News

Brevard Music Center to stage full season this summer

By Lightning Reports, Published: March 11, 2022

BREVARD — The Brevard Music Center announced Friday that the Summer Festival Season is back for 2022,  the first full summer institute and festival season since 2019.

BMC Artistic Director and alumnus Keith Lockhart—principal conductor of the Boston Pops for more than 25 years—presides over the 10-week summer music festival featuring more than 80 performances and events spanning a multitude of genres and musical tastes.

The center this season introduces the first Legendary Artist Series programs with renowned violinist Joshua Bell. Other season highlights include masterpieces like Stravinsky’s Firebird, Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade, Bizet’s opera Carmen, Berlioz’ Symphonie fantastique, Beethoven’s “Archduke” Trio, plus contemporary favorites including Star Wars: A New Hope (film + live orchestra), the Steep Canyon Rangers and ABBA The Concert.

The 2022 Summer Festival includes a full roster of symphony concerts, fully-staged opera productions, chamber music programs in BMC’s new state-of-the art facility, Parker Concert Hall, plus BMC Presents concerts with celebrity performances and the sounds of American jazz, banjo with Béla Fleck, and bluegrass guitar performances, with the American Voices Festival within a Festival woven throughout. The 2022 Summer Festival Season is sponsored by Jacquelyn and Bruce Rogow; the Legendary Artist Series is sponsored by Drs. Joanne and Tom Parker.

Resident Conductor Ken Lam and the BMC Orchestra kick off the symphonic season opening night on Friday, June 24, with Mussorgsky’s showpiece "Pictures at an Exhibition." Saturday night, June 25, will have you dancing in the aisles and singing along at ABBA The Concert to the iconic songs of a generation like “Dancing Queen” and “Mamma Mia.” Dallas Symphony Assistant Conductor Katharina Wincor leads the orchestra Sunday afternoon, June 26, in a program featuring Stravinksy’s "Firebird," and the chamber music series begins Monday at Parker Concert Hall. Opening Weekend culminates on Tuesday, June 28, with the return of Grammy Award-winners, Billboard chart-toppers, and local favorites, the Steep Canyon Rangers for a favorite North Carolina summer tradition.

A Grammy Award-winning violinist, Bell comes to BMC for two performances. On July 27 he performs an intimate recital “Voice and the Violin” at Parker Concert Hall with his wife, soprano Larisa Martínez, and the next night, July 27, takes the stage with Keith Lockhart and the BMC Orchestra at Whittington-Pfohl Auditorium to perform Tchaikovsky’s passionate and virtuosic Violin Concerto. The performances are made possible by 2022 Legendary Artist Series Sponsors, Drs. Joanne and Tom Parker.

This season’s “festival within a festival,” is the American Voices Festival, which has been curated to illuminate and honor the many facets of our American musical traditions, is interwoven through all genres of music and performance this season. The festoival explores American music from the past, present, and future through the voices of a variety of composers: Gershwin, Ellington, Barber, Porter, Williams, Price and more. A multimedia program, "Dvořák’s Prophecy," based on Joe Horowitz’ book about the path of classical music in America, will be a highlight of the festival.

Symphonic highlights include music from Stravinsky’s "Firebird" and Tchaikovsky’s "Sleeping Beauty," Brahms’s 1st Symphony, "Berlioz’ Symphonie fantastique, Shostakovich 5," Ravel’s "Boléro," Prokofiev’s "Romeo and Juliet," Rimsky-Korsakov’s "Scheherazade," Bach’s "Brandenburg Concertos," "Pictures at an Exhibition" by Mussorgsky, and many more. BMC’s tradition of performing movie scores live to full length feature films continues in 2022 with "Star Wars: A New Hope." With Keith Lockhart on the podium, Mahler’s 3rd Symphony is planned for the Season Finale on Sunday, August 7. Mahler’s 3rd is a work of magnitude that has been said to transcend nature, man, and God through the pure dramatic force of music. Scored for large orchestra, women’s and children’s choruses, mezzo-soprano soloist Susan Platts will also be featured.

Principal Guest Conductor JoAnn Falletta returns to conduct two core symphonic programs, including "Rhapsody in Blue" with pianist Lara Downes. Pianist Conrad Tao performs Rachmaninoff’s "Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini" on opening night. Hear the gorgeous musical voice of American composer Frances Price through her Violin Concerto No. 1 performed by violinist Randall Goosby, and Mozart’s brilliant Violin Concerto No. 5, the “Turkish” performed by violinist Geneva Lewis. Pianist Zee Zee is scheduled to perform Liszt’s 1st Piano Concerto, and cellist Gabriel Martins will perform Villa-Lobos’ Cello Concerto No. 2. Pianist Kirill Gerstein returns to BMC to perform Bartok’s Piano Concerto No. 3, and one of the most beloved piano concertos of all time, Tchaikovsky’s 1st Piano Concerto.

The Music Center brings the sounds of Spain to life in Brevard this summer with three fully staged opera productions set in Seville: "Carmen," "The Barber of Seville" and "Man of La Mancha." With these audience favorites, plus An Evening with Cole Porter and perennial favorite Opera’s Greatest Hits, 2022 is a powerhouse season for vocal music.

Bizet’s smoldering drama Carmen is one of the most popular operas of all time. With some of opera’s most iconic melodies, this tale of seduction and obsession promises to thrill both the seasoned opera lover and the opera-curious.

With music made recognizable in popular culture by the Bugs Bunny cartoon “The Rabbit of Seville," Rossini’s opera The Barber of Seville remains a masterpiece of musical comedy almost 250 years after it was written. Plan to be delighted by Rossini’s beautiful melodies and plot fraught with bribery, mischievous deception, and disguise all in the name of love.

“The Impossible Dream” is vibrantly realized in the operatic adaptation of Tony Award-winning Broadway musical Man of La Mancha. Would-be knight Don Quixote sets off on a great chivalrous adventure in this famous play within a play.

In An Evening with Cole Porter, enjoy a glorious tribute to this gifted American composer and lyricist known for popular songs like ”Night and Day” and acclaimed Broadway musicals including Anything Goes and Kiss Me, Kate.

Relax into the groove of easy summer nights with BMC Presents. Early season highlights include ABBA The Concert with songs like “Dancing Queen,” and “Mamma Mia,” followed by GRAMMY® Award-winners, Billboard chart-toppers, and local favorite, Steep Canyon Rangers. The 2022 lineup includes the first annual NC Guitar Celebration hosted by guitarist Bryan Sutton in partnership with the Blue Ridge Guitar Camp and Mountain Song Productions during Brevard’s White Squirrel Weekend. Americana music cult favorite and renowned singer-songwriter Robert Earl Keen comes to Brevard as he winds up his farewell tour, and finally, the BMC Presents season closes the summer concert season with Béla Fleck’s Blue Ridge Banjo Concert.

Prepare to be enchanted inside the intimate and elegant Parker Concert Hall. This series showcases BMC’s renowned Artist Faculty at their best, performing music they love alongside revered colleagues in a beautiful setting. Highlights include Beethoven’s “Archduke” Trio, Schubert’s “Trout” Quintet, an evening with trailblazer Lara Downes, Dvořák’s Piano Quintet, Mozart’s Musical Joke, and much more.