BY KAREN BOSSICK
Wagner’s “Ride of the Valkyries,” Rossini’s “William Tell” overture and Ravel’s “Bolero” are among the classics the Sun Valley Music Festival will perform during its 40th summer season.
And the Festival will screen the blockbuster “Raiders of the Lost Ark” while the orchestra plays John Williams’ score under the direction of conductor Vinay Parameswaran, a San Francisco native and associate conductor with the Cleveland and Nashville orchestras who is considered one of the most exciting, energetic, compelling and versatile young conductors on the podium today.
The symphony accompanied the screening of “Star Wars” several years ago to much acclaim.
Fourteen free concerts will be presented July 29-Aug. 22 at the Sun Valley Pavilion.
Guest artists will include the acclaimed Greek violinist Leonidas Kavakos, who performs with such major orchestras as the Vienna Philharmonic, Berlin Philharmonic and the London Symphony. He will make his Sun Valley debut performing Brahms’s Violin Concerto, which is considered a celebration of the soloist’s technique and musicianship.
Sir Stephen Hough, a MacArthur fellow and one of the most distinctive artists of his generation, will also make his Sun Valley debut performing Grieg’s Piano Concerto, which is considered one of the most popular, beloved works of all time.
“I’m looking forward to this milestone 40th-anniversary season,” said Artistic Director Alasdair Neale, who will conduct 11 of the 14 Summer Season programs. “As befits the occasion, we’re celebrating decades of musical excellence with a top-notch lineup of great music and great artists. And it all takes place in the unparalleled setting of the Sun Valley Pavilion against the backdrop of the Sawtooth Mountains.”
The Summer Season includes:
A world premiere commissioned by the Festival of a cello concerto by Pulitzer Prize finalist and multi-Grammy-nominated composer Andy Akiho, performed by former Kronos Quartet cellist Jeffrey Zeigler
The world premiere season-opening fanfare by Timothy Higgins, principal trombone of the San Francisco Symphony—a piece that was commissioned by the Festival
Guest pianist Garrick Ohlsson, the only American to have won first prize in the International Chopin Piano Competition, performing Rachmaninoff’s “Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini” and an all-Chopin solo recital
Soprano Meechot Marrero, hailed as revelation…a young Puerto Rican star with a great career ahead,” in her turn to Sun Valley to sing songs and arias, including Schbert’s “The Shepherd on the Rock”
Gabriela Ortiz’s “Antropolis,” which was inspired by the music of Mexico’s nightlife
Jessie Montgomery’s effervescent “Strum,” which draws on American folk idioms and the spirit of dance and movement
Additional programs include Astor Piazzola’s “The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires” and Quinn Mason’s “A Joyous Trilogy.”
The Sun Valley Music Festival is the largest privately-funded, admission-free classical music festival in the United States.
The Sun Valley Music Festival is made up of more than a hundred world-class musicians from North America’s most distinguished orchestras, including the San Francisco Symphony, St. Louis Symphony Orchestra and Houston Symphony.
Stephanie Childress, who is with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, returns as the Music Festival’s Associate conductor for the second year to lead several performances, including Mozart’s Symphony No. 36, Wagner’s “Ride of the Valkyries” and Rossini’s “William Tell Overture.”
Concerts, which begin at 6:30 p.m. are free and feature seating inside the Sun Valley Pavilion and on the lawn where picnickers can watch the performance on a state-of-the-art big screen augmented by a state-of-the-art sound system.
Festival musicians, conductors and guest artists, including Meechot Marrero, Andy Akiho, Jeffrey Zeigler and Sir Stephen Hough, will work with students at the Sun Valley Music Festival Music Institute, now in it 27th year. The program will be open to students in grades 2-12 Aug. 5-9. College undergraduates and exceptional high school students studying piano, strings and voice can participate in the Advanced Chamber Program July 29-Aug. 10.
Students pay only nominal registration and materials fees, thanks to the generosity of Music Festival donors. To learn more, visit https://www.svmusicfestival.org/summer-programs.
