Bergonzi String Quartet to perform children's concert at Portage Library July 10

Flyer announcing the Bergonzi String Quartet children's concert, presenting Peter and the Wolf Friday, July 10, at Portage Lake District Library in Houghton. (Image courtesy Portage Lake District Library)

HOUGHTON -- The Bergonzi String Quartet of the Pine Mountain Music Festival will perform Pamela McConnell's version of Peter and the Wolf in a free children’s concert at the Portage Lake District Library at 1 p.m. on Friday, July 10.

Children are invited to come dressed as characters in the performance: Peter, Grandfather, Bird, Miss Duck, Cat, Forest Rangers (no guns, please) and Wolf.

The Bergonzi String Quartet with Glenn Basham on 1st violin, Scott Flavin on 2nd violin, Pamela McConnell on viola, and Ross Harbaugh on cello, has been Quartet-in-Residence at the Pine Mountain Music Festival since 1995. The Bergonzi Quartet was formed in 1992 and is Quartet-in-Residence at the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida, where they are all faculty members. The members have extensive collective experience, performing in virtually every major center in the world, with concerts throughout Europe, North and South America, New Zealand, and Asia. The quartet has generated enormous excitement around the world for their superb blend of seasoned and sensitive virtuosity and is an important cultural asset for the Pine Mountain Music Festival and the Upper Peninsula.

Adults are welcome to attend this concert if they bring at least one child. There is no admission for this concert and all are welcome to attend. For more information, please call the library at 482-4570 or visit www.pldl.org.

Pine Mountain Music Festival to present "The Barber of Seville" July 9, 12 at Rozsa Center

HANCOCK -- Opera returns to the Pine Mountain Music Festival (PMMF) stage for the 25th Season with Rossini’s The Barber of Seville in two performances -- 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, July 9, and 3 p.m. on Sunday, July 12 -- at the Rozsa Center for Performing Arts in Houghton.*

First performed in 1816, Rossini’s The Barber of Seville is an opera buffa in two acts which has become one of the most beloved works in the operatic repertory. Determined to win the affection of the beautiful Rosina with charm and wit, rather than money, Count Almaviva recruits the help of Figaro, the barber of Seville, to steal her away from her guardian, Dr. Bartolo.

Festival favorite and U.P. native, tenor Miles Mykkanen, performs the role of Count Almaviva, and is joined by soprano Chrystal E. Williams as Rosina, baritone Levi Hernandez as Figaro, and bass Bradley Smoak as Basilio. The production is conducted by PMMF Artistic Director Donald Schleicher and is directed by Debra Dickinson.

On both July 9 and July 12, a pre-opera talk will be offered one hour before the performance. Tickets are General Cost: $45, $35, $22 and Student/Child Cost: $11. Click here to order tickets for the July 9 evening performance. Click here to order tickets for the July 12 matinee.

The Pine Mountain Music Festival features a season of opera, symphony and chamber music each summer in the Dickinson County area, the Marquette area, the Keweenaw Peninsula, and other locations in the Upper Peninsula. Based in Hancock, Michigan, it is supported by donations, ticket sales, and grants. Visit the web at pmmf.org, or call (906) 482-1542 for more information.

The 2015 Season is supported in part by an award from the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs and the National Endowment for the Arts. Additional funding is provided by The Shaw and Betty Walker Foundation, The Ann and Tom Johnston Charitable Fund at Blue Grass Community Foundation, and the Payne and Dolan Company.

*The Rozsa Center for Performing Arts is on the Michigan Tech campus. Click here for a map.

Pine Mountain Music Festival to present UPstarts! concert July 5 in Houghton

HOUGHTON --  The Pine Mountain Music Festival is underway! The Festival will present UPstarts! at 3 p.m. Sunday, July 5, at the Portage Lake United Church, 1400 Houghton Avenue, Houghton.

This fourth UPstarts! season features Marquette artists Paige Graham (soprano), Alexis Mahler (violin), Lauren Perala (viola, violin) and Iron Mountain native, Audra Hagen (saxophone). Local pianist Susan Byykkonen, UPstarts! program coordinator and coach, accompanies the young musicians.

On Monday, July 6, Upstarts! will perform at the Ontonagon Theater in Ontonagon.

Tickets are $18 for adults and $11 for students/children. Click here to order tickets.

For information about the 2015 Pine Mountain Music Festival Season, click here.

