The Fire in Her Eyes highlights the hidden inner lives of women as we contend with patriarchal society’s impact on our relationships, careers, personal ambitions and basic connections with men. The centerpiece of the program is Invisible Women commissioned from composer Russell Podgorsek, a work of allyship based on 6+ hours of interviews about our lives. The second half of the program will be cabaret-style solos accompanied by pianist Carla McElhaney.

In addition to the concert, VAMP is inviting women-owned businesses and nonprofits that support women in the Austin area to set up a market in the lobby to be seen and supported by our audience.

Get your tickets for November 24 here.

The Fire in Her Eyes highlights the hidden inner lives of women as we contend with patriarchal society’s impact on our relationships, careers, personal ambitions and basic connections with men. The centerpiece of the program is Invisible Women commissioned from composer Russell Podgorsek, a work of allyship based on 6+ hours of interviews about our lives. The second half of the program will be cabaret-style solos accompanied by pianist Carla McElhaney.

In addition to the concert, VAMP is inviting women-owned businesses and nonprofits that support women in the Austin area to set up a market in the lobby to be seen and supported by our audience.

Get your tickets for November 23 here.

For Women’s History Month, VAMP presents a concert that highlights the different voices of women then and now. More details here.

Presence is the heart of our season.

The culmination of a yearlong collaboration, Presence features music by ACG’s 23-24 Artist-in-Residence and Grammy-nominated composer Reena Esmail, and performances by the extraordinary Mexican guitarist Dieter Hennings Yeomans, Austin’s super-creative and genre-bending vocal ensemble VAMP, and critically acclaimed bassoonist and UT Butler School faculty member Kristin Wolfe Jensen.  

These internationally celebrated artists will be joined by a massive guitar orchestra, conducted by ACG Artistic Director Joe Williams on stage at the gorgeous AISD Performing Arts Center. The Presence Guitar Orchestra features the ACG Youth Camerata, Youth Orchestra & Chamber Ensemble as well as guitarists from UT Austin, UT San Antonio & UT Rio Grande Valley.

With premieres of music written by Reena Esmail, Matthew Lyons, Travis Marcum, Tony Mariano and Joe Williams.  Presence is a celebration of now and our shared experience.  Join us for this unforgettable evening! 

Purchase tickets here.

The Austin Civic Orchestra partners again with The University of Texas at Austin for the 10th Texas Rising Stars concert at Bates Recital Hall. The winners of the Butler School of Music’s String Concerto Competition perform concerti accompanied by the orchestra.

ACO Guest Conductor, Jacob Schnitzer leads our outstanding student artists on works from Schumann and Sibelius.

The Orchestra concludes the concert with an innovative presentation of Holst’s The Planets. Local artist Laura Mercado-Wright composed interludes – titled Between the Planets – to fit between the movements of Holst’s composition. VAMP Vocals will perform each interlude as an introduction of the astrological characteristic of the following movement. VAMP will then be joined by singers from Austin Cantorum and the UT Chamber Treble Choir in the final movement of Holst’s Planets, Neptune.

Free of charge but tickets are needed for admission.

An evening of music connecting us to our ancestors, our world, and ourselves. Collaborating with percussionist Carolyn Trowbridge, dancer Alexa Capareda, and other friends, VAMP takes you between worlds of life and death, spirit and nature, self and others. Featuring world premieres by Peter Stopschinski, Adrienne Inglis, and VAMP's own Laura Mercado-Wright.

Get your tickets now through this site.

VAMP is thrilled to be performing with 14 other ensembles as part of HERE BE MONSTERS, an Austin new music collective. These performances include 11 world premieres by Austin composers, one of whom is our very own Laura Mercado-Wright. It will be an amazing evening; you don’t want to miss it!

VAMP’s very own Page Stephens talks about why she thinks including new music in vocal training today is so important. Also, hear exceptional music by Matthew Lyons, James Maverick, and not one, but TWO world premieres by Laura Mercado-Wright and Russell Podgorsek.

VAMP’s first unofficial SXSW gig along with some of our favorite contemporary classical friends! We perform at 4:48pm!

Conceived pre-pandemic and born in March 2020, VAMP is a vocal quintet of formidable female artists touting a motley songbook and a bold red lip. After two years of rehearsing in parking garages and performing virtually, VAMP proudly presents their inaugural public concert featuring vocal music ranging from the renaissance to pop and everything in between.

Deeply committed to amplifying music by living, female-identifying composers, they thrive on diving into new sonic worlds and stretching musical boundaries. VAMP's members have premiered scores by some of the country’s most exciting composers, including Gabriela Ortiz, Julia Wolfe, Caroline Shaw, Reena Esmail, Dana Lyn, Adrienne Inglis, Adeliia (Adele) Faizullina, and their very own Laura Mercado-Wright.

Members of VAMP include Mary Elizabeth Ashton, soprano; Adrienne Pedrotti Bingamon, soprano; Katrina Saporsantos, soprano; Page Stephens, mezzo soprano; and Laura Mercado-Wright, mezzo soprano.

Sat. Nov. 5, 2022 at 8pm at the Draylen Mason Music Studio at KMFA 89.5.

View the program here.