Bravo! Vail Announces 2019 Season

The Bravo! Vail Music Festival announces its 2019 season, a star-studded celebration of innovations, premieres, and world-class artistry. The Festival opens on June 20 and includes more than 80 concerts and community engagement events in venues throughout the Vail Valley.

Music highlights

• Bravo! Vail's first staged opera production: Two performances of Puccini's Tosca with The Philadelphia Orchestra, Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin, and an all-star international cast in an immersive custom designed production.
• The North American debut of the Chamber Orchestra Vienna - Berlin, continuing Bravo! Vail's commitment to showcasing the finest artists and ensembles from around the world. Its three-concert residency includes the complete Mozart violin concertos with renowned German violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter in her Vail debut.
• Jaap van Zweden in his inaugural season as Music Director of the New York Philharmonic.
• A mini-Beethoven festival comprised of two all-Beethoven programs with Donald Runnicles conducting the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, and Yefim Bronfman in a recital of Beethoven piano sonatas (the first time Bravo! will present a solo recital on the Chamber Music Series).

Artist highlights

• Bravo! Vail debuts of internationally renowned artists: violinists Anne-Sophie Mutter and Hilary Hahn; pianists Seong-Jin Cho and Conrad Tao; and both the Takács and St. Lawrence String Quartets.
• The Grammy Award-winning ensemble Third Coast Percussion co-curating Bravo's adventurous Classically Uncorked Series presented by Meiomi Wine.

Premieres

• Tosca - premiere production designed for Bravo! Vail's outdoor stage
• Philip Glass - the composer's first work for percussion quartet, co-commissioned by Bravo! Vail
• New work co-composed by father-and-son duo Edgar and George Meyer

Artistic Director Anne-Marie McDermott explains, "If anyone had told me nine years ago, when I was first appointed as Bravo! Vail's third Artistic Director, that the Festival would be staging its first opera under the direction of Yannick Nézet-Séguin in the same summer that Jaap van Zweden would be returning to Vail as the Music Director of the New York Philharmonic, just on the heels of Anne Sophie-Mutter performing all five Mozart Violin Concertos with an orchestra comprised of members of the Berlin and Vienna Philharmonics, I never could have imagined it. But here we are! It's all happening in 2019, and I could not be more thrilled-for the Festival, for the community, for the artists who are participating, and most especially, for our wonderful, loyal, generous and enthusiastic audiences and supporters. That all of it is surrounded by chamber music and solo concerts at the highest artistic level, including premieres of new works and debuts by the most interesting artists of our time, is quite simply a dream come true."

TICKETED EVENTS

Chamber Orchestra Vienna - Berlin

Bravo! Vail presents the North American debut of this unique ensemble comprised of members from two of the world's most prestigious ensembles: the Vienna and Berlin Philharmonic Orchestras.

• June 20 and 22: All-Mozart programs with violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter in her Vail debut, performing all five of Mozart's Violin Concertos.
• June 23: Haydn & Mozart featuring principal players in solo roles.

Dallas Symphony Orchestra
Celebrating its 19th season at Bravo! Vail, the Dallas Symphony brings powerful vitality to five inventive programs.

• June 28: Beethoven Piano and Violin Concertos with violinist James Ehnes and Bravo! Vail's Artistic Director pianist Anne-Marie McDermott.
• June 29: Beethoven Triple Concerto (McDermott, Ehnes and Daniel Müller-Schott) and Symphony No. 7 caps a two-concert all-Beethoven celebration conducted by Donald Runnicles.
• June 30: Jurassic Park brings this action-packed adventure movie to life with the intensely dramatic score performed live as the film is screened over the stage.
• July 1: "Unforgettable: 100 Years of Nat and Natalie" is a soulful 100th birthday tribute to the legendary Nat King Cole and his daughter Natalie, with Principal Pops Conductor Jeff Tyzik.
• July 4: Patriotic Pops, Bravo! Vail's musical celebration of America's favorite holiday featuring vocalist Doug LaBrecque.

