The 20th anniversary year of the Hot Springs Music Festival will be celebrated in 2015, as its melodies fill spaces around the town from May 31 through June 13.
The festival will begin with its traditional Fanfare at 6:45 p.m. May 31 on the terrace of the Arlington Resort Hotel & Spa, 239 Central Ave. This year, the opening notes are a commissioned work written in honor of the 20th anniversary season. Composer Sterling Procter, of Fort Worth, Texas, is well known for composing and arranging both brass and orchestra pieces.
Continuing at 7:30 p.m., Ensemble in Residence the Cavell Trio will perform in the Arlington's Crystal Ballroom. Formed in 2007, the group is a collaboration born out of friendship and desire to share the love of music making with others. The trio, a festival favorite, features oboist Shelly Myers, clarinetist Osiris J. Molina and bassoonist Jenny Mann -- all mentor-teachers for HSMF. Tickets for the performance are $15.
The festival's offerings will include the popular Family Concert, a wide variety of Chamber Concerts, and the unique "Inside Looking Out" evening, where audience members are seated in the midst of the orchestra. And the HSMF Chorus will perform Handel's coronation anthem "The King Shall Rejoice," with Chamber Orchestra as part of a concert on June 9 at St. Luke's Episcopal Church.
Music Adviser and Principal Conductor Peter Bay has selected dynamic music to reflect this historic landmark. Audiences will hear works including Stravinsky's 1919 "Firebird Suite," Ravel's "Daphnis et Chloe Suite No. 2," Debussy's "Prèlude à 'L'apres-midi d'un faune'," and works by Chabrier, Rossini and Haydn.
Additional featured performers include viola mentor Amadi Azikiwe, for the Paganini "Sonata per la Gran Viola e Orchestra," bass mentor Kevin Mauldin, playing the Vanhal "Double Bass Concerto in D," and oboe mentor Shelly Myers in the Francaix "L'horloge de flore."
Bay is celebrating his 16th full season as music director and conductor of the Austin Symphony Orchestra. In addition to the Hot Springs Music Festival, he also serves as conductor of the Big Sky Festival Orchestra in Montana. Maestro Bay has appeared with 70 different orchestras around the United States and in Western Europe. His CD, "Voices," featuring the percussion ensemble NEXUS and the Rochester Philharmonic, is on the Nexus CD label.
All rehearsals for the festival are free and open to the public. Schedules can be viewed on the HSMF website, http://www.hotmusic.org.
Call the HSMF office, 623-4763, for tickets or to participate as a volunteer. Call Lynn Payette, 655-6189, or email [email protected] for additional festival information.
Local on 05/24/2015