What is your organization's vision?
Texas Cellos have joined the ranks of a beloved institution in Texan musical life. In 2020, our pandemic cello choir became the impetus for founding a cello ensemble. Our exceptional tonal and virtuosic qualities soon took concert audiences by storm, and now Texas Cellos enjoy a remarkable following, selling out at every concert they have given.
Whether we’re playing classics from baroque to modern, jazz, tango, movie tunes, or avant-garde, listeners are invariably fascinated by the wide range of unique and intoxicating timbres that our cellos can produce, and our mixture of seriousness and humor, of depth and lightness, appeals to audiences of all ages.
Since 2020, with grassroots support, Texas Cellos has consistently presented programs of the highest level international artists to sold out audiences, and recruited talented students to Texas Cello School. The cello choir itself is now touring around the country performing to sold out audiences in notable venues. The Institute continues to grow in reputation around the world and to attract the highest level teachers and students.
Our popular MUSIC@MILL Festival, recently rebranded to TexasCellos SESSIONS, presents the most renowned musicians of our time in Texas’ coolest clubs, breweries, and venues where they are free to blend genres in a casual setting.
In July 2023, Metamorphosis Dallas, our conductor-less chamber orchestra, debuted at the Basically Beethoven Festival in Dallas to rave reviews. In April 2024, Metamorphosis presented a GALA concert in Winspear Opera House with cellist Steven Isserlis as soloist to a crowd of over 1,000.
"Impressive new chamber orchestra opens Basically Beethoven Festival. Metamorphosis Dallas Chamber Orchestra.. excellent!"
-Scott Cantrell, DALLAS MORNING NEWS.
The chamber orchestra is democratic, with rotating principal players. Members of the chamber orchestra are musicians from the leading Dallas, and Ft Worth orchestras, respected chamber musicians and international prize winners.
“Cellists are a unique bunch, with a shared love for sound, expression, and friendship in music making”
It is the mission of the Texas Cellos to advance cello playing throughout the world. Texas Cellos, Texas Cello School, TexasCellos SESSIONS (formerly MUSIC@MILL Festival) and Metamorphosis Dallas (chamber orchestra) embody an enduring commitment to artistic excellence and the discovery and cultivation of young talent.
TEXAS CELLOS is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and gives back to the community by inspiring and cultivating excellence in youth through music education, ensemble building, and through performance opportunities.
Key initiatives include:
The Fredericksburg Music Festival and School: 1st edition ‘Music Connects Us’ launched during the summer of 2025 with an ambitious slate of programming, blending contemporary innovation with classical tradition in one of Texas’s most picturesque cultural destinations.
Running from June 8 to June 21 the 2025 festival presented by TexasCellos featured more than thirteen concerts performed by twenty-five musicians from around the world, most making their Fredericksburg debuts. The season will showcased the beloved Six Suites of Bach, with each suite performed by a different member of the star studded faculty, eight cello recitals—with themes ranging from ‘Jewishness in Music’ to ‘Miniatures’, and ‘Hinges’ exploring the spaces in between, a GRAMMY winning jazz violinist with his band, to an live improvised deconstruction and reconstruction of a Bach Sarabande for solo cello in concert. The festival will concluded with ‘Ode to Joy’ a mass side by side cello choir closing concert celebration featuring the faculty and students of the festival.
Metamorphosis Dallas: this unique conductor-less chamber orchestra debuted in 2023 and has quickly gained recognition for its innovative approach to classical music and features renowned musicians from around the world.
TexasCellos SESSIONS (Formerly Music@Mill Festival): a wildly successful concert series features renowned artists across genres, such as the Grammy winning Parker Quartet, captivating audiences in the Lone Star State.
Texas Cellos School: founded in 2021, Texas Cello School is one of the premier cello festivals in the world. It is a thriving institute offering immersive learning experiences for students of all ages. Now with locations in Fredericksburg, McKinney and Houston, the School fosters artistic growth in a unique environment.
Texas Cellos Ambassadors – a student initiated extracurricular program for enthusiastic middle and high school cellists allows students to grow by connecting with other musicians and promotes the cello through student led performances and outreach across the state of Texas.
Each student is an individual with their own talent, passions as well as technical and musical strengths and weaknesses. Texas Cellos aspires to understand, and respect, the individual profile of each of our students by serving as a conscience encouraging their strengths, while leading them to recognize the truth and beauty of the music they play. It is that goal that should inform their technique, and not the other way round. Our students are from Texas, across the U.S., as well as Europe, and Asia. The emphasis is on shared experiences, with mutual respect, encouragement, and support expected of each member of the institute. Our work is intense, but there is always time for friendly, relaxed social interaction. We come to know and feel at ease with each other as in a close family, building on positive motivation and stimulation from shared musical values and goals, and eschewing narrow-minded competition.
Texas Cellos seeks to nurture the new generation of musicians to ensure that the highest levels of professional skill are allied with the ability to perform with integrity without regard to gender/sexual orientation, race, demographic.
Organization name
Texas Cellos
other names
Fredericksburg Music Festival and School, Texas Cello School, TexasCellos SESSIONS, Metamorphosis Dallas
Causes
Education - Higher Ed
Operating Budget
$250,000 - $499,999
Counties Served
Hunt, Wise, Tarrant, Somervell, Rockwall, Parker, Palo Pinto, Navarro, Montague, Kaufman, Johnson, Hood, Grayson, Fannin, Erath, Ellis, Denton, Dallas, Cooke, Collin
BIPOC Leadership
Board Chair
Address
13101 PRESTON RD STE 110 # 3271