Hailed by critics for her “vivacious playing that’s both technically superb and emotionally engaging” and for her “quicksilver bowing” and “keenly expressed emotion,” award-winning violinist Jessica Mathaes enjoys a multifaceted career as a soloist, recording artist, educator and concertmaster of the Austin Symphony.

Ms. Mathaes has appeared with orchestras throughout Europe and the United States including the Austin Symphony, the San Antonio Symphony, the Houston Grand Opera, the Houston Ballet, the Hot Springs Music Festival, the Colorado Music Festival, the Des Moines Metro Opera, and the Symphony of Southeast Texas. International engagements include the European Music Festival in Stuttgart, Germany and the Jeunesses Musicales World Orchestra. She has performed in many of the world’s greatest halls, including the Concertgebouw, the Berliner Philharmonie, and Stuttgart’s Liederhalle. Her appearances in the 2009-10 season will include performances with the Bismarck-Mandan Symphony Orchestra, the Northwest Iowa Symphony Orchestra, and recitals at Texas Christian University, Texas Tech University, Northwestern College, Fredericksburg Music Club and the Tenri Cultural Institute in New York City. Ms. Mathaes was appointed concertmaster of the Austin Symphony in 2005, becoming the youngest person to occupy the chair and the first woman concertmaster in the symphony's 99-year history. The Austin Chronicle selected her debut as featured soloist with the orchestra as one of the “Top 10 classical music wonders of 2007,” declaring her “a master of the Khachaturian Violin Concerto.” Her much anticipated debut solo CD, “Suites and Sweets,” was released on the Centaur label in the spring of 2009 and features works by Cowell, Stravinsky, Korngold, de Falla, Ravel and Massenet.

The first-ever winner of the Classical Artists Development Foundation fellowship, Ms. Mathaes performs in recital and has conducted master classes at universities across the United States. She also has served as a member of the faculty of the Hot Springs Music Festival and the International Festival-Institute at Round Top. Her media credits include frequent guest appearances on area radio programs, including Austin’s KMFA and KUT, KUHF in Houston, and KVNO in Omaha as well as television appearances on ARTE, the French-German cultural television channel.

Ms. Mathaes made her recital debut at age six and her orchestral solo debut in Omaha, Nebraska at age 16, performing Saint-Saëns Violin Concerto No. 3. Equally at home on the violin and the viola, Ms. Mathaes holds performance degrees in both instruments from Rice University, where she graduated magna cum laude and studied with Kenneth Goldsmith, Karen Ritscher, and Raphael Fliegel.

Ms. Mathaes performs on a violin crafted in 1807 by Johannes Cuypers, who is known as the Dutch Stradivarius.
For more information, please visit www.jessicamathaes.com