Festival Preview - Classical

Savannah Music Festival wows again with its eclectic 2011 program

fpadmin2 — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 02:01:02 +0000

The Savannah Music Festival showed what makes it one of the most interesting North American music festivals when it announced the bulk of its schedule and lineup for the 2011 festival, running March 24-April 9 in multiple venues around Savannah GA.

As it is each year, the program is strong in a wide range of genres, including classical, acoustic, blues, R&B, jazz and world music. About the only major festival genres not included are mainstream rock and country. The offerings in each musical category, while not as deep as at festivals dedicated to a single style, are generally very appealing.

In bluegrass/Americana, the offerings include Punch Brothers with Chris Thile, The Infamous Stringdusters, Tim O'Brien, and Doyle Alexander & Quicksilver.

Among jazz artists, Bela Fleck with The Marcus Roberts Trio, Dianne Reeves, John Pizzarelli and Jessica Molaskey, and The Ike Stubblefield Trio stand out.

The R&B and blues categories bring in Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings, Allen Toussaint, Maceo Parker, James Hunter and James Cotton, among others.

Ravinia releases monster summer lineup of popular and classical music

fpadmin2 — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 01:56:43 +0000

Ravinia Festival, the Chicago area concert series that claims to be America's longest running music festival, announced its popular music schedule, supplementing the previously released Chicago Symphony Orchestra repertory season schedule.

The most in-demand tickets could be for two performances by Sting backed by the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra as well as shows by Crosby, Stills & Nash, Sheryl Crow, and Carrie Underwood.

But there are a huge number of major stars in every popular music genre, including Backstreet Boys, Big Head Todd And The Monsters, Bobby McFerrin, Buddy Guy, Cheap Trick, Colbie Caillat, Dave Brubeck Quartet, Earth, Wind & Fire, Garrison Keillor, George Benson, Jethro Tull, John Hiatt & The Combo, Nancy Wilson, Nelly Furtado, Peter and Paul, Poi Dog Pondering, Procol Harum, Sheryl Crow, Soulive, Squeeze, Steve Martin and The Steep Canyon Rangers, The B-52s, The Beach Boys, The Bodeans, The Cat Empire, The Four Tops, The Levon Helm Band, The Moody Blues, The Ramsey Lewis Trio, The Swell Season, The Temptations, Train, and Vince Gill.

Ticketing opens for Tanglewood Jazz

fpadmin2 — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 22:49:39 +0000

Ticket sales opened for the 2010 Tanglewood season, including the Tanglewood Jazz Festival, on February 14. The season begins on June 26 with a live broadcast of Prairie Home Companion with Garrison Keilor and follows with a full schedule of performances by the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Boston Pops throughout July and August. The prestigious summer series also includes a handful of popular music concerts, including a much anticipated joint appearance by James Taylor and Carole King.

The season ends over Labor Day weekend with the annual running of Tanglewood Jazz, featuring performances by Kurt Elling, John Pizzarelli, The Lengendary Count Basie Orchestra and lots more. Reserved seating prices range from $18 to $115; one day lawn passes are priced at $34. For complete information

Pasadena and Vietnam trade musicians for State Department-sponsored fest

jamestaylor2324 — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 23:00:12 +0000

For the Ascending Dragon Music Festival and Cultural Exchange, Pasadena's Grammy-winning Southwest Chamber Music ensemble will travel to perform in Vietnam for three weeks in March, while the city will host musicians from Vietnam for three weeks in April and May.

Check out the festival's webpage for more info.

Spoleto takes chances with diverse 2010 program

fpadmin2 — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 23:35:34 +0000

Spoleto Festival USA reaffirms its place among the most important performance arts festivals with its diverse and risk-taking 2010 season program announced this week.

