THE TEMPEST, Bach and More Among Sarasota Music Festival's Week One Highlights

By: May. 23, 2017
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The Sarasota Music Festival is a program of the Sarasota Orchestra, college-age student participants in the Sarasota Music Festival (SMF) attend master classes and coaching sessions, participate in the SMF orchestra, create outreach concerts for the local community and perform chamber music.

The first Sarasota Music Festival events open to the public are Master Classes beginning on June 5, 2017. Costing $5 per class to observe, Master Classes are taught by renowned faculty and offer students the opportunity to learn from experts in a small group setting.


Sarasota Music Festival Week One (June 5 - 11, 2017) Highlights:

§ Artist Showcase 1: ­­­­­The Tempest

Thursday, June 8, 4:30 pm - Holley Hall, Tickets from $27

The first concert of the Festival is composed of well-known moments, and is performed by the Festival faculty featuring Music Director Jeffrey Kahane.

Crowning the program is Gershwin's Three Preludes featuring new SMF faculty member Norman Krieger, the founding artistic director of The Prince Albert Music Festival in Hawaii. The concert ends with faculty artist Clive Greensmith performing Rachmaninoff's Cello Sonata with Kahane.

§ Festival Concert 1: All Bach

Friday, June 9, 8:00 pm - Sarasota Opera House, Tickets from $24

The first mixed faculty/ student chamber concert of the Festival opens with a unique opportunity for a Festival student to perform all six of Bach's Brandenburg Concerti in one evening, in what Kahane calls a "bucket list" experience for people who love classical music.

"This has been done before, but not often, and never, to my knowledge, in a setting where master faculty, rising pre-professional students and orchestra musicians will be collaborating together - most of whom will be meeting each other at the first rehearsal," said Kahane.

§ Saturday Symphony 1: The Triumphant Fifth

Saturday, June 10, 8:00 pm - Sarasota Opera House, Tickets from $24

Under the baton of conductor Jeffrey Kahane, Jasmine Choi, a former Festival student and named one of the "Top 10 Greatest Flutists in History" by Sinfini Magazine in 2015, returns to the Festival as soloist to perform Ibert's Flute Concerto.

Additional program highlights include Faure's Pavane, and Beethoven's Symphony No. 5.

§ Rising Stars 1

Sunday, June 11, 3:00 pm - Holley Hall, Tickets from $10

Festival students perform Chamber works of their choice; repertoire and students to be announced.


For three weeks each June, guest artists and student musicians come together in Sarasota to study and perform chamber music. Nearly 500 students worldwide audition to participate in the Sarasota Music Festival each year, but only 60 are accepted. These students work side-by-side with a group of 45 master faculty musicians.

Co-founded by Paul Wolfe, the Sarasota Music Festival began in 1965 as a one-week event with seven guest mentors. In just two years, the Festival grew to three weeks and drew students from across the United States. In 1984 it was designated by the Florida State Legislature as the "Official Teaching and Performing Festival of the State of Florida."

Now in its first season under Artistic Director Jeffrey Kahane, there are more than 45 guest artists, including many of the festival's own alumni. These masters represent nearly all major American orchestras and a cross-section of renowned music schools, conservatories and institutes of music.

Tickets and additional information about the Sarasota Music Festival are available online at www.sarasotaorchestra.org/festival or by phone (941) 953-3434.

For more than 65 years, the Sarasota Orchestra has been engaging music lovers from around the region, and visitors from around the world. The Orchestra performs more than 125 classical, Pops, education and community engagement concerts each year, and thrives as the oldest continuing orchestra in the state of Florida. Youth programs provide concert experiences for about 10,000 students per year, and includes an extensive youth orchestra program of seven ensembles and about 350 students. The Sarasota Music Festival is a world-renowned performance and teaching festival that attractive young musicians and faculty from across the globe each June.

Pictured: Flutist Jasmine Choi



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