The annual recital by the enormously talented young string players from the festival’s Emerging Artists Program is anticipated by all who love chamber music. BUY TICKETS
Featured wines at this performance.Festival Orchestra and Chorus The season finale will feature Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 in G Major; Brahms’ orchestrally-accompanied choral work, Schicksalslied Op. 54; and Beethoven’s great choral Symphony No. 9 in D minor Op. 125, with soloists Shawnette Sulker, Betany Coffland, Christòpheren Nomura, and Alex Boyer. Ticket price includes pre-concert ...
Join the Festival Chamber Chorale in a concert featuring the music of some of America’s greatest composers. Included in the concert are the haunting melodies of Samuel Barber, the edgy harmonies of Norman Dello Joio, choral super-star Eric Whitacre, as well as glimpses into the Mendocino Music Festival’s final concert with foot-stomping selections by Aaron Copland. The featured work will be Randall Thompson's great choral cycle Frostiana. Spend the afternoon basking in our rich American musical heritage.
Opening Night, on July 11: With some scenic aerial footage of the tent site and fun discussions with Festival Orchestra musicians and the makers and shakers of the July season, get yourself a glass of your favorite beverage and feel again the heartening spirit of music in Mendocino. 7:30 PM, at your house. FREE TICKET ...
On July 16, spend some time with Lucia Micarelli. Audience members begged us to bring her back after her stunning concert in 2018. She is an unbelievably talented, eclectic musician whose creativity seems almost limitless. A singer, a violinist, an explorer of styles, her musical life will fascinate you. Her fresh youthfulness spills over into ...
Saturday, July 25, is Closing Night. This night has traditionally featured a large choral work, so we have asked Jenny Matteucci and Daniel Lockert to join us to talk about a singer’s life as well as what is entailed in preparing the chorus for performance. Conductor Mary Chun and Stage Director Elly Lichtenstein will also ...
Pianist Spencer Myer has wowed, inspired and touched Festival audiences many times, and is a warm-hearted and engaging conversationalist. Live from his living room in New York, he’ll give you a glimpse into his insights and process, including the nitty-gritty of practice, and he’ll be glad to answer any questions you might have. You’ll see ...
In the first classical concert, Maestro Allan Pollack will lead the string orchestra in Bach’s richly textured Brandenburg Concerto No. 3; Tchaikovsky’s Serenade for Strings in C Major, his clever and elegant homage to Mozart; and Samuel Barber’s poignant Adagio for Strings, “one of the most universally recognizable pieces of American concert music,” which Barber ...
One of America's most eclectic immigrant composers is the incomparable Kurt Weill, with an array of music ranging from classical to Broadway. Join the Mattlock Duo (Jenny Matteucci and Daniel Lockert) and the Festival Chorale as they explore the breadth of Weill’s works, tracing his journey from the Weimar Republic, through his Paris years, and ...
An enthusiast of the "Progressive" or "Art Rock" genre, and a performer in a couple of "Prog Rock" bands in the late 70s, Stephen Prutsman has been drawn to create solo piano (and fiendishly difficult) transcriptions of several Prog classics. For this short recital he's chosen "Sound Chaser" by YES and GENESIS' "Supper’s Ready." These ...
Celebrating its 40th anniversary this year, the San Francisco-based Alexander String Quartet is widely admired for its interpretations of Mozart, Beethoven, and Shostakovich. The group will play the innovative Haydn String Quartet in C Major, Ravel’s lyrical and virtuosic String Quartet in F, and Shostakovich’s String Quartet No. 7 in F-sharp minor. The seventh of ...
The lively “Hoe-down” from Aaron Copland’s Rodeo will get this show on the road. Maestro Pollack will then lead the Festival String Orchestra in his own composition, Suite for My Sweets, written as a piece celebrating the Festival’s return to live music. Dvořák’s Serenade for Strings in E Major will round out the evening. One ...
Maestro Allan Pollack will open the Festival with The Phoenix, his new composition that celebrates the victory of life over death and hope over despair. Yevgeny Kutik will solo in Prokofiev’s ethereal Violin Concerto No. 1. The concert will conclude with Beethoven’s rhythmic and lively Symphony No. 7.
