Forty of Austin's theater, dance, film, and music organizations are set to fill KMFA Classical 89.5's Draylen Mason Music Studio Thursday for a free evening of networking, giveaways, and season previews. The Austin Arts Mixer runs from 5 to 7 p.m. at the East Austin station, marking the sixth year the event has served as an informal kickoff to the city's fall arts calendar.
The gathering is co-organized by KMFA and the Austin LGBT Chamber of Commerce, according to KEYE, with title sponsorship from Lorenz & Lorenz, Personal Injury Attorneys, per Broadway World. Todd Hogan, a representative of the Austin LGBT Chamber of Commerce, described the event as the official kickoff of Austin's fall arts season, saying it grew out of noticing how quickly the city's cultural calendar fills up as summer ends.
Attendees will be able to move from table to table, learn about upcoming seasons, join mailing lists, and discover new organizations they may not have encountered before. Austin Opera and the Austin Symphony Orchestra are both expected to be represented, joining roughly 40 participating groups spanning theater, film, dance, music, and more. Organizations plan to contribute door prizes including tickets to upcoming performances, with around 40 giveaways expected overall.
Free Food, Local Drinks, and a Packed Guest List
The event is free to attend and will feature bites from Alfred's Catering alongside beverages from local partners. The station's report on the mixer notes those beverage partners include Deep Eddy Vodka, Milam & Greene Whiskey, WildGins, High Sign Brewing, and Twin Liquors. Participating groups this year range from major institutions to smaller grassroots nonprofits, including aGLIFF, the Austin Asian American Film Festival, Austin Chamber Music Center, Chorus Austin, Cine Las Americas, Conspirare, Deaf Austin Theatre, and Ground Floor Theatre.
George Preston, CEO of KMFA Classical 89.5, said the mixer provides a sense of community, adding that it connected him to Austin's arts scene when he first arrived in the city. Trevor Scott hosted a preview of the Austin Arts Mixer ahead of Thursday's event. Organizers say the format gives Austinites a chance to discover upcoming theater, dance, film, music, and cultural events while speaking directly with arts programmers about ways to get involved in the city's creative community.
A Studio Named for a Bombing Victim
The mixer's setting carries its own history. KMFA's 130-seat Draylen Mason Music Studio was named in memory of 17-year-old double bassist Draylen Mason, who was killed in the March 2018 Austin package bombings, according to KVUE. Mason had been accepted to UT Austin's Butler School of Music before his death. Funding for the studio was spearheaded by donors Lynne Dobson and Greg Wooldridge, close friends of Mason's family, and the performance hall features a memorial portrait titled Draylen's Symphony by artist Nikkolas Smith, according to EASTside Magazine. In 2022, KMFA created the Draylen Mason Composer-in-Residence program in his honor, selecting Austin cellist and composer Sophie Mathieu as its 2024 fellow. Hoodline previously covered how the station has memorialized Mason through music.
From a Radio Suite to a Community Hub
The mixer's East Austin home reflects a bigger shift for KMFA itself. The nonprofit station, launched on January 29, 1967, after Austin's commercial classical station switched to a pop format, moved into its permanent $10.5 million, 18,000-square-foot facility in late 2020, according to CultureMap Austin. That building tripled the size of KMFA's former leased space on North Lamar Boulevard. The station's headquarters at 41 Navasota Street sits within The Hatchery, a 17.5-acre redevelopment site anchored by the Rebekah Baines Johnson Center for low-income seniors.
That expanded footprint has let KMFA host civic gatherings, co-presentations, and live performances well beyond its radio broadcasts, including this week's Austin Arts Mixer. KMFA now serves roughly 100,000 weekly listeners across Central Texas as one of just a few full-time classical stations in the state, funded through listener contributions and local sponsorships rather than commercial ads. The venue has also hosted other community events, including the recent Black Book Fest, which Hoodline reported on celebrating 20 years at KMFA Studios earlier this summer.
