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Festival Season is Gershwin Season

Jun. 28, 2011

Once again, the summer festival season is Gershwin season with music by the great American composer prominently featured at festivals across the US. Many of his best known works, including Rhapsody in Blue and I Got Rhythm, can be heard in beautiful locations ranging from Breckenridge, Colorado to Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio.

One of the highlights this summer is the concert performance of Porgy and Bess at the Tanglewood Music Festival on August 26. Taking place in the Koussevitzky Music Shed, the leading roles are performed by Alfred Walker (Porgy), Laquita Mitchell (Bess) and Nicole Cabell (Clara), with the superb Boston Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Bramwell Tovey. A prelude concert in Ozawa Hall at 6PM by members of the Boston Symphony Orchestra precedes the opera performance, with free admission for Porgy and Bess ticket holders.

The Breckenridge Music Festival in Colorado has an entire night of cabaret lined up on August 10 entitled “By George.” Located at the Riverwalk Center, the performance features over a dozen of Gershwin's most popular songs. The Breckenridge Festival also features An American in Paris on July 23 as part of the Festival Orchestra Series: Close Relations of the Musical Kind.

The Ravinia Music Festival has a trio of Gershwin works programmed for its annual Gala Benefit Evening on July 23. The 75-minute concert includes Cuban Overture, An American in Paris, and Rhapsody in Blue, with all proceeds going towards Ravinia’s “Reach*Teach*Play” music education programs. Featured vocalists in this evening event are Sylvia McNair, Kelli O’Hara and Brian Strokes Mitchell, and supporting the singers is the Chicago Symphony Orchestra conducted by James Conlon, with Kevin Cole on piano.

These are just a few of the Gershwin tunes that can be heard this summer - below is a more comprehensive listing of Gershwin performances taking place this summer!

Tanglewood, Lenox, MA

8/26 - Porgy and Bess

For further information please visit www.tanglewood.org.

Ravinia Music Festival, Highland Park, IL

7/23 - Cuban Overture

7/23 - An American in Paris

7/23 - Rhapsody in Blue

For further information, please visit www.ravinia.org

Colorado Music Festival, Boulder, CO

6/30 - Rhapsody in Blue

7/1 - Rhapsody in Blue

For further information, please visit www.coloradomusicfest.org.

Caramoor International Music Festival, Katonah, NY

7/3 - For Lily Pons

7/3 - Short Story

For further information, please visit www.caramoor.org .

Skaneateles Festival, Skaneateles, NY

8/26 - “I Got Rhythm” and other selections for solo piano

For further information, please visit www.skanfest.org.

Brevard Music Festival, Brevard, NC

7/23 - Rhapsody in Blue

For further information, please visit www.brevardmusic.org.

Blossom Festival, The Cleveland Orchestra, Cuyahoga Falls, OH

7/31 - I Got Rhythm

For further information, please visit www.clevelandorchestra.com.

Breckenridge Music Festival, Breckenridge, CO

7/23 - American in Paris

8/10 - Embraceable You; I’ve Got a Crush on You; Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off; ‘S Wonderful; They Can’t Take That Away from Me; Someone to Watch Over Me; I’ve Got Rhythm; But Not For Me; Fascinating Rhythm; Nice Work If You Can Get It; Slap That Bass; Strike Up the Band; Love is here to Stay; The Man I Love

Learn more at www.breckenridgemusicfestival.com.

Castleton Festival, Manassas, VA
7/7 – Porgy and Bess in concert

Learn more at www.castletonfestival.org.

Utah Festival Opera, Logan, UT
7/14 – I Got Rhythm, Summertime, Someone to Watch Over Me, By Strauss, They Can’t Take That Away from Me, Embraceable You, Rhapsody in Blue

Learn more at www.ufoc.org.

Seattle Opera, Seattle, WA

7/30, 8/3, 8/6, 8/10, 8/12, 8/14, 8/19, 8/20 - Porgy and Bess

Learn more at www.seattleopera.org.

In addition to the festival appearances, Gershwin’s music is heard in the concert halls of the nation’s leading orchestras this summer including the New York Philharmonic, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra at Strathmore, San Francisco Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra,  San Diego Symphony Pops, The Rochester Philharmonic and more.

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