Brevard – A dazzling array of concerts and performers return to the Brevard Music Center this summer. This marks the Center’s first full season of productions in the last two years. The campus will awaken alive with music. Many of the summer performances are held at the 1,800 seat Whittington-Pfohl Auditorium. This venue, with no surrounding walls, allows a delightful breeze as we listen. This summer the doors are open, so we can enjoy your favorite outstanding musical program in Brevard.
The summer Institute did not take place in 2020 but it did take place in 2021 at 25% of capacity. For more than 80 years, the legendary summer music program of Brevard Music Center trains talented young musicians and pairs them on stage with renowned faculty from all over the world. Usually more than 500 gifted students, ages 14 through post-college, come to the Music Center for studying with a distinguished faculty of over 80 artists from the nation’s leading orchestras, colleges, and conservatories. They participate in the camp for seven inspiring weeks as they learn more about what a career in music would be like for them. Beckoning the question: Is this a career they really want to pursue? With total immersion in music for a summer, a student can make a wiser decision about his or her future. Working with and attending performances by principal players from major symphonies, intimate seminars with Grammy-winning composers, workshopping with masterful conductors and soloists, participants take on the reins for mastery. Attending this extraordinary music camp is an opportunity of a lifetime for them.
This year, on Saturday June 18, a prelude gala is being held. The evening begins at 6:00 PM with cocktails and a Silent Auction at the Parker Concert Hall. “A Night in Seville!,” transports those attending across to Spain, celebrating the upcoming 2022 Summer Festival. The opera’s productions of Carmen, The Barber of Seville, and Man of La Mancha will all be featured. More festivities will continue on stage at the Whittington-Pfohl Auditorium for dinner, entertainment, and exciting live auctions; all for supporting the Student Scholarship Fund of Brevard Music Center. An exciting and wonderful beginning to the season. Sponsorship opportunities begin at $650, or single tickets can be purchased for $175. For more information or to buy tickets to this gala, contact the Development and Special Events office at 828 862-2139 or www.specialevents@brevardmusic.org.
Keith Lockhart, Artistic Director, and Brevard Music alumnus, will be returning to Brevard conducting a number of concerts. On Friday, July 1 he conducts Shostakovich Symphony No. 5, including the Bartok Piano Concerto No. 3 with Kirill Gerstein on the piano. However, as Lockhart is also Conductor of the Boston Pops, he must conduct in Boston for the annual July 4th Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular. This event often draws a live audience of more than half a million, with millions more watching on television or live webcast! However, Lockhart returns to Brevard on Wednesday July 27 and at the helm, when the iconic violinist Joshua Bell performs Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto in D major, a much beloved and powerful piece of music. This performance is part of the new Legendary Artist Series and sponsored by doctors Joanne and Tom Parker. Later Lockhart presents Mahler’s 3rd Symphony for the season finale on Sunday, Aug. 7, scored for a large orchestra and featuring women’s and children’s choruses, mezzo-soprano soloist Susan Platts.
Mark Weinstein, the BMC President and CEO, has worked hard lining up such an outstanding number of guest artists for the season. Highlights will include pianist Conrad Tao performing Rachmaninoff’s “Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini” as well as Mussorgsky’s “Pictures at an Exhibition” for opening night Friday, June 24th. There will be an intimate recital, with Joshua Bell and soprano Larisa Martínez, held at the recently constructed Parker Concert Hall on July 26. At this architecturally beautiful Hall overlooking a pond, a number of chamber performances will be held by the BMC’s artist faculty, performing Beethoven’s “Archduke” Trio, Schubert’s “Trout” Quintet, an evening with Lara Downes, Dvořák’s “Piano Quintet,” and Mozart’s “Musical Joke.”
The acoustically acclaimed Porter Center on the Brevard College campus will be the setting for a potpourri of favorite arias, duets and ensemble pieces from the world’s most beloved operas on June 23rd. Productions of full operas: “Carmen,” “Barber of Seville,” “Man of La Mancha” as well as “An Evening with Cole Porter,” being held there later in the summer.
Many light hearted concerts are planned as well, such as a Star Wars: A New Hope in Concert with the Brevard Sinfonia performing John WIlliams Oscar-winning score live to the film or tribute band performing the iconic songs. In addition, a tribute band performing the well-known songs of ABBA, like “Mamma Mia,” “Gimme, Gimmie.” Local favorite, American bluegrass band, Steep Canyon Rangers, returns to the Whittington-Pfohl Auditorium on Tuesday, June 28th. Then for an Independence Day celebration, the BMC Orchestra and Concert Band will play inspirational American music. Kraig Alan Williams will be conducting Tchaikovsky’s “1812 Overture” complete with the sounds of a live cannon, as well as well familiar Sousa marches.
One certainly will want to attend a few of these concerts on this beautiful campus nestled in the Blue Ridge mountains. To have so many musical stars performing in such a heavenly setting should not be missed. There are a number of packages with discounts to chose from when purchasing more than one ticket. Significant discounts are offered from the single ticket price. Lawn seating outside the auditorium is free for children under 18 as well as for students with a valid student ID. A low priced ticket (approx. $30) is available for adults opting for lawn seating. As noted there is an exceptional line-up of symphony, opera, chamber, pops, jazz, country and bluegrass concerts from which to choose all starting in June. For a complete 2022 Brevard Summer Music Festival schedule including dates, times and locations of all performances and events, visit brevardmusic.org. To reach the box office, call 828-862-2130.