BRUNSWICK – Bowdoin International Music Festival artistic directors David Ying and Phillip Ying will usher in the festival’s 51st season with “Music: The Art of Friendship.” This theme was chosen by the Yings to highlight the many enduring creative connections made throughout the long history of classical music as well as at the Bowdoin Music Festival. Works have been selected for this season’s concert programs to illustrate the creative associations among composers and performers. This summer’s artist roster includes many alumni and longtime faculty members who first performed together at the Bowdoin Festival.
David Ying and Phillip Ying have programmed the 2015 season with diverse repertoire that will highlight the virtuosity of the artists, provide exceptional concert experiences for audiences, and present what David Ying calls “pleasant surprises at every concert.” Audiences can expect to hear beloved classics, rarely- performed masterpieces, and exciting new works in the festival’s seven concert series: Festival Fridays, Monday Showcase, Wednesday Upbeat!, Artists of Tomorrow, Bowdoin Festival Extra, Community Concerts, and the Gamper Festival of Contemporary Music.
Festival Fridays
The Festival’s premier series will feature Beethoven, Brahms, Elgar, Schumann, and works by this season’s guest composers, Chen Yi and Kevin Puts. Guest artists include violinist Jennifer Koh (Tchaikovsky), pianist Peter Serkin (Brahms), and clarinetist John Manasse (Beethoven). Violinists Ilya Kaler and Mikhail Kopelman and cellist Paul Katz will also be featured.
Festival Fridays concerts take place in Crooker Theater at 7:30 p.m., July 3 to Aug. 7, $40.
Monday Showcase
The Dover, Miro, Pacifica and Ying Quartets are showcased in this concert series, performing string quartets and collaborations with other members of the Festival’s faculty. The Dover and Miro Quartets debut as guest artists this summer; some of the members of the two quartets last performed at Bowdoin as students. The festival’s two resident quartets, Ying and Pacifica, return to the Monday series for one full concert each; on another Monday these longtime friends and colleagues will perform octets by Shostakovich and Mendelssohn together. The festival also welcomes the return of pianist and festival mentor Julian Martin in concert with the Dover Quartet.
Monday Showcase concerts take place in Crooker Theater at 7:30 p.m., July 6 to Aug. 3, $40.
Upbeat!
The intimate and informal atmosphere of Studzinski Recital Hall is ideal for the Upbeat! series’ varied repertoire of traditional and modern works. In addition to classics, the Festival’s composition program will be fully represented with works by composer-in-residence Derek Bermel and guest composers Chen Yi and Kevin Puts. The series also features an erhu (traditional Chinese violin), a Brazilian work for eight cellos and one soprano, and music for harp, flute, and clarinet. Old friends will appear in concert together too, as former Ying Quartet first violinist Frank Huang reunites with cellist David Ying and pianist Elinor Freer to perform Dvo?ák’s “Dumky” trio, and violinist Sergio Schwartz and pianist Peter Basquin, who met at the Bowdoin Festival, perform a sonata by Fauré.
Wednesday Upbeat! concerts take place in Studzinski Recital Hall at 7:30 p.m., July 1 to Aug.5, $40.
Gamper Festival of Contemporary Music
This series celebrates the creation of new work and real-time collaborations between composers and musicians. Works by 20th and 21st century composers are presented during the three-day festival, including premieres by visiting composers and work by the Bowdoin Festival’s 8th annual student composition competition winner. Repertoire to be announced.
Gamper Festival concerts take place in Studzinski Recital Hall at 7:30 p.m., July 30, Aug. 1, Aug. 2, $10 suggested donation.
Artists of Tomorrow
The Artists of Tomorrow concert series presents solo and chamber music performances by festival students, many of whom have performed in some of the world’s most prestigious concert halls. These informal recitals are an excellent opportunity for both experienced and casual observers to experience the enthusiasm of youth and to see students discover relationships with music – and colleagues – that may last a lifetime.
Artists of Tomorrow performances take place in Studzinski Recital Hall on Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday evenings at 7:30 p.m., and at other times as announced. July 2 – Aug. 7, $10 suggested donation.
Bowdoin Festival Extra
Festival students and faculty offer free family concerts, lectures, demonstrations, and masterclasses in a variety of venues throughout the Midcoast area. These special events, which provide a glimpse of the creative process, are always open to the public.
Community Concerts
The Bowdoin Festival provides free concerts by its extraordinary students to outlying communities, social service agencies, and senior living residences during the month of July. Programs are announced on site.
For a complete schedule of festival concerts, ticket information, and to sign up for program updates, visit bowdoinfestival.org. Receive a free copy of The Bowdoin International Music Festival, “The Art of Friendship” 2015 season brochure by calling the festival office at 207-725-3895. Tickets may be ordered online in advance. The fox office opens on June 17.