Lineup posted: Spoleto Festival USA

fpadmin2 — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 23:03:34 +0000

Alisa Weilerstein, Bassekou Kouyate and Ngoni Ba, Brooklyn Rider, Carolina Chocolate Drops, Charleston Symphony Orchestra Chorus, Christian Wolff, Dawn Upshaw, Die Roten Punkte, Emmanuel Villaume, Erik Friedlander, Fabiana Cozza, Geoff Nuttall, Heather Buck, Hsin-Yun Huang, Joe Miller, Joseph Flummerfelt, Julian Lage, Leszek Mozdzer, Lizz Wright, Nailor "Proveta" Azevedo, Neely Bruce, Norma Winstone Trio, Pierre Vallet, Sergei Pavlov, Spoleto Festival USA Orchestra, St. Lawrence String Quartet, Stephen Prutsman, The Colla Marionette Company, The Ebony Hillbillies, Westminster Choir, Wolfgang Rihm

FP Spoleto Festival USA page

Wordle graphic displays 2010's most-booked artists

fpadmin2 — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 20:47:35 +0000

You know how much we like tag clouds at Festival Preview, so we were a sucker to try out the cloudmaker Wordle with our booking data to see how it would look. This graphic displays artists booked as featured performers at multiple 2010 festivals, with the size determined by the number of bookings. The data is current as of January 1, 2010.

View the chart on the Wordle site here.

The first thing you notice is the preponderance of country and bluegrass artists. That is because festivals of those genres announce their lineups earlier than rock festivals and some other categories. We plan to display more charts and rankings of our booking data, so you should see familiar rock names in future displays.

Laguna gets John Williams for 2010

jamestaylor2324 — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 04:12:57 +0000

While he will only be performing a suite from the somber Schindler's List, it will still be quite a treat to see John Williams conducting one of his masterpieces live at the Laguna Beach Music Festival, which runs from January 18 through 24.

Presented by Paul Chihara, who is the head of the film music program at UCLA, the Festival will also feature works by non-contemporary composers Ravel, Beethoven and Shostakovich, and the West Coast premiere of a sonata by Philip Glass.

Besides Schindler's List, The Red Violin and local filmmaker Greg MacGillivray's The Living Sea will get scores to be heard at the 7th annual festival, which will be held at the Hotel Laguna in Laguna Beach.

Visit www.lagunabeachmusicfestival.com for more information.

Lineup posted: Tanglewood

fpadmin2 — Sun, 27 Dec 2009 02:11:31 +0000

Adele Anthony, Alisa Weilerstein, Andreas Haefliger, Anthony Spiri, Arabella Steinbacher, Arlo Guthrie, Ashley Emerson, Audra McDonald, Australian Chamber Orchestra, Benjamin Bagby, Bernarda Fink, Boston Pops Orchestra, Boston Symphony Chamber Players, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Carole King, Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Charles Dutoit, Christoph von Dohnányi, David Zinman, Dawn Upshaw, Ébène String Quartet, Elizabeth Rowe, Emerson String Quartet, Fernando Malvar-Ruiz, music director, Garrick Ohlsson, Garrison Keillor, Gerhard Oppitz, Giancarlo Guerrero, Gil Shaham, Hilary Hahn, James Levine, James Taylor, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Jeremy Denk, John Oliver, John Relyea, John Williams, Jordan Bisch, Joshua Bell, Karen Cargill, Keith Lockhart, Kirill Gerstein, Kristine Jepson, Kurt Masur, Layla Claire, Lisette Oropesa, Ludovic Morlot, Lynn Harrell, Marcus Haddock, Marietta Simpson, Mark Morris Dance Group, Mark Morris, Matthias Goerne, Miguel Harth-Bedoya, Morris Robinson, Nicole Cabell, Peter Serkin, Pierre-Laurent Aimard, Pieter Wispelwey, Pinchas Zuke

Summer Music Festival: Why Not Here?

jamestaylor2324 — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 17:45:08 +0000

A writer for a local news blog based in Shasta County (California) presents a convincing case for having a similar festival to Jackson County (in Oregon)'s Britt Festival in their area:

Why couldnâ€™t we have a similar festival here? Shasta County has no shortage of available outdoor space that could be turned into an amphitheater with parking. Redding is on Interstate 5, which tour buses fly down on their way from Portland to Sacramento, as well as being the crossroads of Highways 299 and 44: easy access for visitors from all parts of Northern California.

Click here to get the whole article.