Join Debussy at the breakfast table with his wife and beloved daughter, Chou-Chou, as his imagination is stirred by the toys in the nursery, the paintings on the wall, and fantasies of sunlit ancient Greece. Susan Waterfall will play the “Children’s Corner” suite, Eric Kritz will join her on the Rhapsody for Clarinet and Piano, and Daniel Lockert will team up with her on Six Épigraphes Antiques. Two sonatas will round out the petit-déjeuner: the darkly humorous Sonata for Cello and Piano, and the magical Sonata for Flute, Harp and Viola.
Audience favorite Spencer Myer returns to play Beethoven Sonata No. 27, Op. 90; Debussy’s Pour le Piano; and Chopin’s “The Four Impromptus.” Two pieces from Enrique Granados’ Goyescas suite—inspired by Goya’s paintings—will complete the program: Los requeibros and El amor y la muerte. CHOOSE SEATS AND BUY
Audience favorite Spencer Myer returns to play Beethoven Sonata No. 27, Op. 90; Debussy’s Pour le Piano; and Chopin’s “The Four Impromptus.” Two pieces from Enrique Granados’ Goyescas suite—inspired by Goya’s paintings—will complete the program: Los requeibros and El amor y la muerte. CHOOSE SEATS AND BUY
Debussy’s symphonic poem, Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun, will take us into Debussy’s charming orchestral music. The mood will change with Mozart’s first orchestral masterpiece, Symphony No. 29. Jennifer Cho and Jonah Kim will be featured in Brahms’ last work for orchestra, the Concerto for Violin and Cello.
Back for a tenth year of sensitive and eloquent playing, the Calder Quartet will perform the Beethoven Quartet Op.18, No. 3, and the Debussy G-minor Quartet for Strings. In addition to these audience favorites we’ll hear the world premiere of Paul Wiancko’s “Climb,” written especially for Calder Quartet. The players…are particularly good at producing a ...
Debussy was interested in writing music that evoked feelings in listeners and in himself, and these pieces showcase his ability to conjure the mysterious atmosphere of night, moonlight, and erotic love, as well as the darker emotions of war and conflict. In this elegant soiree, Susan Waterfall will play two preludes and a waltz, Carolyn ...
The Washington Post called Gloria Cheng “one of the most adventurous interpreters of contemporary music around." Among the pieces she will play this year are “32 Garlands for Steven Stucky,” tributes by a number of composers to their colleague and much-beloved professor/composer, who died unexpectedly in 2016. Stephen Andrew Taylor’s “Seven Memorials” was inspired by ...
The first part of this concert, “All Creatures Great and Small” will feature the Festival Chamber Chorale, directed by Jenny Matteucci, singing a menagerie of music from Renaissance to Contemporary, celebrating our beloved four-legged and winged friends. Includes Rutter’s “All Things Bright and Beautiful,” Tavener’s “The Lamb,” and Copland’s “I Bought Me a Cat.” After a brief ...
The annual concert by the wonderfully talented young string players from the Festival’s Emerging Artists Program is anticipated by all who love hearing accomplished musicians interpret chamber music classics. CHOOSE SEATS AND BUY
Classical composers have always been inspired by animals. Think of orchestral works like Carnival of the Animals by St. Saens or Peter and the Wolf by Prokofiev. In the field of vocal music, the great lieder composers found inspiration in bird flight, the galloping of horses, or the tranquility of the gazelle. The Italian madrigal, ...
The Mendocino Music Festival Chorale will perform a concert celebrating American composers, including music by Aaron Copland, Norman Dello Joio, Gwyneth Walker, and the lovely Frostiana by Randall Thompson. This concert was originally scheduled for 2020 but was cancelled by the pandemic, so the Festival Chorale is particularly excited (one might even say "jubilant") to ...
To begin the classical Festival, Maestro Allan Pollack will lead the orchestra in Shostakovich’s Festive Overture in A Major, Op. 96, an appropriately effervescent opening. Mozart’s joyful Sinfonia Concertante in E-flat Major for violin and viola will feature soloists Fellowes and Kadarauch. The partnership and equality shared by the soloists creates a searingly beautiful sound ...
