Tag: Music Mountain

Music Mountain Celebrates 85th Concert Season

Concert aficionados from around the country will want to mark their calendars for Music Mountain, America’s oldest continuing summer chamber music festival that is celebrating their 85th concert season this summer through September 14. To commemorate the milestone, Music Mountain located in the scenic Litchfield Hills of Connecticut will continue their season past Labor Day – making the 85th Anniversary Season the longest running season since the 1930s! The summer will include returning chamber ensembles, first time guests and the ever-popular Saturday Evening Twilight Series featuring Jazz, Country, and Folk Music. Concerts are scheduled through September 14.

Music Mountain, photo credit Joan Walden
Music Mountain, photo credit Joan Walden

The Saturday Evening Twilight Series begins on June 14 (6:30PM) with The West Point Alumni Glee Club. Evening concerts continue with New York Gilbert & Sullivan Players (and the first of several pre-concert dinners, June 21); Jive By Five (June 28); The Sharon Playhouse (July 5); Vince Giordano and the Nighthawks (July 12); Gunsmoke (July 19); Swingtime Big Band (July 26); The New Black Eagle Jazz Band (August 2); The Falcon Ridge Folk Festival (August 9); The Galvanized Jazz Band (August 16); Baroque Italian Opera Arias & Duets (August 23); and Michael Berkeley (September 6).

This year, the twilight series will broaden its variety of musical offerings to include folk music, opera and the golden age of Broadway. A special concert of Old Time Country Music by Tater Patch, whose bass player Richard Gordon is a grandson of Jacques Gordon, Music Mountain’s Founder, and the only descendant of the Founder ever to appear at Music Mountain, will also be presented as the final Twilight concert on September 13.

Orion300

Music Mountain’s 85th Anniversary Season will also include their annual Teaching Program — bringing master teachers and aspiring young musicians together. Artistic Director of The Next Festival of Emerging Artists at Music Mountain, composer, c. “America’s leading oboe recitalist,” Humbert Lucarelli returns to Music Mountain for his master Oboe Seminar Sunday, July 20 through Friday, July 25. Returning for the second year, Carol Kastendieck, faculty member at The New York Conservatory for Dramatic Arts, will teach an actors vocal training program in August.

Music Mountain is located in Falls Village, Connecticut on Music Mountain Road, where a short scenic drive will bring you to Gordon Hall atop Music Mountain. Free parking and picnic facilities are available. Food, wine & beer are also available for purchase.

Tickets for the Season Opening Concert & Reception on Saturday, June 7 and End of Season Benefit Concert & Reception on Sunday, August 31 are $75 and include a voucher for one regularly priced concert. Two special mid-summer benefit concerts on Sunday, June 22 with the Juilliard String Quartet and on Sunday, July 20 with Peter Serkin and the Orion String Quartet are $60 per ticket. Pre-concert dinners are $60 and include concert ticket. Chamber Music Concerts are $35 at the door/$30 in advance. Twilight Series Concerts are $30 at the door/$27 in advance. Children ages 5-18 are admitted FREE for ALL CONCERTS when accompanied by a ticket holder (Music Mountain gratefully acknowledges children admission support by the Hellen Plummer Foundation for a gift in memory of James Merrill, Connecticut’s first Poet Laureate).

Saturday Twilight Concerts are at 6:30pm. Chamber Music concerts are at 3pm on Sundays. Group rates and pre season ticket vouchers are available. Discounts apply through participating organizations. For a complete summer schedule, special ticket prices, and to download a ticket order form visit www.musicmountain.org or call 860-824-7126.

For information on Litchfield Hills www.litchfieldhills.com

JanetLeave a comment

Music extravaganza at Music Mountain Aug. 17 & 18

Music Mountain located in the heart of the Litchfield Hills has planned a musical extravaganza this weekend. On Saturday, August 17 at 6:30 p.m. the Galvanized Jazz Band returns to this venue for the 20th year with their high energy, exciting Dixieland, Blues and Stomps.

The Galvanized Jazz Band
The Galvanized Jazz Band

The Galvanized Jazz Band with its sparkplug leader cornet player Fred Vigorito and a group of hard playing skilled and very experienced colleagues will deliver another great show as they have done at Music Mountain for 19 years. This will be their 20th year here and will feature two special guests: Bob Price, banjo and Jim Fryer, trombone.

Dover String Quartet
Dover String Quartet

On Sunday, August 18 at 3 p.m., the Dover String Quartet returns for their second appearance this summer. They bring with them their recent European touring partner Roberto Diaz, a wonderful violist and president of the Curtis Institute, from which all the members of the Dover Quartet graduated.

