Bear Valley Music Festival

Our 55th Anniversary Season

Schedule:

Friday, July 21, 2023

7pm: The English Beat
The English Beat is coming to Bear Valley!  With an energetic mix of musical styles, the band’s unique sound has allowed it to endure for nearly three decades and appeal to fans, young and old, all over the world.  Consummate showman that he is, Dave Wakeling has continued to keep The Beat alive and strong, and he will rock the Bear Valley tent.

From Mirror in the Bathroom to Save it For Later to Tears of a Clown, you’ll be dancing all night.  You Can’t Stop the Beat!

Our normal dancing area will be expanded for this concert since you can’t help but get up and move to the English Beat. You can purchase a ticket for the dance floor that doesn’t include a seat, or purchase a reserved seat behind the dance floor.

Saturday, July 22, 2023

7pm: Steel ‘n’ Chicago
Steel ‘n’  Chicago celebrates the magical music of Chicago & Steely Dan!

THAT’S RIGHT! – TWO GREAT CLASSIC BANDS!!!

Now you can hear songs you know and love played live! From Saturday in the Park and 25 or 6 to 4, to Reelin’ in the Years and Hey 19, Steel ‘n’ Chicago performs the  music with pure love for the harmonies and classic horns of the original recordings.

Sunday, July 23, 2023

7pm: Deja Vu
For over 5 decades, the music of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young has spoken to generations of audiences worldwide. From the gentle love songs like “Our House” and “Guinnevere” to the politically charged anthems like “Chicago”, “Long Time Gone”, and “Ohio”, CSN&Y’s powerful messages have never failed to move audiences.

Deja Vu is the most accurate and heartfelt re-creation of the CSN&Y experience. Brought to life by a group of highly dedicated and experienced L.A. area musicians, they take their audience on a magical, musical trip through classic rock history. You’ll hear songs like Teach Your Children, Southern Cross, Deja Vu, Wooden Ships, Suite: Judy Blue Eyes, and many, many more that you’ve come to know and love over the years.

Wednesday, July 26, 2023

7pm: Laurence Hobgood Trio
Jazz Times says that Laurence Hobgood – a multiple Grammy® nominee and 2010 Grammy winner –  is “One of the finest pianists out there. Period.” He is a joyful and melodic improviser who lights up the most familiar works like Georgia on My Mind or Nat Cole’s Straighten Up and Fly Right and Beatle’s Blackbird.  A talented composer, Laurence also treats audiences to his originals which are soulful gems that feel like warm embraces. He will be joined by bassist Terry Miller and drummer Gary Novack.

Thursday, July 27, 2023

7pm: Live and Let Die – A Tribute to Paul McCartney with the Bear Valley Orchestra
Singer and recording artist, Tony Kishman is the creator and band leader of “Live And Let Die” which celebrates the music of Pual McCartney.  This award-winning show brings the music and magic of both The Beatles and Paul McCartney to a new generation and receives rave reviews by “Beatlemaniacs” for his uncanny resemblance both visually and vocally to the beloved Beatle.

Friday, July 28, 2023

7pm: The Wild West
Treat yourself to a musical journey through the Wild West starting with Tan Dun’s Secret of Wind and Bird, and then moving along the trail to Aaron Copland’s infamous Rodeo, Grofé’s Grand Canyon Suite, and the trail ends with Philippe’s The Wild West!

Warning, no horses allowed in the tent!

Tan Dun – Secret of Wind and Bird
Aaron Copland – Rodeo
Ferde Grofé – Grand Canyon Suite
Philippe – The Wild Wild West

Saturday, July 29, 2023

6pm: Story Tellers
This year being the 55th anniversary of the festival, we chose to return to the musical pulse of 1968.  Sitarist Arjun Verma and the orchestra will perform works that are a fusion of Eastern and Western musical styles: A blend that surfaced in the ’60s.

In the second half of the evening, we will tell the story of the New World by performing Dvoark’s Symphony No. 9, his New World Symphony.

Sunday, July 30, 2023

2pm: Mountain Matinee
From movies to dances, enjoy a matinee of music in the tent. We’ll have a nod to the cinema through the music of film composer Ennio Morricone of The Mission and Broughton’s Theme from Silverado, a contemporary Hollywood Western. We will honor The Americas with Chofki, a work by a Native American composer Jared Tate. Then we head south to works of Mexican composers Marquez and Moncayo that feature exciting melodies and rhythm that pull from their deep roots.

Wednesday, August 2, 2023  

7pm: Candlelight Chamber Night
Because of its intimate nature, chamber music has been described as “the music of friends.” And that’s especially true in Bear Valley when we gather in the tent to hear our own symphony musicians join together to perform works they select. Chamber music brings the listener in to feel what each individual musician is trying to convey, connecting us to them and one another in a special way. Join us for a lovely evening specially curated by our musician friends.

Thursday, August 3, 2023

7pm: Romantic Bear Valley
Close your eyes, relax, and enjoy works that will reflect the beautiful surroundings of Bear Valley: Wagner’s Forest Murmurs, Liadov’s “Enchanted Lake,” and a musical thunderstorm during Liszt’s “Les Preludes.” These famous works will deeply connect us to the beauty that surrounds the tent.  The concert will conclude with Max Richter’s Vivaldi Reimagined with guest soloist Mads Tolling, a Bear Valley favorite this time playing with the orchestra rather than with his band. It is a not-to-be-missed 21st-century version of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons.

Soloist:  Mads Tolling on Violin

Richard Wagner – Forest Murmurs (Zumpe)
Liadov – Enchanted Lake Op. 62
William Grant Still – Summerland
Listz – Les Preludes
Max Richter – The Four Seasons Recomposed

Friday, August 4, 2023

7pm: Blockbuster Classical
Bear Valley friend and international piano superstar Olga Kern returns to perform Beethoven’s Emperor Concerto.  What better to follow the Emperor Concerto than Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5 which is a journey from darkness to light.  It is hard to believe that this masterpiece was created during a time in the composer’s life when he was experiencing immense self-doubt.  It makes the work feel that much more triumphant!

Ludwig van Beethoven – Piano Concerto No. 5 “Emperor”
Peter Illyich Tchaikovsky – Symphony No. 5

Saturday, August 5, 2023
 
5pm: Gala – Get Your Spy On!
Step into a world of covert operations, clever nemesis’ and MI-6.  The evening will include a buffet dinner, spectacular auction items, our undercover orchestra, and of course, spies.  Get your tickets or reserve a table and be prepared to “Get Your Spy On!”

Sunday, August 6, 2023
 
2pm: Oktoberfest in August
We know, Oktoberfest is usually in October. We couldn’t wait until then to bring you a musical kiss from Vienna.  800 years of emperors and castles, the former musical capital of the world gave us music that was composed and performed amongst gilded mirrors and audiences with corset satin dresses, whispering about the latest gossip of the emperor’s wife behind handheld fans: Schubert, Haydn, Nicolai, Mozart and Strauss. Musical geniuses. If you think about it: a constant stream of inner melodies, pouring out non-stop, with the only way of “getting rid” of them by writing them down. Gifts of musical beauty for the all us that reflect a society long gone.  We’ll toast to that!

Date: July 21-August 6, 2023

Location:  Bear Valley Village, Bear Valley, CA 95223
 
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