Friday, August 17, 2018 — 5:30pm
Ella’s Faves
Liz Cass enjoys a lively schedule of performing, teaching, and producing in collaboration with many arts organizations in Austin, TX and beyond. Liz recently premiered Graham Reynold’s new opera, Pancho Villa; From a Safe Distance for which she garnered an Austin Critic’s Table Award for Best Singer. Ms. Cass is the Interim Director of the Armstrong Community Music School where she has been on the faculty and staff since 2004. In addition, Ms. Cass is a founder and the Executive Producer of the award-winning LOLA, Local Opera Local Artists. LOLA is a professional opera company dedicated to keeping the art form alive by utilizing local talent in new and innovative productions.
Ms. Cass’s recent performance highlights include the premier of Graham Reynold’s new chamber opera, Pancho Villa; From a Safe Distance, Manchurian Candidate with Austin Opera, concerts with Salon Concerts, La Follia Austin Baroque, Cabaret Nights I and II with A Room With a Few in Austin and a performance in South Padre Island, and concerts with LOLA.
Liz’s upcoming schedule includes concerts in Guatemala City and Antigua, Guatemala, concerts in Austin with Austin Chamber Music Center and LOLA, and tours to Los Angeles, Seattle, Dallas, and Vancouver with Pancho Villa; From a Safe Distance. In the spring of 2018, Ms. Cass will be
performing with Austin Opera in their production of La Traviata and in June of 2018, Liz will be
performing in the Bernstein Mass at Texas Performing Arts.
Liz Cass is a graduate of the University of Missouri at Kansas City Conservatory of Music. She began studying with Inci Bashar at UMKC in 1997, and continues studying with her to this day. Keep up with Liz by following her on Instagram @lizziecass, on Facebook and via her website.
Karen White studied with Mme. Lili Kraus at Texas Christian University for both her Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees in Piano Performance. She moved to New York City where she continued her studies, began her teaching career, and had a blast in The Big Apple! Then on to Madrid, Spain where she taught in a private music academy and made incredible, enduring friends.
She now lives in Austin, TX where she maintains a private studio and is on the piano faculty of the Armstrong Community Music School. She plays the piano for love, and hikes/bikes/cooks/gardens for fun.