Media coverage

Don't miss the wonderful music festival that WITF hosts, The Next Generation Festival. The tickets are free and performance venues are all around Central PA.
It was delightful to see this in the New York Times yesterday:
May 14, 2006
Classical Music Listings
Mozart, Yes, But Also Much More
By ANNE MIDGETTE
California
CABRILLO FESTIVAL OF CONTEMPORARY MUSIC Santa Cruz, July 29-Aug. 13. The conductor Marin Alsop was in the news last year with her MacArthur fellowship and her designation as music director in Baltimore, but she has been leading the adventurous Cabrillo Festival for 15 years. Highlights this summer include a multimedia piece with a commissioned score by Philip Glass. (831) 420-5260, www.cabrillomusic.org.
FESTIVAL DEL SOLE Napa Valley, July 16-23. Here is a new way for managers to publicize and please their artists: found a festival. IMG Artists, having established the Tuscan Sun Festival in Italy in 2003, is taking the concept to California. The inaugural season features blue-chip performers like Renée Fleming, the Emerson String Quartet and Piotr Anderszewski. (707) 944-1300, www.festivaldelsole.com.
MAINLY MOZART FESTIVAL San Diego, Baja California, Friday-June 24. Mozart goes south of the border, literally, in this festival featuring the Cuarteto Latinoamericano, the Fine Arts Quartet, the British conductor David Atherton and even a black-and-white ball. (619) 239-0100, www.mainlymozart.org.
MUSIC@MENLO Atherton, Palo Alto, July 24-Aug. 11. "Returning to Mozart" is this year's theme at this thoughtfully constructed festival, the brainchild of David Finckel and Wu Han, who lead the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. Concert topics include "Mozart and the 20th Century" and "Mozart and the End of Time," and panels further explore the ubiquitous birthday boy. Information: (650) 330-2030; tickets: (650) 725-2787 www.musicatmenlo.org.
OJAI June 8-11. Osvaldo Golijov continues his triumphant progress through the country. The Atlanta Symphony and Robert Spano take to Ojai some of what they performed at the Golijov festival at Lincoln Center this season: "Ainadamar," "Ayre," "Oceana." Pieces by Cage, Nancarrow and Rzewski, as well as Brazilian jazz, round out the program. (805) 646-2094, www.ojaifestival.org.
SAN LUIS OBISPO MOZART FESTIVAL July 14-23. "Three titans of their times," they are called: this festival has chosen to spotlight not only its namesake but also the centenarian Dmitri Shostakovich and, for good measure, Ludwig van Beethoven. (805) 781-3009, www.mozartfestival.com.
Colorado
ASPEN MUSIC FESTIVAL AND SCHOOL June 21-Aug. 20. In addition to Mozart and Shostakovich, Aspen's music director, David Zinman, leaps onto the birthday bandwagon. This festival celebrates his 70th with a new cello concerto by Kevin Puts, played by Yo-Yo Ma. Christopher Rouse and Marc-André Dalbavie further represent contemporary composers, and minifestivals focus on the lives of past ones, like Shostakovich and Britten. (970) 925-9042, www.aspenmusicfestival.com.
BRAVO! VAIL VALLEY MUSIC FESTIVAL June 28-Aug. 3. Three resident American orchestras set the tone at this mountain festival: the Rochester and Dallas Symphonies and the New York Philharmonic, which does a strongwoman number under the conductors Marin Alsop and Xian Zhang. (877) 812-5700, www.vailmusicfestival.org.
BRECKENRIDGE MUSIC FESTIVAL June 9-Aug. 19. Mozart, of course, is writ large on the program of this year's festival, with everything from opera excerpts to the Requiem; he is also paired with French composers and, in an evening tracing his progress from his beginnings to the final "Jupiter" Symphony, with "Four Last Songs" by Strauss. (970) 547-3100, www.breckenridgemusicfestival.com.
CENTRAL CITY OPERA June 24-Aug. 6. It's hard to believe that it is already time for the golden jubilee of an opera many think of as contemporary: Douglas Moore's "Ballad of Baby Doe" was commissioned by the Central City Opera in 1956. In addition to an anniversary production of this opera, the company is offering a "Don Giovanni," with Jeff Mattsey, Sally Wolf and Emily Pulley, and its first "Coronation of Poppea," with a period orchestra. (800) 851-8175, www.centralcityopera.org.
COLORADO COLLEGE SUMMER MUSIC FESTIVAL Colorado Springs, June 13-July 4. This pleasantly intense teaching festival offers chamber orchestra concerts and recitals by an elite group including Phillip Ying, Fred Sherry and Elizabeth Mann, offering music you don't get to hear every day, from an offbeat Mozart program to Françaix's Octet. A separate new-music symposium takes place from July 13-16. (719) 389-6098, www.artsfestival.coloradocollege.edu.
