Brevard Music Center opens 2015 season

The Brevard Music Center’s 2015 season launches on Saturday, June 20, with a Beethoven program.

Press release from the music center:

The Brevard Music Center (BMC) will open its 2015 season next week on Saturday, June 20, with superstar pianist André Watts and BMC Principal Guest Conductor JoAnn Falletta in an all-Beethoven program. The season concludes on Sunday, August 2, as BMC Artistic Director Keith Lockhart and the BMCO perform Mahler’s powerful Symphony No. 1 – “The Titan.”

“Our 2015 season has something for everyone – world-class soloists and conductors, great pieces from Beethoven to Tchaikovsky to Mahler, old friends and new faces, and so much more,” said Mark Weinstein, BMC President. “For me, the most exciting element is that each and every concert will serve as a spotlight on our mission – teaching and mentoring the most gifted and talented young musicians in the country. I invite everyone to bring a picnic, a bottle of wine, and come experience the beauty of the setting, the majesty of the music, and the thrill and inspiration of our wonderful students.”

EIGHTY PERFORMANCES. SEVEN WEEKS. ONE UNFORGETTABLE SEASON.
The 2015 season features more than 80 performances, including 20 different orchestra programs, four opera productions, wind ensemble, chamber music, new music, recitals and more. In addition to the full range of classical offerings, the 2015 season will include concerts appealing to a range of tastes.

Almost one half of all BMC performances will be presented free of charge. These include concerts by the Brevard Symphonic Winds, opera scenes, student piano recitals, new music concerts, student chamber concerts and recitals, and other special events.

TICKETS
Tickets are on sale now. Lawn tickets for most events start at only $15. With a valid student ID, students 18 and older sit on the lawn free of charge*. Children 17 and under sit on the lawn free of charge* with a paying adult. For more information on 2015 concerts and tickets packages, please visit brevardmusic.org or call the box office at (828) 862-2105. (*excludes BMC Presents performances)

ORCHESTRA
At next week’s June 20th Opening Night, acclaimed pianist André Watts will perform Beethoven’s Fourth Piano Concerto with JoAnn Falletta and the Brevard Music Center Orchestra on a program to include Leonore Overture No. 3 and the Seventh Symphony. André Watts burst upon the music world at the age of 16 when Leonard Bernstein chose him to make his debut with the New York Philharmonic. He has since enjoyed a celebrated 50-year career that has taken him across the globe to concertize with major orchestras and perform in the world’s musical capitals.

In addition to BMC Artistic Director Keith Lockhart and Ms. Falletta, conductors will include: the legendary Swiss conductor Matthias Bamert; Christoph König, Music Director of the Solistes Européens Luxembourg; the exciting young Norwegian conductor Rune Bergmann; and BMC Resident Conductor and recently appointed Music Director of the Charleston Symphony, Ken Lam.

Orchestral repertoire includes Tchaikovsky’s Sleeping Beauty, Shostakovich’s Sixth Symphony, Strauss’s Don Juan, Rachmaninoff’s Second Symphony, Beethoven’s Eroica Symphony, and A London Symphony by Ralph Vaughan Williams. Other guest soloists appearing this season include world-renowned pianist Yefim Bronfman performing Bartok’s Third Piano Concerto, violinist Arnaud Sussmann performing Tchaikovsky’s inimitable Violin Concerto, acclaimed cellist Johannes Moser performing Richard Strauss’s Don Quixote, and Berlin Philharmonic concertmaster and Asheville, NC native Noah Bendix-Balgley performing the Korngold Violin Concerto.

All of the orchestra programs occur in BMC’s open-sided Whittington-Pfohl Auditorium, which creates a special open-air experience for listeners while retaining the sound quality of a concert hall.

OPERA
In 2015 BMC will stage four operas at the Porter Center for Performing Arts on the campus of Brevard College. Three mainstage opera productions will be presented in the Scott Concert Hall: W.A. Mozart’s Così fan tutte; Douglas Moore’s The Ballad of Baby Doe; and Giuseppe Verdi’s Rigoletto. The production of Rigoletto represents the inauguration of an exciting partnership between BMC and the Asheville Lyric Opera (ALO). Performances will take place in both Brevard, at the Porter Center on the campus of Brevard College, and Asheville, at the ALO’s home at the Diana Wortham Theatre, and utilize the forces and talents of both organizations.

In anticipation of its 2016 fully-staged world premiere in Brevard, BMC will present Falling Angel, by North Carolina composer J. Mark Scearce on July 23-25. This “Opera Noir”, filled with hauntingly beautiful melodies and a gripping storyline, represents BMC’s initial collaboration with New York’s Center for Contemporary Opera.

CHAMBER MUSIC AND RECITALS
The 2015 festival includes 12 chamber music concerts, including a performance by the renowned International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE), the return of the internationally-acclaimed Shanghai Quartet, a special performance by the Brevard Camerata, the world premiere of a work by prize-winning composer Reza Vali for trumpet and chamber orchestra, and an array of performances by BMC Artist Faculty members that will please music lovers of any taste.

OTHER CONCERTS
The annual Pendergrast Family Patriotic Pops concert is a beloved Brevard tradition, and it goes off at 2 p.m. on Saturday, July 4 featuring the world-famous Boston Brass. Maestro Kraig Alan Williams will lead the Brevard Symphonic Winds in marches, patriotic songs and other favorites, concluding with the 1812 Overture, complete with live cannon.

On Friday, July 10, the Brevard Sinfonia will present A Night At The Movies. Film buffs and music lovers alike will enjoy hearing themes from Hollywood’s greatest film scores including Ben Hur, Spartacus, Star Wars, Raiders of the Lost Ark, and many others.

On Sunday, July 12, BMC will present Peter Schickele as P.D.Q. Bach, celebrating 50 years of thrilling audiences worldwide with a special family-friendly show – P.D.Q. Bach at 50: As Good As He Ever Was.

BMC PRESENTS
Each year, Brevard Music Center offers special performances to delight and inspire new audiences. On June 30, Grammy Award winners Steep Canyon Rangers (SCR) join the Brevard Sinfonia for the very first time to showcase newly orchestrated SCR music. BMC Resident Conductor Ken Lam will lead the Brevard Sinfonia for a magical evening under the stars that is sure to delight audiences of all ages.

On Tuesday, July 21, Brevard Music Center will present A Celebration of the American Songbook, featuring international opera and Broadway star David Pittsinger in a captivating program highlighting iconic music from South Pacific, Camelot and The Sound of Music, and celebrating the themes of democracy, the American human spirit and the resilience of the United States.

In a special post-season performance, Brevard Music Center will present A Prairie Home Companion with Garrison Keillor on Saturday, August 15. Celebrating the show’s 41st Anniversary, The 2015 America the Beautiful Tour features 2½ hours of Sweet Harmony & Garrison Keillor with singer Sarah Jarosz, Piano Master Richard Dworsky and Fred Newman World’s Greatest SFX Man & The Radio Rhubarb Band with Fiddling Richard Kriehn & Chris Siebold Boy Guitarist, Guy Noir, Private Eye & News from Lake Wobegon & Audience Chorale & Poetry Declamation & Other Classics from 41 Years of Radio History.