Classical Tahoe Festival and Music Institute announces upcoming summer concert series

Classical Tahoe Festival and Music Institute has announced its upcoming season, July 14 to August 18, 2022.

The festival is expanding its season from three weeks to four with the inaugural Brubeck Jazz Summit and additional chamber music and free community concerts.

The concert series will take place at the Classical Tahoe Pavilion at Sierra Nevada University located at 291 Country Club Drive in Incline Village.

“The Festival has become a summer tradition in Lake Tahoe, providing a place for social connection, a reason to unplug, the space to process emotion, and the opportunity to learn something new,” said Classical Tahoe Executive Director Karen Craig. “Classical Tahoe's mission is to build a cultural community at Lake Tahoe to match the scenery."

Guest conductors Jonathan Darlington, David Chan, and Ken-David Masur will lead the orchestra with several GRAMMY-winning soloists including Tessa Lark, violin, Isabel Leonard, mezzo-soprano, Svet Stoyanov, marimba, Aldo López-Gavilán, piano, and Dongsok Shin, harpsichord.

The world premiere of Lake Tahoe Symphonic Reflections by composer Jake Heggie will open the orchestral series. Heggie’s new work was commissioned by Classical Tahoe to celebrate the life and honor the memory of Joel Revzen, Classical Tahoe’s founding artistic director and conductor, who passed away in 2020 from COVID-19.

“We are beyond thrilled to be premiering Jake Heggie’s orchestral suite Lake Tahoe Symphonic Reflections this summer,” said Classical Tahoe’s Interim Artistic Director and Concertmaster Laura Hamilton. “With this commission, Classical Tahoe is proud to introduce an important new work to the symphonic repertoire, furthering the vision of our founding music director, the late Joel Revzen.”

The inaugural Brubeck Jazz Summit, July 10-16, will bring 34 talented students to Lake Tahoe for an educational program in jazz as a living legacy of the musician and international statesman, Dave Brubeck.

The inaugural Brubeck Jazz Summit, July 10-16, will bring 34 exceptionally talented students to Lake Tahoe for an intensive educational program in jazz performance as a living legacy of the musician and international statesman, Dave Brubeck. The students come from 13 states and 3 countries. The Summit Faculty concert will open the festival on July 14 with Artistic Director Chad LB, saxophone, Sean Jones, trumpet, Chris Brubeck, trombone, Connie Han, piano, Gilad Hekselman, guitar, Eric Harland, drums, Dan Brubeck, drums, Rodney Whitaker, bass.

The Classical Tahoe Academy and the Sphinx Organization will bring 12 Black and Latinx musicians to be in residence as Academy Fellows. The Fellows will perform with the Classical Tahoe Orchestra and take part in a customized experience of mentorship, networking, and audition preparation. The ultimate goal of this initiative is job placement for musicians of color in American orchestras.

For the third consecutive year, PBS Reno will film and live-stream six orchestra concerts. A fully-produced broadcast series of six episodes will air across the Lake Tahoe and Northern Nevada regions and be available worldwide online and through the PBS Video App beginning in March 2023. Season 1 of PBS Reno's Classical Tahoe series has been picked up by American Public Television (APT) for national distribution to 300+ PBS member stations beginning in May 2022. Past episodes are available to view free of charge at https://PBSReno.org/classicaltahoe

For tickets, please visit https://www.classicaltahoe.org or call 775-298-0245 to purchase.

The full schedule is as follows:

BRUBECK JAZZ SUMMIT CONCERTS

Classical Tahoe Pavilion at Sierra Nevada University

Thursday, July 14 at 7pm - Brubeck Brothers with the All-Star Faculty

Program TBA.

Chris Brubeck, trombone
Dan Brubeck, drums
Chad Lefkowitz-Brown, saxophone
Sean Jones, trumpet
Connie Han, piano
Gilad Hekselman, guitar
Eric Harland, drums
Rodney Whitaker, bass

Friday, July 15 at 7pm - Summit Stars Student Showcase

Free community jazz concert featuring Summit Stars Students, top jazz students from around the world. This performance is the culmination of the mentorship and study from the Summit: July 10 – 16.

