Virtuoso violinist Midori will present special concerts of Bach’s work for violin on July 1 and 2 to highlight this year’s Bowdoin International Music Festival. (Courtesy of BIMF)
Highlights will include performances by the virtuoso violinist Midori, the Ying and Shanghai Quartets, violist Paul Neubauer, violinists Ray Chen, Frank Huang, Mikhail Kopelman, and Renee Jolles, pianists Emma Tahmizian and Boris Slutsky, and clarinetist Larry Combs. Many other distinguished artists also will appear, including several who will be making their first Maine appearances.
Larry Combs, former principal clarinetist of the Chicago Symphony, will open the festival on June 27 with Debussy’s Premiere Rhapsody in a concert that also includes Paul Neubauer, an artist member of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, and the rising young star Ray Chen.
Neubauer and festival artists will open the Friday series with the Brandenburg Concerto No. 6 on June 29. The Ying Quartet will present Debussy’s String Quartet in G Minor, Op. 35, and Ray Chen and the Festival Orchestra will perform Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto on the same program.
Midori will give a special two-concert performance of all of Bach’s works for solo violin on July 1 and 2 in Crooker Theater.
Five more weeks of concerts will follow — more than 80 concerts in all — including a full range of classical works in the Bowdoin Festival Extra and Artists of Tomorrow concert series, and an exciting weekend of contemporary works in the celebrated Gamper Festival of Contemporary Music.
Festival Fridays
The Bowdoin Festival’s premier Festival Fridays series features resident and guest artists in performances of works by Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, Debussy, Dvorak, Ravel and others.
Major works will include the six Brandenburg Concerti; string quartets by Debussy, Schubert and Beethoven; violin concerti by Tchaikovsky and Beethoven; and Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1.
Featured artists include Paul Neubauer, Liang Wang, Mikhail Kopelman, Randy Bowman, and the Ying and Shanghai Quartets. Soloists include Ray Chen, Ben Kim, Keir GoGwilt, Emma Tahmizian and Boris Slutsky.
Festival Friday concerts are held each Friday from June 29 through Aug. 3 at 7:30 p.m. at Crooker Theater. Tickets are $40.
Wednesday Upbeat!
The Wednesday Upbeat! series features a varied repertoire of traditional and modern works performed in an informal atmosphere.
The 2012 series will include works by Bartok, Brahms, Debussy, Dvorak, Fauré, Kodaly, Ravel and others; and by composers inresidence Derek Bermel and Samuel Adler.
Featured artists will include Ray Chen, New York Philharmonic principal oboe Liang Wang, Cincinnati Symphony principal flutist Randy Bowman, and the Ying and Shanghai quartets.
Wednesday Upbeat! concerts are held each Wednesday from June 27 to Aug. 1 at 7:30 p.m. at Studzinski Recital Hall. Tickets are $30.
Monday Sonatas
Monday Sonatas present a varied mix of duo and solo performances by festival artists. The opening performances of this series, a special two-concert engagement with Midori performing all of Bach’s works for solo violin, will take place in Crooker Theater on July 1 and 2.
All other concerts will be held in Studzinski Recital Hall. Highlights will include Bach’s Goldberg Variations, Suite for Lute in C Minor and Cello Suite No. 6; Debussy’s Cello Sonata and Violin Sonata; and Ravel’s Violin Sonata.
The Monday Sonatas concerts take place at 7:30 p.m. in Studzinski Recital Hall, from July 9 to July 30. Tickets are $30. The July 1 and 2 Midori performances will be held in Crooker Theater to accommodate larger audiences. Special pricing applies: each concert is $40, both concerts are $60.
Gamper Festival
The 2012 Gamper Festival of Contemporary Music will devote one full concert to the memory of the late composer David Gamper, including the world premiere of a work written in his memory by his teacher and mentor, Elliott Schwartz.
Composer Jiping Zhao, the president of the Chinese Musicians Association, will be in residence and will have American premieres of his works performed.
Additional premieres will be presented, including works by Richard Francis; the Bowdoin Festival’s fourth annual student composition competition winner (to be announced in May); and several of the gifted resident student composers, all of whom will be present for the performances.
The July 26, 28 and 29 Gamper Festival concerts will be held at 7:30 p.m.. in Studzinski Recital Hall. Suggested donation is $10.
Extra
Bowdoin Festival Extra presents free lectures, open master classes and concerts, featuring the faculty and students of the festival performing together in a variety of venues.
Locations include Sebasco Harbor Resort; Yarmouth’s First Parish Church; the Harpswell Festival; and Curtis Memorial Library and Studzinski Recital Hall in Brunswick.
Artists of Tomorrow
The Artists of Tomorrow concert series presents solo and chamber music performances by festival students, many of whom have performed in major venues around the world.
Student performances take place on Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday evenings and in special concerts on other days and times in Studzinski Recital Hall.
The series runs from June 28 through Aug. 3. Suggested donation is $10.
For information, visit www.bowdoinfestival.org or call 725-3895 for a free copy of the season brochure.
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