JACKSONVILLE, OR – The Britt Festival Orchestra (BFO), led by Maestro Teddy Abrams, returns to southern Oregon for its 57th season with three weeks of exhilarating orchestral programs at the Britt Pavilion in Jacksonville. The annual BFO season begins with a new series for families and people of all musical interests entitled Teddy’s Discovery Tuesdays (TDT), which offer a more casual concert environment designed for the entire family. The TDT series features three concerts on three consecutive Tuesdays: Family Night on July 23, Community Night on July 26, and Pops Night on August 6. Family Night kicks off the season with two musical fairy tales narrated by film and TV actor Bruce Campbell: Sergei Prokofiev’s beloved “Peter and the Wolf”, and Britt Composer/Conductor Fellow Caroline Shaw’s “The Mountain That Loved a Bird.” Community Night brings musicians of the BFO and local community together for a performance of the seminal minimalist piece “In C” by Terry Riley. The third concert in the series, Pops Night, features returning singer Morgan James for a night of songs by American composer George Gershwin, plus Teddy Abrams performing the ever-popular “Rhapsody in Blue” at the piano while conducting the orchestra. All of the TDT concerts begin at 7:30 pm and are shorter programs. Patrons will be able to enjoy concessions and beverages throughout each concert. Additionally, Britt is trying something new for seating during the TDT concerts: general admission seating, including the benches that are typically reserved. Tickets are $20 for adults and $10 for children/students. BrittKids Klub members can get in free with a paying adult.
The regular Britt Festival Orchestra concerts begin on Friday, July 26 with guest artists Third Coast Percussion performing the west coast premiere of a Britt co-commissioned piece by 2018’s Conductor/Composer Fellow, Christopher Cerrone, titled “Meander, Spiral, Explode.” The concert also includes Mozart’s Magic Flute Overture and Brahms’s Symphony No. 3. On Sunday, July 28, cellist Oliver Herbert performs Edward Elgar’s Cello Concerto. Pianist George Li joins the BFO on Friday, August 2, performing Rachmaninoff’s virtuosic Piano Concerto No. 2. This concert also features Finnish composer Jean Sibelius’s epic Second Symphony. The Sunday, August 4 performance, named “The Rising Seas,” features two different musical takes on the earth’s oceans: Claude Debussy’s tone poem “La Mer,” and John Luther Adams’s “Become Ocean.” The stunning playing of violinist Augustin Hadelich is featured on Friday, August 9, where he will perform Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto. This performance also features Debussy’s “Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun,” British/American composer Anna Clyne’s “Abstractions,” and “One Spring Morning” by French composer Lili Boulanger. The Closing Night Orchestra Spectacular on Sunday, August 11 is of special interest this season, as the BFO performs a new score for Sergei Eisenstein’s Soviet silent film classic “Battleship Potemkin,” which will be shown live on screen during the performance. This new score draws from some of the greatest compositions in classical music history, featuring excerpts of works by Bach, Beethoven, Mahler, Holst, Ravel, Schubert, Stravinsky, Tchaikovsky, and much more.
All of the regular BFO concerts are held on Friday and Sunday evenings, beginning at 8:00 pm.
Tickets for BFO concerts are: Premium Reserved $45 | Standard Reserved $25 | Lawn $20 | Child/Student Lawn $10. Tickets to Teddy’s Discovery Tuesdays concerts are all General Admission: Adults $20 | Child/Student $10 | BrittKids Klub members FREE with Klub Card (up to 3 with paid adult).
For complete information about the 2019 Britt Orchestra Season and to purchase tickets, visit Brittfest.org or call the Britt box office at 541-773-6077.
Inspired by its intimate and scenic hillside venue, Britt Music & Arts Festival provides diverse live performances, an incomparable classical festival and dynamic education programs that create a sense of discovery and community. Since its grassroots beginnings in 1963, the non-profit organization has grown from a two-week chamber music festival to a summer-long series of concerts in a variety of genres, including a three-week orchestra season, and year-round education and engagement programs. For more information, visit www.brittfest.org.