Connecticut
MUSIC MOUNTAIN SUMMER MUSIC FESTIVAL Falls Village, June 11-Sept. 3. String quartets are a focus of this septuagenarian festival in a picturesque corner of the state; the Chiara, the St. Petersburg and the Shanghai are a few of this summer's featured performers. (860) 824-7126, www.musicmountain.org.
NORFOLK CHAMBER MUSIC FESTIVAL June 10-Aug. 20. For some, this year's centenary celebration belongs to Shostakovich; for the Yale School of Music's summer home, the focus is its performance shed, which will be honored with a gala performance featuring the Dave Brubeck Quartet. (203) 432-1966, www.yale.edu/norfolk.
Idaho
SUN VALLEY SUMMER SYMPHONY July 24-Aug. 14. They're beautiful, and they're free: both the views and the concerts at this orchestral festival, now in its third decade, which opens with several evenings of chamber music. (208) 622-5607, www.svsummersymphony.org.
Illinois
GRANT PARK MUSIC FESTIVAL Chicago, June 14-Aug. 19. With its brand-new pavilion, its central location and free tickets, Grant Park is enjoying a new wave of popularity. Oh, and the music is good too: among the offerings are a South American concert with music by Chávez, Revueltas and Ginastera, and a Mozart Requiem interspersed with Tibetan Buddhist chant. (312) 742-7638, www.grantparkmusicfestival.com.
RAVINIA FESTIVAL Highland Park, May 31-Sept. 16. Suppressed art is a cause championed by James Conlon, Ravinia's music director, who is taking Erwin Schulhoff, a Nazi victim, to the Chicago Symphony. But nothing else about Ravinia is suppressed: this extrovert festival bubbles over with a Zulu opera called "uShaka," as well as "Gypsy," Gershwin and Golijov. (847) 266-5100, www.ravinia.org.
WOODSTOCK MOZART FESTIVAL July 29-Aug. 13. A picture-perfect 19th-century regional opera house is home to this small festival, celebrating its 20th year with Mozart-theme concerts by the pianist Jeffrey Swann, the violinist Mark Peskanov and others. (815) 338-5300, www.mozartfest.org.
Maine
BAY CHAMBER CONCERTS Rockland, Rockport, June 29-Aug. 31. This section of the Maine coast has a long history with chamber music: the Curtis Institute had a summer colony here in the 1930's. Now the vintage Rockport Opera House and the Strand Theater in Rockland present a range of music, from the Baroque to John Coltrane (played by the Turtle Island String Quartet). (207) 236-2823, www.baychamberconcerts.org.
Maryland
RIVER CONCERT SERIES AT ST. MARY'S COLLEGE St. Mary's City, June 16-July 28. A weekly series of free orchestral concerts with varied programming, from Strauss to Mussorgsky to Bernstein, on a green by a river. (240) 895-2024, www.smcm.edu/rcs.
Massachusetts
BANG ON A CAN SUMMER MUSIC FESTIVAL North Adams, July 11-30. This unusual teaching festival is devoted to inquisitive musicians who forge their own paths, as indicated by its faculty; this year the guest composer is Meredith Monk. An exchange program with Central Asia brings in musicians from Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and other places to contribute to the two formal concerts, including a minimarathon, and twice-daily informal performances in the galleries of Mass MoCA. (413) 662-2111, www.bangonacan.org.
MOHAWK TRAIL CONCERTS Charlemont, June 30-July 29. Diminutive yet wide ranging, this five-week series in an old church offers Mozart on a fortepiano, the St. Petersburg Quartet, and the composer-singer husband-wife team of William Bolcom and Joan Morris. (413) 625-9511, www.mohawktrailconcerts.org.
TANGLEWOOD Lenox, June 23-Sept. 3. Romance is writ large at Tanglewood's grounds and in this year's programs of the Boston Symphony: Schoenberg's "Gurrelieder"; Mahler's "Resurrection" Symphony (celebrating the "resurrection" of the orchestra's former music director Seiji Ozawa, returning for the first time since 2002); Strauss's "Elektra" (with the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra, which some call the finest student orchestra in the country). In Ozawa Hall, Garrick Ohlsson will play the complete Beethoven piano sonatas. (888) 266-1200, www.tanglewood.org.
Michigan
PINE MOUNTAIN MUSIC FESTIVAL Upper Peninsula (various locations), June 6-July 15. This itinerant festival serves a large segment of the Upper Peninsula with opera (this year "The Magic Flute"), chamber music (the Bergonzi Quartet, a program of new music) and even orchestral concerts. (906) 482-1542, www.pmmf.org.
