In June 2024, Fine Arts Chamber Players announced its rebranding to Basically Beethoven, reflecting the consolidation of two separate concert series and an education program into a single, cohesive brand, aimed at continuing to enrich the Dallas community with outstanding classical music experiences.
"Free" never means "less than" with Basically Beethoven. Our concerts are reviewed alongside bigger, more prestigious organizations with a lot more money, and we hold our own! Please read reviews and see what we do at www.basicallybeethoven.org.
Basically Beethoven's mission is to enrich and enhance the quality of life for North Texas-area residents, especially families and children, through free concerts of classical music and educational activities.
Kudos from a Basically Beethoven Festival 2023 audience member: "It was such an amazing experience that we went again the next weekend with all of our children. I told so many people to go. It is a really special series. It is very rare to experience that caliber of musical talent, new and established, in a community-friendly atmosphere, that encourages children's attendance, and is free. Truly special!"
We fulfill our mission through two avenues: (1) our two free chamber music concert series, and (2) through free music education programs in Dallas public schools.
Concerts: We produce the Basically Beethoven Hallam Concert series: 7 free, monthly, family-friendly chamber music performances (monthly, Oct. - May, excluding Dec.); and the annual Basically Beethoven Festival (weekly, 3 Sunday afternoons in July). Our concerts are free and open to the public. We never charge for admission, but we pay the top-notch professional musicians who play for our audiences.
Basically Beethoven Music Residencies are primarily at David W. Carter High School and at Uplift Altas Preparatory Academy. For the DISD programs, we hire Teaching Artists (professional musicians who teach) to provide free private voice lessons to students who otherwise would not be able to afford instruction. The residency at Uplift Altas is a Violin Club - an after-school violin class for 4th - 5th grade students who apply for the program. Our violin club is the only music education on campus. We provide all materials and instruments as well.
History
Fine Arts Chamber Players (FACP), now Basically Beethoven, was founded in 1981 by Rogene Russell and Charles Price, in collaboration with the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts at Fair Park. The FREE Basically Beethoven Festival began that year and quickly became known as Dallas’ premier summer chamber music festival. In 1984, the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts moved to its new home in the downtown Dallas Arts District and was renamed the Dallas Museum of Art. There, in the DMA’s Horchow Auditorium, FACP began the Bancroft Family Concerts. Starting with the 2019-2020 season, the series has a new name: Hallam Family Concerts. The concerts remain free for all and the artistic vision remains unaltered.
In 1989, FACP created an educational outreach program called Dream Collectors, a performing troupe of musicians and actors who integrate subjects such as dyslexia, character education, math and science into an interactive performance for children. Due to their overwhelming success and multiple requests by public school educators, FACP developed additional educational outreach programs such as Music A to Z, Masterclasses, and Music Residencies, which provide long- and short-term professional music instruction for children in piano, violin, and voice. All FACP educational outreach programs are taught by professional teaching artists, are TEKS (Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills) compliant with State of Texas education mandates, and are offered completely FREE of charge to students and schools. To date, FACP has served 250,000 children with education programs and performed quality classical music for over 564,000 North Texas citizens – all completely free of charge.
In 2024, Fine Arts Chamber Players changed its "doing business as" name to Basically Beethoven. Its mission and EIN remain the same.
To review Fine Arts Chamber Players / Basically Beethoven on Google, click HERE
To enrich and enhance the quality of life for North Texas-area residents, especially families and children, through free concerts of classical music and free educational activities
We encourage contributions for our free, in-school music residency programs, including underwriting for teaching artist fees, for instruments, equipment (such as sheet music or new violin bows), and instrument repair. We also have numerous opportunities for concert underwriting so that we can keep our performances FREE FOR ALL!''
We are the only arts non-profit in Dallas that is wholly dedicated to making professionally curated and performed classical music "free for all!" We serve a diverse audience through free concerts and free in-school music residency programs. Our performers and teachers are all world-class professional musicians who play with (among others) the Dallas Symphony, the Fort Worth Symphony, and the Dallas Opera, and other players come from area music faculties. Our concerts are casual, held during the afternoons to accommodate older patrons and families with children, and are centrally located near parking and public transportation. Our music residencies provide music instruction for students who otherwise wouldn't be able to afford lessons.
We believe that when audience members see people on stage who look like them, share their experiences, and who play music from their culture, they will be more comfortable engaging in the arts. To achieve, we strive to establish various progressive benchmarks; see Basically Beethoven's detailed plan on our website.
We believe that when students see people in the classroom who look like them and share their experiences, they will be more comfortable engaging in the arts. To achieve, we strive to hire accomplished, diverse staff.
We believe that when Basically Beethoven leadership is diverse, then we can best offer rich programming for the community. To achieve, we strive to recruit a healthy mix of professionals that covers a range of ages, cultures, etc.
Organization name
Basically Beethoven
other names
Fine Arts Chamber Players
Causes
Arts & Humanities
Operating Budget
$100,000 - $249,999
Counties Served
Collin, Dallas, Denton, Tarrant
BIPOC Serving
Black or African American, Hispanic or Latinx
Equity Statement
Equity Statement
Address
3630 Harry Hines Blvd. Ste. 302