanying visuals by Xuan Films.

      Videography by Caio Alves Diniz.

      Season Sponsors

      Houston Music Festival is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt nonprofit organization 

      EIN #39-2470233

      8802 Ilona Ln. Apt 7, Houston TX 77025

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