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  • Spencer Myer at Home

    Zoom Cyberspace
    Classical

    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 ...

  • The Life and Music of Kurt Weill

    Zoom Cyberspace
    Education

    Another of Susan Waterfall’s fascinating virtual presentations, this time about Kurt Weill. This gives you an opportunity to learn more before you attend the July 18 Weill concert in Cotton Auditorium. What happens when an impeccably trained young German composer decides he wants a new audience? When a nice Jewish boy starts hanging out with ...

    Free

  • Pine Leaf Boys 2021

    Cotton Auditorium 500 N Harold Street, Fort Bragg, CA, United States
    Around the World

    A smash hit at past Festivals, four-time Grammy-nominated Pine Leaf Boys began as a group of friends getting kicked off the college campus for busking in Lafayette and have made a name for presenting their own inimitable brand of music. Hailing from southwest Louisiana, they are known for their wild shows, thoughtful arrangements and for ...

    $15 – $35

  • Festival String Orchestra 1

    Cotton Auditorium 500 N Harold Street, Fort Bragg, CA, United States
    Classical

    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 ...

    $15 – $35

  • One Life to Live: the Songs of Kurt Weill

    Cotton Auditorium 500 N Harold Street, Fort Bragg, CA, United States
    Classical

    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 ...

    $15 – $35

  • Diego Figueiredo 2021

    Cotton Auditorium 500 N Harold Street, Fort Bragg, CA, United States
    Around the World

    Grammy-nominated guitarist Diego Figueiredo is a virtuoso with an infectious, joyful feeling that will leave you amazed. A brilliant musician who keeps the tradition of the true essence of Brazilian music, and at the same time can be extremely modern and innovative, he is an extraordinary star among the world's greatest jazz guitarists. Figueiredo’s superb ...

    $15 – $35

  • Stephen Prutsman 2021

    Cotton Auditorium 500 N Harold Street, Fort Bragg, CA, United States
    Classical

    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 ...

    $15 – $35

  • Alexander String Quartet 2021

    Cotton Auditorium 500 N Harold Street, Fort Bragg, CA, United States
    Chamber Music

    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 ...

    $15 – $35

  • Hattie and Joe Craven

    Cotton Auditorium 500 N Harold Street, Fort Bragg, CA, United States
    Boogie-Blues-Bluegrass

    The Hattie & Joe Craven Show is a duo project celebrating the value of music making and artful living within, and shared by, families. The presentation features a show curated by a father and his daughter, awakening each other to new possibilities as they each bring their influences to a multi-generational table. The result, is ...

    $15 – $35

  • Festival String Orchestra 2

    Cotton Auditorium 500 N Harold Street, Fort Bragg, CA, United States
    Classical

    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 ...

    $15 – $35

  • Perla Batalla

    Cotton Auditorium 500 N Harold Street, Fort Bragg, CA, United States
    Around the World

    Once a Leonard Cohen back-up singer, singer-songwriter Batalla launched her solo career with Cohen’s encouragement. The Grammy-nominated Batalla has recorded seven albums, written for both film and television, and toured worldwide. In this concert, expect "a mixed program of originals, Leo Cohen, Mexican ballads, maybe some Pete Seeger." Batalla’s gorgeous, rich, contralto voice adds another ...

    $15 – $35

  • Festival Big Band, featuring Kim Nalley

    Cotton Auditorium 500 N Harold Street, Fort Bragg, CA, United States
    Jazz

    This year’s Big Band Night will feature the great Kim Nalley, singing the most popular tunes and arrangements that she has performed over the past number of years. There will be great music, great soloing, and that good old feeling the band has been bringing to its audiences for decades. Whether playing Count Basie, Aretha ...

    $15 – $35

  • Understanding Schubert, with Susan Waterfall

    Zoom Cyberspace
    Education

    Join us for the virtual world premier of Susan Waterfall's Understanding Schubert—an 85-minute video biography, with art and portraits from Schubert’s era as well as 16 recorded musical excerpts, including nine lieder—wherein Waterfall explores the cultural context of Schubert’s life and music, his relationship with Romantic lyric poetry, and his position in the middle-class homes ...

