BRUNSWICK — Bowdoin International Music Festival’s 2013 season will bring together renowned artists and virtuosi from 25 countries to perform great classical music of the past and present.

This year’s theme, Around the World in Forty Days, celebrates the international spirit and reach of music and is the 49th season planned by artistic director Lewis Kaplan.

The Festival Fridays, Wednesday Upbeat! and Monday Sonatas concert series will present concertmasters of three orchestras – David Coucheron (Atlanta), Frank Huang (Houston), and Renee Jolles (Orpheus Chamber) as well as violinists Ilya Kaler and Mikhail Kopelman; cellists Steven Doane, Amir Eldan, and David Requiro; pianists Boris Slutsky, Emma Tahmiziàn, and Peter Basquin.

Also featured will be the Ying and Shanghai Quartets and the Naumburg Trio, composed of three winners of the prestigious Naumburg Award. Many other artists will also appear, including the rising stars of the Bowdoin Virtuosi program.

Festival Fridays

The Bowdoin Festival’s premier Festival Fridays series features resident and guest artists in performances of works by Beethoven, Brahms, Dvo?ák, Fauré, Ives, Mozart, Ravel and others. Highlights will include the Barber Violin Concerto (David Coucheron, soloist), Copland’s A Lincoln Portrait (Senator Angus King, narrator), Brahms’ G Major Sextet, Shostakovich’s Piano Quintet, Saint-Saens’ Piano Concerto #2, Tchaikovsky’s Souvenir de Florence, and string quartets by Beethoven, Brahms, Dvo?ák, and Schumann. Performances by the Bowdoin Virtuosi will include Eric Zuber playing Gershwin, Claire Huangci in the Saint-Saens concerto, and Meta Weiss playing cello in several works. Festival Friday concerts are held each Friday at 7:30 p.m. from June 28 through August 2 at Crooker Theater. Tickets are $40.

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Wednesday Upbeat!

The Wednesday Upbeat! series features a varied repertoire of traditional and modern works performed in an informal atmosphere. The 2013 series will include Schubert’s two-cello Quintet as well as works by Bartók, Brahms, Mahler, Mendelssohn, Prokofiev, Schumann, Stravinsky, composer-in-residence Derek Bermel, and visiting composers William Bolcom and Huang Ruo. Featured artists will include the Ying and Shanghai Quartets and the Naumburg Trio.

Wednesday Upbeat! concerts are held each Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. from June 26 to July 31 at Studzinski Recital Hall. Tickets are $40.

Monday Sonatas

Monday Sonatas present a varied mix of duets and solo performances by Festival artists. Highlights will include Britten’s Cello Suite No. 3 (Steven Doane); Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No. 32 (Eric Zuber); Ravel’s La Valse (Emma Tahmiziàn); Tchaikovsky’s Sleeping Beauty Suite (Claire Huangci); and violin sonatas by Enescu, Greig, Poulenc, Prokofiev, Saint-Saens, Ma Sicong, and Roberto Sierra.

The Monday Sonatas concerts take place at 7:30 p.m. in Studzinski Recital Hall, from July 1 to July 29. Tickets are $40.

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Gamper Festival

The Gamper Festival of Contemporary Music presents works by living composers over a long weekend in late July. Works scheduled for this summer include composer in residence Derek Bermel and visiting composers Kenneth Hesketh, Huang Ruo, and Arlene Sierra. Several premieres will be presented, including works by the Bowdoin Festival’s 6th annual student composition competition winner and several of the gifted resident student composers, all of whom will be present for the performances.

The July 25, 27 & 28 Gamper Festival concerts will be held at 7:30 pm. in Studzinski Recital Hall. Suggested donation is $10.

Bowdoin Festival Extra

Bowdoin Festival Extra presents free lectures, demonstrations, open masterclasses, 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; and Curtis Memorial Library, Thornton Oaks, and Bowdoin College 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 27 through August 2. Suggested donation is $10.

For more information, visit www.bowdoinfestival.org or call 207-725-3895.


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