Patti Lupone. Photo by Rahav Iggy Segev
Brevard Music Center’s (BMC’s) upcoming Summer Festival season explores Americana and celebrates the decade-long tenure of BMC president and CEO Mark Weinstein, who will retire at the end of 2023. Weinstein will be succeeded by Jason Posnock, who currently serves as BMC’s vice president and chief artistic officer.
“I have had a wonderful 45-year career running many music performing arts companies including New York City Opera at Lincoln Center and Washington National Opera at their Kennedy Center,” says Weinstein. “Yet being president of BMC has been the best job I have ever held. Helping thousands of extremely talented student musicians further their passions and careers has been a complete joy.”
The season of celebration kicks off Friday, June 23, with Opening Night! a performance of Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana led by BMC principal guest conductor JoAnn Falletta. Other symphonic highlights include Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 6, Gershwin’s An American in Paris and Verdi’s Requiem, performed at the season finale on August 6, under the direction of Keith Lockhart.
Branford Marsalis
Three-time Tony Award winner Patti LuPone performs on June 24, exploring her lifelong love affair with Broadway through indelible interpretations of classic Broadway show tunes. On July 25 and 26, Emmy, GRAMMY® and record-breaking six-time Tony Award winner Audra McDonald comes to BMC for two legendary performances of Broadway standards and lesser-known treasures. “I can’t think of two more stirring and inspiring artists for our students and our audiences,” says Posnock.
Opera performances include fully staged productions of La Traviata, The Turn of the Screw and Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s Tony-winning triumph Into the Woods. The BMC Presents lineup features jazz master Branford Marsalis joining Jazz@Brevard on June 16, and The Music of the Beatles in a symphonic celebration on June 27. The second annual North Carolina Guitar Celebration takes place June 3 and Béla Fleck’s Blue Ridge Banjo Concert closes out the summer season on August 19. Chamber Music highlights include Beethoven’s Archduke Trio and a Steinway Piano Celebration. And, this season’s ‘festival within a festival,’ New World Encounters, explores the influences of American Jazz on some of the most important European composers of the 20th century. “Our festival series programming also serves as the educational curriculum for our students, so I am always inspired to program symphonic, chamber and operatic works that our students need to learn and our audiences love to hear,” says Posnock.
A variety of ticket subscription options and individual tickets are available. To learn more, visit BrevardMusic.org or contact the BMC box office at 828.862.2105 or boxoffice@BrevardMusic.org.