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ORCHESTRA CONCERTS
Classical Tahoe Pavilion at Sierra Nevada University

Friday, July 22, 2022 at 7pm - Lake Tahoe Symphonic Reflections: World Premiere
Classical Tahoe Orchestra
Jonathan Darlington, conductor
Tessa Lark, violin
Jake Heggie, composer

Heggie: Lake Tahoe Symphonic Reflections (World Premiere)
Beethoven: Symphony No. 1 in C major
Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerto in D major

Saturday, July 23 at 7pm - Haydn, Schubert, & Wagner
Classical Tahoe Orchestra
Jonathan Darlington, conductor
Sarah Vonsattel, violin
Winona Zelenka, cello
Nathan Hughes, oboe
Whitney Crockett, bassoon

Wagner: Siegfried Idyll
Haydn: Sinfonia Concertante
Schubert: Symphony No. 3

Friday, July 29 at 7pm - A Night of Opera with Isabel Leonard
Classical Tahoe Orchestra
David Chan, conductor
Isabel Leonard, mezzo-soprano

Verdi: Overture to La forza del destino
Rossini: “Una voce poco fa” from The Barber of Seville
Puccini: Intermezzo from Manon Lescaut
Mozart: “Voi che sapete” from The Marriage of Figaro
Bizet: Prelude, Habanera and Seguidilla from Carmen
Bizet: Symphony in C

Saturday, July 30 at 7pm - Sibelius, Séjourné, & Rachmaninoff
Classical Tahoe Orchestra
David Chan, conductor
Svet Stoyanov, marimba

Sibelius: Finlandia
Séjourné: Concerto for Marimba and Strings
Rachmaninoff: Symphony No. 2

Friday, August 5 at 7pm - Emporium
Classical Tahoe Orchestra
Ken-David Masur, conductor
Aldo López-Gavilán, piano

Perkinson: Sinfonietta No. 2: “Generations”
López-Gavilán: Emporium for Piano and Orchestra
Prokofiev: Suite from Romeo and Juliet

Saturday, August 6 at 7pm - Boléro & Blue
Classical Tahoe Orchestra
Ken-David Masur, conductor
Aldo López-Gavilán, piano

Dvořák: Carnival Overture
Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue for Piano and Orchestra
Brahms: Hungarian Dances
Ravel: Boléro

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CHAMBER MUSIC CONCERTS & MEET THE MUSICIANS
July 24 and 31 at The Ashley Oasis
August 2 at the Classical Tahoe Pavilion at Sierra Nevada University

Sunday, July 24 at 5pm and 7pm - Ron & Maureen Ashley Oasis Chamber Music Series: 1st Sunday
Classical Tahoe Musicians

Dvořák: Terzetto in C Major for 2 Violins & Viola, Op. 74
Beethoven: Septet in E-flat Major, Op. 20

6pm: “Meet the Musicians” Wine Reception in the Garden

Sunday, July 31 at 5pm and 7pm - Ron and Maureen Ashley Oasis Chamber Music Series: 2nd Sunday
Classical Tahoe Musicians

Piazzolla: Histoire du Tango (History of the Tango) for violin and marimba
Satie: Three Pieces in the Form of a Pear, for piano 4-hands
Schoenfeld: Café Music for violin, cello, and piano

6pm: “Meet the Musicians” Wine Reception in the Garden

Tuesday, August 2 at 7pm - Bach's Brandenburg Concertos
Classical Tahoe Musicians
Dongsok Shin, harpsichord

Bach: Brandenburg Concerto No. 1
Bach: Brandenburg Concerto No. 3
Bach: Brandenburg Concerto No. 5
Bach: Brandenburg Concerto No. 4

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SUMMER GALA
Kern Schumacher's Lakeshore Estate

Thursday, August 18 Doors open at 5pm - Some Enchanted Evening
Lakefront Cocktails, Seated Dinner, Live Auction
Chef Colin Smith
Auctioneer Keith McLane

Performances by:
Lucas Meachem, baritone with Irina Meachem, piano

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FREE EDUCATION AND ENGAGEMENT PROGRAMS

Classical Tahoe Pavilion at Sierra Nevada University

Friday, July 15 at 7pm - Summit Stars Student Performance

Free community jazz concert featuring Summit Stars Students, top jazz students from around the world. This performance is the culmination of the mentorship and study from the Summit: July 10 – 16.

Sunday, July 24 at 11am-1pm - Free Community Family Day
11:00am: Music Maker Faire with the Discovery Museum
12:00pm: Family Orchestra Concert with Beloved Lake Tahoe Music Teacher Rita Whitaker Hahn

Wednesday, August 3 at 7pm - Free Community Concert
Classical Tahoe Academy Fellows
Classical Tahoe Musicians

Poulenc: Sonata for Horn, Trumpet, and Trombone
Milhaud: La Création du Monde (The Creation of the World)
Ken-David Masur, conductor
Kapustin: Sextet, Op. 74
Coleridge-Taylor: Clarinet Quintet, Op. 10

ABOUT CLASSICAL TAHOE
Classical Tahoe is an internationally recognized celebration of the arts that transforms lives by enriching the cultural, educational, and community vitality of Lake Tahoe and the world. The Festival brings 70 virtuoso musicians from the top orchestras worldwide to Lake Tahoe each summer to collaborate with international conductors and soloists for four weeks of orchestra and chamber music concerts, and free engagement programs.