Beethoven Festival Reveals 2012 Featured Artists

The International Beethoven Project, headed by Artistic Director George Lepauw, presents its second annual Beethoven Festival: REVOLUTION 2012, Sept. 8-16. Beethoven Festival prides itself on bringing to Chicago for the first time an array of internationally recognized talents, including 19 year old Canadian cellist Stéphane Tétreault, bad boy English pianist James Rhodes, sensational Korean pianist HJ Lim, beloved Swiss violinist Rachel Kolly d’Alba, and the talented Polish composer Mikolaj Gorecki. The National Pastime Theater (941 W. Lawrence Ave, Chicago) will serve as Beethoven Festival’s primary venue and production partner. Festival Passes will be available by the end of July at www.internationalbeethovenproject.com.

Grammy-winning violin superstar James Ehnes will headline the Opening Concert on September 8th, playing with the Beethoven Festival Orchestra under the baton of Maestro Daniel Boico, while the Closing Concert on September 16th will be conducted by prodigious composer-conductor Matthias Pintscher (newly appointed Music Director of the Ensemble InterContemporain of Paris). The Closing Concert will also feature Chicago Maestra Josephine Lee and the Chicago Children’s Choir.

Other top highlighted performers throughout the festival include Chicago favorite Rachel Barton Pine, legendary pianist-scholar Charles Rosen, cellist Amit Peled, the Fine Arts Quartet, and clarinet prodigy Julian Bliss. Jazz pianist Dan Tepfer, composer-pianist Anthony Molinaro, DJ curator Dom Johnson, and over twelve rock, pop, folk and blues groups will be featured in the Festival’s exploratory non-classical programs. All-inclusive of the arts, REVOLUTION 2012 will also showcase a radical art exhibit by in-the-know New York City curator Catinca Tabacaru and a live, multi-media, politicall-infused show directed by artist-activist Bob Ostertag.

Named in recognition of Beethoven’s groundbreaking compositions and admiration for the ideals of the French Revolution, REVOLUTION 2012 is also a reflection of today’s game-changing political and social events’ impact on music and art. Artistic Director George Lepauw states: “We seek to instigate a revolution where art can bring people together and inspire more thoughtful and creatively-engaged citizens of the world. 2012 is a critical year as we continue to define the 21st century: we believe that culture has a primary role to play in promoting peace. This Beethoven Festival is purposely built to be an intensely concentrated, nearly non-stop event blurring the lines between life and performance in ways that encourage positive human relations between audience members and artists, and as an idea to live on beyond the confines of the festival. Beethoven, a believer in human rights and in the power of art to change the world, serves as our greatest inspiration.”

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