Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Conductors over the summer

Lots of things going on this summer, including some of our San Antonio Symphony music director candidates...
On July 21st, Napa Valley Festival del Sole, one of the world's most distinctive summer festivals, presents a unique evening of exquisite music, food and wine. A portion of the proceeds from the evening benefit the Redford Center, a year-round haven for independent thinking, inspired creativity and social change, located in the Bay Area.
The benefit evening starts off with a concert at Castello di Amorosa, Dario Sattui's dramatic medieval-style Tuscan castle and winery at 6:30pm. The concert features Antonio Vivaldi's 'Four Seasons,' performed by 14-year old wunderkind violinist Chad Hoopes and the Philharmonic Orchestra of the Americas under the baton of Alondra de la Parra. Robert Redford takes the stage to narrate the four sonnets Vivaldi wrote to accompany this much-loved work.
After the concert, artists and patrons are treated to dinner under the stars with Agustin and Valeria Huneeus at their home on the grounds of Quintessa winery. Their beautiful Rutherford estate includes a lake, a river, five mountains and 170 acres planted to classic Bordeaux grape varieties. The evening's menu showcases the finest in organic and local ingredients, and includes seasonal fruits and vegetables from Quintessa's gardens. The featured wines will be the 2008 Illumination Sauvignon Blanc and the classic 2006 Quintessa.
The pre-concert luncheon will be held at HALL Napa Valley and hosted by former US ambassador to Austria Kathryn Hall and her husband, investor Craig Hall. This luncheon features innovative seasonal cuisine representing the four seasons paired with three of HALL's fine wines: the 2008 HALL Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc, 2008 HALL Napa Valley Rose and 2008 HALL Darwin Red.
Also, just down the road at the ROUND TOP INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL, Saturday, June 27, at 8:00 pm in the Festival Concert Hall, you can hear Johannes Brahms' Variations on a Theme by Haydn and Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 4 with the Texas Festival Orchestra and conductor Christoph Campestrini (seen left with host John Clare).
Then Saturday, July 4,at 8:00 pm in Festival Concert Hall, hear Beethoven's Symphony No. 7 and Bela Bartok's Concerto for Orchestra with the Texas Festival Orchestra and conductor Jean-Marie Zeitouni.
See the all of the music director candidates in video interviews here, and be sure to catch the San Antonio Symphony this weekend in Strauss, Mendelssohn, and Mussorgsky! Several of the candidates return for the 2009-10 season, watch for more here.

No comments: