sOunds OF AmericA

Breaking down barriers: toronto symphony music director Peter oundjian is tempting new audiences with late-night concerts

In the first instance, he precedes the work (intriguingly) with selections from Prokofiev and Shostakovich, and then the CSO also features the symphony in its patented Beyond the Score series – entitled here Fate Knocks? – offering insight and context to the audience, before the piece is played in all its glory. Towards the end of the month, Muti conducts Bruckner’s Symphony No 6, which, at least in terms of its four-movement structure, owes something of a debt to Beethoven. cso.org

TORONTO Toronto Symphony Orchestra Schumann: Piano Concerto (June 6-7) Shostakovich: The Year 1905 (June 9) Since taking over as music director of the TSO in 2004, Peter Oundjian has done much to cultivate new audiences and break down the formal image of the classical concert. One such innovation that draws a new audience is a series of late-night concerts, which are sprinkled throughout the season. The TSO invites music lovers to stay up late on June 9 to hear Shostakovich’s Symphony No 11— subtitled The Year 1905. The hourlong symphony – a tonal work into which the composer has integrated revolutionary songs, and generally accessible to first-time audiences – starts at 10.30pm on a Saturday night. For those who prefer an earlier start, there are two opportunities during the week to hear the symphony performed at the more usual 8pm. These concerts also feature the Schumann Piano Concerto, with Jonathan Biss as soloist. tso.ca

VAIL Bravo! Vail Valley Music Festival (June 25 – August 4) From the heart of the Colorado Rocky Mountains, the Bravo! Vail Valley Music Festival kicks off its 25th anniversary season, which runs for seven weeks from June 25 to August 4. There’s much on offer, including residencies by three world-class orchestras: the New York Philharmonic, the Philadelphia Orchestra and the Dallas Symphony, the last of which has programmed several performances in June. Pianist Anne-Marie McDermott returns for her second season as festival director, and makes several appearances as performer. In late June she plays Mozart’s Piano Concerto No 25 with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. Other celebrated soloists include cellist Alisa Weilerstein and violinist Jennifer Koh who join forces for Brahms’s Double Concerto. There’s also the opportunity to hear chamber music – presented as Big Music for Little Bands – and a concert featuring all of the aforementioned soloists performing the Mendelssohn Trio and Brahms’s Trio No 1. vailmusicfestival.org

BRUNSWICK Bowdoin International Music Festival (June 23 – August 4) As summer festival season gets underway, all eyes are on the splashier, celebrity-driven festivals, as brilliant as they are. But every summer since 1964, Brunswick, Maine, has hosted the Bowdoin International Music Festival that brings world-class musicians together with gifted young musicians to present chamber concerts of the highest calibre. The 2012 season offers some thrilling highlights, including two concerts by the violinist Midori who performs all of Bach’s unaccompanied sonatas and partitas. The celebrated Shanghai Quartet will return to Bowdoin, as well as other virtuosi drawn from the nation’s leading orchestras. But perhaps the real attraction is the opportunity to hear the Artists of Tomorrow – the many superb

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young musicians who come here to study and perform at the highest level to make Bowdoin a great American festival. bowdoinfestival.org

ASPEN Aspen Music Festival (June 28 – August 19) The Aspen Music Festival and School kicks off its eight-week summer programme in June, now led by its new music director Robert Spano (the music director of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra). This summer’s season – which has more than 300 events and involves 800 student and professional musicians – has a theme, Made in America, signalling its celebration of American composers, past and present, as well as European composers who called America home (Rachmaninov, Stravinsky and Hindemith included). With this in mind, the opening night event on June 28 is a tribute to George Gershwin, conducted by maestro Spano and featuring Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue, Second Rhapsody and the Piano Concerto in F Major. Three different pianists – Inon Barnatan, Marc-André Hamelin and the precociously talented Aspen alumnus Conrad Tao – perform, accompanied by a big band. aspenmusicfestival.com

Previews by Damian Fowler i E D E m A N N

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