As President of Concert Artists Guild and Founder & Artistic Director of Alpenkammermusik Festival, I’m dedicated to fostering artistic excellence, helping musicians turn their craft into sustainable careers, creating engaging multigenerational programs, and ensuring that future audiences stay connected to—and inspired by—the evolving world of classical music.
Arts Leadership and Projects
Concert Artists Guild
Tanya currently serves as President of Concert Artists Guild (CAG), a pioneering nonprofit that supports emerging classical musicians through management, mentorship, and career innovation. A former winner of the CAG International Competition, she brings firsthand experience and conviction to her leadership. Bannister has spearheaded a transformation of the organization—launching a year-round artist selection model, expanding programming with the CAG Conductors Program, and establishing Citizen Musician Training, a series of programs and initiatives that equip artists with entrepreneurial skills to build meaningful, sustainable careers. Under her leadership, CAG has also forged a transatlantic partnership with the Young Classical Artists Trust (YCAT) in London, offering its artists an expanded platform for international exposure and career development.
Alpenkammermusik
Tanya Bannister is a founding partner and Co‑Artistic Director of AlpenKammerMusik, a chamber music festival she helped launch in 2005. The inaugural festival took place in the summer of 2006, and since then it has become a cherished annual summer gathering in the Austrian Alps. Each summer, participants take part in 14 days of immersive rehearsals, coaching, and performances alongside outstanding faculty from institutions like Eastman, Guildhall, Reina Sofía, Concert Artists Guild, Tanglewood, and Juilliard. Set in the picturesque village of Liesing im Lesachtal, Austria, the festival unfolds in an intimate, inspiring environment supported by a deeply engaged local community with a strong, generational folk‑music heritage manifested in active bands, choirs, and traditional music practices.
With globally recognized faculty from institutions like Eastman, Guildhall, Reina Sofia, Concert Artists Guild, Tanglewood, and Juilliard, participants have the unique opportunity to perform alongside their coaches in at least one of their ensembles.
Roadmaps Festival
Roadmaps Festival was an artistic, humanitarian, and cultural initiative founded by five women committed to illuminating current global crises through the arts. Each year, the festival brought together artists, humanitarians, and intellectuals to explore pressing issues via film, music, performance, and discussion. Its mission was to premiere new works that stirred collective consciousness and inspired meaningful action. Among the many significant conversations, topics included responding to conflict through innovations in education and safeguarding the glories of Syrian culture.