This year’s Sun Valley Musi Festival Summer Season lineup:
Opening Night
Monday, July 29
Alasdair Neale, conductor
Meechot Marrero, soprano
Timothy Higgins: Fanfare – Commissioned by the Sun Valley Music Festival – World Premiere
Select songs
Prokofiev: Symphony No. 1 in D Major, Op. 25, “Classical Symphony”
Festival Chamber Orchestra
Tuesday, July 30
Alasdair Neale, conductor
Juliana Athayde, violin
Stephanie Childress, conductor
Piazzolla/Desyatnikov: The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires
Mozart: Symphony No. 36 in C Major, K. 425, "Linz"
Chamber Concert
Thursday, August 1
Meechot Marrero, soprano
Susan Warner, clarinet
Peter Henderson, piano
Milana Elise Reiche, violin
Chris Tantillo, viola
Emileigh Vandiver, cello
Stephen Tramontozzi, bass
Schubert: The Shepherd on the Rock
Schubert: Quintet for Violin, Viola, Cello, Bass, and Piano in A Major, D. 667, Op. 114, “Trout”
Festival Chamber Orchestra
Friday, August 2
Alasdair Neale, conductor
Jeffrey Zeigler, cello
Andy Akiho: Concerto for Cello – Co-Commissioned by the Sun Valley Music Festival – World Premiere
Handel: Music for the Royal Fireworks
Festival Orchestra
Sunday, August 4
Alasdair Neale, conductor
Stephanie Childress, conductor
Williams: Olympic Fanfare and Theme
Johann Strauss, Jr.: On the Beautiful Blue Danube
Wagner/Hutschenruyter: The Ride of the Valkyries from Die Walküre
Rossini: Overture to William Tell
Ravel: Boléro
Festival Orchestra — Gala Benefit Concert
Monday, August 5
To be announced
Chamber Concert
Wednesday, August 7
Sir Stephen Hough, piano
Jeremy Constant, violin
Polina Sedukh, violin
Adam Smyla, viola
Amos Yang, cello
Cécile Chaminade: Étude de concert, Op.35, No. 2, “Automne”
Sir Stephen Hough: Sonatina Nostalgica
Dvořák: Quintet No. 2 in A Major for Piano, Two Violins, Viola, and Cello, Op. 81
Festival Orchestra
Thursday, August 8
Alasdair Neale, conductor
Sir Stephen Hough, piano
Alex Orfaly, timpani
Gabriela Ortiz: Antrópolis
Grieg: Concerto in A Minor for Piano, Op. 16
Festival Orchestra
Sunday, August 11
Alasdair Neale, conductor
Mahler: Symphony No.6 in A Minor, “Tragic”
Festival Orchestra
Tuesday, August 13
Alasdair Neale, conductor
Stephanie Childress, conductor
Jeremy Constant, violin
Amos Yang, cello
Peter Henderson, piano
Jessie Montgomery: Strum
Beethoven: Concerto in C Major, Op. 56, “Triple”
Festival Orchestra
Wednesday, August 14
Alasdair Neale, conductor
Leonidas Kavakos, violin
Quinn Mason: A Joyous Trilogy
Brahms: Concerto in D Major for Violin, Op. 77
Festival Orchestra — Pops Night
Saturday, August 17
Vinay Parameswaran, conductor
Williams: Raiders of the Lost Ark Live in Concert
Festival Orchestra
Monday, August 19
Alasdair Neale, conductor
Stephanie Childress, conductor
Jonathan Dimmock, organ
Britten: Four Sea Interludes from Peter Grimes, Op. 33a
Saint-Saëns: Symphony No.3 in C Minor, Op.78, “Organ Symphony”
Chamber Concert
Tuesday, August 20
Garrick Ohlsson, piano
Chopin: Nocturne in F Major, Op. 15, No. 1
Chopin: Nocturne in B Major, Op. 9, No. 3
Chopin: Barcarolle in F-sharp Major, Op. 60
Chopin: Fantaisie in F Minor, Op. 49
Impromptu No. 1 in A-flat Major, Op. 29
Mazurka in C-sharp Minor, Op. 50, No. 3
Scherzo No. 2 in B-flat Minor, Op. 31
Festival Orchestra
Thursday, August 22
Alasdair Neale, conductor
Garrick Ohlsson, piano
Rachmaninoff: Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Op. 43
Respighi: The Pines of Rome