Texas Early Music Project

Yes, we're almost legal! TEMP is turning 20 years old and we are celebrating with a very important fundraiser. 

We need to raise $20,000 to help fund TEMP's special 20th Anniversary season. This is a special, unique series of concerts which will bring our ensemble to a new level of excellence and help engage even more fans in the greater Austin area!

Help us make our 20th Anniversary season a success by giving to our cause. Together, we can continue to enrich the greater Austin area and beyond with great live music!


TEMP Perks for our Levels of Giving to 20 for 20*:


$5K+: reserved parking for 1 concert of their choosing and 2 season subscriptions (value: $340)


$1,000-$4,999: 1 extra season subscription (value: $170)


$500-$999: 2 free tickets to concert of their choosing in reserved section seating (value: $60)


$250-$499: 1 free ticket to concert of their choosing (value: $30)


$100-$249: 1 CD of their choosing- coupon (value: $16)


$1-$99: 1 bumper sticker (value: ~$1)


*ALL donations will have an opt-out option available; let us know if you would rather opt out of your perk via email at admin@early-music.org

On July 25, YouCaring merged with GoFundMe, and so we switched over to GoFundMe! Donations on the previous YouCaring website could not be added to the GoFundMe contribution tracking, so we list them below and reduce our $20,000 goal by the YouCaring contributions of $2000.

Here are the donors from our YouCaring who have made a fantastic impact so far:

Our Donors From YouCaring:

Volodymyr Dyedov  100
Grace Elinsway 50
Julie Noble 50 "That had got to be the best crazy marketing pitch of all time. I love you guys."
Judy Shipway 50
Bruce Zivley 20
Dr. &Mrs. Thomas Estes 50 "Eager to see the new instrument..."
Larry McCloskey 20
Jeffrey Jones-Ragona 50
Susan Richter 500 "Go  TEMP!  20 more years ..."
Saundra Ragona 10
David Melanson 100
Brian and Cindy Schaufenbuel 200 "Keep the wonderful music going in Austin!"
Judy Skaggs 100
Leslie Morris 500
Richard Campbell 100
Stan Kearl 100
Loren Riemer 50


And Ooo! Ahh! Here is what we have lined up for TEMP's 20th Season:


1.  Alegría: The Spanish Renaissance:   Sacred music from the cathedrals of 16th-century Spain and popular folk melodies for voices, viols, lutes, and sackbuts, with music by Guerrero, Ceballos, Morales, Flecha, and more in this treat for the ears and the spirit. With guests Mary Springfels (viola da gamba), Peter Maund (percussion), and Ryland Angel (countertenor).   


2.  How to Marry a Millionaire:  A fully staged performance of the chamber opera Pimpinone, Telemann's comedic romp in which an ungovernable maid (Austin’s Gitanjali Mathur) trains a cunning eye on a hapless gentleman of means (NY’s Peter Walker). 


3.  An Early Christmas: The intangible essence of Christmas past rediscovered with old delights and new favorites for solo voices, small chorus, instruments, and guest harpists Therese Honey & Elaine Barber.  


4.  Celtic Fancies: Music from Ireland & Scotland, c.1500-1800: Scottish and Irish ballads are evocative, heartfelt, and often humorous! Even the English held these works in high esteem, and our own Ben Franklin adored these songs and considered them the height of great art. With guest singer and piper Peter Walker (New York).  


5.  A Symphony of Voices: Choral Masterworks of Tudor England: Many voices, both solo and choral, performing some of the most sublime, moving, and exhilarating music imaginable. This is the world of early Tudor England,with music compiled between c.1490 and c.1520, featuring guests Ryland Angel (countertenor) and Mary Springfels (viola da gamba). 


6. Mystic, Scientist, Scholar, Nun: Music of Hildegard von Bingen:  The beautifully sophisticated and powerful music of the 12th-century German abbess, performed by 20 female singers and accompanied by a small instrumental ensemble of vielles, harp, and psalteries, led by guest vielle player Mary Springfels. 


TEMP's Story: 


Our vision is to bring a whole new spin on Austin's reputation as the "live music capital of the world"! We intend to establish Austin as an internationally recognized center of excellence in early music performance.


Created by Director Johnson in 1987 to mentor students and support local professionals in early music performance, TEMP concerts continue to serve in fostering our local classical music talent, with each concert performed in styles authentic to the historical era using re-creations of period instruments.  


Our six concert / 13 performance season, supported by CoA Cultural Arts since 2003, has not only sustained a core of local early music talent, but has also grown a substantial area audience of dedicated fans. Beyond the borders of Austin, we increasingly attract concert audience from across Texas. To further our national/international position, our ambition is to increase our concert budgets to support performances of celebrated and historically important early music repertoire that require bigger, and more expensive, ensembles. 


In 2014, we were able to do this with our La Pellegrina concert, performing the full repertoire for the first time in the U.S. in decades, and producing the first U.S. full concert recording of this monumental 16th century work. With your support, our goal is to produce concerts of this level of renown every season.