In keeping with our 2013 theme, they will play 2 pieces seldom played at Music Mountain. The concert opens with the Haydn String Quartet in B Flat Major, Opus 76 # 4, one of the last instrumental pieces that Haydn wrote, which will receive only its 7th Music Mountain performance. The concert will close with Roberto Diaz joining the quartet to play the Mendelssohn Viola Quintet in B Flat Major, Opus 87 for its 2nd Music Mountain performance.

The middle piece is the Beethoven String Quartet in E Minor, Opus 59 # 2. It is performed at Music Mountain regularly and is a basic part of our repertory. One of the three Rasoumovsky quartets, this is the one with the Russian theme from a patriotic hymn in its third movement, the same melody that can be found in the opera Boris Godunov and other works by Russian composers, including the Arensky Quartet for 2 cellos, which was played on August 4.

Tickets
Saturday, August 17, Tickets in Advance: $30 Tickets at the Door: $35
Sunday, August 18 Tickets in Advance: $30, Tickets at the Door: $35

Music Mountain is located in Falls Village, Connecticut, in the northwestern corner of the state, approximately 100 miles or 2 1/2 hours from New York City.

Entrances to Music Mountain Road are on Route 63 near the junction of Route 126, and on Route 7, across from the Housatonic Valley Regional High School From the Route 7 turnoff, bear left at every intersection.
From either entrance, a short scenic drive will bring you to Gordon Hall atop Music Mountain. Free parking and picnic facilities are available. Arrive early, bring a box lunch or dinner and enjoy a stroll around our lovely grounds.

Buy your tickets online at www.musicmountain.org or Call 860.824.7126. For area information www.litchfieldhills.com.

JanetLeave a comment

Music Mountain presents Daedalus String Quartet: August 28th, Country Music Gunsmoke, August 27th and Tempo del Fuoco: August 26th

“America’s Oldest Continuing Summer Chamber Music Festival”

Music Mountain will host a triple play of events this weekend starting with the duo Tempo del Fuoco on Friday, August 26th (8PM), followed by the toe-tappin’ “New York’s Band of the Year,” Gunsmoke on Saturday, August 27th (6:30PM) and the acclaimed Daedalus String Quartet with award-winning pianist, Soyeon Lee on Sunday, August 28th (3PM). All three groups are just a sampling of the 150 artists have graced the stage of Gordon Hall this summer, bringing together chamber, jazz and country music for the first time. Concerts are scheduled to run thru September 4th.

Formed in 2009, Tempo del Fuoco, the guitar and violin duo, recently began work on a project encompassing the development of the tango into their concerts. Their Friday night program will feature: Piazzolla: L’Histoire du Tango, Wallace: El Primero, Schuttenhelm: “When the surface would suffice,” Riley: Cantos Desiertos, and Pujol: Suite Buenos Aires.

Music Mountain’s 1024 square foot dance floor will be hopping when Gunsmoke takes to the stage for a Saturday night of high-energy country and western music. The Fairfield County based band has been named “New York Band of the Year” six consecutive times and was just inducted into the Connecticut Country Music Association Hall of Fame. The audience favorite has opened for many country music superstars including Willie Nelson, Hank Williams Jr., and Alan Jackson. If you love authentic country & western music you won’t be disappointed!

The lauded Daedalus String Quartet returns for an encore performance with Naumburg Award Winner, Soyeon Lee, piano. The quartet will offer a Sunday afternoon program including: the Schubert: Quartettsatz in C Minor, D703, the Beethoven: String Quartet in E Flat Major, Opus 74, and the Brahms: Piano Quartet in G Minor, Opus 25. Daedalus String Quartet has performed in many of the world’s leading music venues in the US, Canada, and Washington D.C., as well as abroad in Amsterdam, Paris, and Japan.

Praised by The New York Times and Washington Post, Soyeon Lee has been joyously received by audiences and critics alike, performing as guest soloist with the London Symphony Orchestra and The Cleveland Orchestra, as well as recital appearances in New York City, Washington D.C., Madrid, and Seoul, Korea.

Located in Falls Village, Connecticut, Music Mountain is located on Music Mountain Road, where a short scenic drive will bring music lovers to Gordon Hall with ample & free parking. Beer and wine are available and, as is the Music Mountain custom, audience members are invited to picnic before the concerts on the scenic grounds.

Ticket prices for the Music Mountain 2011 season are $30 at the door, $27 in advance. (Admission is FREE for those 18 and under.) All concerts begin at 6:30pm on Saturday evenings and 3pm on Sundays, unless otherwise stated. Group rates and pre season ticket vouchers are available. Discounts apply through participating organizations. For a complete summer schedule, special ticket prices, and to download a ticket order form visit http://www.musicmountain.org or call 860-824-7126.

Music Mountain is located 225 Music Mountain Rd, Falls Village, CT.

JanetLeave a comment