Free music returns to San Francisco State

jamestaylor2324 — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 09:33:37 +0000

The San Francisco Classical Music writer for examiner.com alerts followers to a free concert series, the Morrison Artists Series, taking place at San Francisco Sate, in early October:

UCSD's Toy Piano Festival is hardly kids' stuff

jamestaylor2324 — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 07:04:50 +0000

A University of California campus hosting a toy instrument festival in one of its libraries? You can bet on it:

Scott Paulson is a local composer and performer who has a knack for making music with toys. While his primary instrument is the oboe â€” he is an oboist for both Orchestra Nova San Diego and the pit orchestra for Lyric Opera San Diego â€” he also demonstrates how toy pianos can be much more than toys. Paulson shows off his skills in the Teeny- Tiny Pit Orchestra, a novelty band that uses many toy instruments.

Paulson has a day job, however. He is the outreach coordinator for the UCSD Arts Library. And he has managed to fuse his love of creative music with the job he enjoys at the university. He is the founder and director of the Toy Piano Festival at UCSD, where the ninth annual event will be presented on September 5.

Mostly Mozart mostly theater and dance in '09

test — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 23:34:06 +0000

In "Lincoln Center Doesn't Sound Very Musical This Year," Anthony Tommasini of the New York Times questions this year's Mostly Mozart program, in which (what he deems as) truly classical music productions are outnumbered by non classical endeavors. In an interview with festival director Nigel Redden, Redden explains that the festival books what is available, relevant to the season's theme, and qualifies as a piece too elaborate to be done during a regular, non-festival season. This year there happened to be an abundance of acts that were not related directly to classical music (ie theater and dance), which is why the season ended up with a somewhat atypical program. Read the article here.

Lose yourself in the music

jamestaylor2324 — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 21:53:29 +0000

Almost everyone has had the enviable pleasure of being moved during a live musical performance. Certain music and musical styles simply possess ingredients that stick to your ribs.Â Drama. Delivery. Style. Soul.
The California International Choral Festival and Competition has all of those elements and more, a biennial event taking place over three days starting June 26 at Cal Polyâ€™s Performing Arts Center in San Luis Obispo.

Tuneful Music Festival is uniquely Ojai

fpadmin2 — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 20:36:02 +0000

For 63 years, theyâ€™ve come â€” along with other music luminaries like Aaron Copland, John Adams, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Michael Tilson Thomas and Simon Rattle â€” to direct the Ojai Music Festival. Many have returned multiple times, because Ojai comes alive for four days each June with innovative music, appreciative audiences and crackling creative energy, all swathed in the townâ€™s momentous pink mountains, citrusy air and other natural artistry.

Music Now festival reschedules Toumani Diabate for June 21

fpadmin2 — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 05:03:28 +0000

After cancelling his appearance at Cincinnati's avant-garde Music Now festival earlier this year, African kora master Toumani DiabatÃ¨ will make it up to Queen City music fans with a solo outdoor performance at the Cincinnati Zoo Amphitheater June 21. The festival, which is said to present "contemporary music and artists that take risks and do not fit neatly into categories," added to its three year history in March with two nights of performances by Kronos Quartet and The Books, and presentation of new works by several compsers including festival curator Bryce Dessner. Tickets for the makeup show are $12 and available from the festival website.

FP Music Now page

Musica Angelica presents "Virtuoso Strings" in Santa Monica

fpadmin2 — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 20:16:42 +0000

Members of Musica Angelica â€“ hailed by KUSC FM Classical Radio as a 'world class baroque orchestra' â€“ taking part in this chamber series performance include violinists Janet Strauss and Neli Nikolaeva; violists Suzanna-Giordano Gignac and Adriana Zoppo; cellist Leif Woodward; Ian Pritchard, on harpsichord; and luteist Daniel Zuluaga.

Louise @ Spoleto Festival USA

test — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 01:47:23 +0000

Our friends at The Cut Company have created a video collage of clips from Gustave Charpentier's opera, Louise, and interviews with attendees who had only positive things to say about the performance.

