WELCOME TO ANOTHER MUSICAL SUMMER on magical Martha’s Vineyard Island! What could be more exciting than to start the festivities with the brilliant Harlem String Quartet playing music by Franz Schubert of the 18th century and Chick Corea of the 21st in our historic Old Whaling Church of the 19th. And speaking of celebratory events, this year marks the 100th anniversary of the great English composer Benjamin Britten’s birth. For this occasion, we went to London to bring you one of the most outstanding tenors of today to sing songs by Britten and composers that influenced him. The program will also feature a strong performance by New York’s acclaimed oboist, James Austin Smith.
One of the highlights of our music festival will be an All-Mozart-Extravaganza with the spotlight on the extraordinary clarinetist Franklin Cohen of the Cleveland Symphony. Supporting him will be concertmasters and leading musicians from Pittsburg, Calgary, Berlin, Boston, and Los Angeles. With a breathtaking change of pace, the next concert will present a jazz sonata by Maurice Ravel and the Grand Tango by Astor Piazzolla performed by violinist Stephanie Chase and cellist Scott Kluksdahl. The brilliant soprano Karen Benjamin will provide the evening’s dessert with the songs of George Gershwin, Leonard Bernstein, and a Broadway medley.
The island’s favorite brass quintet, The Infinity Brass, will bring our 43rd summer festival to a rousing close with an open rehearsal followed by a concert of virtuoso examples of music for trumpet, horn, trombone and tuba. So send out the word to all your friends that they “can’t miss a single concert this summer.” I’m hoping you all will share this glorious musical festival with us.
I look forward to seeing you very soon.