The Philadelphia Orchestra
The "Fabulous Philadelphians" dazzle with their 13th Vail season, which includes two major soloists in their Vail debuts and an innovative production of Tosca, the first opera ever staged at Bravo! Vail.

• July 5: Hilary Hahn Plays Mendelssohn. The three-time Grammy winning violinist makes her Vail debut, with Principal Guest Conductor Stéphane Denève leading an enchanting program that includes the Second Suite from Ravel's luminous Daphnis et Chloé.
• July 6: Denève Conducts : Magic of Music evokes the vivid energy of youth through music, featuring Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf, selections from Harry Potter by John Williams, and Britten's beloved Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra.
• July 7: Brahms Piano Concerto No. 2 with Nicholas Angelich in the solo role pairs beautifully with selections from Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet, all under the direction of Denève.
• July 11 and 13: Tosca For the first time in its history, Bravo! Vail brings an extraordinary staged opera production to life. In this extraordinary premiere production, custom designed for Bravo! Vail's stage, Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin-also the Music Director of the Metropolitan Opera-leads an all-star international cast, two choruses, and the exhilarating artistry of The Philadelphia Orchestra in two performances of Puccini's beloved opera.
• July 12: Mozart & Rachmaninoff with superstar Korean pianist Seong-Jin Cho in his Bravo! Vail debut, and Rachmaninoff's fiercely flamboyant First Symphony, led by Nézet-Séguin.

New York Philharmonic
Jaap van Zweden returns to Vail in his widely-anticipated inaugural season as Music Director of America's first symphony orchestra.

• July 17: Van Zweden's Return showcases the unbridled exuberance of Beethoven's triumphant "Eroica" Symphony.
• July 18: Classical Music From the Movies with acclaimed British conductor Alexander Joel (younger half-brother of "Piano Man" Billy) in his Vail debut.
• July 19: Hadelich Plays Britten with Augustin Hadelich-longtime Bravo! Vail favorite-and Britten's profoundly emotional Violin Concerto, followed by the sumptuous Second Symphony by Rachmaninoff.
• July 20: Tao Plays Beethoven with pianist Conrad Tao in his Vail debut paired with the powerful transcendence of Brahms Symphony No. 1.
• July 23: Tovey Conducts Cole Porter Led by the Grammy award-winning conductor Bramwell Tovey, "Anything Goes" at this elegant evening filled with sophisticated charm.
• July 24: Bronfman Plays Rachmaninoff Bravo! Vail's symphonic season finale combines the torrential virtuosity of Rachmaninoff's Third Piano Concerto with the thrilling Symphony No. 4 by Tchaikovsky.

Chamber Music Series
Four programs celebrating the art of chamber music, with both well-loved classical and innovative contemporary works, including two acclaimed string quartets in their Vail debuts and the first ever solo recital on Bravo's Chamber Music Series.

• July 2: Dallas Strings & McDermott Bravo's Artistic Director Anne-Marie McDermott and Dallas Symphony's principal string players join forces for two gorgeous large-scale works by Liebermann and Chausson, plus a delightfully lyrical trio by Dvo?ák.
• July 9: Takács String Quartet makes its Vail debut with three essential cornerstones of the string quartet repertoire: Mozart's "Dissonance," Bartók's Fourth, and Mendelssohn's compelling String Quartet No. 2.
• July 16: St. Lawrence String Quartet brings both rock-and-roll energy and classical sophistication to music of Haydn, Amy Beach (joined by pianist McDermott) and Brahms.
• July 22: Bronfman Plays Beethoven in the first Bravo! Vail solo recital on the Chamber Music Series, Yefim Bronfman performs the complete Op. 10 Sonatas and the aptly named "Appassionata."

Classically Uncorked presented by Meiomi Wine
This three-concert series is a tour-de-force of musical adventuring with the Grammy-winning ensemble Third Coast Percussion.