Directly from Spoleto Festival USA's page for the opera:

Bohemian Paris serves as both the setting and the inspiration for Louise, Gustave Charpentier's ode to freedom and tempestuous young love. Often referred to as the French version of La bohÃ¨me, the story poignantly illuminates the age-old conflict between romantic love and filial loyalty. With more than 30 colorful characters, the opera offers notably beautiful music (foreshadowing the impressionism of Debussy) and lavish sentiment as well as an undercurrent of danger.

Festival del Sole returns for its fourth year featuring Renee Fleming, Robert Redford

test — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 23:50:36 +0000

For nine days in July, the Napa Valley welcomes back the sophisticated sights, sounds, and cuisine of the Napa Valley Festival del Sole, now in its fourth season. Held in various wineries around the Napa Valley, the festival concerts will promote a variety of classical and jazz music and musicians from around the world. This year's big names include RenÃ©e Fleming, Sarah Chang, Leif Ove Andsnes, Antonio Pappano, Nikolaj Znaider, and Conrad Tao. A special dinner held at the Napa Valley Reserve will honor award-winning soprano RenÃ©e Fleming the evening of her festival debut (July 23).

Of significance this year is the teaming up of Robert Redford and Festival del Sole for the Sundance Preserve Benefit concert. The Sundance Preserve is described on its Web site as "a year-round haven for independent thinking, inspired creativity and social change, all in one glorious setting." Following this medieval-themed night at Castello di Amorosa, patrons are invited to dine on the grounds of the Quintessa winery.

Festival del Sole is not only about the auditory art. In conjunction with the Napa Valley Museum and The Society of California Pioneers, the festival will present a visual arts exhibition featuring California's art, history, and culture, viewable at the Napa Valley Museum.

SF Symphony unveils New Schubert and Berg Festival

jamestaylor2324 — Sun, 24 May 2009 02:48:13 +0000

The San Francisco Symphony is soon to open "Dawn to Twilight," a new festival featuring the works-performed by the Symphony's Orchestra along top flight soloists on violin, piano and vocals- of Romantic-era composer Franz Schubert and one of his prime heirs of the Viennese School tradition, Alban Berg.

Chamberâ€™s Master, Leaving the Building

test — Thu, 21 May 2009 20:42:32 +0000

On June 7, when the strains of Schubert's Two Cello Quintet have dissipated and Charles Wadsworth takes his final bow at the Spoleto Festival USA in Charleston, S.C., the classical music world will shift a bit on its axis. After more than three decades as artistic director of the festivalâ€™s chamber music series, Mr. Wadsworth...will no longer imprint his blend of exuberance and erudition on the midday concerts...

Summer Preview: Classical music, dance and art

test — Wed, 13 May 2009 20:20:10 +0000

Rockport Chamber Music Festival (June 4 to July 2). This monthlong classical bash features the St. Lawrence String Quartet, Richard Stoltzman, Marc-Andre Hamelin and the Borromeo String Quartet, among others.

Spoleto Festival USA unveils 2009 poster

test — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 19:00:27 +0000

Officials with Spoleto Festival USA unveiled the 2009 festival poster today. The print features red text over a black-and-white image commissioned by figurative artist Alex Katz.

Katz, an internationally recognized painter and printmaker, was born in Brooklyn, N.Y., in 1927. His work includes large-scale portrait paintings, etchings and prints.

Spoleto offers new ticket specials for budget-minded buyers

test — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 20:16:00 +0000

Fighting the notion that Spoleto Festival USA is expensive and inaccessible, organizers are offering new discounts and emphasizing lower ticket prices that were set with this yearâ€™s tough economy in mind.

The international arts and music festival, which runs from May 22 to June 7, has begun offering weekly deals, such as hotel packages and 15% discounts for select performances. In the coming weeks, those deals will include discounts aimed more toward locals, including ticket specials and combinations based around different themes, spokeswoman Caroline Maas said.

Symphony wraps 2009 Savannah Music Festival

test — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 00:31:10 +0000

The curtain came down on the 2009 Savannah Music Festival on Sunday with the final concert: a marriage of classical music (the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra) and jazz (the Marcus Roberts Trio) in the Johnny Mercer Theatre.

