News

Country and classical kick off BMC’s 80th season

Lee Ann Womack helps kick off the 2017 Brevard Music Center season.

By Bill Moss, Published: June 21, 2017

The Brevard Music Center Summer Festival officially kicks off its 81st Anniversary Season on Friday, June 23, with a genre-blending opening weekend of performances.

The extensive and diverse opening weekend concerts range from Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5 and Stravinsky’s “Petrushka”—both conducted by BMC Artistic Director Keith Lockhart—to appearances by country and bluegrass legends Lee Ann Womack and Ricky Skaggs.

The performances begin at 6 p.m. on Friday, June 23, at Whittington-Pfohl Auditorium with Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5, one of the most recognizable works in the classical music repertoire. Lockhart—who celebrates his 10th anniversary as Artistic Director this season—leads the Brevard Music Center Orchestra and is joined by the internationally celebrated pianist Garrick Ohlsson for Brahms’ Piano Concerto No. 1 in D minor.

On Saturday, June 24, at 7:30 p.m., country superstar Lee Ann Womack makes her Brevard Music Center debut at Whittington-Pfohl Auditorium. Womack is a Grammy, CMA, and ACM award winning artist acclaimed for “I Hope You Dance” (which sold over 6 million albums) and her newest release, “The Way I’m Livin’.” Singer-songwriter Sarah Siskind & Sunliner, featuring Jeff Sipe, will serve as the opening act.
On Sunday, June 25 at 3:00 p.m., Keith Lockhart leads the Brevard Sinfonia in Stravinsky’s exuberant “Petrushka.” Virtuoso violinist Anne Akiko Meyers is featured in Ravel’s “Tzigane” and Morricone’s “Love Theme from Cinema Paradiso,” among other classical favorites.
Opening weekend festivities continue with a program featuring Shostakovich’s Piano Trio No. 2 in E minor, performed by Brevard Music Center Faculty on Monday, June 26, at 7:30 p.m. at Brevard College’s Ingram Auditorium.
And on Tuesday, June 27, at 7:30 p.m., bluegrass legend and 14-time Grammy-award winner Ricky Skaggs takes center stage at the open-air Whittington-Pfohl Auditorium. A mandolin prodigy from his teenage years, Skaggs has been a leader in the revival of traditional music for decades. Skaggs will be joined on stage by his all-star band, Kentucky Thunder, and the Brevard Festival Orchestra led by BMC Resident Conductor Ken Lam.

Tickets to Brevard Music Center’s Summer Festival range in price from $15 for lawn tickets to $57 for premium seating in Whittington-Pfohl, BMC’s lakeside open-air auditorium. Lawn seating is free for children under 17 (with a paying adult) and students 18 and older (with a valid ID). WPA Box Office hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday-Wednesday; 10 a.m.-intermission Thursday-Sunday. Box Office hours at the Porter Center (Brevard College Campus) are 2 hours prior to the start of the performance through intermission. For more call (828) 862-2105 or order seats online at brevardmusic.org.