International Music Festival
Bowdoin College will fill venues with Romantic period music, offering 80-plus concerts beginning July 1
 
BRUNSWICK — Bowdoin College’s 2009 International Music Festival will present early to late Romantic period music, focusing on Mendelssohn and Haydn and including significant works by Schubert, Tchaikovsky, Dvorák, Beethoven and others.
The festival, a renowned summer study program and concert series held on the college campus since 1964, will also present Bach, Brahms, Mozart, Debussy and others in its Monday, Wednesday and Friday evening artists’ concert series.
Festival artists will celebrate Mendelssohn’s 200th birthday with the Octet, Piano Trios, and Violin Concerto; and Haydn’s 250th anniversary with string quartets and the two cello concerti. They will also perform, in an all-Tchaikovsky program, the 1st Piano Concerto and Souvenir de Florence.
Highlights include performances by the Shanghai and Ying string quartets; the Aeolian Chamber Players; returning favorites Tsuyoshi Tsutsumi, Mikhail Kopelman, Joan Kwuon, Steve Doane, Yehuda Hanani, Emma Tahmiziàn and Igor Begelman; former festival students Tamsin Waley-Cohen and Peng Peng; Martin Perry; and Pulitzer-prize winning composer George Crumb’s weeklong residency at the end of July.
There will be more than 80 concerts, including a full range of classical works in the EuroFest and Artists of Tomorrow concert series, and a long weekend of works by Crumb and his school in the celebrated Gamper Festival of Contemporary Music.
Performances begin July 1 and conclude Aug. 7.
Ticketed concerts are $25 to $35 for adults; many concerts, master classes and other events are presented free of charge. Details and ticket information may be found online at www.bowdoinfestival.org.

Festival Fridays
Featured at 8 p.m. each Friday from July 3 through Aug. 7 will be the festival’s artist faculty and guest artists in performances of the greatest chamber works of Haydn, Mendelssohn and other composers. Location: Crooker Theater. Tickets: $35.

Upbeat!
The celebration of Haydn and Mendelssohn will continue in the Wednesday Upbeat! series featuring a varied repertoire of traditional and modern works. Upbeat! concerts are at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday from July 1 to Aug. 5. Location: Crooker Theater. Tickets: $25 for adults, $5 for students and children (free with adult ticket).
 
Monday Sonatas
Monday Sonatas will present a varied mix of duo and solo sonatas performed by festival artists. Highlights will include Beethoven’s Moonlight and Hammerklavier sonatas, Tsutsumi performing Bach’s Suite for Unaccompanied Cello No. 3 and works by Mendelssohn, Mozart, and Debussy. Monday Sonatas concerts are at 7:30 p.m. from July 6 to Aug. 3. Location:  Studzinski Recital Hall. Tickets: $25.
 
Gamper Festival
The Gamper Festival of Contemporary Music will present works by Crumb in celebration of his 80th birthday and 40-plus-year association with the Bowdoin festival. Five Crumb protégés will present their works, including Offer Ben-Amots, David Crumb, Michael Fiday, Pierre Jalbert and Ricardo Zohn-Muldoon. In addition, premieres will be presented by Gamper Festival Director Simone Fontanelli, Damariscotta resident Richard Francis and several gifted composers selected from the resident students. Gamper Festival concerts will be at 7:30 p.m. July 30 and Aug. 1-2. Location: Studzinski Recital Hall. Suggested donation: $10.
 
EuroFest
These free concerts feature faculty and students performing together July 9-12 at several venues: Bath’s Chocolate Church Arts Center, Harpswell’s Elijah Kellogg Church, Sebasco Harbor Resort; and Curtis Memorial Library, Studzinski Recital Hall and Thornton Oaks in Brunswick.

Artists of Tomorrow
This series features solo and chamber music performances by festival students on Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday evenings as well as in concerts on other days and times. Location: Studzinski Recital Hall. The series runs from July 2 through Aug.7. Suggested donation: $10.
For up-to-date schedule and program information, visit www.bowdoinfestival.org or call 725-3895.