Brevard Music Center Announces Lineup for Closing Weekend of Summer Festival

The 2019 season of the Brevard Music Center (BMC) Summer Festival concludes with a breathtaking finale weekend-August 2 through August 4-featuring three exuberant and impassioned masterworks including Rachmaninoff's Symphony No. 2, Stravinsky's Firebird, and Mahler 2. All three performances feature BMC's resident orchestras and take place at the 1800-seat, open-air Whittington-Pfohl Auditorium (WPA), which also boasts lawn seating for 400, lakeside ambiance, casual concessions fare, and picnic-friendly grounds on the Music Center's expansive campus. Ticket prices start at $20.

"Brevard Music Center is a mission-driven summer music institute and festival dedicated to training the next generation of gifted young musicians," noted Brevard Music Center President & CEO Mark Weinstein. "Each summer our festival grows in stature and reputation as our BMC student body raises the bar to new heights of artistic and performance excellence. Combined with our esteemed faculty, world-class guest artists, and the exquisite natural beauty of the Blue Ridge Mountains, an experience at the Brevard Music Center Summer Festival is not only transformative for our students, but also for our audiences. Please join us!"

On Friday, August 2 at 7:30 p.m., BMC Artistic Director Keith Lockhart takes center stage with the Brevard Concert Orchestra in a performance of Rachmaninoff's Symphony No. 2. The evening's program also features Maslanka's Hymn for World Peace and Mackey's Aurora Awakes, performed by the Brevard Symphonic Winds under the direction of Kraig Alan Williams.

On Saturday, August 3 at 7:30 p.m., BMC Resident Conductor Ken Lam leads the Brevard Sinfonia in Stravinsky's vibrant and rhythmic Firebird Suite, composed for Diaghilev's famed Ballets Russes. Additional works include the composer's Song of the Nightingale, as well as Liadov's From The Apocalypse and the Brevard debut of violinist SooBeen Lee in Sibelius' Violin Concerto in D minor.

On Sunday, August 4 at 3:00 p.m., BMC Artistic Director Keith Lockhart, the Brevard Music Center Orchestra, and hundreds of artists fill the WPA stage for the season finale performance of Mahler 2. Mezzo-soprano Susan Platts, soprano Ilana Davidson, and the Brevard Music Festival Chorus, under the direction of chorus master David Gresham, are also featured in Mahler's impassioned and apocalyptic Resurrection Symphony.

Brevard Music Center gratefully acknowledges the support of Audi Asheville, Lead Sponsor of Season Finale: Mahler 2, and 2019 Student Scholarship Car Raffle Sponsor.

Brevard Music Center's popular non-classical BMC Presents series concludes when Lyle Lovett and his Large Band return to Whittington-Pfohl Auditorium on Thursday, August 8 at 7:30 p.m. and Béla Fleck brings his Blue Ridge Banjo Concert back for year two on Saturday, August 17 at 7:30 p.m. Both BMC Presents concerts are produced in collaboration with Mountain Song Productions.

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 (*excludes Season Finale & BMC Presents performances). All guest artists, programs, pricing, and dates are subject to change.

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).

Founded in 1936, the Brevard Music Center stands as one of this country's premier summer classical music training programs and festivals. Each year, 500 gifted students (ages 14 through post-college) come to the Music Center from across the United States and around the world to study with a distinguished faculty and renowned guest artists.

Each summer, students participate in a vigorous program of instruction and performance led by BMC Artistic Director and alumnus Keith Lockhart, the Principal Conductor of the Boston Pops and Chief Guest Conductor of the BBC Concert Orchestra in London. Brevard's hallmark is the powerful sense of community that re-emerges every June through August as faculty and students present more than 80 remarkable concerts to summer audiences totaling over 40,000.

For more information on BMC, visit brevardmusic.org, call (828) 862-2100, "like" the Brevard Music Center on Facebook, follow @brevardmusic on Instagram and Twitter, stream season highlights via SoundCloud, and visit the Brevard Music Center YouTube channel for performance videos from previous festival seasons.

Photo Credit: Platt Architecture, PA

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