New Hampshire Music Festival Kicks Off 2014 Summer Season: 'The Romantic Spirit'

The New Hampshire Music Festival (NHMF) presents its 2014 summer season, with a theme of "The Romantic Spirit." The six-week season, running today July 8-August 14, will explore and celebrate the many facets of Romanticism, from the 18th century to the modern day.

The 62nd festival will take place in multiple venues throughout central New Hampshire. The Silver Center at Plymouth State University is the festival's primary venue, where it will offer full orchestra performances on Thursdays and Saturdays, and Tuesday night chamber performances.

"We will not only perform music we all know and love, from a beloved Mendelssohn overture to Tchaikovsky's towering masterpiece, his Fifth Symphony, but we will present new and exciting music, fulfilling our need and desire to keep music a living art form," said NHMF Music Director Donato Cabrera. "We also welcome to the NHMF family Dan Perkins, our new principal guest conductor, who will prepare the chorus for Verdi's epic Requiem."

Highlights of the season include concertos by Vivaldi, Mozart, Piazzolla, Milhaud, Conus, and Copland, and the festival will welcome four internationally renowned soloists to sing Verdi's Requiem. Composer Nathaniel Stookey will be the first contemporary composer in a new concert series called Composer Portraits. Stookey's The Composer is Dead, with the composer himself acting as narrator, and his newly composed overture, Go!, will be featured.

The New Hampshire Music Festival is a six-week summer music festival that honors the tradition of classical music while exploring new artistic paths. The NHMF strives to connect the Lakes Region with an engaging, immersive festival experience by presenting world-class performances, creating strong collaborations with community partners, and offering educational programs to students of all ages. The festival was founded in 1952 as a small chamber orchestra performing on Melody Island in Lake Winnipesaukee and has grown to be a highly-valued community asset. Every summer during July and August, musicians from around the country come to Plymouth to perform well-known classics and contemporary works.

Maestro Donato Cabrera, who had his first season at the helm of the festival in Summer 2013, enjoys an international career as a music director and conductor. Last year, he expanded the festival's orchestral and chamber concerts, and reestablished the family concert series. In addition to his role at NHMF, he is the music director of the California Symphony and Green Bay Symphony Orchestra, and is resident conductor of the San Francisco Symphony (SFS) and the Wattis Foundation Music Director of the San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra (SFSYO).

Bank of New Hampshire is the festival's first lead corporate partner, providing sponsorship for this season. "Bank of New Hampshire is proud to have been a lead supporter of the New Hampshire Music Festival for more than a decade," stated Mark Primeau, President and CEO for Bank of New Hampshire. "The New Hampshire Music Festival provides access to top musicians from all over the United States to enrich the lives of New Hampshire residents."

Subscription sales begin in March 2014 and single ticket sales will start in April 2014. Ticket prices range from $15-$69. More details can be found at www.nhmf.org.

NEW HAMPSHIRE MUSIC FESTIVAL 2014 SUMMER SEASON HIGHLIGHTS

Donato Cabrera, Music Director

Week 1: The German Romantic

TONIGHT, July 8, 8 PM
Chamber Music Series with NHMF Musicians

Thursday, July 10, 8 PM
Opening Celebration
Festival Orchestra
Donato Cabrera, conductor
Mendelssohn: Overture to A Midsummer Night's Dream in E major, Op. 21
Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 21 in C major, K. 467, Frances Renzi, piano
Beethoven: Symphony No. 4 in B-flat major, Op. 60

Sunday, July 13
Jazz Brunch at Wolfeboro Inn

Week 2: A Musical Cornucopia

Tuesday, July 15, 8 PM
Chamber Music Series with NHMF Musicians

Thursday, July 17, 8 PM
Saturday, July 19, 8 PM
Festival Orchestra
Donato Cabrera, conductor
Schreker: Intermezzo, Op. 8
Vivaldi: Bassoon Concerto in E minor, RV 484, Nicolasa Kuster, bassoon
Mason Bates: Icarian Rhapsody
Piazzolla: Four Seasons of Buenos Aires, Jennifer Cho, violin

Friday, July 18, 8 PM
Lincoln Financial Presents
Chamber Concert
Concord Community Music School

Week 3: Composer Portrait-Nathaniel Stookey

Tuesday, July 22, 8 PM
Chamber Music Series with NHMF Musicians

Thursday, July 24, 8 PM
Festival Orchestra
Donato Cabrera, conductor
Stookey: Go!
Milhaud: Concertino d'Hiver, Op. 327, David Loucky, trombone
Stookey: The Composer is Dead, Nathaniel Stookey, composer/narrator

Friday, July 25, 8 PM
Chamber Concert
Wolfeboro Congregational Church

Saturday, July 26, 10 AM
Family Concert
The Composer is Dead

Week 4: The Russian Soul

Tuesday, July 29, 8 PM
Chamber Music Series with NHMF Musicians

Thursday, July 31, 8 PM
Saturday, August 2, 8 PM
Festival Orchestra
Donato Cabrera, conductor
Glinka: Ruslan and Lyudmila Overture
Conus: Violin Concerto in E minor, Yulia Iglinova Milstein, violin
Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 5 in E minor, Op. 64

Week 5: Verdi's Requiem

Tuesday, August 5, 8 PM
Chamber Music Series with NHMF Musicians
and Heidi Melton, soprano

Thursday, August 7, 8 PM
Saturday, August 9, 8 PM
Festival Orchestra and Chorus
Donato Cabrera, conductor
Dan Perkins, director of choral activities
Verdi: Messa di Requiem
Heidi Melton, soprano
Elizabeth Bishop, mezzo-soprano
AJ Glueckert, tenor
James Westman, bass

Sunday, August 10, 8 PM
An Evening with Lisa Vroman - Gala Concert
Broadway and cabaret music featuring soprano Lisa Vroman and the Festival Orchestra

Week 6: Latin Love

Tuesday, August 12, 8 PM
Chamber Music Series with NHMF Musicians

Thursday, August 14, 8 PM
Festival Orchestra
Donato Cabrera, conductor
Falla: The Three-Cornered Hat, Suite No. 1
Copland: Clarinet Concerto, Elizandro Garcia-Montoya, clarinet
Bizet: Carmen Symphony in 12 Scenes
Márquez: Danzón No. 2

Photo of Donato Cabrera by Anastasia Chernyavsky.