West Texas Symphony

08/31/2026

Big thanks to the Odessa American for featuring our new Concertmaster! ❤🎶

At first, Andres Bravo did not want to have anything to do with the violin when he was a child. But he learned to love playing it. Now, he’s the new concertmaster at the West Texas Symphony. A native of La Paz, Bolivia, Bravo has made a name of himself over the years in both [...]

08/29/2026

You can read the concert program online! Learn about tonight's guest artists, composers, and history of the music. Click here 👉 https://issuu.com/digitalaimmedia/docs/west_texas_symphony_2026-27_book_1

08/28/2026

We still have great tickets available for tomorrow night's season opening concert! See you at the symphony! 🎟 800-514-3849 or https://www.wtxs.org/concerts/prokofiev.html

08/28/2026

FRIDAY FUN FACT 🎶 Did you know that Sergei Prokofiev was a child prodigy? It's true! Young Sergei composed his first piano piece at five and his first opera aged nine. Learn more fun facts about this phenomenal composer here 👉https://www.classicfm.com/composers/prokofiev/guides/facts-gallery/ and join us tomorrow night was we celebrate opening night at the West Texas Symphony with two of his famous works!

Get tickets for "Prokofiev" at 800-514-3849 or visit our website.

The Russian composer Sergei Prokofiev was one of the giants of 20th century music. His works ranged from ballets - including Cinderella and Romeo and Juliet - to film music, such as Lieutenant Kije and Alexander Nevsky.

08/28/2026

Tomorrow 8/29 is the deadline to get our best ticket prices of the season! Don't miss your chance to SAVE 50% when you purchase the GRAND SERIES 💥 You'll get the best seats to all 7 of our incredible mainstage concerts held at the world-class Wagner Noël Performing Arts Center. Call 800-514-3849 or online 🎼 https://www.wtxs.org/concerts/26-27-season.html

$288 – Orchestra / Dress Circle
$231 – Parterre / Mezzanine
$58 – Student (any level, any seat)
*Gallery not available


*Percent savings when compared to purchasing all 7 concerts individually. Ticketing is handled through the Wagner Noël Performing Arts Center - all ticketing policies and fees apply.

08/27/2026

We are thrilled to have special guest composer Ennis Harris in the house at Saturday's concert! Not only will we perform his piece "From the Wind, That Which Augurs", but Ennis himself will join us on stage for the saxophone solo. It's going to be a night of music to remember!

Harris is a Los Angeles-based composer and arranger whose work bridges musical cultures and forms through the lens of storytelling. His music moves fluidly across genre and cultural traditions, and has been performed by leading artists and ensembles across the U.S. and abroad.

Ennis’ recent work includes performances of his arrangement of Nino Rota’s La Dolce Vita: Finale by the Orchestra Sinfonica del Conservatorio Niccolò Piccinni featuring Joe Lovano and conducted by Vince Mendoza, as well as the premiere of his latest orchestral work From the Wind, That Which Augurs, commissioned and conducted by Dr. Larry Livingston with the 2026 TMEA Symphony Orchestra. His work Water Painter for percussion ensemble was premiered at the 2026 Northwest Percussion Festival with virtuoso marimbist Kana Funayama and the Central Washington University Percussion Ensemble. His piece Ennui: Manila, 1926, written in honor of Luis G. Dato, premiered with the UCLA Contemporary Jazz Ensemble in May of 2026.

Ennis created original arrangements in collaboration with USC Thornton School of Music Dean Jason King, Dr. Larry Livingston, and Visions and Voices for the 2025 Quincy Jones Symphonic, with the orchestra led under the baton of maestro Anthony Parnther.

