Williamson County resident's passion for music makes melodic impact on community

Toby Blumenthal, a Williamson County resident and renowned pianist, discovered music at a young age and has been working to bring that same joy to students in Williamson County and across the nation.

Blumenthal serves on the Round Rock Symphony Orchestra board, which relies on concert proceeds and donations to stay active. The group, along with the Georgetown Festival of the Arts is hosting a chamber music concert Feb. 26 featuring Blumenthal and her former student, Elizabeth Pitcairn, a renowned violinist.

The Red Violin concert will begin at 4 p.m. at Klett Performing Arts Center, 2211 N. Austin Ave., in Georgetown.

Pitcairn will perform on her 1720 "Red Mendelssohn" Stradivarius violin, which was auctioned by Christie's auction house in 1990 and is said to be the inspiration for the Academy Award–winning movie, "The Red Violin."

The pair have also been invited to perform a concert for 1,200 Georgetown ISD fourth and fifth graders Feb. 24, and Blumenthal will be participating in the Georgetown Festival of Arts for the second consecutive year, which will be held May 31–June 3.

Blumenthal credits music for giving her some of the best things in life: a shared passion with her late husband, Bert Phillips; an entire extended family of students; and lifetime bonds with fellow musicians.

She began playing the piano at age 7, and by age 13 she performed at a concert as a piano soloist with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra after winning an area-wide competition for the opportunity.

"When I had an opportunity to play in front of that amazing orchestra, it was almost overwhelming. It wasn't that I had difficulty doing it initially, but when I finished the performance, the magnitude of the whole thing really hit me. I decided that's what I wanted to do to become a professional musician," she said.

Since then, Blumenthal has performed as piano soloist for the Chicago and Houston symphony orchestras, cofounded an international music camp now in its 32nd year and received acclaim for her chamber music performances with the Philadelphia Orchestra.

She moved to Round Rock about two years ago and quickly made her mark in the local music community by becoming involved with the Round Rock Symphony Orchestra and CHAMPS (Chamber Music in Public Schools), taking on the role of CHAMPS director in April 2011.

CHAMPS is an educational branch of Salon Concerts Inc. that provides free weekly professional chamber music coaching to 13 public middle and high schools in Austin, Eanes, Lake Travis and Round Rock school districts.

The organization does not offer services in Georgetown ISD, but Blumenthal said she would like to branch out to more schools in Williamson County.

"A lot of schools would like to have us, but it costs a lot of money for each school," she said. "I have already been over to see JD Janda [Georgetown ISD director of Fine Arts], and he's very interested."

To support CHAMPS, send a check to: P.O. Box 163501, Austin, TX 78716-3501