Sun Valley Music Festival Announces 39th Summer Season, July 30-August 24, 2023

Sun Valley Music Festival Announces 39^th Summer Season,

July 30-August 24, 2023

The largest privately funded, admission-free classical music festival in the United States presents over three weeks of world-class performances this summer in a beautiful outdoor alpine setting, featuring the Festival's all-star orchestra, led by Music Director Alasdair Neale.

This season features performances from renowned guest artists: violinist Augustin Hadelich, mezzo-soprano Sasha Cooke, pianist Yefim Bronfman, guest conductor Stéphane Denève, and a residency with pianist Orli Shaham.

 

 

SUN VALLEY, ID, Jan. 18, 2023 – The Sun Valley Music Festival proudly announces its 39^th Summer Season, July 30-Aug. 24, featuring Music Director Alasdair Neale, the Festival's all-star orchestra, and a stellar lineup of guest artists for over three weeks of free concerts in Sun Valley, Idaho's beautiful, natural surroundings. There is truly a musical experience for everyone to enjoy this summer — whether sitting in the beautiful Sun Valley Pavilion or the adjacent lawn. Pianists Yefim Bronfman and Orli Shaham, mezzo-soprano Sasha Cooke, and violinist Augustin Hadelich headline concerts featuring works by Schumann, Ravel, Mahler, and Tchaikovsky. Repertoire highlights include works by contemporary American composers, including Mason Bates, Michael Abels, and Michael Tilson Thomas, alongside cornerstones of the classical music repertoire. These include Mahler’s Symphony No. 5, Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring, Dvorák’s Symphony No. 8, and Debussy’s La Mer. For a very special Pops Night, Stéphane Denève, Music Director of the St. Louis Symphony and the recently appointed Artistic Director of the New World Symphony, leads the Festival Orchestra in an evening of the music of John Williams.  

Music Director Alasdair Neale comments, “I’m so thrilled to announce the details of the Sun Valley Music Festival’s 2023 Summer Season today. I’ve had a great deal of fun planning everything over the course of the last 18 months, and of course, I can’t wait to put it all into action with my friends and colleagues of the Festival Orchestra and perform for you this summer.”

Festival Orchestra

 The Festival’s all-star orchestra is comprised of the finest musicians from orchestras throughout North America. Three chamber orchestra performances kick off the season. For opening night on July 30, “brilliant pianist” Orli Shaham (The New York Times) returns to Sun Valley to perform Ravel’s beautiful and jazz-influenced Piano Concerto in G Major. The program also includes Delights and Dances by Academy Award-nominated American composer Michael Abels, Rossini’s Overture to the Barber of Seville, and The Star-Spangled Banner. On Aug. 1, Beethoven’s charming Symphony No. 2 and Wagner’s Siegfried Idyll will be performed. The Festival continues its multi-season exploration of Mozart’s concertos for winds on Aug. 4 with Mozart’s Concerto for Oboe performed by the Festival Orchestra’s Principal Oboe, Erik Behr, alongside Argentinian composer Alberto Ginastera’s Variaciones Concertantes.

Other 2023 artistic highlights featuring the full Festival Orchestra include Dvorák’s Symphony No. 8 on Aug. 6, Schubert’s “Unfinished” Symphony plus Mahler songs with mezzo-soprano Sasha Cooke on Aug. 10, and Stravinsky’s groundbreaking Rite of Spring on Aug. 17. Principal Bassoon Andrew Cuneo performs Mozart’s concerto for the bassoon on Aug. 19 on a program with Debussy’s La Mer and Agnegram by Michael Tilson Thomas. On Aug. 20, Grammy-winning violinist Augustin Hadelich performs Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto following Florence Price’s Andante moderato. Pianist Yefim Bronfman returns to Sun Valley to perform Schumann’s only piano concerto on Aug. 14. The popular annual post-concert Lawn Party featuring DJ Masonic (aka the composer, Mason Bates) follows this performance.

On the Aug. 12 Pops Night, following the traditional rousing rendition of the Armed Forces Medley, Stéphane Denève leads an evening of the music of John Williams. Music Director Alasdair Neale concludes the summer on Aug. 24 with Mahler’s larger-than-life Symphony No. 5.

Chamber Music

Festival Orchestra musicians are joined by renowned guest soloists for chamber music concerts on Aug. 3 with pianist Orli Shaham, Aug. 9 with mezzo-soprano Sasha Cooke, and Aug. 21 with violinist Augustin Hadelich, which will feature music by Brahms.