Bowdoin International Music Festival
2015 Concert Series
Festival Fridays
July 3
LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN: Sonata for Piano and Cello in F Major, Op. 5, No. 1
CÉSAR FRANCK: Sonata for Violin and Piano
JOHANNES BRAHMS: Serenade No. 1 in D Major, Op. 11
July 10
LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN: Trio for Clarinet, Cello and Piano in B-flat Major, Op. 11,
CHEN YI: Qi (1996-7)
ROBERT SCHUMANN:
Piano Quartet in E-flat Major, Op. 47
July 17
ARTHUR FOOTE: Nocturne and Scherzo For Flute and String Quartet (1918)
ROBERT SCHUMANN: Piano Trio No. 1 in D Minor, Op. 63
EDWARD ELGAR: Concerto for Cello and Orchestra
July 24
GERALD FINZI: Interlude for Oboe and Strings, Op. 21
LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN: Piano Trio in E-flat Major, Op. 70, No. 2
OSVALDO GOLIJOV: Last Round
JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH: Concerto for Two Violins in D Minor, BWV 1043
July 31
ROBERT SCHUMANN: Six Studies in Canonic Form, Op. 56
GEORGES BIZET: Jeux D’Enfants, Op. 22
JOHANNES BRAHMS: Hungarian Dances, WoO 1
JOHANNES BRAHMS: String Sextet No. 1 in B-flat Major, Op. 18
Aug. 7
KEVIN PUTS: Seascapes
PYOTR ILLYCH TCHAIKOVSKY: (orchestration by Glazunov); Three Pieces (Souvenir d’un lieu cher); Serenade Melancolique, Op. 26; Valse Scherzo, Op. 23
AARON COPLAND: Appalachian Spring
Wednesday Upbeat!
July 1
CLAUDE DEBUSSY: Piano Trio in G Major
JOSEPH JONGEN: Concert a Cinq
FRÉDÉRIC CHOPIN: Sonata for Cello and Piano in G Minor, Op. 65
July 8
SERGEI PROKOFIEV: Sonata for Solo Violin, Op. 115
CHEN YI: Fiddle Suite
JOHANNES BRAHMS: Quintet for Clarinet and Strings in B Minor, Op. 115
July 15
ERWIN SCHULHOFF: Concertino
GABRIEL FAURÉ: Sonata No. 1 in A Major for Violin and Piano, Op. 13
FRANZ SCHUBERT: Piano Trio in E-flat Major, Op. 100
July 22
WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART: Quartet for Flute and Strings in D Major, K. 285
LEONARD BERNSTEIN: Sonata for Clarinet and Piano (1941-2)
DEREK BERMEL: Quintet for Clarinet and Strings
ANTONÍN DVO?ÁK: Piano Trio No. 4 in E Minor, Op. 90 “Dumky”
July 29
CAMILLE SAINT-SAËNS: Fantasie for Violin and Harp, Op. 124
ERNÖ DOHNÁNYI: Serenade for String Trio, Op. 10
MAURICE RAVEL: Sonata for Violin and Cello
HEITOR VILLA LOBOS: Bachianas Brasilieras No. 5, W389-391
August 5
ARNOLD BAX: Sonata for Viola and Piano
KEVIN PUTS: And Legions Will Rise
ROBERT SCHUMANN: Fantasie in C, Op. 17
July 6
ROBERT SCHUMANN: String Quartet in A Minor, Op. 41 No. 1
VIKTOR ULLMAN: String Quartet No. 3, Op. 46
CÉSAR FRANCK: Piano Quintet in F Minor
July 13
PYOTR ILLYCH TCHAIKOVSKY: String Quartet No. 1 in D Major, Op. 11
JOHN NOVACEK: Rag Set for String Quartet (2009)
JOHANNES BRAHMS: String Sextet No. 2 in G Major, Op. 36
July 20
WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART: String Quintet in C Major, K. 515
DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH: Two Pieces for String Octet, Op. 11
FELIX MENDELSSOHN: Octet for Strings in E-flat Major, Op. 20
July 27
FRANZ SCHUBERT: String Quartet No. 15 in G Major, D. 887
ROBERT SCHUMANN: Piano Quintet in E-flat Major, Op. 44
Aug. 3
MAURICE RAVEL: String Quartet in F Major
GYÖRGY LIGETI: String Quartet No. 1 “Metamorphoses nocturnes”
ANTONÍN DVO?ÁK: String Quintet in E-flat Major, Op. 97 “American”
July 30 – Aug. 2, programs to be announced.
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