July 2022
Festival Orchestra 1 (Cotton Auditorium)
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.
Learn more and get tickets »The Steel Wheels (Cotton Auditorium)
From their base in Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains, roots music collective The Steel Wheels has earned a reputation as one of the top independent bands on the scene today. While 2017’s stunning studio album, Wild As We Came Here, was still ringing in the air, the band released two LPs of live music. Not content to let moss grow under their feet, the Wheels returned to the woods of Maine and the studio-retreat of Sam Kassirer, producer of Wild, to…
Learn more and get tickets »Breakfast with Chouchou (Preston Hall)
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.
Learn more and get tickets »Business Casual (Preston Hall)
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 Contemporary A Cappella Recording Award for Best Funk/Disco Song with “You Make My Dreams.” With the powerful leads, floor-thumping bass, and sizzling beats in this…
Learn more and get tickets »Breakfast with Chouchou (Preston Hall)
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.
Learn more and get tickets »Business Casual (Preston Hall)
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 Contemporary A Cappella Recording Award for Best Funk/Disco Song with “You Make My Dreams.” With the powerful leads, floor-thumping bass, and sizzling beats in this…
Learn more and get tickets »Bululú (Preston Hall)
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 and other Caribbean cultures to showcase such musical styles as tamboreras, calipsos, salsa, cumbias, sambas, and tambores de la costa.
Learn more and get tickets »Piano Series: Spencer Myer (Preston Hall)
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.
Learn more and get tickets »Piano Series: Spencer Myer (Preston Hall)
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.
Learn more and get tickets »Bululú (Preston Hall)
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 and other Caribbean cultures to showcase such musical styles as tamboreras, calipsos, salsa, cumbias, sambas, and tambores de la costa.
Learn more and get tickets »The StepCrew (Cotton Auditorium)
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 over the world.
Learn more and get tickets »Festival Orchestra 2 (Cotton Auditorium)
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.
Learn more and get tickets »Calder Quartet 2022 (Cotton Auditorium)
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. These audience favorites will be paired with evocative new music: Thomas Ades’ “Four Quarters” and Julias Eastman’s “Joy Boy.”
Learn more and get tickets »Las Cafeteras (Cotton Auditorium)
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 and musical borders, they’ve opened for Ozomatli, Aterciopelados, Mexican icons Caifanes and Lila Downs, Colombian superstar Juanes, indie favorites Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros,…
Learn more and get tickets »Jackie Gage (Preston Hall)
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. Pianist Tammy Hall is an accomplished solo artist, bandleader, and composer. Having worked with vocalists Etta James, Kim Nalley, Holly Near, Mary Wilson, and many other notables, Hall…
Learn more and get tickets »Sounds and Perfumes of Evening (Preston Hall)
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 Steinbuck will join her for the En blanc et noir suite for two pianos, and Keisuke Nakagoshi will accompany Silvie Jensen on a selection of…
Learn more and get tickets »Jackie Gage (Preston Hall)
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. Pianist Tammy Hall is an accomplished solo artist, bandleader, and composer. Having worked with vocalists Etta James, Kim Nalley, Holly Near, Mary Wilson, and many other notables, Hall…
Learn more and get tickets »Sounds and Perfumes of Evening (Preston Hall)
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 Steinbuck will join her for the En blanc et noir suite for two pianos, and Keisuke Nakagoshi will accompany Silvie Jensen on a selection of…
Learn more and get tickets »Ralph Humphrey and Summit (Preston Hall)
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 various groups as part of the MMF and in Fort Bragg’s Sequoia Room. Listeners can expect music that is unique, intelligent, exciting and satisfying to…
Learn more and get tickets »Piano Series: Gloria Cheng (Preston Hall)
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 a project of the artist Maya Lin, to build a ‘last memorial’ to the extinction of species on our planet. With “Recombinant,” by Wang Lu…
Learn more and get tickets »Piano Series: Gloria Cheng (Preston Hall)
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 a project of the artist Maya Lin, to build a ‘last memorial’ to the extinction of species on our planet. With “Recombinant,” by Wang Lu…
Learn more and get tickets »Ralph Humphrey and Summit (Preston Hall)
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 various groups as part of the MMF and in Fort Bragg’s Sequoia Room. Listeners can expect music that is unique, intelligent, exciting and satisfying to…
Learn more and get tickets »Festival Chorale, Chorus and Orchestra (Cotton Auditorium)
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 pause, Jenny Matteucci will conduct Festival string players and the Festival Chorus in Vivaldi’s “Gloria,” a joyful hymn of praise in 12 brief movements.
Learn more and get tickets »Emerging Artists Concert (Preston Hall)
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.
Learn more and get tickets »Festival Big Band, featuring Kim Nalley (Cotton Auditorium)
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.
Learn more and get tickets »