Matt Haimowitz and Geoffrey Burleson Kick Off Music Mountain's 84th Season Today

Concert enthusiasts will want to mark their calendars for the Opening Benefit and Reception of America's oldest continuing summer chamber music festival, Music Mountain, when they celebrate its 84th Anniversary Season today, June 16th (3PM).

The inaugural event will feature the remarkable cellist Matt Haimowitz and the acclaimed pianist Geoffrey Burlesonperforming an exciting program of Music Mountain premieres including: Bach: Suite No. 3 in C Major for Unaccompanied Cello, BWV 1009; Schubert: Sonata in A Minor for Arpeggione & Piano, D 821; Carter: Figment I for Unaccompanied Cello; Carter: Figment II for Unaccompanied Cello (Remembering Mr. Ives); and Prokofieff: Sonata for Cello & Piano in C Major, Opus 119. The summer will continue with a 13-week schedule featuring seventeen Chamber Music concerts, a twilight series of Jazz, Big Band and Country Music concerts, a unique evening devoted to Gilbert & Sullivan and the first ever Folk Music Jamboree. Concerts are scheduled through September 8th.

"2013 is going to be another great year at Music Mountain," stated Music Mountain's board president Nicholas Gordon. "The season opens with the extraordinary cellist Matt Haimowitz in a sonata program and continues with wonderful quartets and impressive assisting artists. Our theme this year is 'Seldom Played Works by Celebrated Composers'; an example of this is the Bartok Piano Quintet (July 14), which has never been performed before at Music Mountain and the Dohnanyi Piano Quintet # 2 in E Flat Major (August 10), last played here in 1941."

Matt Haimowitz is a renowned, innovative cellist who has inspired a vast range of music lovers by bringing his passions and talents to concert halls and clubs, outdoor festivals and intimate coffee houses - he was even the first classical artist to play at New York's infamous CBGB club. Throughout his successful career, he has played with such renowned orchestras as the Berlin Philharmonic, the New York Philharmonic, the English Chamber Orchestra, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and the Montreal Symphony Orchestra. He currently is a faculty member of McGill University's Schulich School of Music in Montreal.

Geoffrey Burleson is an acclaimed recitalist, concerto soloist, chamber musician and jazz performer. He has performed throughout Europe and North America, performing a wide repertoire with Boston Musica Viva, Arlington Philharmonic, New England Philharmonic, and the Holland Symfonia in the Netherlands. Mr. Burleson teaches piano at Princeton University and is Associate Professor of Music and Director of Piano Studies at Hunter College.

Music Mountain is located in Falls Village, Connecticut on Music Mountain Road, where a short scenic drive will bring you to Gordon Hall atop Music Mountain. Free parking and picnic facilities are available. Food, wine & beer are also available for purchase.

Upcoming quartets scheduled to perform include Hausmann String Quartet (June 23); St. Petersburg String Quartet (June 30 & July 7th); Penderecki String Quartet (July 14); Arianna String Quartet (July 21); Dover String Quartet (July 28).

Tickets: The Season Opening Concert & Reception on June 16th: $75 and includes a voucher for one regularly priced concert. Children ages 5-18 are admitted FREE for ALL CONCERTS when accompanied by a ticket holder (Music Mountain gratefully acknowledges children admission support by the Hellen Plummer Foundation for a gift in memory of James Merrill, Connecticut's first Poet Laureate). Chamber concerts are $35 at the door/$30 in advance. Concert times are 6:30pm on Saturdays and 3pm on Sundays. Group rates and pre season ticket vouchers are available. Discounts apply through participating organizations. For a complete summer schedule, special ticket prices, and to download a ticket order form visit www.musicmountain.org or call 860-824-7126.

Photo Credit: Steph Mackinnon

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