Notable Achievements

Seth Sagen ’26 was recently awarded the Assistant Concertmaster position with the Central Texas Philharmonic, a professional orchestra in the Austin area. He is a violin major and student of Assistant Professor of Violin and Viola Jessica Mathaes. Seth won an audition in order to receive this highly competitive violin leadership spot with the orchestra.

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Jessica Mathaes

PT Assistant Professor of Applied Music

Expertise

Violin, Viola, Chamber Music, Orchestra

Hailed “a violinist like no other” (The New York Times) and “a master of the Khachaturian violin concerto” (Austin Chronicle), Jessica Mathaes enjoys an international career as a soloist, recording artist, educator and concertmaster.

As a concertmaster, Mathaes has led the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, the Grand Teton Music Festival Orchestra, the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, the West Australian Symphony Orchestra, and the Austin Symphony Orchestra. She has also appeared with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, the Rochester Philharmonic, Houston Grand Opera, Houston Ballet, and the San Antonio Symphony. In 2005 at the age of 25, Mathaes was appointed concertmaster of the Austin Symphony, becoming both the youngest and first female concertmaster of the orchestra in its over 100-year history.

As a soloist, Mathaes has been broadcast live on Performance Today and Chicago Public Radio, and has performed throughout Singapore on a solo and masterclass tour sponsored by the US Embassy. She has performed as a soloist with the Austin, Victoria, Bismarck-Mandan, Round Rock, Northwest Iowa, Masterworks, and National Music Festival Orchestras. She has premiered works by many American composers including Pierre Jalbert and Paul Reale, and has released solo albums on the Naxos and Centaur labels to critical acclaim in Gramophone. She has served on the faculty of the Credo Music Festival, the International Festival-Institute at Round Top, the National Music Festival, the Masterworks Festival, and the Hot Springs Music Festival.

Born in Chicago, Mathaes grew up in Omaha, Nebraska, where she was concertmaster of the Omaha Area Youth Orchestra and made her solo debut at age 16 playing the Saint-Saens Violin Concerto No. 3. She was also an award-winning pianist in her youth. Mathaes holds performance degrees in violin and viola from Rice University, where she graduated magna cum laude. She joined the music faculty of Southwestern University in the fall of 2022.

  • Biography

    Hailed “a violinist like no other” (The New York Times) and “a master of the Khachaturian violin concerto” (Austin Chronicle), Jessica Mathaes enjoys an international career as a soloist, recording artist, educator and concertmaster.

    As a concertmaster, Mathaes has led the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, the Grand Teton Music Festival Orchestra, the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, the West Australian Symphony Orchestra, and the Austin Symphony Orchestra. She has also appeared with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, the Rochester Philharmonic, Houston Grand Opera, Houston Ballet, and the San Antonio Symphony. In 2005 at the age of 25, Mathaes was appointed concertmaster of the Austin Symphony, becoming both the youngest and first female concertmaster of the orchestra in its over 100-year history.

    As a soloist, Mathaes has been broadcast live on Performance Today and Chicago Public Radio, and has performed throughout Singapore on a solo and masterclass tour sponsored by the US Embassy. She has performed as a soloist with the Austin, Victoria, Bismarck-Mandan, Round Rock, Northwest Iowa, Masterworks, and National Music Festival Orchestras. She has premiered works by many American composers including Pierre Jalbert and Paul Reale, and has released solo albums on the Naxos and Centaur labels to critical acclaim in Gramophone. She has served on the faculty of the Credo Music Festival, the International Festival-Institute at Round Top, the National Music Festival, the Masterworks Festival, and the Hot Springs Music Festival.

    Born in Chicago, Mathaes grew up in Omaha, Nebraska, where she was concertmaster of the Omaha Area Youth Orchestra and made her solo debut at age 16 playing the Saint-Saens Violin Concerto No. 3. She was also an award-winning pianist in her youth. Mathaes holds performance degrees in violin and viola from Rice University, where she graduated magna cum laude. She joined the music faculty of Southwestern University in the fall of 2022.

  • Publications

     Violin Works of Paul Reale, with Colette Valentine, piano, Naxos 9.70204

    Suites and Sweets, with Rodney Waters, piano, Centaur Records CRC 2993