    $10

  • The Life and Art of Claude Debussy, with Susan Waterfall

    Zoom Cyberspace
    Education

    Join us for the exciting premiere of Susan Waterfall’s new film The Life and Art of Claude Debussy. Immerse yourself in the composer’s world, and enhance your experience of the many Debussy offerings in this summer’s Festival: the Festival Orchestra’s Afternoon of a Faun, the Calder’s performance of the String Quartet, Spencer Myer’s Pour le Piano, and the two narrated chamber music concerts Breakfast with Chou-Chou and Sounds and Perfumes of Evening.

    $10

  • Festival Orchestra 1

    Cotton Auditorium 500 N Harold Street, Fort Bragg, CA, United States
    Classical

    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.

    $15 – $35

  • Hills to Hollers

    Cotton Auditorium 500 N Harold Street, Fort Bragg, CA, United States
    Boogie-Blues-Bluegrass

    Super-group Hills to Hollers (Barbara Higbie, Vicki Randle, Laurie Lewis) explores the rich history and intertwined roots of the African-American and white musical traditions of the American south. Vicki Randle, of Mavis Staples, “Tonight Show” and Skip the Needle fame joins Laurie Lewis, two-time bluegrass female vocalist of the year and Barbara Higbie, a Grammy-nominated, ...

    $15 – $35

  • Breakfast with Chou-Chou

    Breakfast with Chou-Chou
    Preston Hall 44867 Main Street, Mendocino, CA, United States
    Chamber Music

    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.

    $15 – $30

  • Business Casual

    Business Casual
    Preston Hall 44867 Main Street, Mendocino, CA, United States
    Boogie-Blues-Bluegrass

    Bay Area vocal band Business Casual explores a wide range of genres including pop, jazz, soul, folk and swing to produce fresh a cappella versions of vintage chart toppers, today's top 40 hits, and award-winning original songs. In 2020, their album, Voices Only Volume 2, hit the airwaves and in 2021, Business Casual won a ...

  • Breakfast with Chou-Chou

    Breakfast with Chou-Chou
    Preston Hall 44867 Main Street, Mendocino, CA, United States
    Chamber Music

    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.

    $15 – $30

  • Business Casual

    Business Casual
    Preston Hall 44867 Main Street, Mendocino, CA, United States
    Boogie-Blues-Bluegrass

    Bay Area vocal band Business Casual explores a wide range of genres including pop, jazz, soul, folk and swing to produce fresh a cappella versions of vintage chart toppers, today's top 40 hits, and award-winning original songs. In 2020, their album, Voices Only Volume 2, hit the airwaves and in 2021, Business Casual won a ...

  • Bululú

    Bululú
    Preston Hall 44867 Main Street, Mendocino, CA, United States
    Around the World

    The vernacular Venezuelan term, bululú, means “a gathering of people with excitement.” The San Francisco Bay Area band launched by Venezuelan-born percussionist Lali Mejia and Mexican string expert and vocalist Jose Roberto Hernandez manifests kindred cultural streams flowing together harmoniously. The nine-piece combo of veteran performers draws on folkloric styles from Venezuelan, Colombian, Chilean, Cuban ...

  • Piano Series: Spencer Myer

    Preston Hall 44867 Main Street, Mendocino, CA, United States
    Classical

    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

    $15 – $35

  • Piano Series: Spencer Myer

    Preston Hall 44867 Main Street, Mendocino, CA, United States
    Classical

    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

    $15 – $35

  • Bululú

    Bululú
    Preston Hall 44867 Main Street, Mendocino, CA, United States
    Around the World

    The vernacular Venezuelan term, bululú, means “a gathering of people with excitement.” The San Francisco Bay Area band launched by Venezuelan-born percussionist Lali Mejia and Mexican string expert and vocalist Jose Roberto Hernandez manifests kindred cultural streams flowing together harmoniously. The nine-piece combo of veteran performers draws on folkloric styles from Venezuelan, Colombian, Chilean, Cuban ...