Missouri
OPERA THEATER OF ST. LOUIS Saturday-June 25. Opera in English is St. Louis's trademark and, to a lesser degree, English opera. This summer at least offers the American premiere of "Jane Eyre," by Michael Berkeley. Another composer who obligingly wrote in English was Kurt Weill in "Street Scene"; but "The Barber of Seville" and "Hansel and Gretel" will be sung, of course, in translation. (314) 961-0644, www.opera-stl.org.
New Hampshire
MONADNOCK MUSIC July 13-Aug. 25. Subversion hits rural New England; this festival, which has quietly fostered former unknowns like Peter Sellars and Frederick Rzewski, is celebrating its 40th anniversary with a program that includes a focus on Elliott Carter; the requisite Mozart celebration with the pianist Konstantin Lifschitz and others; a pair of deliberately genre-defying concerts; and Schumann programs with Russell Sherman and James Maddalena. (800) 868-9613, www.monadnockmusic.org.
New Jersey
CAPE MAY MUSIC FESTIVAL Friday-June 18. What better summertime fare for music lovers than Bach's Lunches? (Oy vey!) These brief concerts feature members of the Bay Atlantic Symphony, which also plays four full-length concerts, including an appearance with Hilary Hahn. Other featured groups range from the New York Chamber Ensemble to Metropolitan Klezmer. (609) 884-5404, www.capemaymac.org.
New Mexico
SANTA FE CHAMBER MUSIC FESTIVAL July 16-Aug. 21. Premieres by Magnus Lindberg (a young lion) and Leon Kirchner (an older one), and an installation and piece by David Lang, will be the news for some. For others, highlights will include recitals by the sitar player Anoushka Shankar, the pianist Jonathan Biss or the Shanghai Quartet. The repertory ranges from Bach to Michael Tilson Thomas; prices range from expensive to, on Aug. 18, free. (505) 982-1890, www.sfcmf.org.
SANTA FE OPERA June 30-Aug. 26. Some luminaries are testing their orbits in Santa Fe's firmament this summer. Anne Sofie von Otter takes on the heavy role of Carmen, which she interpreted to tremendous effect at Glyndebourne; Natalie Dessay is switching from the Queen of the Night in "The Magic Flute" to her first Pamina. Alan Gilbert, the company's music director, conducts two operas, including Thomas Adès's provocative "Tempest" (remember when Santa Fe commissioned John Eaton's version in 1985?); and the estimable John Fiore leads "Salome." The fifth opera is Massenet's "Cinderella." (505) 986-5955, www.santafeopera.org.
New York City
LINCOLN CENTER FESTIVAL July 10-30. Music, theater and dance lead the way in the 10th season of this internationally minded festival. "Grendel," the first opera by Elliot Goldenthal (directed by his wife, Julie Taymor), arrives here fresh from its premiere in Los Angeles, with Denyce Graves as the Dragon and Eric Owens as Grendel, and choreography by Angelin Preljocaj. Two other brand-new works bear jawbreaking titles: "Eraritjaritjaka" by the Austrian composer Heiner Goebbels and "Ramakien: A Rak Opera" by leading Thai pop and rock musicians. Events hot line: (212) 875-5766, tickets: (212) 721-6500, www.lincolncenter.org.
MOSTLY MOZART FESTIVAL July 28-Aug. 26. It's hard to believe that it has been 40 years, or 250 for that matter. The 250 are the years Mozart has been with us; the 40 the age of the festival bearing his name at Lincoln Center, which has managed in recent years to keep reinventing itself. New commissions this summer include the premieres of a dance by Mark Morris, a violin concerto by Magnus Lindberg and a staging of the unfinished Mozart opera "Zaide" by Peter Sellars; another highlight is "Idomeneo," conducted by William Christie. Events hot line: (212) 875-5766, tickets: (212) 721-6500, www.lincolncenter.org.
PARKS CONCERTS July 10-18 and Aug. 22-Sept. 1. Now here's news: The Metropolitan Opera is moving its parks concerts to late August this year, guaranteeing sweet music — Verdi's "Rigoletto" and "La Traviata" — for the dog days of summer. The New York Philharmonic will perform, as usual, in July, fireworks and all: the whiz kid Xian Zhang conducts most of the concerts, with Marin Alsop taking one in Central Park for Leila Josefowicz's Philharmonic debut. Philharmonic: (212) 875-5709, www.newyorkphilharmonic.org. Met: (212) 362-6000, www.metoperafamily.org.
