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Houston Matters

Texas Music Festival Provides an Escape for Venezuelan Violist

Music offers an escape for musician Abraham Martin. He plays the viola, and rehearsing and performing helps him escape a little from the ongoing turmoil in his home country of Venezuela. Lately, he’s been escaping a little bit more during the intense four weeks of training and rehearsing for the Texas Music Festival at the […]

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Photo: Michael Hagerty, Houston Public Media

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Music offers an escape for musician Abraham Martin. He plays the viola, and rehearsing and performing helps him escape a little from the ongoing turmoil in his home country of Venezuela.

Lately, he's been escaping a little bit more during the intense four weeks of training and rehearsing for the Texas Music Festival at the University of Houston's Moores School of Music. Each year, the festival brings in young musicians from around the country and the world to prepare them to step into their professional careers.

This is Martin's first time to participate, and Houston Matters producer Joshua Zinn talks with him about the experience and how he copes with the situation back home. Plus we hear some excerpts of him playing in Houston Public Media's Geary Performance Studio.

Also, the Texas Music Festival's artistic and general director Alan Austin tells us about how the festival contributes to the success of musician like Abraham Martin.