Schedule of Events:

Thursday, June 8, 2023

4:30 pm: ROMANCE AND THE CITY

BEACH Romance
SCHUMANN Märchenbilder (Fairy Tales)
VALERIE COLEMAN Rubispheres
BRAHMS Piano Trio No. 1 in B Major

The opening concert of the 2023 Sarasota Music Festival showcases the Romantic era’s rich lyricism. Inspired by Robert Schumann’s love of fairy tales, his wonderous Märchenbilder features new faculty violist Paul Neubauer. Manhattan’s sights and sounds travel to Florida in GRAMMY-nominated flutist and composer Valerie Coleman’s jazz-inspired Rubispheres. The Harlem Quartet’s Melissa White brings her “tightly focused vibrato and soaring phrases” (Chicago Tribune) to Amy Beach’s rapturous Romance for Violin and Piano. Brahms’ expansive Piano Trio No. 1 provides a dramatic close.

Cost: $30-$42

Location: Holley Hall - 709 N Tamiami Tr, Sarasota

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Friday, June 9, 2023

7:30 pm: SCENES AND SEASONS

VIVALDISummer from The Four Seasons
JANÁ?EKMladi (Youth)
GABRIELA LENA FRANK Four Folk Songs for Piano Trio
DVO?ÁKString Quintet in E-flat Major (American)

Music’s evocative storytelling powers take center stage in a program of intimate works with big impact. Stunningly gifted violinist Melissa White evokes the cuckoo’s voice, a sleeping goatherd, and the roaring and thundering of hail in “Summer” from Vivaldi’s beloved Four Seasons. Czech composer Leoš Janá?ek’s sextet Mládí (Youth), written late in his life, offers a nostalgic reimagining of themes from his past. Gabriela Lena Frank pays a vicarious visit to her mother’s native Peru in her picturesque Four Folk Songs. Antonín Dvo?ák, influenced by his encounters with Native American and Black musical traditions, poured out his affection for America in his enchanting and richly melodious Viola Quintet (American).

Cost: $29-$50

Location: Sarasota Opera House - 61 N Pineapple Ave, Sarasota

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Saturday, June 10, 2023

7:30 pm: PASTORALE

MENDELSSOHN Movements from A Midsummer Night’s Dream
SCHUMANN Piano Concerto in A Minor
BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 6 (Pastorale)

Tales of the verdant countryside unfold under the baton of Yaniv Dinur in the first orchestral program of the 2023 Festival. Exuberant and joyful, Felix Mendelssohn’s incidental music to A Midsummer Night’s Dream depicts the magical forest world of elves and fairies and the raptures of young love. Festival faculty pianist Anne-Marie McDermott will dazzle in Robert Schumann’s Piano Concerto, which his wife Clara described as “fresh and beautiful.” The program concludes with Beethoven’s “Pastorale” Symphony. From bird calls to burbling streams to the terrifying power of an afternoon thunderstorm, Beethoven’s Sixth Symphony is a timeless expression of his reverence for the natural world.

Cost: $30-$70

Location: Sarasota Opera House - 61 N Pineapple Ave, Sarasota

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Sunday, June 11, 2023

2:30pm: RISING STARS - 1

Fellow ensembles perform short chamber works and movements.

Cost: $15-$25

Location: Holley Hall - 709 N Tamiami Tr, Sarasota

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Thursday, June 15, 2023

4:30 pm: GOLD STANDARD

WEINBERG Sonatina for Violin and Piano
SATO MATSUI Goldenrod
CAROLINE SHAW Three Essays: First Essay (Nimrod)
RAVEL String Quartet in F Major

Stories of dedication and perseverance set a “gold standard” in this chamber showcase. Sato Matsui’s Goldenrod pays tribute to beloved SMF flutist Carol Wincenc’s “Golden Jubilee,” celebrating the anniversary of her remarkable 50-year career. Written in 1946, Polish composer Mieczys?aw Weinberg’s Sonatina for Violin and Piano possesses a tenderness that belies the adversity he faced during his life. The GRAMMY Award-winning Attacca Quartet makes its Festival debut with two acclaimed works. Composer Caroline Shaw, the youngest recipient of the Pulitzer Prize for Music, drew creative sparks for her First Essay (Nimrod) from human language, in particular, the lilting rhythms of Marilynne Robinson’s prose. Maurice Ravel’s ravishing String Quartet ends the program on a brilliant and lyrical note.