RIVER TO RIVER FESTIVAL Battery Park, June 1-Sept. 10. The city's vaunted melting pot is reflected in a cornucopia of quality music and dance performances. What is not reflected is New York's high cost of living: the concerts are free. Highlights of what one might call alternative classical include the Bang on a Can marathon, held for the first time in three years, and recitals by the percussionist Svet Stoyanov, the baritone Thomas Meglioranza and the organist Cameron Carpenter. www.rivertorivernyc.com.
SUMMERGARDEN 2006: NEW MUSIC FOR NEW YORK July 9-Aug. 13. The retooled sculpture garden of the new Museum of Modern Art continues to return to the museum's roots by presenting free concerts of contemporary classical (with students from the Juilliard School) and jazz (with musicians from Jazz at Lincoln Center). (212) 708-9491, www.moma.org.
New York State
BARD SUMMERSCAPE / BARD MUSIC FESTIVAL Annandale-on-Hudson, June 29-Aug. 20. Since the opening of Frank Gehry's shining Fisher Center, Bard's annual music festival, this year devoted to Franz Liszt, has become the core of an efflorescence of rare opera and theater, film and music. The main opera this year is "Genoveva" by a Liszt contemporary, Robert Schumann, offset by a triple bill of Offenbach operettas. The music festival offers a remarkable cross section of music by and around Liszt, focusing on virtuosity, opera, politics, the piano and so forth in establishing a context for his work. (845) 758-7900, www.fishercenter.bard.edu.
CARAMOOR INTERNATIONAL MUSIC FESTIVAL Katonah, June 24-Aug. 12. If there's one event not to miss in the New York area this summer, it is the Polish contralto Ewa Podles as Rossini's Tancredi. Will Crutchfield's Bel Canto at Caramoor lives up to its name this year; the other opera is Bellini's "Puritani," with Sumi Jo. Michael Barrett, the festival's director, continues to up the ante across the board: Caramoor has a composer in residence, John Musto; it continues its Extreme Chamber Music series; and it still presents the Orchestra of St. Luke's. (914) 232-1252, www.caramoor.org.
GLIMMERGLASS OPERA Cooperstown, July 7-Aug. 29. Here's a mixed season for you: a premiere by the estimable Stephen Hartke, "The Greater Good," as well as Janacek's "Jenufa," Rossini's "Barber of Seville" and Gilbert and Sullivan's "Pirates of Penzance." This is a glass half empty or half full, whichever way your taste happens to skew. (607) 547-2255, www.glimmerglass.org.
MAVERICK CONCERTS Woodstock, June 17-Sept. 3. Some compelling chamber performers, like the Brentano and Pacifica Quartets, Trio Solisti, the cellist Zuill Bailey and the pianist Simone Dinnerstein, come to this weekend festival, billed as the oldest continuous summer chamber series in the country. (845) 679-8217, www.maverickconcerts.org.
SARATOGA PERFORMING ARTS CENTER June 29-Aug. 13. The Lake George Opera starts the season with "The Barber of Seville," "I Pagliacci" and Rorem's "Our Town." The Philadelphia Orchestra opens its segment with a bang, with Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos and Peter Serkin, and continues with stars including the orchestra's music director, Christoph Eschenbach. The chamber music festival celebrates the birthdays of Mozart, Shostakovich and the pianist André Watts. (518) 587-3330, www.spac.org.
SKANEATELES FESTIVAL Aug. 9-Sept. 2. David Ying, of the Ying Quartet, and the pianist Elinor Freer are the artistic directors of this appealing chamber music festival, featuring performances by the Ying and Daedalus Quartets, as well as Quartetto Gelato, which is not a string quartet at all but variously includes English horn, mandolin and accordion. (315) 685-7418, www.skanfest.org.
North Carolina
BREVARD MUSIC CENTER June 16-Aug. 6. A teaching festival with concerts by students and faculty, tucked in the Blue Ridge Mountains, Brevard this summer features operas ("Così Fan Tutte," "The Merry Widow," "Carmen") and concerts (a Schubertiade, an evening of works by student composers, the soprano Angela Brown). (828) 862-2105, www.brevardmusic.org.
Ohio
CINCINNATI MAY FESTIVAL Friday-May 27. "Earthrise," a new work by Adolphus Hailstork, involves a dialogue between the venerable festival chorus and a Detroit ensemble called the Brazeal Dennard Chorale, which focuses on African-American composers. Also on the program are Carl Orff's "Carmina Burana" and Mozart's "Abduction From the Seraglio," not the most noted choral work but fun. (513) 621-1919, www.mayfestival.com.
