June 01, 2007

Southern Illinois Music Festival opens June 15

by Andrea Hahn

CARBONDALE, Ill. — Bach is back – and so are Mozart, Beethoven, Stravinsky, and the sounds of a classical music summer.

The Third Annual Southern Illinois Music Festival, a nearly three-week long, multi-site celebration of classical, jazz and chamber music organized by the School of Music at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, begins June 15, with a preview chamber music performance on June 10.

A special feature of the festival is its mobility. More than 50 performances are set for nearly two-dozen different venues all over Southern Illinois. Music lovers can hear chamber music at a café, quintets at a winery, quartets at community buildings and brown bag concerts in a recital hall. There will be jazz at an art show, concerts just for children at libraries and recreation centers, patriotic music in a city park and orchestras at music auditoriums and halls from Mount Vernon to Cairo, Marion to Murphysboro. An abridged version of Tchaikovsky's "Sleeping Beauty" ballet and an English-language comic opera bring a beautiful visual component to the festival as well.

Edward Benyas, SIUC music professor, conductor of the Chicago Chamber Orchestra and the festival's founder and artistic director, said the heart of the festival is the beautiful, neoclassic Shryock Auditorium on the SIUC campus. The elegance of the setting and the richness of the music are enhanced during the festival by wine tasting from Shawnee Hills Wine Trail wineries before, during intermission, and after each performance.

This year, an All-American program featuring Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue" literally takes to the field. The new Rent One Park in Marion will swap out the crack of the bat for an orchestra concert highlighted by a fireworks display. And Marvin Hamlisch, the Broadway and motion picture musical score composer who brought us "The Way We Were," "A Chorus Line" and "The Sting" as well as music for movies such as "Sophie's Choice," "Ordinary People," and "Three Men and a Baby," comes to the Herrin Civic Center as part of the Southern Illinois Music Festival.

Several performances will feature original compositions by Festival Composer-in-Residence James Stephenson, III. Stephenson's music has been performed by dozens of orchestras around the country and his commissions include work with Branford Marsalis and Rodney Mack, the Houston Symphony and the Philadelphia Orchestra. He is known particularly for his work with young musicians.

This year's festival continues the tradition of including an opera selection. This year's offering, sponsored by the Shawnee Hills Wine Trail, is Gaetano Donizetti's "Elixir of Love," a comic Italian opera that will be sung in English. Lighting, scenery and costume combine with the music to tell the light-hearted, romantic and yet inspiring story of how the peasant Nemorino wins the hand of the hand of the wealthy beauty Adina aided by what he believes to be a love potion. Instead, it turns out to be simply a bottle of Southern Illinois wine. Local opera afficiandos should look for a familiar face among the opera performers. Carbondale Mayor Brad Cole will play the part of the Notary during the Carbondale performance; there also will be a performance in Sesser.

Benyas said this year's festival is the biggest yet. He said the variety of venues and the free or low admission price make the festival widely accessible. Most concerts are indoor events, but several events will take place outdoors and casual dress is welcome at all performances.

"The festival coincides with a two-week summer music camp for high school students, a 40-year tradition at SIUC," he said. "Members of the Chicago Chamber Orchestra are in residence during the festival – and that is a huge benefit for the camp participants." Summer Music Camp participants in music theater, concert band, jazz improvisation and high school choir have opportunities to perform during the festival.

In addition to SIUC, major sponsors include the Illinois Arts Council, the City of Carbondale, The Southern Illinoisan, WSIL-TV, WSIU Public Broadcasting, Carbondale Community Arts, Shawnee Hills Wine Trail, Southern Illinois Miners, Mélange, Boundless Gallery.com, Dr. Samuel Goldman, the Julia Harrison Bruce Foundation-Bank of Herrin Trustee, the Garwin Family Foundation, Hastings Foundation, Moore-Corpora Foundation, SISO Patrons Committee and Southern Foundation.

More information is available at www.SIFest.com or by calling 618-53-MUSIC or 618/453-2776.

The schedule of events follows. All events are free unless otherwise indicated. Reduced prices are for students of any age. The schedule is subject to change.

