Music Mountain Welcomes Spuyten Duyvil, St. Petersburg Quartet with Ricardo Cavalcante de Oliveira This Weekend

Music Mountain, America's Oldest Continuing Summer Chamber Music Festival, continues its 85th Anniversary Season with the folk band Spuyten Duyvil in their first visit to Music Mountain tonight, August 9 (6:30PM) followed by the prestigious St. Petersburg String Quartet, with guest artist Ricardo Cavalcante de Oliveira, viola on Sunday, August 10 (3PM).

In 1930, Music Mountain was founded with the primary mission of education through the performance of the chamber music literature, specifically, the music for the string quartet. This mission is realized by bringing together professionals, amateurs, adults and children, by developing new audiences and by providing access to the experience of live music. This weekend's chamber music concert exemplifies that mission with the young violist joining the quartet which mentored him. The extended season of chamber, jazz, and country concerts runs through September 14.

The crowd will be hopping and stomping on Saturday evening when The Falcon Ridge Folk Festival, now in its 26th year, presents an evening with fest -favorite, Spuyten Duyvil! Hailing from the Hudson Valley, this mighty 7-piece powerhouse with soaring vocals, traditional jug-band energy, slide guitar and Chicago-style blues harp propel audiences on a barn-burning romp through the last 100 years of American Roots music! See and hear why legendary WXPN Folk DJ, Gene Shay called them "the hottest new band in folk music ... and one of the best!"

The St. Petersburg String Quartet returns for their twenty-first consecutive Music Mountain summer on Sunday afternoon with first time guest artist Ricardo Cavalcante de Oliveira, viola, performing Bartok: Romanian Dances, BB 68 - a Music Mountain premiere; plus Borodin: String Quartet # 2 in D Major; and Dvorak: Viola Quintet in E Flat Major, Opus 97 - being played for only the fifth time in Music Mountain history!

The Grammy nominated St. Petersburg String Quartet is one of the world's most esteemed chamber ensembles; they have toured extensively throughout North America, Europe and Asia, performing in some of the most prestigious series' and festivals. Their current season includes performances in New York City, Los Angeles, England and France. In 2009 the St. Petersburg Quartet launched the St. Petersburg International Music Academy, an intensive summer program for students, which they bring to various campuses and festivals in the USA and Mexico. In 2010 St. Petersburg Quartet was appointed the inaugural Quartet in Residence at Wichita State University.

Ricardo Cavalcante de Oliveira first met The St. Petersburg String Quartet in 2010 when he participated in their inaugural workshop at Wichita State University. The young violist has been mentored by these outstanding musicians ever since. De Oliveira currently plays with WSU Cardo String Trio, actively practicing in preparation for upcoming national competitions.

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 St. Petersburg String Quartet with Michelle LaCourse, viola and Rhonda Rider, cello (August 17); Blair String Quartet with Melvin Chen, piano (August 24); Shanghai String Quartet with Haochen Zhang, piano (August 30 & 31); Dover String Quartet with Roberto Diaz, viola (September 7); Cassatt String Quartet with Ursula Oppens, piano (September 14).

The Saturday Evening Twilight Series will continue with The Galvanized Jazz Band (August 16); Baroque Italian Opera Arias and Duets (August 23); Michael Berkeley presents "No Tune Like A Show Tune" (September 6) and Tater Patch (September 13).

Chamber Music Concerts are $35 at the door/$30 in advance. Twilight Series Concerts are $30 at the door/$27 in advance. Tickets for the End of Season Benefit Concert on August 31 are $75. 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). Saturday Twilight Concerts are at 6:30pm. Chamber Music concerts are at 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.

Pictured: St. Petersburg String Quartet - Leonid Shukayev, cello; Boris Vayner, viola; Evgeny Zvonnikov, violin; Alla Aranovskaya, violin. Photo by Greg Grudt/Mathew Imaging.

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