La Jolla Music Society has announced that SummerFest 2009 will be held from July 31 to Aug. 23. The nationally-recognized chamber music festival features more than 70 world-class artists and ensembles performing 16 concerts at MCASD Sherwood Auditorium.
SummerFest 2009 will explore the range of chamber music while continuing to promote the creation and performance of modern-day masterworks. Since its inception in 1986, SummerFest has welcomed more than 550 renowned artists and ensembles, four talented artistic directors and nearly a quarter of a million audience members at venues in San Diego and over the airwaves nationwide.
This year's festival highlights include:
- Opening Weekend: Features "Piano Extravaganza" and "Concerto da Camera," led by veteran Music Director Cho-Liang Lin and his world-class artists, goes over-the-top with both crowd-pleasing piano arrangements of popular classical melodies.
- SummerFest Rocks: Premiere of newly commissioned works by the Festival's composers-in-residence: rock musician Stewart Copeland, George Tsontakis, Gunther Schuller and Paul Schoenfield.
- The return of the Composer Series: With three performances dedicated to exploring the prodigious life, music and influences of Felix Mendelssohn starting Aug. 4.
- "An Evening with..." Series: Welcomes a different virtuoso each Wednesday night during the festival. Legendary pianist Menahem Pressler opens the series on Aug. 5.
- SummerFest Explores Different Mediums: With narration from Michael York and the Reverend Eleanor Ellsworth and vocals from Sasha Cooke with masterworks including Strauss' Enoch Arden on Aug. 12, Haydn's 7 Last Words of Christ and Respighi's Il Tramonto on Aug. 16.
- "SummerFest Under the Stars": A free outdoor concert overlooking the Pacific Ocean at the La Jolla Cove on Aug. 13.
- Additional Free Events During the Festival: Including special "Encounters" with SummerFest's composers-in-residence and coaching workshops with the Festival's Fellowship Artists.
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