Portage Library to host Bergonzi String Quartet children's concert Aug. 2; more Bergonzi performances this week

HOUGHTON -- The Bergonzi String Quartet, celebrating their 20th year with the Pine Mountain Music Festival, will perform Pamela McConnell’s version of Peter and the Wolf in a children’s concert at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 2, in the community room of the Portage Lake District Library.

Children in attendance are invited to come dressed as characters in the performance: Peter, Grandfather, Bird, Miss Duck, Cat, Forest Rangers (no guns, please) and Wolf.

The Bergonzi String Quartet, with Glenn Basham on 1st violin, Scott Flavin on 2nd violin, Pamela McConnell on viola, and Ross Harbaugh on cello, has been Quartet-in-Residence at the Pine Mountain Music Festival since 1995. The Bergonzi Quartet was formed in 1992 and is Quartet-in-Residence at the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida, where they are all faculty members. The members have extensive collective experience, performing in virtually every major center in the world -- with concerts throughout Europe, North and South America, New Zealand, and Asia. The quartet has generated enormous excitement around the world for their superb blend of seasoned and sensitive virtuosity and is an important cultural asset for the Pine Mountain Music Festival and the Upper Peninsula.

Adults are welcome to attend this concert if they bring at least one child. There is no admission for this concert and all are welcome to attend.

For more information, please call the library at 482-4570 or visit www.pldl.org.

More Bergonzi concerts ...

With a repertoire including Mozart, Janáček, and Schubert for the adult concerts, the Bergonzi String Quartet will also perform at the following concerts this week:

At 7:30 p.m. TONIGHT, Wednesday, July 30, the Bergonzi will perform at Immaculate Conception Church, 500 East Blaine St., Iron Mountain, Mich. General Cost: $30. Student/Child Cost: $10.

The Bergonzi will perform another children's concert at 1 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 1, at Peter White Public Library, 217 N. Front St., Marquette. The concert is free.

At 7:30 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 1, the Bergonzi String Quartet will perform at Reynolds Recital Hall, Lee Hall Drive and 7th Street, Marquette. General Cost: $30. Student/Child Cost: $10.

Finally, the Bergonzi will perform at 3 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 3, at the Calumet Theatre, 340 6th St., Calumet. General Cost: $30. Student/Child Cost: $10.

For more information about the Pine Mountain Music Festival, click here.

Pine Mountain Music Festival to feature local musicians in Upstart! concerts, talented singers in Opera concerts this week

MARQUETTE, HOUGHTON -- Pine Mountain Music Festival will present an Upstarts! concert at 7:30 p.m. TONIGHT, Monday, July 28, at St. Paul's Episcopal Church Chapel, 201 E. Ridge St., Marquette.

For Pine Mountain Music Festival's third UPstarts! season, soprano Tory Wood from Escanaba and violinist Carrie Dlutkowski from Atlantic Mine join pianist Susan Byykkonen from Calumet. This is the first time the festival introduces strings to the UPstarts! ensemble.

The UPstarts! concert series exemplifies the Festival’s philosophy to support emerging professional musicians. These concerts are designed to give young musicians from the Upper Peninsula a professional context in which to perform 7 to 10 concerts in a variety of venues and communities. Musicians in the recent years have included students from Juilliard, University of Michigan, Ithaca, and Michigan State.

Two more Upstarts! concerts are scheduled during the festival this week:

7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, July 30: Falling Rock Café and Bookstore, Munising

7:30 p.m. on Thursday, July 31: Portage Lake United Church, Houghton

Tickets for the Upstarts! concerts are $15, General, and $10, Student/Child.

Handel and Hoiby Opera Concert

Pine Mountain Music Festival will host two upcoming performances of the season's Handel and Hoiby Opera Concert: at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, July 29, at Crystal Theatre, 304 Superior Ave., Crystal Falls, Mich., and at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, July 30, at Reynolds Recital Hall, Lee Hall Drive and 7th Street, Marquette.

Joshua Major will direct Cindy Sadler in Lee Hoiby's brilliant one woman show, The Italian  Lesson, based on Ruth Draper's monologue. Joseph Mechavich will provide the accompaniment for this captivating and charming opera.

The evening will also feature Lucy Thrasher, Anne Jennifer Nash, Holly Janz, Miles Mykkanen, and accompanist Joseph Mechavich in a special presentation of Handel arias directed by Joshua Major.

Tickets for these opera performances are $25, General, and $10, Student/Child.

Pine Mountain Music Festival is a classical music festival producing quality opera, symphony, chamber, and recital music in the Central and Western Upper Peninsula. The festival continues through Sunday, Aug.3. Click here for the calendar. Visit pmmf.org for more information.

