Featuring two violins, one cello, a trumpet and an organ, the LA Strings led by Nathanial Mayfield will bring their talents here Sunday, Jan. 19, with a post-holiday performance hosted by the Fredericksburg Music Club.
Seating for the 3 p.m. program in the sanctuary of Fredericksburg United Methodist Church, 1800 North Llano -- the FMC’s fourth concert in its 2024-2025 concert season -- will begin at 2:30 p.m. on a first-come, first-served basis. The performance is free, although goodwill offerings are welcome.
Nathaniel Mayfield
Veteran trombone performer and Austin native Nathaniel Mayfield pursued his love of the trumpet in middle school and went on to graduate high school from Interlochen Arts Academy in Interlochen, MI. At age 18, he competed in the Young Arts Talent Search sponsored by the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts and was named a 1994 Presidential Scholar in the Arts by President Bill Clinton that included a Rose Garden ceremony and solo performance in the Kennedy Center.
Accepted into both The Juilliard School and Columbia University, Mayfield graduated after three years and earned a BA in Classical History from Columbia University. Other awards and honors included first prizes in The National Trumpet Competition, The Aspen Music Festival Concerto Competition and the International Trumpet Guild Solo Competition.
He received a Fulbright Scholarship to pursue graduate work in Karlsruhe, Germany, when he won fellowships in such music festivals as The Round Top Institute, National Repertory Orchestra and The Pacific Music Festival in Sapporo, Japan, as well as performing with Tenerife Symphony Orchestra, Singapore Symphony and Mannheim Opera.
A baroque trumpet soloist, Mayfield has presented masterclasses at The Juilliard School, Eastman School of Music, Laval University in Quebec, UT Austin, Baylor, TCU and Lausanne Conservatory Switzerland. He was a three-year assistant at The Chosen Vale International Trumpet Seminar in Enfield, NH, faculty member of the Domaine Forget Brass Academy Quebec and has participated in international trumpet competitions in Kiev, Ukraine; Paris, France; Markneukirchen, Germany, and Bad-Säckingen, Germany.
Upon returning to Austin, Mayfield founded the Austin Brass Institute, joined the faculties of Texas A&M University in College Station and Concordia University, performed frequently with the Austin Symphony, Lyric Opera, Ballet, and Austin Chorus and served on the board of directors at the Austin School for the Performing and Visual Arts before being named its Artistic Director and Head of School for its inaugural year.
Victoria Wolff
Victoria Wolff began her cello studies at age eight in Los Angeles before attending high school at the Interlochen Arts Academy and then receiving her bachelor’s degree from The Juilliard School and her doctorate from the University of Texas at Austin. She taught privately in Austin for almost 20 years, was with the University of Texas String Project as a chamber music coach and director of her own cello ensemble, The Wolff Tones.
She performed regularly with the Austin Symphony as well as with classical and non-classical groups. She was an adjunct professor at Baylor University (2007-2014) before relocating in 2017 to Oregon where she regularly performs with The Eugene Symphony, The OSU-Corvallis Symphony, The Shedd Institute, Chamber Music Amici in Eugene and with her flute, piano and cello ensemble -- Trio Despina. She has given chamber music masterclasses for the University of Oregon and The Oregon State Chamber Music Summer Program.
Alexis Buffman
Alexis Buffum has been performing and teaching violin in Austin for 20 years. A graduate of Florida State University and the University of Texas at Austin, she has performed with Willie Nelson, Stevie Wonder, Wynonna Judd, Josh Groban, Kristin Chenowith, Smokey Robinson, Frank SInatra, Jr. and the Tran Siberian Orchestra.
In addition to recording violin for movies and performing with Austin bands, she has also appeared on Austin City Limits. Within classical music, she has performed with the Austin Symphony, Austin Opera, Austin Chamber Music Center and as a soloist for Ballet Austin.
Dr. Amy Harris
Dr. Amy Harris, a graduate of University of Texas Butler School of Music, is an Austin musician and teacher, regularly performing with the Austin Symphony Orchestra, Austin Unconducted and Sienna Strings. She is also a violin and viola teacher for over 15 years.
She began her own violin studies at three and after high school went to the University of Northern Colorado before going to the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. She has won the Angie Southard Convocation Award (2000), the CCM Chamber Music Award (2003) and the Best Instrumental Performance at the Sydney M. Wright Competition (2009).
Dr. Sabrina Adrian
Dr. Sabrina Adrian began her musical studies on the piano at seven in Boerne. She received a Bachelor of Music degree from Southwestern University before earning a master’s degree in
both organ and piano performance at the University of Texas, San Antonio and then a Doctor of Musical Arts in Organ Performance Degree at The University of Texas, Austin. She has served as organist for Methodist and Presbyterian churches in Boerne,
Austin, San Antonio and most recently in Kerrville at First Presbyterian Church.
She has performed throughout Europe, including St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican in Rome, St. Patrick's Cathedral and Christ Church in Dublin, St. Michael's Church in Budapest, Hungary, the Marienkirche (the oldest church in Berlin), and in France at the Cathedral Saint-Sacerdos in Sarlat-la-Caneda on an organ built in 1752. She has played with orchestras and chamber groups, including the Colorado Springs Symphony, Boulder Philharmonic, Greeley Philharmonic and Cheyenne Symphony.
In addition to freewill offerings given at the door Jan. 19, that afternoon’s performance is also being partially funded by donations from members of the Fredericksburg Music Club.
At the afternoon concert, membership cards for individuals or corporate sponsors wishing to join the Fredericksburg Music Club will also be available at the door.
Meanwhile, more information about the FMC or assistance in joining the organization is also available online at http://fredericksburgmusicclub.com/