Thursday, June 19, 2008

Astoria Music Festival is about to open

Tomorrow night the Astoria Music Festival opens with some wonderful concerts. Conductor Keith Clark leads the orchestra in a performance of the Overture to "Candide" by Bernstein. Pianist Alexandre Dossin, who teaches at the U of O, plays Liszt's Piano Concerto No. 1 and there's also Beethoven's Symphony No. 7 and his Fantasia for Piano, Chorus, and Orchestra.

Then on Saturday evening is a concert version performance of Verdi's "Rigoletto" with Richard Zeller in the title role, Amy Hanson as Gilda, Jon Garrison as the Duke, and Konstantin Kvach as Sparafucile.

On Sunday afternoon at 4pm, you can hear chamber music with pianist Cary Lewis, violinist Inés Voglar, violist Joël Belgíque, cellist Dorothy Lewis, and flutist Molly Barth.

Then on Tuesday afternoon is the unusual performance. It's Beta Collide and painter Roger Hayes who interact on some kind of music and visual art extravaganza. Beta Collide is a new music ensemble based in Oregon. Directed by Grammy-Award winning flutist Molly Alicia Barth (formerly of eighth blackbird) and trumpeter Brian McWhorter (of Meridian Arts Ensemble), this ensemble will take the arts to a new level.

These are just a few of the initial events of the festival, which runs through June 29th.

See the Astoria Music Festival website for more information.

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