Bergonzi String Quartet to perform free children's concert June 22 at Portage Library

HOUGHTON -- The Bergonzi String Quartet of the Pine Mountain Music Festival will perform a free children’s concert at noon on Saturday, June 22, at the Portage Lake District Library in Houghton

The Legend of the Loon, a book written by Kathy-jo Wargin and illustrated by Gijsbert van Frankenhuyzen, will be featured in the concert. The Quartet will perform Pamela McConnell’s special musical arrangement of a Sibelius composition, which will accompany local resident Trudy Olsson as she narrates the legend. Using Scandinavian symbolism, Wargin tells the story of the magnificent loon and how grandmothers of a thousand years live in us.

The Bergonzi String Quartet has been Quartet-in-Residence at the Pine Mountain Music Festival since 1995. Violinists Glen Basham and Scott Flavin, cellist Ross Harbaugh, and violist Pamela McConnell are faculty members at the University of Miami where the Bergonzi Quartet has been Quartet-in-Residence since its formation in1992. The members have extensive collective experience, performing in virtually every major center in the world, with concerts throughout Europe, North and South America, New Zealand, and Asia. They have generated enormous excitement around the world for their superb virtuosity; and their charm, humor, and great music-making has been an important cultural asset for the Pine Mountain Music Festival and the Upper Peninsula.

There is no admission for this concert and all are welcome to attend. For more information, please call the library at 482-4570 or visit www.pldl.org.

Sondheim’s "A Little Night Music" concludes Pine Mountain Music Festival’s 22nd Season

Guest artists for A Little Night Music are, from left, Lucy Thrasher as Desiree Armfeldt, Paul Truckey as Fredrick, and Luretta Bybee as Madame Armfeldt. (Photos courtesy Pine Mountain Music Festival)

HANCOCK -- Stephen Sondheim’s enduring and touching musical theatre masterpiece, A Little Night Music, will be concluding Pine Mountain Music Festival’s 22nd season at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, July 13, and at 3 p.m. on Sunday, July 15, at the Rozsa Center for the Performing Arts in Houghton. There is also a reception before both performances -- at 6:30 p.m. July 13 and at 2 p.m. July 15 in the gallery of the Rozsa Center, where wine, cheese, and sweets will be served.

A Little Night Music continues where Così fan tutte left off. With a sweeping, lush score ("Send in the Clowns," "A Weekend in the Country") and a plot that cleverly weaves together stories of love, intrigue, and heartache, Sondheim continues our exploration of love. Based on Ingmar Bergman's film Smiles of a Summer Night, A Little Night Music is set in a weekend country house in turn-of-the-century Sweden. This witty and romantic story with music set in 3/4 time is the perfect midsummer musical. A middle-aged lawyer, an 18-year-old bride, a sardonic old woman, the somber brooding son of the middle-aged lawyer, a former actress lover, the military lover of the former actress lover, the manic depressive wife of the military lover of the former actress lover, and a maid all end up spending a weekend together in a country estate. Wit, romance, heartache, and, finally, reconciliation ensue.

Featured guest artists are internationally known singer Luretta Bybee as Madame Armfeldt; Festival Resident Opera Artist Director Lucy Thrasher as Desiree Armfeldt; and Marquette’s own Paul Truckey as Fredrick. Also performing are the Festival’s six Resident Opera Artists who will be joined by three more.

Tickets for A Little Night Music are $20, $30, and $40; students and children are $10 and $15. Visit Michigan Tech Ticketing Services (Michigan Tech Student Development Complex) or call 877-746-3999. Tickets are also available at the door. Tickets for the reception are $15.

This production is supported by the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Pine Mountain Music Festival to present organ, trumpet concert July 3 in Calumet

Organist Jeremy David Tarrant, center, will be joined by trumpet players Mark Flaherty, left, and Joel Neves in a concert July 3 at the Keweenaw Heritage Center at St. Anne's in Calumet. (Photo courtesy Pine Mountain Music Festival)

HANCOCK -- Pine Mountain Music Festival is thrilled to welcome organist Jeremy David Tarrant to the U.P. at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, July 3, at the Keweenaw Heritage Center at St. Anne’s in Calumet. He will be joined by trumpet players Mark Flaherty (Marquette Symphony Orchestra) and Joel Neves (Conductor, Keweenaw Symphony Orchestra). The program repertoire will include Mendelssohn’s Sonata No. 2 in C minor, Schumann’s Sketch in C minor, Scarlatti’s Sonata in D major and C major, and Rheinberger’s Adagio espressivo, as well as others.

