Sun Valley Music Festival Announces 2020 Summer Season

Festival Music Director Alasdair Neale and Executive Director Derek Dean today announced the summer programming for the 36th annual Sun Valley Music Festival, which takes place from July 27 to August 19 in the scenic, Rocky Mountain resort city of Sun Valley, Idaho. Since 1985, the Festival has brought together world-class musicians from distinguished orchestras across North America to perform three weeks of free chamber and orchestral concerts each summer. This season's lineup includes a special Beethoven @ 250 series; concerts featuring guest artists Leila Josefowicz, Daniil Trifonov, Orion Weiss, and string trio Time for Three; and-performed by the latter-a triple concerto by Kevin Puts, a Festival co-commission with the Florida Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, and San Francisco Symphony. All Festival performances take place at the state-of-the-art Sun Valley Pavilion amphitheater at 6:30 p.m., except where specified otherwise.

Music Director Alasdair Neale said:

"I'm looking forward to this summer's Festival for so many reasons: the celebration of Beethoven's 250th birthday, for one; the return of Time for Three, for another. Then there's Daniil Trifonov, the sensational pianist who's electrified the world's great concert halls whilst still in his twenties. But most of all I'm looking forward to making music again in the unmatched setting of the Sun Valley Pavilion with my dear friends and colleagues from top orchestras around the country. So many of them-like me-cannot resist the siren song of Sun Valley and the pleasure of performing for our devoted and appreciative audiences each summer!"

Executive Director Derek Dean said:

"After celebrating our 35th anniversary last year-as well as our wonderful Music Director's 25th season with the Festival-we are thrilled to be embarking this summer on our next chapter as the nation's premier festival of free classical music. It is a joy to come together each year with the Sun Valley community, as well as old friends and new faces from all over the country, and share in our mutual love of music amidst the backdrop of quaking aspens and staggering views of the surrounding peaks."

The Sun Valley Music Festival is the largest admission-free, privately supported festival of classical music in the United States. The Festival Orchestra comprises more than 100 musicians from leading ensembles in North America, with more than ten each from the San Francisco and St. Louis Symphonies. Orchestra members hail from more than 45 different ensembles and institutions, including the Chicago, Cincinnati, Dallas, Detroit, Pittsburgh, and Toronto Symphonies; the Cleveland, Louisville, and Minnesota Orchestras; and the Chicago Lyric, Dallas, Houston Grand, and Washington National Opera Orchestras; among many other ensembles. Most musicians stay with host families for the duration of the festival, often forming strong bonds with the Sun Valley community and returning to perform at the festival each year. Orchestra members and guest artists are also active in the educational work of the Festival's Music Institute, which offers a wide range of free music education programs to students of all skill levels and age ranges-from beginners in elementary school to advanced college undergraduates.

Photo credits: Courtesy of Sun Valley Music Festival

 

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