Outside Voices at Waterloo Park
Join us on June 4th, 2023, for Outside Voices at Waterloo Park featuring two incredible Austin-based artists, mezzo-soprano Liz Cass and pianist Ben Tibbetts. This concert of opera arias and art songs features music by Bizet, Fauré, Debussy, and Mahler plus special guest star and composer, Graham Yates!
Bar opens at 4:30, concert starts at 5:00 pm!
This event is free, open to the public, and appropriate for all ages. The venue is the Meredith Tree Deck of the Family Pavilion just South of the Moody Amphitheater in Waterloo Park. Floor space and chairs will be available. Pillows, blankets, and picnics are highly encouraged. Complimentary beverages will be available thanks to our amazing sponsor, Tito's Vodka! Big thanks to our media sponsor for these events, KMFA 89.5 Classical Austin, and to the support of Waterloo Greenway!
Ben Tibbetts
Ben Tibbetts is a professional pianist and composer working in the area of Austin, Texas. As a piano accompanist, Ben specializes in both collaborative performance and high-level improvisation.
Ben teaches piano and composition lessons at Timbral Music Studios, the Armstrong Community Music School, and Premier Music Academy. He is a regular accompanist for classes at Ballet Austin and a frequent performer for events in the Austin area, including weekly services at the Trinity Church of Austin.
For more information about Ben's music visit www.bentibbetts.net. There you will find a large library of original creative content including audio, sheet music, interviews, podcasts, and other media.
Liz Cass
LOLA Executive Director and Mezzo Soprano
Liz Cass is a producer, educator, arts leader, and active operatic performer. Ms. Cass is the originator of the mezzo role in the opera, Pancho Villa; From a Safe Distance by Graham Reynolds and Lagartijas Tiradas al Sol for which she garnered an Austin Critic’s Table Award for Best Singer. Other recent performance highlights: Mrs. Lowe and Dora in The Manchurian Candidate by Kevin Puts with Austin Opera, The Brahms Alto Rhapsody with Chorus Austin, mezzo soloist in Handel’s Messiah at the Teatro Nationale and Casa Santo Domingo in Guatemala and Pancho Villa; From a Safe Distance with PuSh Festival in Vancouver and the Prototype Festival in NYC.
Founder and the Executive Producer of the award-winning LOLA, Local Opera Local Artists, Liz also holds the title of Executive Director of the Armstrong Community Music School and serves on the boards of Seagle Festival, Austin Classical Guitar, and is on the community advisory board of KMFA 89.5.
Upcoming, Ms. Cass is originating the role of Dinah LeFarge in LOLA’s commissioned opera, Lardo Weeping, by Peter Stopschinski and Terry Galloway which will have its fully staged premiere in August of 2022. Other upcoming performances include a concert with Austin Chamber Music Center at their annual Gala and the premiere of Donald Grantham’s song cycle “Love Songs Sweet and Sour” with pianist Carla McElhaney.
Liz began her vocal studies with Dr. Rebecca Folsom. Ms. Cass is a graduate of the University of Missouri at Kansas City Conservatory of Music where she received her degree in Vocal Performance under the tutelage of renowned voice teacher Inci Bashar with whom she continues to study.
Graham Yates
Canadian pianist, teacher and composer Graham Yates has lived in Texas since 2014 where he owns Timbral Music Studios and is a busy collaborative pianist. Through producing concerts and performing, he loves to connect with audiences and students alike to create meaningful experiences through many kinds of music.
He earned a Bachelor of Arts in Music from Trinity Western University in British Columbia studying under Dr. Sandra Joy Friesen, a Debussy and improvisation specialist; and a Master of Music in Piano Performance at Brandon University in Manitoba, under the guidance of Dr. Alexander Tselyakov, a graduate of the Moscow Conservatory. Later, he returned to university and earned an MBA in nonprofit management.
Mr. Yates is the teacher to around 40 private students in Round Rock, a master clinician for the Houston Area Suzuki Piano Association, a member of the Canadian Music Festival Adjudicators Association, and a member of the College of Examiners at the Royal Conservatory of Music. In 2020, he was nominated for the B. Iden Payne Award for Outstanding Music Director for his role in One Ounce Opera’s Fresh Squeezed Ounce of Opera showcase. Austin Chamber Music Center, Inversion Ensemble, Local Opera Local Artists, Operativo Houston and Panoramic Voices have premiered his award-winning compositions. He co-founded CTC Music Publishing, which promotes the creation and production of new music by central Texas composers.