Education Programs – Sun Valley Music Festival Music Institute

The Festival is dedicated to bringing the joy of music into young people's lives. Now in its 26th year, the Festival's Music Institute provides year-round music education programs to students of all abilities, from beginning second graders to advanced college undergraduates. This summer, students in grades 2-12 can participate in tuition-f­­ree programs for most orchestral instruments, voice, and piano Aug. 7-11, while college undergraduates and exceptional high school students studying piano, strings, and voice can participate in the Advanced Chamber Program July 31-Aug. 12. Participants hone their musical skills and work on performance pieces with Sun Valley Music Festival musicians, conductors, and guest artists – including Orli Shaham and Sasha Cooke – and also attend orchestra rehearsals and concerts. Students' work culminates with an opportunity to perform from the Pavilion stage. More information about education programs, including registration, which is now open, can be found on the Festival's website.

How To Attend

Summer concerts are an exciting social experience, where people from all walks of life can enjoy music together, for free. While some seats in the Pavilion may be reserved in advance by donors at certain levels, great seats are always available to the public in both the Pavilion and on the lawn. For concert dates, details, and up-to-date information on attending, visit the Festival website at svmusicfestival.org or sign up for e-news at svmusicfestival.org/subscribe to receive the latest season updates by email.  The details for the Gala Concert – taking place Tuesday, Aug. 8 – will be released in mid-February. This fundraising concert is the only ticketed event of the year; sales help keep the rest of the concerts admission-free.

 

2023 SUMMER SEASON DETAILS
Repertoire is subject to change.
All concerts begin at 6:30 p.m. (MT) and take place at the Sun Valley Pavilion.

Opening Night: Delights and Dances
Sunday, July 30
Festival Chamber Orchestra

Alasdair Neale, Conductor
Orli Shaham, Piano

Smith-Sousa: The Star-Spangled Banner
Rossini: Overture to The Barber of Seville
Michael Abels: Delights and Dances
Ravel: Concerto in G Major for Piano

 For opening night, “brilliant pianist” Orli Shaham (The New York Times) returns to Sun Valley to perform Ravel’s beautiful and jazz-influenced Piano Concerto in G Major. Continuing the jazzy theme, the program also includes Delights and Dances, a rhythmic and soulful composition by Academy Award-nominated American composer Michael Abels. The Season opens with The Star-Spangled Banner, of course, followed by Rossini’s Overture to the Barber of Seville.

Beethoven’s Second Symphony
Tuesday, August 1
Festival Chamber Orchestra

Alasdair Neale, Conductor

Wagner: Siegfried Idyll
Beethoven: Symphony No. 2 in D Major, Op. 36

Beethoven’s Symphony No. 2 stands out for its upbeat enthusiasm, a quality it offers in abundance despite the composer’s advancing deafness when he wrote it. Brimming with extremes and surprises, the piece exhibits an exuberance and cheerfulness not heard again until — perhaps — his Ode to Joy in the ninth symphony. The concert opens with Wagner’s Siegfried Idyll, a piece he wrote for his wife, Cosima. Wagner hired a small group of musicians to play the piece in the front hallway of his house to awaken her on her birthday morning.

Orli Shaham with Festival Musicians
Thursday, August 3
Chamber Concert

Orli Shaham, Piano
Festival Orchestra Musicians TBA

Pianist Orli Shaham joins Festival Orchestra musicians for an evening of chamber music. This program will be announced soon.

Mozart and Ginastera
Friday, August 4
Festival Chamber Orchestra

Alasdair Neale, Conductor
Erik Behr, Oboe

Mozart: Concerto in C Major for Oboe, K. 314
Alberto Ginastera: Variaciones Concertantes

Mozart fans may realize that the Festival has been slowly working its way through the great composer’s concertos for winds. This evening features his Concerto for Oboe, performed by the Festival’s Principal Oboe, Erik Behr. One of the most famous pieces ever written for the oboe, it offers a melodic showcase for the instrument’s range of expression. Wind instruments are also featured prominently in Argentinian composer Alberto Ginastera’s Variaciones Concertantes. Each variation gives the melodic lead to a different instrument, including the flute, clarinet, and with an oboe and bassoon duet. And the final variation brings everything home with an exuberant, Latin-American flair. 