Ennis is a 2024 recipient of the BMI Composer Award for his concertino for clarinet and orchestra, entitled Adarna. That same year, he received first prize in the Van Alexander Arranging Competition presented by ASMAC, for a Tango-inspired arrangement of Duke Ellington’s The Lake. In 2023, he was awarded the Jeff Clayton New Note Commission Award by the Los Angeles Jazz Society, which resulted in his 23-minute work Images and Silhouettes for 19-piece jazz chamber ensemble being premiered at the Angel City Jazz Festival. He also received the ISJAC/USF Prize for Emerging Black Composers for his big band work Eye in the Sky, and earlier the Herb Alpert Young Jazz Composer Award for Portrait Poem.
Ennis holds a B.A. in Global Jazz Studies from UCLA and M.M. and D.M.A. degrees from USC, where he studied composition with Vince Mendoza and conducting with Larry Livingston.

Get tickets for "Prokofiev!" at https://www.wtxs.org/concerts/prokofiev.html

08/26/2026

🎼 24-HOUR FLASH GIVEAWAY! 🎟️✨

Want to enjoy the West Texas Symphony this Saturday? We are giving away tickets to 2 lucky winners (2 tickets each)!
How to enter: 1️⃣ Like & share this post. 2️⃣ Comment below with your first memory of live music and tag (@) who you’d bring along!

📋 Important Details:
⏳ Timeframe: Giveaway ends in 24 hours!
🏆Winners: 2 winners chosen at random.
📲 Notification: We will contact the winners via direct message only from the official account where you commented.
🎟️ Ticket Pickup: Winners must pick up their tickets in person at the Odessa Arts offices this Friday between 9:00 AM and 3:00 PM.

Good luck! 🎻👇

08/26/2026

Meet Clayton Stephenson!

Finalist in the 2022 Cliburn Competition and featured pianist for our opening concert "Prokofiev!" this Saturday, August 29th.

American pianist Clayton Stephenson’s love for music is immediately apparent in his joyous charisma onstage, expressive power, and natural ease at the instrument. Hailed for “extraordinary narrative and poetic gifts” and interpretations that are “fresh, incisive and characterfully alive” (Gramophone), he is committed to making an impact on the world through his music-making.

Growing up in New York City, Clayton started piano lessons at age 7, and the next year was accepted into The Julliard School’s Music Advancement Program—a full scholarship program for under-represented students—where he lingered to watch student recitals and fell in love with music. He advanced to Juilliard’s elite Pre-College at age 10—with the help of his teacher at the time, Beth Nam, who gave him countless extra lessons without charge—to study with Matti Raekallio, Hung-Kuang Chen, and Ernest Barretta. Clayton practiced on a synthesizer at home until he found an old upright piano on the street that an elementary school had thrown away; that would become his practice piano for the next six years, until the Lang Lang Foundation donated a new piano to him when he was 17.

He credits the generous support of community programs with providing him musical inspiration and resources along the way. As he describes it, the “Third Street Music School jump-started my music education; the Young People’s Choir taught me phrasing and voicing; Juilliard’s Music Advancement Program introduced me to formal and rigorous piano training, which enabled me to get into Juilliard Pre-College; the Morningside Music Bridge validated my talent and elevated my self-confidence; the Boy’s Club of New York exposed me to jazz; and the Lang Lang Foundation brought me to stages worldwide and transformed me from a piano student to a young artist.”

Recent and upcoming highlights include concertos with the Houston, North Carolina, and Cincinnati Symphonies; festival appearances at Grand Teton, Grant Park, and Tippet Rise; recitals at Washington Performing Arts at the Kennedy Center, Fondation Louis Vuitton, and Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall; gala performances with the New York and Las Vegas Philharmonics; and collaborations with violinists Nikki and Timothy Chooi. He also joins the Hartford Symphony Orchestra as 2024–2025 Artist-in-Residence.

Clayton graduated from the Harvard-New England Conservatory (NEC) dual degree program in spring 2023 with a bachelor’s degree in economics at Harvard and a master’s degree in piano performance at NEC under Wha Kyung Byun. In addition to being the first Black finalist at the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in 2022, he received an Avery Fisher Career Grant in 2024, won the inaugural Nina Simone Piano Competition in 2023, and is a 2025 Sphinx Medal of Excellence honoree.

Clayton Stephenson is represented by the Cliburn Agency.

Tickets and info for Prokofiev! can be found at https://www.wtxs.org/concerts/prokofiev.html