A McCall, Idaho tradition since 2012, this week-long festival of classical and pops orchestra concerts returns in 2025 with Boise Philharmonic Music Director, Eric Garcia, at the helm as Artistic Director and Conductor.

In 2025, all concerts will be held at Mountain Life Church, 14180 Hwy 55, McCall Idaho

Schedule of Events:

Tuesday, July 15, 2025

7:30 pm: McCall MusicFest Orchestra opens 2025 opens Guitarist Mak Grgic

Touted as a "gifted young guitarist" by the New York Times, and "a guitarist to keep an eye on" by the Washington Post, 3-time Grammy-nominated artist Mak Grgic (GER-gich) is a star on the worldwide stage. An expansive and adventurous repertoire attests to his versatility and wide-ranging interests. From the ethnic music of his native Balkans to extreme avant-garde and microtonal music, his roles as soloist, collaborator, and Grammy-nominated recording artist are fueled by curiosity, imagination, and boundless energy. As a testament to his versatility and wide-ranging appeal, in 2018 Mak was invited by legendary singer-songwriter k.d. lang to perform as the opening act for the North American leg of her Ingénue Redux Tour.

An avid new music proponent, Mak has commissioned a multitude of new works for solo guitar and guitar with ensemble. Some of these include works by Michael Gordon, Julia Adolphe, Nina Senk, Leon First and Cengiz Eren, to name a few. In fall 2022, he premiered and toured a newly commissioned guitar concerto by Michael Abels, composer for the Oscar-winning motion picture Get Out, while future concerto commissions include those by composers Vito Zuraj, Austin Wintory and Christopher Tin.

In North America, he has performed at Walt Disney Hall (Los Angeles); The Morgan Library; The Kennedy Center; the National Gallery of Art; NAMM Show (California); Strathmore Hall (Maryland); the New York Classical Guitar Society; the Pacific Symphony; Mainly Mozart (San Diego); Beyond Microtonal Music Festival (Pittsburgh); the Dallas Opera for performances of Peter Maxwell Davies's The Lighthouse; Dumbarton Concerts (Washington, D.C.); the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society and numerous other venues and guitar societies across the globe.
Highlights of the '24/'25 season include appearances with the Pacific Symphony, Charleston Symphony, Boise Philharmonic, Sedona Symphony and the East Coast premiere of "Borders," by Michael Abels with the American Composers Orchestra in Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall.

An enthusiastic recording artist, Mak's albums capture a probing and continuous exploration of the world of guitar and all its possibilities. His most recent album "Entourer" is a celebration of Slovenian music, bringing to life the work of Slovenian composers Leon First and Nina Senk, for which it received a Grammy nomination. Together with the Ensemble Dissonance strings group, the music ranges from classical to ethnic to avant-garde. Other recent recordings, "Balkanisms" for Naxos Music plus "MAKrotonal" and Grammy-nominated "Mak|Bach" for MicroFest Records, explore a vast repertoire spanning ethnic music, microtonal, new music and early music on re-fretted instruments, such as a "zig-zag fretted Bach prototype guitar" that allows him to create a "well-tempered guitar" for "Mak|Bach." Mak is also featured on another Naxos release, "La Buena Vida" with flamenco guitarist Adam del Monte. Other albums include a Grammy-nominated project "A Night in Upper Town - the Music of Zoran Krajacic on Roundtone; "Peaceful Guitar" on Symphonic, Mak's first recording of his own compositions; and an upcoming all-concerto recording for Rodrigo's "Concierto de Aranjuez," Abels' "Borders," and "The Beatz" by Leon First with the Slovenian National Radio Symphony.

Born in Ljubljana, Slovenia, in 1987, Mak studied guitar in Zagreb with the revered Ante Cagalj at the Elly Basic Music Academy. By the age of 14, he was balancing his world champion status in karate with his love for the guitar. Following an injury to his left thumb, he made the decision to focus solely on a career in music, going on to complete a bachelor's degree with Alvaro Pierri at the University for Music and Performing Arts in Vienna. In the fall of 2017, he began the Artist Diploma program at USC, the first guitarist in the university's history to be admitted to this elite program. Mak currently holds a full-time teaching position at University of South Carolina.

Thursday, July 17, 2025

7:30 pm: Broadway Legens Star Vocalist Doug LaBrecque
Made possible by Kent and Beverly Hellman

Doug LaBrecque thrilled theatre audiences as The Phantom and Raoul in the Harold Prince production of The Phantom of the Opera.  In addition, Mr. LaBrecque has starred on Broadway as Ravenal in the Hal Prince revival of Showboat, a role he also performed in Canada and Chicago.  He was featured in Oscar Hammerstein's 100th Birthday Celebration on Broadway at The Gershwin Theatre, and toured nationally with Les Miserables. Regionally, Mr. LaBrecque has performed leading roles in Candide, A Chorus Line, Man of LaMancha among many others.  A graduate of the University of Michigan he was also featured in the world premiere of A Wonderful Life, written by Sheldon Harnick and Joe Raposo, and starred in the premiere revival of Kurt Weill and Alan Jay Lerner's Love Life.