SUNDAY, JUNE 10

Chamber Music at Mélange

2 p.m., 607 S. Illinois Ave., Carbondale

String trios

FRIDAY, JUNE 15

Jive with Jazz (ages 0-8)

10 a.m., Eurma Hayes Center, Carbondale

Brown Bag Chamber Series

Noon, Old Baptist Foundation recital hall, SIUC

Bach: Cello Suite and Mozart: Quintet for Piano and Winds

Klassics for Kids (ages 0-8)

3 p. m., Cairo Public Library

Orchestra

New Arts Jazztet

7:30 p.m., Shryock Auditorium, SIUC

Features: SIUC professors Tyler Kuebler, Robert Allison, Philip Brown and Ronald Coulter

Original compositions and jazz standards

$10 adults; $5 students

Orchestra Concert: Great Firsts

7:30 p.m., Cairo Public Library

Beethoven: Symphony No. 1

Mendelssohn: Symphony No. 1

Prokofiev: Symphony No. 1

SATURDAY, JUNE 16

Jive with Jazz (ages 0-8)

10 a.m., Murphysboro Youth and Recreation Center

Klassics for Kids (ages 0-8)

10 a.m., Altgeld Hall, SIUC

Wind quintet

Orchestra Concert: Great Firsts

7:30 p.m., Shryock Auditorium, SIUC

Beethoven: Symphony No. 1

Mendelssohn: Symphony No. 1

Prokofiev: Symphony No. 1

$10 adults, $5 students

SUNDAY, JUNE 17

Chamber Music at Mélange

2 p.m., 607 S. Illinois Ave., Carbondale

Wind quintet, guitar and voice

MONDAY, JUNE 18

Music of the Week

6 p.m., Mélange, 607 S. Illinois Ave., Carbondale

Informal lecture

TUESDAY, JUNE 19

Jive with Jazz (ages 0-8)

10 a.m., Stinson Library, Anna

Klassics for Kids (ages 0-8)

4 p.m., Herrin Civic Center

Wind quintet

Klassics for Kids (ages 0-8)

4 p.m., Murphysboro Youth and Recreation Center

Brass quintet

Chamber Concert

7:30 p.m., Blue Sky Vineyards

Wind and brass quintets

$7 adults, $4 students

Chamber Concert

7:30 p.m., Sesser Opera House

Stravinsky: Soldier's Tale – performed by mixed ensemble with text by Kurt Vonnegut narrated by Rick Williams

Bizet: Carmen Suite

Richard Strauss: "Till Eulenspeigel's Merry Pranks."

$7 adults, $4 students

String Orchestra

7:30 p.m., Herrin Civic Center

Bach: Double Concerto with Michael Barta and Josh Schlachter, soloists

Sibelius: Valse Triste

Stephenson: Double Concerto with Junghwa Lee and Robert Allison, soloists

Dvorak: Serenade for Strings

$7 adults, $4 students

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 20

Jive with Jazz (ages 0-8)

10 a.m., Du Quoin Middle School gymnasium

Klassics for Kids (ages 0-8)

2 p.m., Carterville Community Center

String Quartet

Summer Solstice Cabaret

7:30 p.m., Carbondale Civic Center

Chamber music, folk music and jazz

String quartets by Mozart, Brahms and Stephenson

Wind and brass quintets

Trios by Beethoven, Triebensee and Ardevol

Stravinsky: Soldier's Tale – performed by mixed ensemble with text by Kurt Vonnegut narrated by Rick Williams

Loose Gravel

New Arts Jazztet

THURSDAY, JUNE 21

Klassics for Kids (ages 0-8)

4 p.m., Sesser Opera House

String Quartet

Klassics for Kids (ages 0-8)

4 p.m., Benton Public Library

Brass quintet

Klassics for Kids (ages 0-8)

4 p.m., Schweinfurth House, Mount Vernon

Stravinsky: Soldier's Tale – performed by mixed ensemble with text by Kurt Vonnegut narrated by Rick Williams

Klassics for Kids (ages 0-8)

4 p.m., Marion Civic Center

Wind quintet

Jive with Jazz (ages 0-8)

4 p.m., Cairo Public Library

Chamber Concert

7:30 p.m., Schweinfurth House, Mount Vernon

Stravinsky: Soldier's Tale – performed by mixed ensemble with text by Kurt Vonnegut narrated by Rick Williams

Bizet: Carmen Suite

Richard Strauss: "Till Eulenspeigel's Merry Pranks."

