Music Academy Set To Launch Chamberfest
New series promises a startlingly expansive take on chamber music
For Immediate Release June 26, 2008
Contact:
Tim Dougherty
805.695.7908
Santa Barbara, CA – The Music Academy of the West is poised to launch an innovative performance series that will challenge traditional conceptions of chamber music by highlighting the venerable genre's vast – and often overlooked – compositional range. Chamberfest, as the series is known, will include six recitals in its inaugural run as part of the Music Academy's 2008 Summer School and Festival. Featuring Academy Fellows, faculty, and guest artists, the performances will take place at 8 pm Tuesdays in Santa Barbara's Lobero Theatre.
Chamberfest replaces Tuesdays @ 8, the Music Academy's long-running chamber music series at The Lobero. The series hasn't been merely renamed, however. It's been re-conceptualized as a showcase for lesser-known treasures of the chamber repertoire, particularly compositional gems of relatively recent vintage. Series highlights, for instance, will include works by contemporary composers Elliott Carter, Steve Reich, Charles Wuorinen, Einojuhani Rautavaara, Karl Korte, and William Bolcom, the latter of whom will be in residence at the Music Academy from July 28 through August 10. The series also will include pieces by Olivier Messiaen, Pierre Gabaye, Aaron Copland, Rachmaninoff, Sir Arthur Bliss, Max Bruch, Samuel Barber, and Leos Janáček.
Chamber music traditionalists also will be well served, as the 2008 series will include compositions by the likes of Mozart, Bach, Schubert, Haydn, Schumann, Strauss, and Ravel. In addition to Mr. Bolcom and mezzo-soprano Joan Morris (July 29), guest performers will include the famed Takács Quartet (July 14), whose members also will be in residence at the Music Academy this summer.
"Our intention is to present programs that are consistently wide-ranging and that do justice to chamber music's capacity to engage and delight listeners of all tastes," said Richard Feit, vice president for artistic programs and operations at the Music Academy of the West.
The series will kick off Tuesday, July 1, with a program featuring Mr. Bolcom's Graceful Ghost Rag, Messiaen's "Le loriot" and Theme & Variations, Elliott Carter's Caténaires and Wind Quintet, Ravel's Piano Trio in A Minor, and Bach's Trio Sonata in G Major, BWV 1038. Complete series information is below.
Patrons can purchase a series pass, which includes a single ticket to each Chamberfest recital, for $204. Individual tickets cost $38. Patrons save $5 when they buy a single Chamberfest ticket at least seven days prior to a given performance.
The Lobero Theatre is located at 33 East Canon Perdido Street in Santa Barbara. The series is generously supported by Robert W. Weinman and Santa Barbara Bank & Trust.
The Music Academy will present the West Coast premiere of William Bolcom's opera A Wedding, as well as performances by conductor Peter Oundjian and pianist Christopher Taylor as part of the Academy's 61st Summer Festival. The Academy will present 188 events over the course of its 2008 Summer School and Festival, which began June 23 and will conclude on August 16. Additional highlights will include a performance by the Canadian Brass, and conducting turns by Larry Rachleff, George Manahan, Anne Manson, Nicholas McGegan, and Daniel Hege. Featuring the Academy's exceptionally talented Fellows, together with illustrious guest performers and faculty, the events will be presented at the Academy's scenic Miraflores campus and in venues throughout Santa Barbara.
For tickets and information, call 969-8787. Information is also available online at www.musicacademy.org.
Founded in 1947, the Music Academy of the West is among the nation's preeminent summer schools and festivals for gifted young classical musicians. The Academy provides these promising musicians with the opportunity for advanced study and frequent performance under the guidance of internationally renowned faculty artists, as well as guest conductors and soloists. Admission to the Academy is strictly merit based, and Fellows receive full scholarships (tuition, room, and board). Academy alumni are members of major symphony orchestras, chamber orchestras, ensembles, opera companies, and university and conservatory faculties throughout the world. Many enjoy careers as prominent solo artists. Based in Santa Barbara, the Music Academy of the West presents more than 200 public events annually, including performances by faculty, visiting artists, and Fellows; masterclasses; orchestra and chamber music concerts; and fully staged opera. For more information, visit www.musicacademy.org.
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Chamberfest 2008
Tuesday, July 1
WILLIAM BOLCOM Graceful Ghost Rag
MESSIAEN "Le loriot" (Catalogue d'oiseaux, Book I, No. 2)
ELLIOTT CARTER Caténaires
RAVEL Piano Trio in A Minor
ELLIOTT CARTER Wind Quintet
MESSIAEN Theme & Variations
BACH Trio Sonata in G Major, BWV 1038
Tuesday, July 8
EINOJUHANI RAUTAVAARA Playgrounds for Angels
COPLAND Vitebsk
MESSIAEN Quartet for the End of Time
Tuesday, July 15
STEVE REICH New York Counterpoint
MOZART String Quintet in C Minor, K. 406
BARBER Summer Music
CHARLES WUORINEN Spinoff
JANÁCEK Quartet for Strings, No. 2, Intimate Letters
Tuesday, July 22
SCHUBERT Marches caratéristiques
for Piano 4 Hands in C Major, D968B/op. 121,
Nos. 1 and 2
RACHMANINOFF Valse and Romance for Piano 6 Hands
HAYDN Trio for Piano, Violin, and Cello in C Major, Hob. XV:27
KARL KORTE Demiola
RACHMANINOFF Trio Elégiaque No. 1 in G-Minor
DEBUSSY En blanc et noir
Tuesday, July 29
WILLIAM BOLCOM Quintet for Brass
TCHAIKOVSKY Souvenir de Florence
PIERRE GABAYE Récréation
BLISS Conversations
BOLCOM/WEINSTEIN Selections from Cabaret Songs
Tuesday, August 12
STRAUSS Sonatina No. 1 in F, From an Invalid's Workshop
SCHUMANN Piano Trio No. 1 in D Minor, op. 63
BRUCH Eight Pieces for Clarinet, Cello, and Piano
