Just in time for you as you plan your summer vacation...
Ok, a shameless plug for a local group. The Texas Festival Institute
at Round Top as been around for 36 years. It was founded by the pianist
James Dick. The performances are excellent. The student orchestra in
past years has sounded like a professional ensemble and often plays with
far more enthusiasm. You can get a sample of the quality of the orchestra
playing on the Albany release of the Symphonies of Benjamin Lees. One
part of the release is devoted to Lees' Etudes for Piano and Orchestra
in a superb peformance by James Dick and the orchestra, conducted by
Robert Spano.
The setting for the concerts is like a beautiful retreat. The town
features lovely antique shops, etc and is about halfway between Houston
and Austin. Yes, it is hot, but the town is on a hill and the temperature
stays relatively cool. The chamber music concerts are often held in a
rustic looking chapel on the grounds. The concert hall is an unbelievable
structure with magnificent acoustics.
No, I don't have any affiliation with the festival, but I do try to
attend the concerts. It is one of those occasions where music plays
center stage. While we don't have the Boston Symphony, it is really
the Tanglewood of the south.
While the founder, James Dick, still maintains a limited concert schedule,
he has devoted most of his professional life to Round Top and Round Top
is one of the few places you can hear him play. He is an amazingly fine
pianist who has devoted his life to the education of young people. For
me, it is always an uplifting experience to be there. I find it to be
a very special place.
CONTACT
Joshua Cumby, Assistant Program Director
(979) 249-3129 phone
(979) 249-5078 fax
[log in to unmask]
ANNOUNCING THE 2006 FESTIVAL-INSTITUTE SUMMER SEASON
The International Festival-Institute at Round Top proudly announces
its 36th Anniversary Season, June 10 - July 15, 2006. During the
six-week Festival season, the Faculty and Young Artists' of The
Festival-Institute will present orchestra and chamber music
concerts, recitals and master classes featuring The Texas Festival
Orchestra and world-renowned performers, conductors and soloists.
All events take place in the 1100-seat Festival Concert Hall and
the historic 1883 Edythe Bates Old Chapel on the pastoral 210-acre
Festival Hill campus, State Highway 237 at Jaster Road in Round
Top, Texas.
For tickets, program and other information visit www.festivalhill.org,
call (979) 249-3129 or write [log in to unmask]
Tickets are available directly on line at
http://festivalhill.org/cgi-bin/online/storepro.php.
TICKETS
* Recitals, Friday evening and Saturday afternoon Chamber Music
Concerts
* Saturday evening Orchestra Concerts (excluding June 10 and
July 15)
* Gala Orchestra Concerts on June 10 and July 15 and the Annual
Patriotic Concert on July 2
* The Annual Young Persons' Concert on June 20, Thursday evening
Young Artist Chamber Music Concerts and all Master Classes
are FREE and open to the public
THE TEXAS FESTIVAL ORCHESTRA
The Texas Festival Orchestra (comprised of Young Artists' who
are selected through a competitive audition process and represent
the United States and several foreign countries) performs in The
Festival Concert Hall Saturdays at 8 PM on June 10, 17, 24 and
July 1, 8 and 15 under the direction of conductors Heiichiro
Ohyama, Gregory Vajda, Pascal Verrot, Edwin Outwater, Grant
Llewellyn and Charles Olivieri-Munroe.
Soloists appearing with the TFO during the 2005 Festival-Institute
season include: pianists James Dick and Eteri Andjaparidze; Brian
Lewis, violin; William VerMeulen, horn; Hakan Rosengren, clarinet;
and Thomas Burritt, percussion.
THE 2006 FESTIVAL-INSTITUTE CHAMBER MUSIC CONCERT SERIES
Faculty and Young Artists of The Festival-Institute join together
for a series of chamber music concerts presented in The Festival
Concert Hall Friday evenings at 8 PM and Saturday afternoons at
3 PM on June 10, 16, 17, 23, 24, 30 and July 1, 7, 8, 14 and 15.
Conductor Marcelo Bussiki and the TFO will perform on Friday,
June 23 at 8 PM with the Best Entrant of the Festival-Institute
Young Artist Concerto Competition.
On Thursday evenings June 15, 22 and 29 and July 6 and 13 at
7:30 PM in the Edythe Bates Old Chapel, The Festival-Institute
presents chamber music concerts featuring talented Young Artists.
These concerts are FREE and open to the public.
SPECIAL CONCERTS AND FEATURE PERFORMANCES
* Saturday, June 17 at 1:30 PM in the Edythe Bates Old Chapel,
violinist Kevork Mardirossian and pianist Lee Phillips present
a duo recital;
* The TFO under the direction of Marcelo Bussiki invites music
lovers of all ages to the Annual Young Persons' Concert on
Tuesday, June 20 at 11 AM;
* Saturday, June 24 at 1:30 PM in the Edythe Bates Old Chapel,
Faculty of The Festival-Institute present one of two `Homage
to Mozart' concerts celebrating the 250th Anniversary of
that composer's birth;
* Saturday, July 1 at 1:30 PM in the Edythe Bates Old Chapel,
Young Artists of The Festival-Institute present a piano
recital;
* Maestro Lawrence Isaacson leads the TFO in the Annual Patriotic
Concert sponsored by Blue Bell Creameries on Sunday, July 2
at 3 PM;
* Sunday, July 9 at 3:00 PM in the Edythe Bates Old Chapel,
pianists James Dick and Eteri Andjaparidze in collaboration
with Young Artists of The Festival-Institute present a program
of music for two pianos;
* Saturday, July 15 at 1:30 PM the TFO Percussion Section
presents a striking program of music for percussion.
For complete program information and all concert dates visit
http://www.festivalhill.org/Calendar/
For Faculty, Soloist and Performer biographies visit
http://www.festivalhill.org/Faculty.html
Karl
|