$7 adults, $4 students

Chamber Concert

7:30 p.m., First Baptist Church of Benton

Wind and brass quintets

$7 adults, $4 students

String Orchestra Concert

7:30 p.m., Sesser Opera House

Bach: Double Concerto with Michael Barta and Josh Schlachter, soloists

Sibelius: Valse Triste

Dvorak: String Serenade

$7 adults, $4 students

New Arts Jazztet

7:30 p.m., O'Neill Auditorium, John A. Logan College, Carterville

$10 adults, $5 students

Call 618/985-2828, ext. 8287 for tickets

Mel Goot and Sharon Clark

7:30 p.m., Cairo Public Library

Jazz

FRIDAY, JUNE 22

Brown Bag Chamber Series

Noon, Old Baptist Foundation recital hall, SIUC

Haydn: Piano trio

Shostakovich: Piano quintet

Children's Ballet

7:30 p.m., Shryock Auditorium, SIUC

Tchaikovsky: Sleeping Beauty

Presented by the Center for Dance Education, Evansville, Ind., with 60 area dancers in a 90-minute production.

$10 adults, $5 students

SATURDAY-SUNDAY, JUNE 23-24

Art Fair

1-7:30 p.m., Hickory Lodge, Carbondale

Organized by Carbondale Community Arts

SATURDAY, JUNE 23

Summer Camp Concert I

1:30 p.m., Shryock Auditorium, SIUC

Jazz and concert bands, music theater

Orchestra Concert: Stars of Tomorrow

7:30 p.m., Shryock Auditorium, SIUC

Side-by-side wind ensemble, featuring students from the summer music camp and professional musicians, directed by Christopher Morehouse.

Solo competition winners

Stephenson: Concerto for Piano, Trumpet and Strings with Junghwa Lee and Robert Allison, soloists

Dvorak: Symphony No. 7

$10 adults, $5 students

SUNDAY, JUNE 24

Chamber Music at Mélange

2 p.m., 607 S. Illinois Ave., Carbondale

Brass quintet

Jazz and Art

2 p.m. Hickory Lodge, Carbondale

MONDAY, JUNE 25

Music of the Week

6 p.m., Mélange, 607 S. Illinois Ave., Carbondale

Informal lecture

TUESDAY, JUNE 26

Klassics for Kids (ages 0-8)

10 a.m., Altgeld Hall, SIUC

Opera

Orchestra Concert: Northern Lights and the Sea

7:30 p.m., Shryock Auditorium, SIUC

Sibelius: March from Karelia Suite

Debussy: La Mer

Offenbach: Doll Song from Tales of Hoffman with Sarah Tannehill, soprano

Grieg: Piano Concerto, with Kara Benyas, piano

$10 adults, $5 students

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 27

Jazz at Noon

Noon: Shawnee Community College Atrium, Ullin

Mel Goot and Sharon Clark

THURSDAY, JUNE 28

Opera

7:30 p.m., Sesser Opera House

Donizetti: Elixir of Love, sung in English

Directed by John Lipe

$7 adults, $4 students

FRIDAY, JUNE 29

Brown Bag Chamber Series

Noon, Old Baptist Foundation recital hall, SIUC

Ravel: Introduction and Allegro for harp

Sibelius: March from Karelia Suite for brass and organ

Jive with Jazz (ages 0-8)

4 p.m., Cairo Public Library

New Arts Jazztet

7:30 p.m., Halliday Plaza, Cairo

SATURDAY, JUNE 30

Summer Camp Concert II

1:30 p.m., Shryock Auditorium, SIUC

Choir

Opera

7:30 p.m., Shryock Auditorium, SIUC

Donizetti: Elixir of Love, sung in English

Directed by John Lipe

Post-performance reception in Altgeld Hall

$10 adults, $5 students

SUNDAY, JULY 1

Chamber Music at Mélange

2 p.m., 207 S. Illinois Ave., Carbondale

String quartet

Orchestra Concert and Fireworks

8 p.m., Rent One Park, Marion

All-American program:

Gershwin, Rhapsody in Blue with Junghwa Lee, piano

Also: music from the movies, Andrews Sisters medley, and choir of 100 local singers for Armed Forces Salute

Fireworks

Doors open at 6:30 p.m. for pre-concert music

Call 618/998-8499 for tickets

Ticket prices are $10/$12/$15

Rain date: July 2

TUESDAY, JULY 3

Marvin Hamlisch

7 p.m., Herrin Civic Center

Tickets: $155, includes dinner

Call 618/942-6115 for tickets

WEDNESDAY, JULY 4

Patriotic music

7:30 p.m., Herrin City Park

Brass quintet