Music to their ears: Annual Festival of the Lakes will begin on Saturday

Alexandria’s Lakes Chamber Music Society is pleased to announce the 18th annual Festival of the Lakes.

The festival is celebrating the 200th birth anniversary of Robert Schumann.

This year’s concerts will take place at Alexandria’s United Methodist Church, 2210 6th Avenue East, at 7:30 p.m. on the following days: Saturday, August 7; Wednesday, August 11; and Friday, August 13. A 7 p.m. concert will take place on Sunday, August 15.

Tickets for this year’s Festival of the Lakes are $10 for adults and free for students. Student tickets, however, are only available at the door. All seats are general admission. Tickets are available at Cherry Street Books at 5th Avenue and Broadway in downtown Alexandria or by calling (320) 763-9400.

Music by a wide variety of classical composers will be performed by professional musicians from the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, the Minnesota Orchestra and other nationally renowned groups.

Some of the musicians have been playing in this festival year after year and will be returning to Alexandria to play again this year. Others will be performing for the first time.

Festival-goers will hear several different instruments in various combinations, including the violin, viola, cello, string bass, piano, clarinet and bassoon, which will provide a wonderful musical experience.

Many people work hard all year to ensure the continuing success of this “one-of-a-kind” music festival, according to organizers of the event.

They also noted that it’s a great privilege to offer this caliber of performance in Central Minnesota and it could not be achieved without the volunteer efforts and generous financial support of many businesses and individuals in the area.

The Festival of the Lakes is funded in part by a grant from the Lake Region Arts Council through a Minnesota legislative appropriation.

For more information, visit the Festival of the Lakes website at www.alexfest.org or call (320) 762-5666 or (320) 763-9400.

CONCERT PROGRAM

AND PERFORMERS

Saturday, August 7

•Igor Stravinsky: Suite Italienne for violin and piano

•Claude Debussy: Trois Chansons de Bilitis (Three Songs of Bilitis)

•Manuel de Falla: Siete canciones populares españolas (Seven Popular Spanish Songs)

•Robert Schumann: Mondnacht (Moonlit Night)

•Robert Schumann: Violin Sonata in A minor, Op. 105

Performers

Emily Lodine, mezzo-soprano

Stephanie Arado, violin

Timothy Lovelace, piano

Sonja Thompson, piano

Wednesday, August 11

•Zoltán Kodály: Serenade for 2 Violins and Viola

•Johann Sebastian Bach: Suite for unaccompanied cello in G Major, BWV 1007

•Ottorino Respighi: Il Tramonto (The Sunset), Lyric Poem for mezzo and strings

•Robert Schumann: String Quartet in A minor, Op. 41, #1

Performers

Emily Lodine, mezzo-soprano

Peter McGuire, violin

Jill Olson, violin

Tamás Strasser, viola

Richard Bock, cello

Friday, August 13

•Nino Rota: Clarinet Sonata

•Robert Schumann: Dichterliebe (Poet’s Love), song-cycle for tenor and piano

•Ralph Vaughan Williams: Four Hymns for tenor, viola and piano

•Béla Bartók: Contrasts for clarinet, violin and piano

Performers

Dan Dressen, tenor

Jennifer Gerth, clarinet

Stephanie Arado, violin

Tamás Strasser, viola

Timothy Lovelace, piano

Sonja Thompson, piano

Sunday, August 15

•Edvard Grieg: Violin Sonata in C minor, Op. 45

•Ernst (Ernö) von Dohnányi: Serenade for String Trio, Op. 10

•Robert Schumann: Piano Quintet in E-flat Major, Op. 44

Performers

Peter McGuire, violin

Brenda Manuel Mickens, violin

Tamás Strasser, viola

Sarah Lewis, cello

Dina Michelson Namer, piano

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