SEASON OVERVIEW: JULY 9 - AUGUST 17, 2008

The 2008 season is as broad in outlook as ever- in fact this year finds us looking in some totally new directions! Many of the performers whom our audience will recognize from past seasons are returning. We've kept our traditional balance between the new, the less familiar, the exotic, and the well-known; between solo, chamber, vocal and orchestral music. As in the past, we come together for a grand orchestral night right in the middle of the summer, in a concert that includes Beethoven’s Pastoral Symphony and the Grieg Piano Concerto, conducted by James Bolle with pianist Konstantin Lifschitz (August 2).

The 17 free concerts in the small towns of the region are in some ways the heart of our festival, where great music is communicated intimately and directly to whomever in our audience comes out on a summer night to one of these magical locations. We believe each of these concerts will hold something to make the day of every audience member, whether they be a veteran concertgoer, a newcomer to Monadnock Music, new to the world of classical music.

• Birth of the Modern (July 19): Four brilliant episodes from the brief but momentous era during which musical romanticism turned a sharp corner toward modernism. Including Dvorak’s f minor Piano Trio and Schoenberg’s “Verklaerte Nacht” for sextet.


• Ancient Voices (July 26): Music rooted deeply in ancient culture and in the natural world: Rahim AlHaj performs his original oud compositions; flute virtuoso David Weiss plays traditional Celtic music; modern voices Crumb, Messiaen and Vali weave these ancient strands into their music.


• Parthenia (a consort of viols) (July 30): “When Music and Sweet Poetry Agree”: the Musical Worlds of Shakespeare, Donne and Blake. With actor Paul Hecht and soprano Ellen Hargis.


• Chamber Masterpieces (August 3): Debussy's great String Quartet; Britten's wonderful Phantasy for oboe and strings, and the Schubert "Trout" quintet. The Ciompi String Quartet, and other Monadnock musicians join forces in a delightfully varied program.


• Through the Mirror (August 8): With Lloyd Schwartz, guest speaker, soprano Tony Arnold, and mezzo-soprano Elizabeth Shammash. Carter’s famous setting of poems by Elizabeth Bishop, “A Mirror on Which to Dwell” is surrounded by his august American contemporaries: Miriam Gideon, Donald Martino, Virgil Thomson, and James Bolle, who will conduct a brand new work. Offered free in thanks to our audience, who help us keep the spirit of discovery alive.


• On the Beaten Path (August 9): A compelling journey into the spectacular sound-world of percussion instruments from the vibraphone to Djembe drums. A new-music concert for all ages. With Composer Joseph Schwantner, guest speaker


• Dreams and Prayers (August 17): Music of deep introspection spanning nearly 300 years ends Monadnock Music’s 2008 season. Vocalists Ilana Davidson and Elizabeth Shammash sing Bach and Brahms, and we finish with Osvaldo Golijov’s stunning klezmer-inspired quintet, that is both a prayer and an outcry.