Canandaigua Lake Music Festival Begins Fourth Season with New Name

Showcasing World-Class Talent in Intimate Setting

Canandaigua, NY, August 11, 2008—The Canandaigua LakeMusicTM Festival (CLF) formerly the Canandaigua Lake Chamber Music Festival kicks off its fourth season with a new name, a new logo and a star-studded line-up of musical talent. Performances include a rare duo by Van Cliburn-winning pianist Jon Nakamatsu and RPO concertmaster Juliana Athayde, local debuts by the Amelia Piano Trio and the innovative improvisation artist Noam Sivan, along with a return performance by The Corigliano Quartet.

“In a very short time, this Festival has become an integral part of summer in the Finger Lakes,” said Canandaigua Mayor Ellen Polimeni. “This line-up of world-class performers is one of the important reasons that Canandaigua is gaining a reputation as a center for the performaning and visual arts. We look forward to the innovative music being presented at this year's Canandaigua LakeMusic Festival!”

“Each of our concert programs is like a tasting menu ranging from familiar masterworks to the delightfully unexpected,” explains the Festival’s Executive Director and Rochester, NY- native Edward Klorman. “We’re known for showcasing works that are brilliant but rarely performed such as Bernstein’s Piano Trio and a newly-commissioned quartet by Dan Visconti, one of the leading composers of the next generation.” According to Klorman, this season also includes the Festival’s largest and most ambitious performances yet, with Mendelssohn’s celebrated Octet for Strings and closing the season with Copland’s beloved Appalachian Spring with 13 musicians. For tickets, call 800-595-4849 or visit their website at http://www.LakeMusicFestival.org

About the Season
The Canandaigua Lake Music Festival Concerts, scheduled for Friday and Sunday evenings from August 22-31, will take place at Zion Fellowship, which is on Bristol Road, just four miles off Main Street in Canandaigua, NY, near Routes 5 and 20.

“We are very lucky to be holding this series in one of the best performance spaces in the area,” adds co-Artistic Director Amy Sue Barston. “Not only is this air-conditioned hall acoustically excellent, but our audiences always comment about the warm ambiance and the powerful sense of intimacy they feel as they listen to world-class artists close up.”

Amelia Piano Trio (Friday, 8/22)
The first series opens with the Canandaigua debut of the critically-acclaimed Amelia Piano Trio, performing masterworks by Haydn and Brahms along with a rarely heard, jazz-influenced trio by American icon Leonard Bernstein.

Corigliano Quartet (Sunday, 8/24)
Hailed for its “knockout performances” (New York Times), the Corigliano Quartet returns for a fourth consecutive summer, performing the East Coast premiere of Ballads and Broken Rhymes by the rising young composer Dan Visconti (“bristling with exhilarating musical ideas and a powerfully created lyricism” Cleveland Plain Dealer) alongside the ebullient Octet for Strings by Felix Mendelssohn (performed by the Corigliano Quartet plus four performers to be announced. The program also includes Paul Moravec’s Atmosfera a Villa Aurelia and a short work by the quartet’s namesake, celebrated composer John Corigliano, entitled Snapshot (ca. 1909), which was inspired by a photograph of the composer’s family.

Classical Blue Jeans (Wednesday, 8/27)
CLF’s signature Classical Blue Jeans, a family-friendly chicken barbecue and fiddle fest, also will feature the incomparable skills of Israeli pianist, composer and improvisation artist Noam Sivan, this year’s Festival composer-in-residence.
“Noam Sivan will lead a lively musical show for the whole family that invites the audience to unlock their inner composer, experiencing music from the inside out,” says Klorman. “By the end of the night, you’ll hear Noam and Juliana Athayde improvising music right on the spot, based on ideas and suggestions from the audience. I promise it’s unlike anything you’ve experienced before!”

Classical Blue Jeans concludes with fiddling selections from Marc O’Connor’s Appalachia Waltz collection. For the first time, this event will take place at Bristol Harbour, a lakeside, Adirondack-style golf resort overlooking Canandaigua Lake. According to Klorman, this event is always sold out, but the larger venue will help handle the growing audiences. Special lodging rates are available at Bristol Harbour.

LakeMusic (Friday, 8/29)
The Festival continues with its first ever thematic programs. LakeMusic explores musical images of water by Debussy, Brahms and Schubert:
Debussy's dreamy Reflections in Water and selections from his Preludes
Brahms' G-major Violin Sonata--famous for its rain-song finale--performed by Jon Nakamatsu and Juliana Athayde.
Schubert's Trout Quintet, one of the most famous works of chamber music literature, was selected for the area’s reputation for fabulous brown trout.

