Photos Courtesy of Idyllwild Arts
UPDATE: 8/5/2018: Tonight’s concert cancelled. From AIF:
Idyllwild, California, suffered a devastating forest fire last week. The Cranston Fire caused the entire town to evacuate within hours, forcing home and business owners to leave with very little notice. Over 300 campers were safely evacuated from the Idyllwild Arts Summer Program.
Due to the business interruption, campus evacuation, and current infrastructure assessments, IAF must regrettably cancel the final week of the Summer Program, including the culmination performance on August 5th at Walt Disney Concert Hall.
Passionate supporters of youth orchestras and choirs, as well as parents who love classical music, will definitely want to bring the kids to see the Saturday, August 5, 2018, performance by the Idyllwild Arts Boarding Arts High School Summer Chamber Festival Orchestra and Festival Choir & Ensemble at Walt Disney Hall. It’s a great chance for kids to get musically inspired by watching over 150 very talented youth performing on a world-class stage, home to the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
“Today, on this grand stage, we will glimpse the future of classical music,” says Pamela Jordan, President of Idyllwild Arts. “But more importantly, this performance will fuel the dreams of these talented young musicians and give them the confidence to ignite their careers.”
The orchestral program will open with Overture to Colas Breugnon, Russian composer Dmitry Kabalevsky’s most popular work—a brilliant romp in the conservative tradition and a rousing opening to the afternoon. Conducted by Maestro Larry Livingston of USC’s Thornton Music School who celebrates 30 years as Idyllwild Arts Music Director of Summer Festival Orchestras, this piece will be followed by the ebullient and outgoing Romanian Rhapsody No.1 by George Enescu, conducted by Assistant Conductor Sey Ahn. The repertoire will end with famed comic opera Rosenkavalier Suite by Richard Strauss.
The second half of the program features a more contemporary work composed in 2017 for Bakersfield College by Ron Kean—The Journey of Harriet Tubman—which chronicles Tubman’s early life and her escape from slavery, set in a non-Western musical style evocative of the enslaved African’s frame of mind and West African musical heritage. Performed by the Festival Choir, this piece will be conducted by Dr. Joseph Modica, Associate Professor of Music at the University of Redlands.
Located on a spectacular 205-acre campus in the San Jacinto Mountains, the Idyllwild Arts Boarding Arts High School and Summer Program has for many decades provided a unique experience for young artists from around the world, offering intensive two-week programs led by world-renowned artists and teachers. The courses are designed to offer outstanding musicians the opportunity to refine the skills needed for excellence in performance, from solo and small groups to large ensemble performances.
Through a thoughtful process, top students were selected by faculty members and coaches to perform on the grand stage. As a true youth-only orchestra and choir, this culmination performance of the summer program will showcase some of the most talented high school students from around the world, ranging from 13 to 18 years old. pioneering music school continues to change lives through the transformative power of music.
The nearly two-hour performance on Saturday, August 5, 2018, will take place at 3 p.m. at Walt Disney Concert Hall (111. South Grand Avenue). There is a pre-concert VIP reception beginning at 1:30 p.m. in the Founders Room. Tickets can be purchased here by the public for $20 or $40.