Cost: $30-$42

Location: Holley Hall - 709 N Tamiami Tr, Sarasota

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Friday, June 16, 2023

7:30 pm: APPALACHIAN SPRING

MOZART Serenade No. 11 in E-flat Major
COPLAND Appalachian Spring (13 instrument version)
BRAHMS Piano Quintet in F Minor

Aaron Copland’s heartfelt portrayal of a day in the life of a newly married pioneer couple lies at the heart of a program bursting with lush lyricism. The Pulitzer Prize-winning score to Martha Graham’s ballet Appalachian Spring will be heard in its original 13-instrument version. New SMF faculty oboist Marion Kuszyk, Associate Principal Oboe of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, joins faculty hornist Michelle Reed Baker and six fellows in Mozart’s delightfully contrasting serenade for wind octet. The program concludes with one of the crown jewels of the chamber music repertoire—Brahms’ Piano Quintet in F Minor. The Attacca Quartet and SMF Music Director Jeffrey Kahane collaborate on this passionate work.

Cost: $29-$50

Location: Sarasota Opera House - 61 N Pineapple Ave, Sarasota

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Saturday, June 17, 2023

7:30 pm: SOUND STORIES

RESPIGHI Trittico Botticelliano
TCHAIKOVSKY Variations on a Rococo Theme
MOZART Symphony No. 41 (Jupiter)

Cost: $30-$70

Location: Sarasota Opera House - 61 N Pineapple Ave, Sarasota

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Sunday, June 18, 2023

2:30pm: RISING STARS - 2

Cost: $15-$25

Location: Holley Hall - 709 N Tamiami Tr, Sarasota

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Wednesday, June 21, 2023

1:00pm: LEVIN LECTURE

Both illuminating and engaging, the beloved SMF tradition continues with the intellect and humor of past Festival Music Director Robert Levin, the eminent pianist and musicologist.

Cost: $15-$25

Location: Holley Hall - 709 N Tamiami Tr, Sarasota

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Thursday, June 22, 2023

4:30 pm: FAIRY TALE

DUTILLEUX Sonatine for flute and piano
JANÁ?EK Pohádka (Fairy Tale)
DE FALLA/KREISLER Danse Espagnole
KREISLER Liebesleid
SCHUBERT Piano Quintet in A Major (Trout)

The final Artist Showcase of the 2023 Festival features an all-star roster of musicians. Hai-Ye Ni, Principal Cellist of the Philadelphia Orchestra, is the protagonist of Janá?ek’s Pohádka (Fairy Tale), which tells the story of a prince who faces a series of tests put to him by the ruler of the underworld. David Halen, Concertmaster of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, shares two favorites by Fritz Kreisler—one of the greatest violinists of all time. Henri Dutilleux’s sparkling Sonatine features Jasmine Choi, the “goddess of the flute” according to The Korea Times. Along with Ni, faculty artists Jennifer Frautschi, Teng Li, Timothy Cobb, and Robert Levin form a supergroup for Schubert’s joyous and supremely melodic “Trout” Quintet.

Cost: $30-$42

Location: Holley Hall - 709 N Tamiami Tr, Sarasota

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Friday, June 23, 2023

2:30 pm: RISING STARS - 3

Fellow ensembles perform short chamber works and movements.

Cost: $15-$25

Location: Holley Hall - 709 N Tamiami Tr, Sarasota

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Friday, June 23, 2023

7:30 pm: TRADITIONS AND TRANSFORMATIONS

DEBUSSY Syrinx
LIGETI Six Bagatelles
BEETHOVEN Cello Sonata No. 2 in G Minor
MENDELSSOHN Octet in E-flat Major

New friends and old favorites sit side by side in a program of masterpieces from three centuries, performed by SMF faculty and fellows. Flutist Jasmine Choi weaves a magical web of sound in Claude Debussy’s mesmerizing Syrinx, the myth of a water nymph pursued by the Greek god Pan. Hungarian composer György Ligeti’s 1953 work, Six Bagatelles for Wind Quintet, is fiendishly difficult for the players and hugely enjoyable for the audience. New SMF faculty cellist Gabriel Cabezas joins pianist Robert Levin in Beethoven’s Cello Sonata No. 2, in which the visionary young Beethoven juxtaposes intense drama with jovial humor. SMF faculty and fellows join together for Mendelssohn’s magnificent Octet for Strings, a musical miracle written when the composer was only 16.

Cost: $29-$50

Location: Sarasota Opera House - 61 N Pineapple Ave, Sarasota

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Saturday, June 24, 2023

7:30 pm: KAHANE PLAYS BEETHOVEN

BEETHOVEN Piano Concerto No. 4
EMILY COOLEY Argo
SCHUMANN Symphony No. 1 (Spring)

Cost: $30-$70

Location: Sarasota Opera House - 61 N Pineapple Ave, Sarasota

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Date: June 8-24, 2023

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