Dvorák’s Symphony No. 8
Sunday, August 6
Festival Orchestra

Alasdair Neale, Conductor

Mason Bates: Soundcheck in C Major
Dvorák: Symphony No. 8 in G Major, Op. 88

Antonín Dvorák’s eighth symphony is often described as cheery, genial, and upbeat. It offers one delightful melody after another, whether evoking themes from Bohemian folk music the composer adored or scenes of local pastoral beauty. As one conductor instructed the orchestra before the fanfare that opens the fourth movement: “Gentleman, in Bohemia the trumpets never call to battle — they always call to the dance!” Speaking of fanfare, this concert opens with Mason Bates’s Soundcheck in C Major, which is, in his words, “a fanfare animated by sonic effects” that might remind some of Wagner, and others of Pink Floyd.

2023 Gala Fundraising Concert
Tuesday, August 8
Festival Orchestra

Alasdair Neale, Conductor

Gala sales support the Sun Valley Music Festival and help keep the rest of the concerts and education programs admission-free. Gala guest artists and programming will be announced in mid-February. Visit svmusicfestival.org/gala-concert for details.

Sasha Cooke with Festival Musicians
Wednesday, August 9
Chamber Concert

Sasha Cooke, Mezzo-soprano
Festival Orchestra Musicians TBA

Two-time Grammy Award-winning mezzo-soprano Sasha Cooke joins Festival Orchestra musicians for an evening of chamber music. This program will be announced soon.

Schubert’s “Unfinished” Symphony and Mahler Songs, Featuring Sasha Cooke
Thursday, August 10
Festival Orchestra

Alasdair Neale, Conductor
Sasha Cooke, Mezzo-soprano

Schubert: Symphony No. 8 in D Minor, D. 759, “Unfinished”
Mahler: Rückert Lieder

One of classical music’s great mysteries is why Schubert never finished his eighth symphony — he lived six more years after he stopped working on it. But there’s no mystery in why it has become so popular: it’s gorgeous, and it includes one of the most famous melodies ever written. Like Schubert, Gustav Mahler was a master songwriter, and he set many poems by Friedrich Rückert to music. Sasha Cooke, a “luminous standout” (The New York Times) with “equal parts poise, radiance, and elegant directness” (Opera News), sings Mahler’s Rückert Lieder with the Festival Orchestra.

Pops Concert: The Music of John Williams, Conducted by Stéphane Denève
Saturday, August 12
Festival Orchestra

Stéphane Denève, Conductor

Stéphane Denève is Music Director of the St. Louis Symphony and the recently appointed Artistic Director of the New World Symphony. He’s thrilled to join the Festival Orchestra for an evening of greatest hits from John Williams’s vast catalog of film music.

Yefim Bronfman, An Homage to Sibelius, and Post-Concert Lawn Party
Monday, August 14
Festival Orchestra

Alasdair Neale, Conductor
Yefim Bronfman, Piano

Sibelius: Finlandia, Op. 26
William Grant Still: Threnody (In Memory of Jean Sibelius)
Schumann: Concerto in A Minor for Piano and Orchestra, Op. 54
Post-concert: Lawn Party featuring DJ Masonic (AKA Mason Bates)

Bronfman, a “marvel of digital dexterity, warmly romantic sentiment, and jaw-dropping bravura” (Chicago Tribune) returns to Sun Valley to perform Schumann’s only piano concerto. After a wildly successful premiere by his wife Clara, the piece immediately became known, and loved, for the exquisitely delicate way in which Schumann weaves together equal roles for the pianist and the orchestra. The concert opens with Finlandia, which Jean Sibelius wrote as a patriotic celebration of his homeland in 1900, followed by Threnody (In Memory of Jan Sibelius), which was written in 1965 by U.S. composer William Grant Still in honor of the great composer’s birth 100 years prior. The annual dance party on the lawn will follow this concert.

Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring
Thursday, August 17
Festival Orchestra

Alasdair Neale, Conductor

Tchaikovsky: Excerpts from Sleeping Beauty
Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring

It’s hard to imagine a piece of classical music causing a riot, but that’s the word often applied to the audience’s reaction when Stravinsky’s ballet The Rite of Spring debuted in Paris in 1913. The music (and dancing) broke with tradition so dramatically that it’s often called the first example of modernism in music. As a young man, Stravinsky’s first inspiration to write music for dance came from seeing Tchaikovsky’s Sleeping Beauty, so it’s fitting that the Festival Orchestra plays some excerpts from that ballet to open this concert.