Susan Waterfall will play Pavane pour un infante défunte, Oiseaux tristes, and Un barque sur l'ocean. She will be joined by Julian Pollack on “Mother Goose Suite.” Jenny Matteucci, soprano, accompanied by Daniel Lockert on piano, will present Cinq mélodies populaires grecques. The Piano Trio in A minor will close out the concert, with Sam ...
Jeffrey LaDeur is known for his rare blend of insight, spontaneity, and approachable, communicative stage presence. He is the founder and artistic director of the San Francisco International Piano Festival and president of the American Liszt Society, San Francisco Bay Area Chapter. Mezzo-soprano Kindra Scharich has been praised by the San Francisco Chronicle for her ...
Concert Version; Guest Conductor Ryan Murray The Barber of Seville, or The Useless Precaution, is an opera buffa in two acts by Gioachino Rossini. Musicologists believe that the music was composed in just under three weeks, although the famous overture was actually recycled from two earlier Rossini operas. Nonetheless, The Barber has proven to be ...
The artists will play John Adams’ Hallelujah Junction for two pianos, named after a small truck stop on US 395 near the California–Nevada border. Pinkham’s Mechanical Transcendence for two pianos tells the story of an android that wishes to become human. Joep Franssens’ Old Songs, New Songs for two pianos will be followed by another ...
Hailed as “imaginative, skillful creators” by the New York Times, the Calder Quartet captivates audiences with its explorations of a broad repertoire, always striving to fulfill the composer’s vision in their performances. The group’s distinctive artistry is exemplified by the musical curiosity they bring to everything they perform. This concert will feature Ravel’s String Quartet ...
Susan Waterfall will play Sonatine. Silvie Jensen, mezzo-soprano, will be joined by Daniel Lockert on piano for Deux melodies hébraïques. Harpist Anna Maria Mendieta will be joined by a small group of string and woodwind players to perform the chamber piece, Introduction et Allegro. On Chansons Madécasses, Silvie Jensen, mezzo-soprano, will be joined by Mindy ...
Allan Pollack will open this concert by conducting his own “Scenes from the Pandemic,” inspired by sounds he heard while sheltering in place on his farm. Stephen Prutsman will play Grieg’s Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 16, the atmospheric tone poem for piano and orchestra. Before the magic has evaporated from that performance, Dvořàk’s ...
Currently based in Germany, American pianist Rachel Breen’s performances have been described as “truly show-stopping” (Gramophone UK), having “a beautiful piano sound and original detail.” She has enjoyed an active and successful competition career and has performed and taught masterclasses world-wide. Breen will put her own stamp on Bach’s Goldberg Variations, Nicolai Medtner’s Sonata Op. ...
The annual concert by the wonderfully talented young string players from the Festival’s Emerging Artists Program is anticipated by all who love hearing accomplished musicians interpret chamber music classics. CHOOSE SEATS AND BUY
The final concert will open with Gabriel Fauré’s Requiem, with the Festival Chorus, and soloists Silvie Jensen, mezzo-soprano; Angela Moser, soprano, and Anders Froehlich, baritone. Fauré wrote of the 1888 work, "Everything I managed to entertain by way of religious illusion I put into my Requiem, which moreover is dominated from beginning to end by ...
The Festival Chorale will present its first concert under the direction of Matthew Evans, including music by Praetorious, J.S. Bach, and Vaughan Williams, followed by a selection of carols, both familiar and unusual. After the concert we’ll celebrate the season and each other next door in Preston Hall, with hot cider and homemade Christmas cookies. ...
The Mendocino Music Festival Chorale will perform a concert celebrating Spring and togetherness. Special treats will be texts read by Susan Maeder; the beloved Biebl Ave Maria; and the Fauré Cantique de Jean Racine, with harpist Anna Maria Mendieta. Other music includes pieces by Florence Price, Randall Thompson, and Ralph Vaughan Williams. Matthew Evans, Director; ...