  • The StepCrew

    Cotton Auditorium 500 N Harold Street, Fort Bragg, CA, United States
    Around the World

    Created by Cara Butler and Jon and Nathan Pilatzke (longtime touring members of The Chieftains), The StepCrew combines Irish, Tap and Ottawa Valley Step dancing, music, and song. The virtuosic cast of 11 dancers and musician, made up of leading performers in today’s Celtic music scene, has appeared on the stages of Celtic festivals all ...

    $15 – $35

  • Festival Orchestra 2

    Cotton Auditorium 500 N Harold Street, Fort Bragg, CA, United States
    Classical

    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.

    $15 – $35

  • Calder Quartet 2022

    Cotton Auditorium 500 N Harold Street, Fort Bragg, CA, United States
    Chamber Music

    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 ...

    $15 – $35

  • Las Cafeteras

    Cotton Auditorium 500 N Harold Street, Fort Bragg, CA, United States
    Around the World

    A Chicano band from East Los Angeles, Las Cafeteras are known for their infectious live performances and music that fuses word and folk music with traditional Son Jarocho, Afro-Mexican music, and zapateado dancing. Remixing roots music and telling modern stories, Las Cafeteras create a vibrant musical fusion with a unique East LA sound. Crossing genres ...

    $15 – $35

  • Jackie Gage

    Jackie Gage
    Preston Hall 44867 Main Street, Mendocino, CA, United States
    Jazz

    Jackie Gage is a jazz singer whose velvety voice, relaxed piano playing, and uplifting songwriting straddle the worlds of jazz, folk, and R&B. Born in San Jose, she relocated to New York City for a few years to immerse herself in a different music scene, and has returned to the Bay Area. A pearlescent, cool-toned ...

  • Sounds and Perfumes of Evening

    Sounds and Perfumes of Evening
    Preston Hall 44867 Main Street, Mendocino, CA, United States
    Chamber Music

    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 ...

    $15 – $30

  • Jackie Gage

    Jackie Gage
    Preston Hall 44867 Main Street, Mendocino, CA, United States
    Jazz

    Jackie Gage is a jazz singer whose velvety voice, relaxed piano playing, and uplifting songwriting straddle the worlds of jazz, folk, and R&B. Born in San Jose, she relocated to New York City for a few years to immerse herself in a different music scene, and has returned to the Bay Area. A pearlescent, cool-toned ...

  • L’apero at Ledford House

    Ledford House Restaurant 3000 CA-1, Albion, CA, United States
    Benefit Events

    Featured wines at this event When there is nothing left to do besides have good food and wine with friends, L’apéro is the part of the day when the French pause and convene for a drink over small plates; after work, before a concert or whatever the evening's activity might be. For many years owners ...

    $75

  • Sounds and Perfumes of Evening

    Sounds and Perfumes of Evening
    Preston Hall 44867 Main Street, Mendocino, CA, United States
    Chamber Music

    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 ...

    $15 – $30

  • Ralph Humphrey and Summit

    Ralph Humphrey and Summit
    Preston Hall 44867 Main Street, Mendocino, CA, United States
    Jazz

    Summit is a group of accomplished musicians playing together for the first time to make music that includes original compositions and classic standards from the Great American Songbook. Legendary drummer Ralph Humphrey will be joined by Mitchel Forman on keyboards, Jerrold Watts Jr. on bass, and Dmitris Mahlis on guitars. Each artist has performed with ...

  • Piano Series: Gloria Cheng

    Piano Series: Gloria Cheng
    Preston Hall 44867 Main Street, Mendocino, CA, United States
    Classical

    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 ...

    $15 – $35

  • Ralph Humphrey and Summit

    Ralph Humphrey and Summit
    Preston Hall 44867 Main Street, Mendocino, CA, United States
    Jazz

    Summit is a group of accomplished musicians playing together for the first time to make music that includes original compositions and classic standards from the Great American Songbook. Legendary drummer Ralph Humphrey will be joined by Mitchel Forman on keyboards, Jerrold Watts Jr. on bass, and Dmitris Mahlis on guitars. Each artist has performed with ...

  • Piano Series: Gloria Cheng

    Piano Series: Gloria Cheng
    Preston Hall 44867 Main Street, Mendocino, CA, United States
    Classical

    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 ...