Appalachian Spring (Sunday, 8/31)
The season closes with Copland’s beloved Appalachian Spring (in the original version for 13 instruments) with Juliana Athayde leading an ensemble comprised of Festival and RPO musicians. The husband-and-wife MayaNoam Duo performs a fiendishly difficult version for four-hands piano of the great masterworks of the 20th century, Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring Also on the program is Puccini’s lush Chrysanthemums for string quartet. The season closes with Copland’s beloved Appalachian Spring (in the original version for 13 instruments), with Juliana Athayde leading an ensemble comprised of Festival and RPO musicians.

“These thematic programs connect the musical works together by tapping into a rich network of imagery,” remarks Klorman. “Some of the performances will also be memorable for their musical gymnastics.”

“Each year we have seen our Festival grow and expand in terms of attendance, the breadth of our musical selections and the variety of our community programs, which help audiences of all ages gain a greater appreciation for the music, the role of the performers and the work that goes into preparing for each concert,” explains Barston.

The Canandaigua LakeMusic Festival Concerts, scheduled for Friday and Sunday evenings from August 22-31, will take place at Zion Fellowship, which is just four miles off Main Street in Canandaigua, NY, near Routes 5 and 20. Several FREE community events begin on August 21 and continue at different venues in Canandaigua (Wood Library, Sonenberg Gardens, Bristol Harbour) and in Rochester throughout the annual two-week summer series.

Ticket Information
For more information and to purchase season or individual concert tickets to any of these events, visit the website at http://www.lakemusicfestival.org or call the ticket hotline: 800-595-4849. Tickets will also be available at the door. However, Klorman expects this year’s concerts will likely attract the Festival’s largest audiences.
Individual concert tickets are available for $50 for patrons who will get reserved seating, $30 for general seating and $15 for full-time students. Classical Blue Jeans tickets must be reserved by August 19th so we can get an advanced count for the chicken barbeque. Pricing for this one event is $40 for adults and $15 for children under 18.

Patron Master Key Season Ticket $210 *
Valid for admission to these five Festival events:
Amelia Piano Trio 8/22
Corigliano Quartet 8/24
Classical Blue Jeans Family Barbecue & Fiddle Fest 8/27
LakeMusic 8/29
Appalachian Spring 8/31

Master Key Season Ticket $130 *
Valid for admission to these five Festival events:
Amelia Piano Trio 8/22
Corigliano Quartet 8/24
Classical Blue Jeans Family Barbecue & Fiddle Fest 8/27
LakeMusic 8/29
Appalachian Spring 8/31

*Patron Master Key tickets include an invitation to a small, private party with Jon Nakamatsu in a beautiful, lakeside home of Mrs. Mickey Sands following the concert and a free CD featuring any 2008 CLF artist. All series ticket holders enjoy premium seating at all concerts and the pleasure of knowing they are supporting the Festival's free children's concerts and educational workshops.

About the Canandaigua LakeMusic Festival:

Founded in 2004, the Canandaigua Lake Chamber Music Festival has quickly become an essential part of cultural life in the greater Rochester and Finger Lakes region. Formerly known as the Canandaigua Lake Chamber Music Festival, this summer Canandaigua LakeMusic Festival (CLF) announced it was re-launching itself under a newly shortened name to better reflect the diversity of the music selections, performance configurations and the widening geographic community attending its concerts.
“You’ll hear the same great music from a Festival with a name that’s now a little easier to remember,” said Edward Klorman. The Festival added a Winter Concert Series in Rochester, by popular demand, in addition to its upcoming summer series in Canandaigua.

Canandaigua LakeMusic Festival
Edward Klorman, Executive Director
585-690-5633
Ed@LakeMusicFestival.org

The LakeMusic Festival continues to build a strong reputation for attracting world-class performers, developing innovative musical programs and maintaining its connection to the community with master classes, family concerts and meet the composer events. The Festival’s extensive community engagement efforts have recently been lauded by New Yorker critic Alex Ross.

This season, CLF enjoyed record levels of community and national foundation support, with major grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, New York State Council on the Arts, The Commission Project, Gouvernet Arts Fund, Meet the Composer and others. In previous seasons, the Festival has hosted legendary pianist Claude Frank, acclaimed clarinetist Charles Neidich, the Orion String Quartet, the Ying Quartet and many leading chamber music ensembles and artists.

This release was published on openPR.