Harlem String Quartet Kicks Off Music Mountain's 82nd Season, 6/19

America's oldest continuing summer chamber music festival, Music Mountain will celebrate its 82nd anniversary season starting June 19th.  The season will feature sixteen Chamber music concerts, a series of Jazz and Country Music concerts, and a number of special events slated through September 4th. "This summer is about two things - great music and extraordinary quality of performance" stated Music Mountain's board president Nicholas Gordon. "The concerts will feature memorable works that range from those never before played at our yearly festival to audience favorites, heard many times over the years."  Located in the northwest corner of Connecticut in the town of Falls Village, Gordon has again arranged for some of the most exciting talent from around the world to grace the Music Mountain stage-prompting The New Yorker Magazine to acknowledge Music Mountain as "The summer shrine of the String Quartet."

Concert enthusiasts will want to mark their calendars with the Opening Benefit and Reception slated for Sunday, June 19th (3PM) featuring the legendary pianist Misha Dichter in his Music Mountain debut and the acclaimed Harlem String Quartet performing the Schumann: Piano Quintet in E Flat Major, Opus 44 (1842). The Harlem String Quartet will also play the Barber second string quartet, with its wonderful Adagio and their spectacular quartet arrangement of Billy Strayhorn's "Take the 'A' Train."
The overriding theme of the 82nd season will be the music of Beethoven, Schubert and Brahms:  Beethoven, perhaps the greatest of all composers; Schubert, divine melodist and poet of song; and Brahms, the successor to Beethoven, a true immortal, who created music of extraordinary beauty which has never lost its power to move audiences. 

Quartets to appear this coming summer will include the St. Petersburg String Quartet (June 26, July 3, August 21), The Shanghai String Quartet (September 3) & featuring pianist Haochen Zhang - Van Cliburn Gold Medalist (September 4), and The Penderecki String Quartet (July 30 & 31). Other string quartets scheduled include Cassatt (July 10),The Daedalus (July 17) and with pianist Soyeon Lee - Naumburg Award Winner (August 28), The Flux - marking its first performance at Music Mountain - (July 16), Arianna  (July 24),The Amernet (August 6), Colorado (August 7), and Avalon (August 14).  See below for full schedule and check online: www.musicmountain.org.

Assisting artists to be welcomed this season include pianists Misha Dichter (June 19), Pamela Mia Paul - her 21st consecutive year - (July 31), Melvin Chen (August 7), Jonathan Yates (July 24) as well as Music Mountain debut artists Victoria Schwartzman (June 26, July 3), Benjamin Hochman (July 17) and Ursula Oppens (July 10). In addition, cellist Yehuda Hanani will make his Music Mountain debut (August 6) and the brilliant young clarinetist and Avery Fisher Career Grant Award-winner Alexander Fiterstein, will return (July 17). Others to appear include Avery Fisher Award-winning bassoonist Peter Kolkay, horn player Karl Kramer, and bass player Kurt Muroki (July 17). Music Mountain will also welcome soprano Ariana Zuckerman (July 17) and later in the season, her acclaimed mother flutist Eugenia Zuckerman (August 14).

Highlights of the season will include two "all Schubert" concerts. The first will feature the glorious "Shepard on the Rock," "Trout" Quintet and the Octet (July 17), and the other offering will include the magnificent Schubert Cello Quintet and the G Major String Quartet, Opus 161 (August 6).  Another highlight will be the music of Nancarrow, Scelsi and Gosfield played by the Flux Quartet (July 16). Beethoven will frequently be represented with two concerts devoted to his quartets (July 30 & September 3) with more featured in three other concerts. The summer will conclude with Schubert's "Death and the Maiden" played by the Shanghai Sting Quartet at the final concert of the season (September 4).
In addition to the Chamber Series, The Jazz series on Saturday nights at 6:30 will present The South Shore Syncopaters in their Music Mountain Debut (June 25), Swingtime New York (July 2) and Vince Giordano and his Nighthawks in their first Music Mountain appearance (July 9). The Galvanized Jazz Band will return for their 18th appearance at Music Mountain (August 20).

The 2010 Season will also see Music Mountain welcome Country Music to its stage for the very first time.  The inaugural season of Country Music brings the Cajun sensation The Bushwhack Band (July 23) followed by The Whiskey Boys (August 13th) and the award-winning group Gunsmoke (August 27) now celebrating their 25th season.

Hailed by the New York Times --- "for string quartets, Music Mountain is the Place to be," the festival has attracted a long list of famous string quartets and soloists since its founding in 1930 by Jacques Gordon, founder and first violinist of the Gordon String Quartet. With its primary mission of education through the performance of the chamber music literature, specifically, the music for the string quartet, the list of artists who have performed in Gordon Hall reads like a veritable 'who's who' of the chamber music world. Over the years, Music Mountain has gained a reputation for presenting stellar chamber music capturing the attention of  thousands of music lovers to enjoy superb work at "America's Oldest Continuing Summer Chamber Music Festival."  In addition, the live performances in Gordon Hall are recorded for radio and heard in all parts of the United States and around the world. The broadcasts of the Chamber Music concerts are made possible by the generous support of Edward R. Hamilton, Bookseller, Falls Village, CT.

Ticket prices for the 82nd season of Music Mountain are $30 at the door, $27 in advance.  (Admission is FREE for those 18 and under.)  There are also three specially priced concerts in 2011.  The Opening Benefit Concert & Reception and the Closing Benefit Concert & Reception are $75.  The concert on Sunday, July 17 with Schubert's "Shepard on the Rock," "The Trout" Quintet and the Schubert Octet is $60. Concert times are 6:30pm on Saturdays and 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. 

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.