Juilliard String Quartet to Perform Bach, Berg, and Beethoven at Music Mountain, 6/22

Music Mountain, America's oldest continuing summer chamber music festival, continues its 85th anniversary season with a mid-season benefit concert featuring the acclaimed Juilliard String Quartet on Sunday, June 22nd (3PM) performing a program including works never previously performed at Music Mountain. Also, the weekend welcomes back America's foremost Gilbert & Sullivan repertory ensemble, the New York Gilbert & Sullivan Players, on Saturday, June 21st (6:30PM) with a special pre-concert dinner at The Falls Village Inn (5PM). This weekend's concerts are an example of the world class caliber of talent that will appear at Music Mountain this summer. Chamber, jazz, and country concerts are scheduled thru September 14.

The renowned Juilliard String Quartet comes to Music Mountain on Sunday afternoon for a special mid-season benefit concert. This highly sought-after quartet performs two Music Mountain premieres along with a Beethoven classic. The ensemble will offer the following program: Bach: Contrapunctus I-IV from Art of the Fugue; Berg: Lyric Suite; and Beethoven: String Quartet in C Major, Opus 59#3. The Beethoven was the very first piece ever played at Music Mountain, opening the very first concert on August 22, 1930 piece was first played at Music Mountain's Inaugural concert on August 22nd 1930. One of the most popular of the Beethoven Quartets at Music Mountain, this will be its 38 performance.

Since its inception in 1946, the Juilliard String Quartet's credo has been to "play new works as if they were established masterpieces, and established masterpieces as if they were new." This season the quartet tours North America, from San Francisco to New York, and major European cities including Amsterdam and Vienna, contributing globally to the reputation of The Juilliard School as one of the world's foremost conservatories. In 2011 the Juilliard String Quartet became the first classical music ensemble to be honored by The Recording Academy (the Grammy Awards) with a Lifetime Achievement Award.

Underwritten by an anonymous donor, Saturday evening's twilight series concert will feature The New York Gilbert & Sullivan Players as they journey into the spontaneous and classical world of Gilbert & Sullivan. The Wandr'ing Ministrels, five of NYGASP's top singers, perform a condensed version of the Gilbert & Sullivan classic, The Mikado with costumes, props and staging followed by an elegant concert of favorite G&S scenes and songs, including audience requests from the G&S repertoire performed impromptu!

For the third summer, audience members will be able to attend the pre-concert dinner at The Falls Village Inn. This season, the theme will be a Victorian Dinner ($60 ticket price includes dinner and the Gilbert & Sullivan performance. Seating is Limited. Reservations for dinner must be made by Friday, June 21. 860-824-7126).

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.

Upcoming quartets scheduled to perform include Arianna String Quartet with Daniel Panner, viola (June 29); Dover String Quartet with Jonathan Yates, piano (July 13); Orion String Quartet with Peter Serkin, piano (July 20);Mischa Dichter and Harlem String Quartet (July 27); Penderecki String Quartet with Geoffrey Burleson, piano (August 3).

The Saturday Evening Twilight Series will continue with Jive By Five (June 28); Vince Giordano and The Nighthawks (July 12); Gunsmoke (July 19); Swingtime Big Band (July 26).

Tickets for the mid-summer benefit concert on Sunday, June 22 (3PM) with the Juilliard String Quartet are $60. The second mid-summer benefit concert on Sunday, July 20 with the Orion String Quartet, featuring Peter Serkin, piano are $60. Tickets for the End of Season Benefit Concert & Reception on Sunday, August 31 are $75 and include a voucher for one regularly priced concert in 2015.

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.

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