One of the most prolific concert performers of his generation, Mr. LaBrecque has been a soloist with some of the world's finest symphony orchestras including The National Symphony, The Israel Philharmonic (Tel Aviv), The Chicago Symphony, The Cleveland Orchestra, The Atlanta Symphony, The San Francisco Symphony, among many others.  In the last few years, Mr. LaBrecque's U.S. appearances have included Minnesota Orchestra, Detroit Symphony, Indianapolis Symphony, Houston Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, New Jersey Symphony, Dallas Symphony, San Diego Symphony, Rochester Philharmonic, The Utah Symphony and with Marvin Hamlisch both at the Ravinia Festival with The Chicago Symphony, and with The Pittsburgh Symphony.

In a tribute to Richard Rodgers, Mr. LaBrecque recently made his Carnegie Hall debut as a soloist with the New York Pops, the same season he debuted with The Boston Pops.  Alongside Jeff Tyzik, he appeared with both the St. Louis and Seattle Symphony's for their Holiday Celebrations as well as numerous performances with The Naples Philharmonic.  With Peter Nero he was featured in "Broadway Showstoppers" a live recording with Mr. Nero's Philly Pops. Other special engagements have included singing with Carole Bayer-Sager at Feinsteins's in Manhattan and the Cinegrill in Los Angeles, performing alongside broadway legend Jerry Herman with the Naples Philharmonic, and appearing onstage with Senators Ted Kennedy and Orrin Hatch (singing together!) at Hickory Hill, the legendary home of Ethel Kennedy.

International engagements have included The Korean National Symphony in Seoul, Korea, The Shanghai Radio Orchestra in China, The Hong Kong Philharmonic, The Vancouver and Calgary Symphonies in Canada, The Brazilian Symphony Orchestra in Rio De Janeiro, The Jerusalem Symphony, and numerous return engagements with the Israel Philharmonic. Mr. LaBrecque recently appeared in Alba Italy as the guest soloist in an all Bernstein concert and returned to the International Music Festival in The Czech Republic.

Saturday, July 19, 2025

11:30 am: Free family concert

McCall MusicFest will continue its tradition of presenting a free concert on Saturday morning, offering area families the special opportunity to experience the excitement of an orchestra in person.

7:30 pm: Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake BartOk, Bruch, Violinist Lun Li

Lun Li is a violinist committed to creating thought-provoking, boundary-pushing concert experiences for contemporary audiences around the world. A native of Shanghai, China, violinist Lun Li won First Prize in the 2021 Young Concert Artists Susan Wadsworth International Auditions, The Paul A. Fish Memorial Prize, the Buffalo Chamber Music Society Prize, and was named John French Violin Chair at YCA. Additionally, he is also the recent joint winner of First Prize at the Lillian and Maurice Barbash J.S. Bach Competition.

Lun made his NYC recital debut at Merkin Concert Hall and his Washington, DC recital debut at the Kennedy Center's Terrace Theater. He also made his concerto debut at Lincoln Center last season.

An avid chamber musician, Lun has performed in the Bard Music Festival, Newport Classical, Marlboro Music Festival, the Verbier Music Festival, MusicatMenlo's, and Music from Angelfire. Beginning in 2024 Lun will be a member of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center's Bowers Program. 

He has appeared on major musical stages throughout the world including Konzerthaus Berlin, Kulturpalast Dresden, and Wiener Konzerthaus. He has appeared on tour with Curtis Institute of Music and Musicians from Marlboro, bringing him to Carnegie Hall, Merkin Concert Hall, and 92Y.

During the 23-24 season Lun will appear in recital and chamber music performances with The Morgan Library and Museum (NYC), Collomore Concert Series (CT), Caramoor Center for Music, Chamber Music Chicago, and the Arts, Gotham Early Music Scene (NYC), Brookings Chamber Music Society (SD), and will also participate in the inaugural chamber music ensemble of YCA on Tour visiting 11 cities throughout North America. He will appear as concerto soloist with the Brevard Philharmonic, Aiken Symphony, and the University of South Carolina Symphony Orchestra. As part of Young Concert Artists' special season finale performance, Lun will also make an appearance at Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall in May 2024.

Lun holds degrees from Curtis Institute of Music (BM'20) and The Juilliard School (MM'22). His mentors include Ida Kavafian, Catherine Cho, and Joseph Lin. He is currently pursuing an Artistic Diploma at The Juilliard School where he serves as teaching assistant to Catherine Cho.

Lun plays on the Stradivarius "Samazeuilh" 1735 violin, on generous loan from the Nippon Music Foundation.

Date:
July 15 - 19, 2025

Location:
Mountain Life Church,
14180 ID-55, 
McCall, ID 83638

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