astoria music festival returns

Arriving at the last minute, the Astoria Music Festival returns this summer in full force with a slate of varied offerings June 19-29 in Astoria.

Here’s a look at the concerts on offer this year:

Young Artists Showcase – THE STARS OF TOMORROW!
Thursday, June 19, 2008 @ 7:30 p.m.
Clatsop Community College Performing Arts Center (16th and Franklin)

Astoria Academy Apprentice Artists, selected from leading American schools of music, perform vocal and instrumental chamber music and exciting fully staged opera scenes. Their names will soon be in the lights, so see them now! Ruth Dobson, director – Dorothy Danner, stage director.

General admission $10; Students $5 available at the door – FREE to Festival Subscribers

Festival Orchestra Gala Opening: BERNSTEIN, LISZT & BEETHOVEN
Friday, June 20 @ 6:30 Prelude @ 7:30 Concert
Liberty Theater (12th & Commercial)

Come early for a Concert Prelude with the North Coast Chorale, then:
Bernstein’s rollicking overture kicks off our Celebration. Prize-winning pianist Alexandre Dossin returns following last summer’s standing ovations, and the North Coast Chorale makes its Festival debut. Plus Beethoven’s dancing 7th Symphony.

CLASSICS FOR KIDS: A Special Family Concert
Saturday, June 21 @10:00 am
CCC Performing Arts Center

Introduce your family to the joys of classical music at an informal one-hour concert featuring Festival Artists and Friends in Poulenc’s BABAR THE ELEPHANT.
Free admission with a contribution of canned goods to the Clatsop Community Food Bank.
Classics for Kids Concerts presented in collaboration with the Astoria Conservatory of Music.

Festival Opera: VERDI’S RIGOLETTO! Concert Version
Saturday, June 21 @ 6:30 preview @ 7:30 pm concert
Liberty Theater

Come early for an Opera Preview with Ruth Dobson, then:
The Met comes to Astoria! An All-Star Cast stars in Verdi’s tragic masterpiece, filled with some of the most popular arias in all opera. Concert version of highlights, in Italian with English commentary.

Festival Chamber Players: SUNDAY SERENADE – THE 3 B’s
Sunday, June 22 @ 4:00 pm
Liberty Theater

Hear these great players up close in brilliant chamber music with entertaining commentary by pianist Cary Lewis. Program includes Bernstein’s flashy flute concerto. Join the musicians for coffee, conversation and post-concert Q&A.

THE ARTS COLLIDE: Contemporary Multi-Media Extravaganza
Tuesday, June 24 @ 7:30 pm
CCC Arts Center

Excite your senses as Astoria painter ROGER HAYES joins MOLLY BARTH and Oregon’s modern music sensation BETA COLLIDE for a night of interactive experimental music and visual art. Hear the newest music and watch the simultaneous creation of unique large-format painting.

Young Artists Showcase: THE STARS OF TOMORROW!
Thursday, June 26 @ 7:30
CCC Arts Center

Astoria Academy Apprentice Artists, selected from leading American schools of music, perform vocal and instrumental chamber music and exciting fully staged opera scenes. Their names will soon be in the lights, so see them now! Ruth Dobson, director – Dorothy Danner, stage director.

Jazz Night: NANCY KING Sings Bernstein’s Blues
Friday, June 27 @ 6:30 Prelude @ 7:30 Concert
Liberty Theater

Come early for a Concert Prelude by String of Pearls, Astoria, then:
The Rainbow Room comes to Astoria! Called “the greatest jazz singer alive”, NANCY KING joins renowned bassist GLEN MOORE for a classy night of virtuosity. Festival clarinetist IGOR SHAKMAN plays Bernstein’s Prelude, Fugue and Riffs, a jazzy showpiece for Woody Herman and Benny Goodman.

CLASSICS FOR KIDS: A Special Family Concert
Saturday, June 28 @ 10:00 a.m.
CCC Performing Arts Center

Introduce your family to the joys of classical music at an informal one-hour concert featuring Festival Artists and Friends in opera scenes and excerpts from Leonard Bernstein’s historic Young People’s Concerts.
Free admission with a contribution of canned goods to the Clatsop Community Food Bank.

American Classics: WEST SIDE STORY and APPALACHIAN SPRING
Saturday, June 28 @ 7:30 pm
Liberty Theater

Come early for a Concert Preview, then:
Just back from conducting the Russian premiere of West Side Story, Keith Clark leads favorite songs and dances from Bernstein’s masterpiece, plus Copland’s Appalachian Spring, played live to the classic film of Martha Graham’s original choreography.

Festival Grand Finale: MIDSUMMER MATINEE
Sunday, June 29 @ 4:00 p.m.
Liberty Theater

“Give us your hands” and join your friends for this Shakespeare-inspired Midsummer Matinee. Former Oregon Symphony Concertmaster Amy Schwartz Moretti blazes through Vivaldi’s familiar musical year, and popular actor David Ogden Stiers brings down the curtain with the Bard’s poetic verses set to Mendelssohn’s youthful masterpiece, A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

It looks like a great lineup with something for just about everyone, from the die-hard opera lover to the casual concertgoer with a few grand kids in tow.  For more information, see their website at www.astoriamusicfestival.org.