Georgetown Festival of the Arts celebrates Mendelssohn June 5-8
Image details: Mendelssohn served by picapp.com
Neighboring Georgetown is building a nationally recognized mega-festival of the arts. The Georgetown Festival of the Arts is an exemplar of community involvement producing a highly educational, thoroughly interactive, fun place to be for all ages. Kids can explore an instrumental petting zoo, learn the history of the dulcimer, and play along during a performance. Art in the Park ran May 31-June 1, and featured two days of fine arts shows and sales in the lovely San Gabriel Park. Georgetown even has it’s own Festival Pyrotechnician.
This coming weekend, June 5-8 is all about Mendelssohn in Georgetown. Four jam-packed days with lectures, concerts, symposia and the gorgeous sounds of the gifted brother and sister composers during early nineteenth century Romantic. It is to die for. Handel, Haydn, and Schubert were featured in earlier festivals, and word is they were equally stunning.
Fortunately for all you Good Musicians, Southwestern University, one of the sponsoring organizations, and the primary Mendelssohn in Georgetown venue, added a world-renowned Mendelssohn scholar to their already stellar music faculty. Dr. J. Michael Cooper’s source-critical editions of works by Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy and his sister Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel are examined, discussed, and performed in non-stop action this weekend.
Ellsworth Peterson is the powerhouse impresario, along with The Georgetown Symphony Society dynamos–Penny Plueckhahn, Florence Gould, Nancy Bryan, and Bob Horick. These folks have contributed to the quality and success of the annual event.
Austin Vocal Arts Ensemble, directed by Dr. Kenneth Shepard, sings Cooper edition motets and an anthem for a Cathedral Evensong Friday, June 6 at 8:30 p.m. in the Lois Perkins Chapel, located right in the middle of Southwestern University. On Sunday, June 8 at 4:00 p.m. in the Klett Center for the Performing Arts at Georgetown High School, Dr. Shephard will conduct the Mendelssohn Festival Orchestra, Chorus Austin, and the San Gabriel Chorale in the Cooper edition of St. Paul.
Along with an astounding line-up of performances–the Miro Quartet AND the Shanghai Quartet, together, guys–this is the festival to attend for musicology of the highest caliber, grab a chance to make music in workshops with the pros, and get to hang with the VIPs. Visit The Georgetown Festival of the Arts site, or contact them at 512-639-0433 or www.GtownFestival.org.
Image details: German Pianist And Composer Fanny Hensel served by picapp.com
Comments Off