The opening concert begins with a wild gallop of gauchos over the plains of Argentina in Ginastera’s Estancia. Cellist Evan Kahn is featured in two works, the dramatic Elgar Cello Concerto, which depicts hope for the future after the tragedy and loss of war, and the lovely Elégie by Fauré. Moussorgsky’s grand “Pictures at an ...
American pianist Rachel Breen’s performances have been described as “truly show-stopping” (Gramophone UK) and having “a beautiful piano sound and original detail.” She has enjoyed an active and successful competition career and has performed and taught masterclasses around the world. In this concert Breen will perform Beethoven’s Bagatelles, Opus 126; a “Suite of Miniatures” she ...
Embark on an evening of soul-tinged jazz and fusion, with a look to the future, marbled by intricate glistenings of electronica and hip-hop. This trio, who tours throughout the year with Chris Botti as his rhythm section, features Albion native Julian Pollack on piano and synthesizers, Juilliard-trained Dan Chmielinski on bass and synthesizer, and the ...
Susan Waterfall will accompany mezzo-soprano Silvie Jensen in a selection of songs. She will be joined by Julian Waterfall Pollack for “The Dolly Suite.” Susan will play two of Fauré's most famous works for piano: the Barcarolle No 12 in E-flat Major and the Nocturne No. 6 in D-flat Major. The Sonata for Violin and ...
Mozart’s comic masterpiece shows us what can happen when two sisters and their suitors are tested by a manipulative friend, Don Alfonso. The men accept his wager that their brides-to-be will remain faithful to them, and orchestrate a plot to test that hypothesis: they will be “called away to war,” but will in reality disguise ...
The second Fauré program will feature pianist Jeffrey LaDeur and mezzo-soprano Kindra Scharich in L’hiver a cesse, an exploration of Fauré’s music for voice and piano. Jeffrey LaDeur is known for his blend of insight, spontaneity, and approachable, communicative playing. Mezzo-soprano Kindra Scharich has been praised by the San Francisco Chronicle for her “fearless technical ...
Hailed as “imaginative, skillful creators” by the New York Times, the Calder Quartet captivates audiences with its explorations of a broad repertoire, always striving to fulfill the composer’s vision in their performances. The group’s distinctive artistry is exemplified by the musical curiosity they bring to everything they perform. One of America’s most satisfying—and most enterprising—quartets" ...
An active performer and teacher at the San Francisco Conservatory, Robert Schwartz has recently performed at the Beijing Conservatory, the Vienna International Pianists series, in master classes at the Chautauqua Institution, and at Portland Piano International. Recent performances in the Bay Area have included Mozart and Shostakovich concertos with the San Francisco Chamber Orchestra and ...
Each one a solo artist of distinction, Van Raat and Pinkham join up to make beautiful music together. They will play two-piano pieces by a range of composers: Chick Corea’s “Duet for Two Pianos in Three Parts,” George Gershwin’s “I Got Rhythm Variations,” Vanessa Lann’s “Second Nature,” Frederic Rzewski’s “Winnsboro Cotton Mill Blues,” and William ...
Allan Pollack will conduct his own “From an Ancient Book,” written especially for the Festival Orchestra. The brilliant colors of Stravinsky’s ballet score for “The Firebird” will explode in sparkling music that brought instant success to the composer and has delighted audiences ever since. The concert concludes with perhaps the most beloved of all piano ...
Faure wrote some of his most astonishing music in his late seventies, when he was becoming increasingly deaf. Susan Waterfall will accompany mezzo-soprano Silvie Jensen in Le jardin clos, Stephen Harrison, cello, and Daniel Lockert, piano, will play the Cello Sonata No. 2 in G minor. The program will conclude with the Ives Quartet playing ...
The annual concert by the wonderfully talented young string players from the Festival’s Emerging Artists Program is anticipated by all who love hearing accomplished musicians interpret chamber music classics. CHOOSE SEATS AND BUY
The final concert offers comfort and hope in difficult times. Mozart’s Symphony No. 40, sometimes referred to as the "Great G minor symphony" to distinguish it from No. 25, the only other symphony he wrote in a minor key. It is one of his last works, showing him at his most introspective and thoughtful. The ...