    $15 – $35

  • Festival Chorale, Chorus and Chamber Orchestra

    Cotton Auditorium 500 N Harold Street, Fort Bragg, CA, United States
    Classical

    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 ...

    $15 – $35

  • Emerging Artists Concert

    Preston Hall 44867 Main Street, Mendocino, CA, United States
    Chamber Music

    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

    $15 – $30

  • Festival Big Band, featuring Kim Nalley

    Cotton Auditorium 500 N Harold Street, Fort Bragg, CA, United States
    Jazz

    According to the San Francisco Chronicle, "Kim Nalley is a vocal powerhouse with pipes to burn and works the stage like she means it." Put her in front of the seasoned Festival Big Band musicians and you have an evening of red-hot jazz, steamy blues, and sexy swing.

    $15 – $35

  • Festival Chorale: All Creatures Great and Small (Preston Hall)

    Preston Hall 44867 Main Street, Mendocino, CA, United States
    Around the World

    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, ...

    $20

  • Festival Chorale: A Jubilant Song

    Preston Hall 44867 Main St., Mendocino, CA, United States
    Classical

    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 ...

    $20

  • Maurizio! The Life and Times of Maurice Ravel

    Preston Hall 44867 Main Street, Mendocino, CA, United States
    Education

    In-person film premier with Susan Waterfall. You’ve heard music by Ravel and probably loved it. You’ve heard random gossip about this secretive composer. Now’s your chance to experience Ravel’s life and music in its historic context. With contemporary art and photographs, and 26 musical excerpts...

    $20

  • Celebration Toast and Dinner

    Tent Concert Hall 45035 Main Street, Mendocino, CA, United States
    Benefit Events

    Celebration! Toast to the Tent We hope you can join us as we return to our Tent Concert Hall. It’s time to joyfully celebrate our amazing Festival community and the ...

    $25 – $125

  • CJ Chenier and the Red Hot Louisiana Band

    Tent Concert Hall 45035 Main Street, Mendocino, CA, United States
    Boogie-Blues-Bluegrass

    CJ Chenier, “The Crown Prince of Zydeco,” was born into an indigenous American culture with a distinctive language and music. The Creole son of Clifton Chenier, he started playing in his father’s band shortly before Clifton died. CJ delivers soulful vocals along with masterful accordion-driven Zydeco and blues. A Grammy-nominated musician and recording artist, CJ ...

    $15 – $55

  • Festival Orchestra 1, with soloists Jessica Fellowes and Katie Kadarauch

    Tent Concert Hall 45035 Main Street, Mendocino, CA, United States
    Classical

    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 ...

    $15 – $45

  • Foxglove, with Gwyneth Moreland

    Foxglove, with Gwyneth Moreland
    Preston Hall 44867 Main Street, Mendocino, CA, United States
    Boogie-Blues-Bluegrass

    Over the past 20 years, Foxglove has established itself as a Mendocino County favorite. The band’s selection of heartfelt originals and carefully curated covers have featured tight harmonies and tasty string-band instrumentation. Gwyneth Moreland, a Mendocino County native, was a teenager when the band was formed. She was immediately adored by Foxglove fans for her ...

    $15 – $30

  • The Steel Wheels

    Tent Concert Hall 45035 Main Street, Mendocino, CA, United States
    Boogie-Blues-Bluegrass

    From their base in Virginia's Blue Ridge Mountains, this acoustic roots music collective has played the most prestigious festivals, listening rooms, and clubs in the world, cementing a reputation as one of the top independent bands. The Steel Wheels give folk, folk rock and Appalachian roots music a modern twist. Their records and performances are ...

    $15 – $45

  • Foxglove, with Gwyneth Moreland

    Foxglove, with Gwyneth Moreland
    Preston Hall 44867 Main Street, Mendocino, CA, United States
    Boogie-Blues-Bluegrass

    Over the past 20 years, Foxglove has established itself as a Mendocino County favorite. The band’s selection of heartfelt originals and carefully curated covers have featured tight harmonies and tasty string-band instrumentation. Gwyneth Moreland, a Mendocino County native, was a teenager when the band was formed. She was immediately adored by Foxglove fans for her ...

    $15 – $30