Aeolus String Quartet, Ben Kono Group to Make Music Mountain Debuts This August

Music Mountain, America's Longest Running Chamber Music Festival, continues its 88th Season with two Music Mountain debuts! The Aeolus String Quartet, with guest artist Geoffrey Burleson, piano, performs Haydn, Mendelssohn, and Franck on Sunday, August 6 (3pm) and The Ben Kono Group plays sophisticated, contemporary jazz on Saturday, August 5 (6:30pm). Concerts are scheduled thru September 17.

The Ben Kono Group has garnered high praise for its thoughtful compositions, lush orchestrations, and edgy improvising ever since their debut CD was released to a sold-out house in New York City in 2011. The group features long-time musical collaborators Henry Hey on piano and Fender Rhodes, Pete McCann on guitars, John Hollenbeck on drums, John Hebert on bass, and Heather Laws on vocals and French horn. Woodwind performer, saxophonist, and band leader, Ben Kono has come into his own light as a leader and composer of note and has attracted attention as a singular emerging voice playing at many elite jazz venues in New York.

Keeping with long-standing tradition, the Saturday Twilight Series features pre-concert dinners at the quaint Falls Village Inn. Experience a piece of history in this 175-year-old Inn, then stay for the "cosmopolitan and unflappable" Ben Kono Group! (The New York Times).

Sunday afternoon welcomes the Aeolus String Quartet making their Music Mountain debut with guest artist Geoffrey Burleson, piano. The program is set to include Haydn: String Quartet in F Major, Opus 74 #2; Mendelssohn: String Quartet in A Minor, Opus 13; and Franck: Piano Quintet in F Minor.

Praised by the Baltimore Sun for combining "smoothly meshed technique with a sense of spontaneity and discovery," the Aeolus Quartet is committed to presenting time-seasoned masterworks and new cutting-edge works to widely diverse audiences with equal freshness, dedication, and fervor. Since its inception in 2008, the all-American quartet has been awarded prizes at nearly every major competition in the United States and performed across the globe. Dedicated to bringing music into the community, the Aeolus Quartet has been widely recognized for their highly innovative and engaging outreach programs. The Quartet is named for the Greek god Aeolus, who governed the four winds. This idea of a single spirit uniting four individual forces serves as an inspiration to the members of the Aeolus Quartet as they pursue their art.

Equally active as a recitalist, concerto soloist, chamber musician, and jazz performer, pianist Geoffrey Burleson has performed to wide acclaim throughout Europe and North America. The New York Times has hailed Burleson's solo performances as "vibrant and compelling," praising his "rhythmic brio, projection of rhapsodic qualities, appropriate sense of spontaneity, and rich colorings." Mr. Burleson's concerto appearances include the Buffalo Philharmonic, New England Philharmonic, Boston Musica Viva and the Holland Symfonia in the Netherlands. He has also appeared as featured soloist at the Bard Music Festival, Santander Festival (Spain) and the Talloires International Festival (France). Mr. Burleson teaches piano at Princeton University and is Professor of Music and Director of Piano Studies at Hunter College-City University of New York.

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.

Music Mountain is supported, in part, by the Connecticut Commission On Culture & Tourism and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Chamber music concerts continue with St. Petersburg Piano Quartet (August 13 & August 20); Daedalus String Quartet with Tanya Bannister, Piano (August 27); and Shanghai String Quartet (September 2).

The Saturday Evening Twilight Series continues with Ryan Keberle & Catharsis (August 12); Todd Marcus Quintet (August 19); Michael Berkeley (August 26); and The Galvanized Jazz Band (September 9).

Saturday evening pre-concert dinner at the intimate Falls Village Inn (5pm) is $70. Ticket includes dinner & concert. Seating is limited; reservations must be made 24 hours prior to concert date.

Specially Priced Concerts are as follows: Tickets for the Labor Day Benefit Concert & Reception on Sunday, September 3 (3PM) with The Shanghai String Quartet, guest artist Qing Jiang, piano, are $75. Tickets for the closing concert on Sunday, September 17 (3PM) with The Juilliard String Quartet are $60.

Chamber Music Concerts are $35. Twilight Series Concerts are $30. Children ages 5-18 are admitted FREE for ALL CONCERTS when accompanied by a ticket holder. Saturday Twilight Concerts are at 6:30pm. Sunday afternoon Chamber Music concerts are at 3pm. Group rates 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.

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