• July 30: Third Coast: Paddle to the Sea screens the Academy Award-nominated film with live performance of an original score, creating a thrilling multimedia tribute to sun, Earth, and shared waterways.
• July 31: Third Coast, Steve Reich & Lou Harrison explores the extraordinary depth and breadth of the world of percussion music, including a Violin Concerto featuring Yvonne Lam, co-founder of the pioneering new music ensemble Eighth Blackbird.
• August 1: A Philip Glass Premiere Perpetulum, Philip Glass's first-ever composition for percussion quartet, was co-commissioned by Bravo! Vail, here unforgettably paired with George Crumb's Makrokosmos III: Music For a Summer Evening.

The Linda & Mitch Hart Soirée Series
Elegance and excellence harmonize in four evenings of chamber music and fine dining in magnificent private residences throughout the Vail Valley.

• June 25: James Ehnes, violin; Andrew Armstrong, piano; catered by Vail Catering Concepts, Executive Chef Eric Berg
• July 8: Anne-Marie McDermott, piano; catered by The Left Bank, Executive Chef Jean-Michel Chelain
• July 15: St. Lawrence String Quartet; Anne-Marie McDermott, piano; catered by Mirabelle at Beaver Creek, Executive Chef Daniel Joly
• July 27: The Brass Project; Foods of Vail, catered by Executive Chef Tracey Van Curan

Bravo! Vail After Dark
Four wide-ranging evenings of classical and contemporary music at the Shakedown Bar, a renowned live music venue with an informal vibe.

• July 7: Ken Thomson, clarinet/bass clarinet/composer (Bang on a Can, Asphalt Orchestra)
• July 21: The Brass Project
• July 28: Father/son duo Edgar Meyer (bass/composer) and George Meyer (violin/composer) featuring their first collaboratively composed work
• August 4: Yvonne Lam, electro-acoustic violin (Eighth Blackbird)

2019 Bravo! Vail Virtual Gala
New this year, Bravo presents its first ever Virtual Gala, featuring an online auction with exclusive packages, including the chance to be Maestro of the New York Philharmonic. Bidding opens at the beginning of the season on June 20, and culminates on Thursday, July 25, following the symphonic season finale. All proceeds from the Virtual Gala support Bravo's after-school programs for local kids, community education initiatives, and mission of enriching people's lives through the power of music.

FREE CONCERTS AND EDUCATION EVENTS
Bravo! Vail is committed to making great music accessible and available to the whole community. These programs feature world-renowned Festival artists from visiting orchestras and ensembles, as well as the 2019 Piano Fellows and Chamber Musicians in Residence, up-and-coming artists that Bravo! Vail is proud to present early in their careers.

Free Concert Series: Hour-long lunchtime chamber music concerts performed at the Vail Interfaith Chapel and other community venues throughout the Valley.

Family Concerts with the National Repertory Orchestra: A fun introduction to the orchestra for the whole family, the 2019 program will be co-developed by teaching artists, conductor Anu Tali, and the talented young musicians of the NRO.

Little Listeners @ The Library: Engaging performances by Festival artists followed by age-appropriate musical activities in area libraries.

NEW! Inside the Music: Master classes and moderated discussions that create connections and provide unique perspectives into repertoire and the artistic process.

Outreach: Bringing music to audiences with limited access and/or mobility through partnerships with community organizations including Roundup River Ranch, Walking Mountains Science Center, and Vail Health locations throughout the valley.

Tickets are currently available through "Create Your Own" packages: 10% off three or more orchestra concerts, plus benefits including ticket exchange privileges. Package prices start at $78 for 3 lawn tickets, and $117 for 3 pavilion tickets. Chamber Music Series and Classically Uncorked presented by Meiomi Wine tickets are available as add-ons at a 10% discount. Ticket packages may be purchased online at bravovail.org, by calling the Box Office at 877.812.5700, or by emailing ticketing@bravovail.org. Individual concert tickets go on sale March 19. For tickets to the Linda and Mitch Hart Soirée Series and information about the Virtual Gala, contact Melissa Meyers at mmeyers@bravovail.org.

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