Debussy’s La Mer
Saturday, August 19
Festival Orchestra

Alasdair Neale, Conductor
Andrew Cuneo, Bassoon

Michael Tilson Thomas: Agnegram
Mozart: Concerto in B-flat Major for Bassoon, K. 186e
Debussy: La Mer

Debussy loved the sea, especially its unpredictable and ever-changing motion. His most performed work, La Mer, captures — in music, as only Debussy could — the play of light on the water and the sea’s place in the natural world. Also on the program, the Festival’s exploration of Mozart’s wind concertos continues with Principal Bassoon Andrew Cuneo performing Mozart’s concerto for the bassoon, a piece that shows off the instrument’s remarkable agility and range. Opening the program, Maestro Neale leads the orchestra in Agnegram, a short piece composed by his friend and mentor, the great conductor Michael Tilson Thomas.

Augustin Hadelich Plays Tchaikovsky
Sunday, August 20
Festival Orchestra

Alasdair Neale, Conductor
Augustin Hadelich, Violin

Florence Price: Andante moderato from String Quartet No. 1 in G Major, arranged for String Orchestra
Tchaikovsky: Concerto in D Major for Violin, Op. 35

Vivacious and unpretentious — and both emotionally and physically exhausting to play — Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto became so popular that it’s often performed at opening night galas. Grammy-winning violinist Hadelich performs this concerto with the Festival Orchestra on a program with Florence Price’s Andante moderato.

Hadelich with Festival Musicians
Monday, August 21
Chamber Concert

Augustin Hadelich, Violin

Peter Henderson, Piano
Festival Orchestra Musicians TBA

Brahms: Rhapsody in G Minor for Piano, Op. 79, No. 2
Brahms: Intermezzo in E-flat Major for Piano, Op. 117, No. 1
Brahms: Sextet No. 1 in B-flat Major for Strings, Op. 18

Violinist Augustin Hadelich joins Festival Orchestra musicians for an evening of chamber music featuring Brahms's Sextet No. 1 in B-flat Major. It's a work of infectious joie de vivre, offering both songs and dances alongside lively musical conversations between the two violins, two violas, and two cellos. The second movement's theme and variations have been featured in settings as diverse as Star Trek: The Next Generation and the 2001 French film, The Piano Teacher.

Season Finale: Mahler 5
Thursday, August 24
Festival Orchestra

Alasdair Neale, Conductor

Mahler: Symphony No. 5 in C-sharp Minor

After hearing Sasha Cooke sing Mahler’s Rückert Lieder on August 10, audiences may recognize some themes in tonight’s symphony. The fourth movement, the Adagietto, draws explicitly from the Lieder, and is recognized as a love letter from Mahler to his wife Alma. Leonard Bernstein famously led the New York Philharmonic in a performance of the heartbreakingly beautiful Adagietto at Robert Kennedy’s funeral service in 1968.

About Sun Valley Music Festival

The Sun Valley Music Festival’s mission is to enrich, inspire, and instill in our community a lifelong love of classical music through extraordinary, free concerts and education programs. Festival programs provide opportunities for people from all walks of life to listen, learn, and play. Now in its 39^th year, it is the largest privately supported, free-admission orchestra in the United States. 

Over 100 world-class musicians from North America’s most distinguished orchestras, including the San Francisco Symphony, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, and Houston Symphony, comprise the Festival Orchestra. Summer Season concerts are held in July and August at the spectacular R.E. Holding Sun Valley Pavilion, in the mountain resort town of Sun Valley, Idaho. Winter Season concerts are held in February or March at the Argyros Performing Arts Center in nearby Ketchum, Idaho, which is adjacent to Bald Mountain, Sun Valley Resort's primary ski area. Internationally renowned guest artists such as Gautier Capuçon, Midori, Emanuel Ax, Audra McDonald, Daniil Trifonov, Joshua Bell, Joyce Yang, Yefim Bronfman, Kristin Chenoweth, and Jean-Yves Thibaudet have performed with the Festival.

The Festival strives to introduce every Wood River Valley student to the joys of classical music, to inspire the next generation of music lovers. Its year-round and summer Music Institute programs provide tuition-free instruction for string, piano, and voice students of all skill levels — from elementary through high school — that goes beyond the fundamentals and embraces the entire musician.