BY KAREN BOSSICK
Two-time Tony Award-winning actress and singer Sutton Foster will headline the Sun Valley Music Festival’s 2026 Gala concert on Thursday, Aug. 6.
Foster, a seven-time Tony-nominated Broadway powerhouse who originated the role of Millie Dilmount in “Thoroughly Modern Millie,” will perform at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 6, with the Sun Valley Music Festival at Sun Valley Resort’s outdoor pavilion.
The Gala Concert is the only concert of the summer season requiring admission, as it is a fundraiser for the Sun Valley Music Festival, helping to keep other performances in the summer and winter seasons free.
Ticket prices range from $100 to $1,500, with the $1,500 Sponsor Package featuring VIP parking, premium reserved concert seats, a preconcert cocktail reception and a private post-concert dinner at Trail Creek Cabin Pavilion.
Sponsors will have the opportunity to meet and take a photo with Foster at the Trail Creek Cabin Pavilion dinner.
Tickets at the $600 and $300 levels include the preconcert cocktail reception and preferred reserved seating in the Pavilion. Reserved Pavilion seats are also available at $125 and $100.
General admission lawn tickets are available for $100. The concert will be broadcast on the Pavilion’s state-of-the-art big screen and sound system.
Gala sales open to the public at 9 a.m. Wednesday, April 22. Sponsor Package tickets are available only by phone, while lawn tickets are available only online.
Annual Fund donors of $1,250 and above and Encore Society members will have the opportunity to purchase Gala tickets prior to the public on-sale date; further information will be provided these groups via email.
Foster, who celebrates her 51st birthday on March 18, was born in Statesboro, Ga., but grew up in Troy Mich. She auditioned for “The Mickey Mouse Club” and was a contestant on the reality competition “Star Search” before leaving high school to join the national tour of “The Will Rogers Follies.”
After touring in the role of Sandy in the musical “Grease,” she moved to Broadway. She won her first Tony in 2002 for her role in “Thoroughly Modern Millie” and her second playing Reno Sweeney in “Anything Goes.” She has also starred in “Shrek the Musical,” “The Music Man” and “Sweeney Todd,” amidst a long list of other musicals.
A triple-threat actress, singer and dancer, she most recently starred in the Broadway revival of “Once Upon a Mattress.” On television, she starred in the critically acclaimed series “Younger” and has appeared in “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” “Law & Order: SVU” and “Sesame Street.”
Her memoir “Hooked: How Crafting Saved My life” reflects on how crafting kept her sane while navigating the highs and lows of family, love and show business.
The Sun Valley Music Festival, the largest privately supported, admission-free classical music festival in the United States, will kick off its 42nd summer season on July 28. It will run through Aug. 21.
The festival comprises more than 100 world-class musicians from North America’s most distinguished orchestras, including the San Francisco Symphony, St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra, and Toronto Symphony.
This year’s special guest stars include violinist Gil Shaham, classical pianist Orion Weiss, Russian pianist Alexander Malofeev, soprano Christina Pier and baritone Benjamin Appl.