MAJOR EVENTS
JUNE 17 - 26, 2011
June 17
ASTORIA MUSIC FESTIVAL GALA OPENING: BICENTENNIAL BEETHOVEN
Conductor Keith Clark and the Festival Orchestra Celebrate Astoria's Bicentennial with a Gala Opening Concert featuring Russian cellist Sergey Antonov, Gold Medal Winner of Moscow's prestigious Tchaikovsky Competition. Program includes Beethoven's Seventh Symphony and music composed in 1811, the year of Astoria's founding. Sergey Antonov performs the beautiful Saint Saens Cello Concerto. 7:30pm. Liberty Theater, 1203 Commercial, Astoria. Tickets: (503) 325-9896 or Liberty Theater Box Office: (503) 325-5922.
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June 18
ASTORIA MUSIC FESTIVAL "CLASSICS 4 KIDS "
A morning of Musical Stories for families and children, including Animal Ditties for storyteller and instruments by American composer Anthony Plog. Hosted by the entertaining pianist Cary Lewis. 11:00am. Clatsop Community College Performing Arts Center. Free admission with a contribution of canned goods to the Clatsop County Action Food Bank at the door.
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June 18
ASTORIA MUSIC FESTIVAL: MADDNESS OF THE KING
Acclaimed Metropolitan Opera tenor John Duykers portrays crazy King George III in the dramatically staged theater piece¬Ý 8 Songs for a Mad King by British composer Peter Maxwell Davies. The program includes music by the King's favorite composer, G.F. Handel, featuring soprano Amy Hansen, Baroque organist Julia Brown, the North Coast Chorale, and the Festival Baroque Band. 7:30pm. Liberty Theater, 1203 Commercial Street, Astoria.
Tickets: (503) 325-9896 or Liberty Theater Box Office: (503) 325-5922. www.astoriamusicfestival.org
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June 19
ASTORIA MUSIC FESTIVAL: CANTATAS, CROISSANTS AND COFFEE
An informal concert of sacred vocal music and instrumental chamber music featuring Astoria Music Festival Artists with special guest, international concert organist Julia Brown performing works of J.S. Bach. Croissants and coffee follow the one-hour event. 11:30am. First Presbyterian Church, 1103 Grand Avenue, Astoria. Free Admission
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June 19
FESTIVAL ORCHESTRA SUNDAY MATINEE
RUTH ANN SWENSON SINGS MOZART AND MAHLER
Celebrated Metropolitan Opera soprano Ruth Ann Swenson joins Keith Clark and the Festival Orchestra for an afternoon of Viennese masterpieces, Mozart's joyous "Exultate, Jubilate" and Gustav Mahler's heavenly Fourth Symphony. 4:00pm, Liberty Theater, 1203 Commercial Street, Astoria.
Tickets: (503) 325-9896 or Liberty Theater Box Office: (503) 325-5922.
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June 21
ASTORIA MUSIC FESTIVAL COMIC BOOK OPERA: TOO MUCH COFFEE MAN!
He's back! By popular demand, author-illustrator Shannon Wheeler returns with his madcap crew of caffeine fiends for a repeat of history's first opera based on a comic book! Will the Coffee Man get the Barista, or will she fall for Espresso Guy? Sponsored by Astoria coffee houses with a free cup of Joe and goodies after the concert. Last summer's hilarious triumphant Festival Premiere was an instant sell out. Don't miss this refill! 7:30pm, Clatsop Community College PAC Center.
Tickets: (503) 325-9896.
