Festival detail

Gothic tales, jazz & passion to dominate Summer Solstice
Themes ranging from hot and heavy to bright and bouncy promise to
add sizzle to the season when the 2010 Summer Solstice Festival raises the
cultural mercury on both sides of the North Saskatchewan River June 18-20.
Presented by the Edmonton Chamber Music Society, the third-annual music
event features three nights of chamber classics performed by some of the
world's greatest musicians who tackle the fiery premises with their own
brand of talent and energy.
This year's lineup features names familiar to local music aficionados, but are appearing at the festival for the first time. Making their debut at the
event are Juno award-winning clarinetist James Campbell, Tennessee piano titan Melvin Chen, former Montreal Symphony Orchestra Concertmaster and
violinist Jonathan Crow, award-winning, McGill-based cellist Matt Haimovitz,
Edmonton cellist Tanya Prochazka and St. Lawrence String Quartet
violinist/violist Scott St. John. Returning to play the 2010 Summer Solstice
are cellist Marina Hoover, violinist Jasmine Lin, pianist Patricia Tao and
violist Sharon Wei.
Friday's itinerary features works inspired by gothic tales and fables
grouped under the theme Stories and Legends, featuring music by J.S. Bach,
Paul Dukas, Leoš Janácek, Camille Saint–Saëns, Bedrich Smetana and Igor
Stravinsky. On Saturday, Jazz Inflections delves into the heart and soul of
the genre—including the African-American legacy that sparked the motif—with
compositions by Robert Russell Bennett, William Bolcom, Allan Gilliland,
Darius Milhaud, Maurice Ravel, Paul Schoenfield and Clarence Cameron White.
The concluding Sunday performance summarizes the spirit of the season with
Summer Passion, graced by the works of Samuel Barber, Johannes Brahms and
Ludwig van Beethoven.
New to the 2010 Summer Solstice are chamber concerts geared for elementary
students taking place at Convocation Hall in the old Arts Building at the
University Campus June 16, with recitals taking place at 10 a.m. and 11:15
a.m. Artists on the Summer Solstice 2010 roster as well as member of the
Edmonton Symphony Orchestra will perform Saint-Saëns’ Carnival of the
Animals and Peter Schickele’s The Emperor’s New Clothes to get young
audiences acquainted with the dynamics of instruments used in a chamber
setting.
Friday and Saturday concerts take place at Convocation Hall June 18-20, with
shows beginning at 8 pm. The Sunday, June 21 show will be held at
Robertson-Wesley United Church (10209-123 Street), starting at 3 p.m. Each
performance features a free lecture presented 45 minutes before showtime.