Although precise figures won't be available for several days, organizers pronounced this year's 18-day festival a success.

Festival Mozaic focuses on "world roots" of classical music

fpadmin2 — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 23:26:18 +0000

This isn't your father's Mozart festival. That is, if your dad was a classical music fan who liked to visit the central California coast, he might have attended the San Luis Obispo Mozart Festival any time since 1971, when it began as a modest weekend program. Over the years, especially since master violinist Scott Yoo took over as musical director in 2004, it has grown into one of the West Coast's most important classical festivals.

And as of this year it is not strictly a Mozart festival at all. Renamed Festival Mozaic to match its expansive mission to celebrate all movements and periods of classical music, the festival is being billed as "five centuries of music on the Central Coast." This year's program focuses on "world roots" by exploring how classical music grew out of diverse world cultures.

The composers represented range across centuries and cultures: Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Copland, Grieg, Golijov, Stavinsky and Bartok, among others. The works chosen are more unusual than the composers themselvesâ€”picked because they explore indiginous roots in some way, according to Yoo.

Mainly Mozart Festival announces 2009 Schedule

jamestaylor2324 — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 02:50:33 +0000

The renovated Balboa Theater in Downtown San Diego will play host to the

Mainly Mozart Festival for the second time this year.

The Mainly Mozart Festival is set to roll into its 21st season at San Diego's Balboa Theatre from Saturday, June 6th through the 20th (also a Saturday), and will dip liberally into the repertoire of more modern composers, not just its Enlightenment-era namesake. Notable pieces that are scheduled are John Williams' Obama-inauguration work "Air and Simple Gifts" and a "Suite From The Nutcracker," a set of arrangements of Tchaikovsky's work by Sergei Taneyev and Mikhail Pletnev, with Tchaikovsky works actually outnumbering those of Mozart this year.

To compliment the emphasis on Russian composition, as Rachmaninov and a Stravinsky arrangement of one of the Tchaikovsky pieces, the St. Petersberg String Quartet has been secured to perform at the festival and figures heavily in the schedule, performing on three of the festival's 10 dates.Â

Mainly Mozart focus will be mainly Tchaikovsky

test — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 23:46:32 +0000

It may be Mainly Mozart, but it will be mostly Tchaikovsky for the San Diego festival's 21st season, its second at downtown's Balboa Theatre.

"Following the success of last year's format in which, in addition to our usual emphasis on Mozart, we explored the works of Richard Strauss, the 2009 festival will focus on the music of one of the world's most popular composers, Tchaikovsky," said David Atherton, Mainly Mozart artistic director. "A total of 13 of his works will be performed, some well-known (such as excerpts from 'Swan Lake' and 'The Sleeping Beauty,' as well as the 'Serenade for Strings'), others less so. Fittingly, we have included his homage to Mozart, the orchestral suite 'Mozartiana.'"

Donate to Ravinia and get tickets before they go on sale

test — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 19:43:04 +0000

With names like Lang Lang, Yo-Yo Ma, Carrie Underwood, Diana Krall, and John Legend, many of this year's Ravinia Festival concerts are likely to sell out. Rather than kicking yourself later for missing a ticket purchasing opportunity or paying a scalper too much for a ticket you could have bought sooner and for cheaper, why not make a donation to the not-for-profit festival and have the benefit of knowing you will be able to purchase tickets before they go on sale? For a limited time, those donating $250 or more will be offered the chance to purchase tickets before public sales begin on April 16th. Donations must be made previous to March 30th. Not only are donations tax-deductible, but they also support Ravinia's cause of putting music back into Chicago schools. It's a great way to give back to the community and promote the arts.

A talk with Dianne Reeves

test — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 22:00:19 +0000

No one who saw Dianne Reeves perform at the Lucas during last year's Savannah Music Festival could ever wonder what the phrase "star power" really means.

With a perfect combination of vocal power and warm sensitivity, Reeves interacted seamlessly with her small band, bringing the audience along on a sonic tour of the heart and reinforcing the vibrancy of live jazz to longtime fans and newer listeners alike.