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June 22
ASTORIA MUSIC FESTIVAL: RUTH ANN SWENSON MASTER CLASS AND FILM
The Astoria Music Festival presents an inside look at the making of an opera singer. Resident Artist Ruth Ann Swenson and opera coach David Burnakus lead a rare public master class featuring outstanding young members of the Vocal Apprentice Artist Program, as they put the finishing touches on Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro and other operas. One of the world's finest opera singers, Miss Swenson will impart a lifetime of operatic insight to a new generation on the brink of professional careers. Plus a rare showing of "In The Shadow of the Stars," an Academy Award-winning documentary behind the scenes of the San Francisco Opera Chorus, featuring Miss Swenson and Mr. Burnakus. 7:30pm Clatsop Community College PAC Center. Tickets: (503) 325-9896
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June 23
ASTORIA MUSIC FESTIVAL: "ON THE ROAD WITH MOZART"
The Astoria Music Festival presents Coast Community Radio's Joanne Rideout as she tells the story of "Mozart's Journey to Prague," a dreamlike fantasy depicting the composer and his wife as they travel for the opening night of Don Giovanni. At times funny, at times deeply moving, the story paints an unforgettable picture of Mozart's creative genius’Äîits playful heights and its terrible depths. Festival Artists perform vocal and instrumental music of Mozart, including excerpts from Don Giovanni and the beautiful Clarinet Quintet. 7:30pm Clatsop Community College PAC Center.
Tickets: (503) 325-9896.
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June 24
ASTORIA MUSIC FESTIVAL ALL-STARS
Bicentennial Beethoven and Tchaikovsky goes to Italy
While Astoria's pioneers were founding the city in 1811, Beethoven was in far-off Vienna composing his "Archduke Trio." The city flourished and the trio has inspired audiences for 200 years. Hear it tonight, played by three international virtuosos: San Francisco Ballet Orchestra Concertmaster Roy Malan, Russian cellist Sergey Antonov, and Chamber Music Director, pianist Cary Lewis. Principal players from around the country form a String Summit to perform Tchaikovsky's string sextet, "Souvenir of Florence." 7:30pm. Liberty Theater, 1203 Commercial. Tickets: (503) 325-9896 or Liberty Theater Box Office: (503) 325-5922.
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June 25
ASTORIA MUSIC FESTIVAL "CLASSICS 4 KIDS"
Family Concert and Troll Radio Review Radio Broadcast
Musical stories for kids of all ages hosted by Debbie Trombly and featuring Astoria Music Festival musicians, the Troll, Stinky Toadwort, and the Troll Radio Review Theater Troupe. Broadcast live on Coast Community Radio, KMUN and KTCB. 11:00am. Clatsop Community College Performing Arts Center. Free admission with a contribution of canned goods to the Clatsop County Action Food Bank at the door.
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June 25
ASTORIA MUSIC FESTIVAL OPERA: Verdi's Il Trovatore
Opera at it's grandest! Over-the-top characters in a story as incomprehensible as it is implausible: an evil Count courts the beautiful Soprano, who loves the passionate Troubadour, who mistakenly thinks he is the son of the vengeful Gypsy Woman, who may or may not have tossed a baby in the fire. Got it? Despite its confusion and lethal conclusion, Verdi's Il Trovatore will send you home whistling your favorite tune. The great Caruso once said that all you need for Il Trovatore is the four greatest singers in the world, and we have some of them: Metropolitan Opera soprano Angele Meade and baritone Richard Zeller head a stellar cast. And we'll have anvils, of chorus! 7:30pm. Liberty Theater, 1203 Commercial.
Tickets: (503) 325-9896 or Liberty Theater Box Office: (503) 325-5922.
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June 26
ASTORIA MUSIC FESTIVAL: "CANTATAS, CROISSANTS AND COFFEE"
An informal concert of sacred vocal music and instrumental chamber music featuring members of the Festival Apprentice Artists Program and singers from the Ruth Ann Swenson Master Class.¬Ý Croissants and coffee follow the one-hour event. 11:30am. First United Methodist Church, 1076 Franklin Avenue, Astoria. Free Admission
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June 26
ASTORIA MUSIC FESTIVAL GRAND FINALE
Bicentennial Beethoven and Festival All-Stars on Parade
Conductor Keith Clark and the Astoria Festival Orchestra bring down the curtain on the 2011 Astoria Music Festival with Beethoven's music to "The Ruins of Athens," composed in 1811, the year of Astoria's founding. Violinist Anthea Kreston, cellist Jason Duckles and pianist Cary Lewis join forces for Beethoven's Triple Concerto, and Festival Artists are featured in a Classical Juke Box of audience favorites. Liberty Theater, 1203 Commercial.
Tickets: (503) 325-9896 or Liberty Theater Box Office: (503) 325-5922.
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