CINCINNATI OPERA June 15-July 22. Evans Mirageas, a respected classical administrator, has just taken over as artistic director here, and whether or not he programmed this season himself, it's a nice beginning, with a mix of co-productions, like the New York City Opera's "Étoile," and stars, like Aprile Millo singing "Tosca." One theme is North American tenors: Richard Margison in Verdi's "Masked Ball" and Vinson Cole in Offenbach's "Tales of Hoffmann." (513) 241-2742, www.cincinnatiopera.org.
Oklahoma
OK MOZART FESTIVAL Bartlesville, June 9-17. Based in a concert hall designed by a Frank Lloyd Wright disciple, this Mozart festival is the centerpiece of a host of local events. The violist Paul Neubauer is a soloist in some concerts and the music director of others, including a series of miniconcerts focusing on contemporary work. But Mozart, and fireworks, end the season. (918) 336-9800, www.okmozart.com.
Oregon
OREGON BACH FESTIVAL Eugene, June 30-July 16. Bach meets jazz, when Uri Caine applies a nine-piece group to the "Goldberg Variations," and film, with the American premiere of "The Sound of Eternity," a cinematic response to the B minor Mass (with live accompaniment led by the festival's director, Helmuth Rilling). But Mozart will be on the program as well, with Robert Levin's restorations of the C minor Mass and the Requiem. (800) 457-1486, www.oregonbachfestival.com.
Pennsylvania
WITF NEXT GENERATION FESTIVAL Harrisburg area, June 9-20. Free and slightly funky chamber music is the calling card of this festival, which features the pianist Awadagin Pratt and friends like the cellist Zuill Bailey, the violinist Rachel Barton Pine and other acclaimed (or hot) young artists. (800) 366-9483, www.nextgenerationfestival.org.
South Carolina
SPOLETO U.S.A. Charleston, May 26-June 11. As usual, there are many temptations in Charleston this summer. Nicole Cabell, a young soprano on the fast track, takes on Gounod's Juliette; last year's acclaimed "Don Giovanni" returns under the festival's music director, Emmanuel Villaume; the Dock Street Theater chamber music series continues its popular pace, with a piece by Mozart on each of its 11 programs. And that's not even counting theater and dance. (843) 579-3100, www.spoletousa.org.
Vermont
MARLBORO MUSIC July 15-Aug. 13. The real point of the exercise at this legendary academy is the collaboration between top-flight musicians young and old, carried out in rehearsals during the week. On weekends, the public can hear whatever is ready to be heard; it's usually worth hearing. (215) 569-4690, before June 14; (802) 254-2394, after June 22. www.marlboromusic.org.
VERMONT MOZART FESTIVAL Shelburne area, July 16-Aug. 6. Inspired by the similarity of Vermont's landscape to that of Mozart's Austria, the festival celebrates its namesake with concerts ranging from scenes from "The Magic Flute" to completely un-Mozart-related events, like "The Mikado." (802) 862-7352, www.vtmozart.org.
Virginia
WOLF TRAP NATIONAL PARK FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS Vienna, May 26-Sept. 24. The 35th-anniversary season of this performing-arts complex features everything from Bonnie Raitt to Renée Fleming and the National Symphony Orchestra. The opera company, a training program for young professionals, offers Telemann's "Orpheus," Rossini's "Comte d'Ory" and Mozart's "Marriage of Figaro," as well as a concert performance of Gounod's "Roméo et Juliette." (703) 255-1868 , www.wolftrap.org.
Washington
SEATTLE OPERA Aug. 5-26. Carol Vaness is scheduled to sing the Marschallin in what could be a fine "Rosenkavalier." To make up for the lack of Wagner, Seattle is holding the finals of its first Wagner competition, designed to locate rising singers with big voices, on Aug. 19. (800) 426-1619, www.seattleopera.org.
Wisconsin
PENINSULA MUSIC FESTIVAL Fish Creek, Aug. 1-19. Wisconsin's Door County is one of the gems of the state, and this festival, in its 54th season, goes a little beyond the norm in offering a range of orchestral and chamber works: Berg's Violin Concerto, Bartok's Third Piano Concerto and Bach's B minor mass. (920) 854-4060, www.musicfestival.com.
Wyoming
GRAND TETON MUSIC FESTIVAL Jackson Hole, July 4-Aug. 26. It's more than just a pretty place; this festival has ambition. NPR broadcasts some of its concerts on "Performance Today," and it has a new music director, Donald Runnicles, who will lead the festival orchestra (comprising musicians from around the country) in Mahler's Third Symphony — no slouch — and other works. (307) 733-1128, www.gtmf.org.
Copyright 2006 The New York Times Company