Music Mountain Announces 85th Anniversary Season, Begin. 6/7

Concert aficionados from around the country will want to mark their calendars for Music Mountain, America's oldest continuing summer chamber music festival, when it kicks off its gala 85th Anniversary Season beginning Saturday, June 7th! To commemorate the milestone, Music Mountain will continue their season past Labor Day - making the 85th anniversary season the longest running season since the 1930s! The summer will include returning chamber ensembles, first time guests and the ever-popular Saturday Evening Twilight Series featuring Jazz, Country, and Folk Music. Concerts are scheduled through September 14.

"85 seasons is a very special landmark in the life of a musical institution," enthuses Music Mountain President, Nicholas Gordon. "We want all of our audience to share this special year with us and the unusual and brilliant array of artists we have recruited to help celebrate 85 wonderful years as America's only summer chamber music festival devoted to the teaching and performing of the string quartet literature."

The season kicks off on June 7th (6:30PM) with the Opening Concert & Gala featuring the Emerson String Quartet performing Haydn: Quartet in G Minor, Op. 20, No. 3, Mendelssohn: Quartet in F Minor, Op. 80, and Schubert: Quartet D Minor, "Death and the Maiden." The summer season continues with the finest chamber musicians and string quartets playing several pieces at Music Mountain for the first time, including Juilliard String Quartet, Arianna String Quartet, Dover String Quartet, The Orion String Quartet, Penderecki String Quartet, St. Petersburg String Quartet, Enso String Quartet, Blair String Quartet, Harlem String Quartet, Shanghai String Quartet, and Cassett String Quartet. Guest artists are set to include Alexander Fiterstein, clarinet; Nicholas Canellakis, cello, Michael Brown, piano; Jonathan Yates, piano; Peter Serkin, piano; Geoffrey Burleson, piano; Melvin Chen, Piano Soyeon Kate Lee, Piano, Roberto Diaz, viola; andUrsula Oppens, piano.

The Saturday Evening Twilight Series begins on June 21 with New YorK Gilbert & Sullivan Players and the first of several pre-concert dinners. Evening concerts continue with Jive By Five (June 28); Vince Giordano and the Nighthawks (July 12); Gunsmoke (July 19); Swingtime Big Band (July 26); The New Black Eagle Jazz Band (August 2); and The Galvanized Jazz Band (August 16). This year, the twilight series will broaden its variety of musical offerings to include folk music, opera and the golden age of Broadway. A special concert of Old Time Country Music by Tater Patch, whose bass player Richard Gordon is a grandson of Jacques Gordon, Music Mountain's Founder, and the only descendant of the Founder ever to appear at Music Mountain, will also be presented.

Music Mountain's 85th Anniversary Season will also include their annual Teaching Program -- bringing master teachers and aspiring young musicians together. Artistic Director of The Institute at Music Mountain, composer, conductor, and bassist, Peter Askim, joined by Ethel (string quartet), will teach a series of master classes Sunday, June 8 through Saturday, June 14. "America's leading oboe recitalist," Humbert Lucarelli returns to Music Mountain for his master Oboe Seminar Sunday, July 20 through Friday, July 25. Returning for the second year, Carol Kastendieck, faculty member at The New York Conservatory for Dramatic Arts, will teach an actor's vocal training program in August.

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.

Tickets for the Season Opening Concert & Reception on Saturday, June 7 and End of Season Benefit Concert & Reception on Sunday, August 31 are $75 and include a voucher for one regularly priced concert. Two special mid-summer benefit concerts on Sunday, June 22 with the Juilliard String Quartet and on Sunday, July 20 with Peter Serkin and the Orion String Quartet are $60 per ticket. Chamber Music Concerts are $35 at the door/$30 in advance. Twilight Series Concerts are $30 at the door/$27 in advance. 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 visitwww.musicmountain.org or call 860-824-7126.

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