Brevard Music Center Sets Stage For Summer Performances

The renowned BMC Summer Music Festival returns for a spectacular and diverse 83rd season from June - August Brevard, NC The Brevard Music Center (BMC) is mere weeks away from launching its 2019 summer festival season in the Blue Ridge Mountains of western North Carolina. Each summer from June through August, 40,000 music-lovers celebrate Brevard Music Center's mission by attending its acclaimed summer music festival and supporting 500 gifted young musicians who are redefining the future of classical music alongside an esteemed artist faculty from major orchestras and universities.

BMC Artistic Director and alumnus Keith Lockhart, Principal Conductor of the Boston Pops and Chief Guest Conductor of the BBC Concert Orchestra, will preside over this inspiring ten-week summer music festival featuring almost 100 performances and events spanning a multitude of genres and musical tastes. Symphony, chamber, and opera masterpieces by Bach, Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, Brahms, Chopin, and others will take center stage at the 2019 Festival, while music legends such as David Sanborn, The Temptations and The Four Tops, Michael Feinstein, Lyle Lovett, and B la Fleck headline a superstar lineup of non-classical talent. A two-week Festival within a Festival celebrating composer Aaron Copland offers students and audiences alike an immersive opportunity to enjoy works by the beloved American composer. Family-friendly concerts featuring performances like Raiders of the Lost Ark in Concert (movie + live symphony) and Patriotic Pops bring classical music to audiences of all ages.

As one of the country's premier summer music institutes and music festivals, Brevard Music Center has proudly nurtured musicians who have changed the world through their creativity, their artistry, and their dedication to making a difference in all facets of their life. said Brevard Music Center President & CEO Mark Weinstein. Bring your friends and enjoy our best season yet! From our exuberant All Tchaikovsky opening night to the impassioned season finale of Mahler 2 and every performance in between there is truly something for everyone!"

Opening Weekend, Friday June 21 - Tuesday, June 25
On June 21, BMC Principal Guest Conductor JoAnn Falletta formally kicks off an inspiring summer with an All Tchaikovsky opening night concert featuring Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 5 and violinist Chee-Yun, "a talented instrumentalist with the kind of high-gloss tone that pulls sensuously at the listener's ear" [New York Times] in the powerful and evocative Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto. On June 22, BMC Presents invites two Motown legends, The Temptations & The Four Tops, to take the stage for an unforgettable evening of R&B and soul. On June 23, Maestra Falletta leads performances of Respighi's illuminating Church Windows and GRAMMY -winning composer Michael Daugherty's Trail of Tears, featuring renowned flutist and BMC faculty member Amy Porter.

Michael Feinstein, the multi-platinum selling, five-time GRAMMY -nominated entertainer dubbed "The Ambassador of the American Songbook, concludes the opening weekend on June 25 with the Center's resident orchestra for a program titled "That's Entertainment," saluting classic MGM musicals with unforgettable songs made famous by Bing Crosby, Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly, and other legendary performers.

A Festival Within A Festival: Celebrating Aaron Copland
On July 8, BMC will launch its fourth Festival Within a Festival honoring Aaron Copland, "the Dean of American Composers," with two weeks of symphonic and chamber masterworks including Appalachian Spring, the Clarinet Concerto, and the Sextet. Additionally, cultural historian Joseph Horowitz will curate music, multi-media and film experiences for BMC's production of the acclaimed Copland and Mexico.

Something for Everyone: 2019 Season Highlights
Brevard's natural beauty provides exquisite backdrop for an array of symphony and chamber concerts including Mendelssohn's "Italian" Symphony, Brahms's Symphony No. 4, Beethoven's "Emperor" Concerto, Dvo k's Serenade for Strings, and Rachmaninoff's Symphony No. 2, as well as the return of The Shanghai Quartet in year two of their esteemed Beethoven Cycle.

Two perennial audience favorites return to BMC's Whittington-Pfohl Auditorium in 2019: the rousing Fourth of July concert, Pendergrast Patriotic Pops, and a very special night at the movies featuring the beloved adventure classic, Raiders of the Lost Ark, with live symphony performing John Williams's Academy Award-winning score on July 20.

Opera has been an integral part of BMC programming throughout much of its 83-year history. This summer, opera lovers enjoy a superb selection of three fully-staged operas, Floyd's Susannah (June 27 & June 29), Gounod's Rom o et Juliette (July 11 & July 13), and Strauss, Jr.'s Die Fledermaus (July 25 & July 27), plus two recitals including Opera's Greatest Hits (June 20) and Broadway in Brevard: An Evening of Frank Loesser Favorites (August 1). All fully-staged operas are presented in the Scott Concert Hall at the Porter Center on the Brevard College campus on Thursdays and Saturdays, and are complemented by English supertitles above the stage.

On August 2 the season finale performance of Mahler 2, the composer's impassioned and apocalyptic Resurrection Symphony, gives a powerful closing chapter to the 2019 festival as Keith Lockhart leads hundreds of orchestral and choral artists on the Whittington-Pfohl Auditorium stage.

Among non-classical guest artists like Michael Feinstein and The Temptations & The Four Tops, the Music Center is also pleased to introduce jazz legend David Sanborn to Brevard audiences on June 7 (the Sanborn concert is currently sold-out), as well as welcome back Harpeth Rising on July 16, Lyle Lovett and his Large Band on August 8, and B la Fleck, who headlines a Blue Ridge Banjo Concert on August 17 in conjunction with his second annual banjo camp. The Lyle Lovett and B la Fleck concerts are produced in collaboration with Mountain Song Productions.

For a complete 2019 summer music festival schedule including dates, times, and locations of all performances and events, please visit brevardmusic.org.

Tickets to most Brevard Music Center's Summer Festival performances start at $20 on the lawn. Seating at Whittington-Pfohl Auditorium, BMC's 1800-seat, open-air auditorium, is free for children under 17* with a paying adult and students 18 and older* with a valid ID. All guest artists, programs, pricing, and dates are subject to change. *excludes Opening Night, Season Finale & BMC Presents performances

For more information about BMC's Summer Music Festival and to purchase tickets for the 2019 season, visit brevardmusic.org, call the BMC Box Office at 828-862-2105, or visit the BMC Box Office at Whittington-Pfohl Auditorium (349 Andante Lane, Brevard).