Mr. Tarrant is Organist and Choirmaster of the Episcopal Cathedral Church of St. Paul in Detroit where, in addition to playing the organ for liturgies and concerts, he conducts the Choir of Men and Boys (now in its 120th season), The Cathedral Girls’ Choir, and the Cathedral Chamber Singers. He is also Artistic Director for Music at the Cathedral, an annual concert series. Mr. Tarrant joined the Cathedral staff in 1994 as Assistant Organist and, prior to that appointment, worked in several churches in his native Michigan.

The recipient of numerous awards and honors, he was awarded First Prize in the Ottumwa National Organ Competition in 1997 and Second Prize in the Arthur Poister National Competition in 1998. In 1993 he was a Winner of the Lucille Mehaffie Young Artists’ Competition which resulted in a televised performance during the Kalamazoo Bach Festival. Mr. Tarrant has also been a finalist in the American Guild of Organists Regional Competitions.

Active as an concert organist, Jeremy David Tarrant has performed widely in North America in such venues as the Washington National Cathedral; St. Thomas Church, Fifth Avenue; St. James Cathedral, Toronto; St. Patrick’s Cathedral, New York; and Chicago’s famed Fourth Presbyterian Church. Mr. Tarrant has performed with the Western Michigan University Brass Quintet and frequently appears with the Detroit Chamber Winds and Strings. He has been particularly noted for his insightful performances of French organ music of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries; but, whatever the composer being played, Tarrant’s solid musicianship has earned him the reputation of a first-rate performer.

Tickets for this event are $20 for adults and $10 for children and students. Tickets are on sale at the Michigan Tech Ticketing Services located at the Michigan Tech Student Development Complex or by calling 877-746-3999.  Tickets are also available at the door.

Pine Mountain Music Festival presents a season of opera, classical and popular music each June-July in the Dickinson County area, the Marquette area, the Keweenaw Peninsula, and other towns in the Upper Peninsula. Headquartered in Hancock, Michigan, it is supported by donations, ticket sales and grants. For more information about the 2012 Festival Season, visit www.pmmf.org or call 888-309-7861. For tickets, call 1-877-746-3999.

Pine Mountain Music Festival to present Bergonzi String Quartet concerts

HANCOCK -- A perennial favorite with Pine Mountain Music Festival audiences since 1995, the Bergonzi String Quartet bring their charm, humor, and great music-making to the stage at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, June 23, at the Rozsa Center for the Performing Arts, Houghton. Tickets are $25 and are available at Michigan Tech Ticketing Services by calling 487-2073, or at the door.

The Bergonzi String Quartet will perform this week in Houghton and next week in Kingsford and Marquette in Pine Mountain Music Festival Concerts. (Photo courtesy Pine Mountain Music Festival)

Members of the quartet are Glenn Basham and Scott Flavin, violins; Pamela McConnell, viola; and Ross Harbaugh, cello. This year they will be joined by piano sensation Tian Ying to perform a new arrangement of George Gershwin’s great Rhapsody in Blue for Piano and String Quartet. Also featured on the program are Hugo Wolf’s Italian Serenade, Maurice Ravel’s String Quartet in F Major, Gershwin’s Three Preludes, and three pieces arranged by Scott Flavin. This concert is sponsored by the Upper Peninsula Power Company.

Other performances of this concert will be at 7:30 p.m. on Monday, June 25, at First Presbyterian Church, Kingsford, and at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, June 26, at Reynolds Recital Hall, Marquette.

The Quartet is based in Florida, where its four members are faculty members at the University of Miami in Coral Gables. In addition, first violinist Glenn Basham is concertmaster of the Naples (FL) Philharmonic Orchestra, and second violinist Scott Flavin is concertmaster of the Florida Grand Opera and Florida Classical Orchestra.  Violist Pamela McConnell has performed as soloist and chamber musician all around the world and in the U.S. in such prestigious places as Lincoln Center and Kennedy Center. Cellist Ross Harbaugh has appeared as soloist with many orchestras including the Atlanta, Cincinnati, Keweenaw, Grand Rapids, and Canadian Chamber Orchestras.

The members have extensive collective experience, performing in virtually every major center in the world, with concerts throughout Europe, North and South America, New Zealand, and Asia.

Pine Mountain Music Festival presents a season of opera, classical, and popular music each June-July in the Dickinson County area, the Marquette area, the Keweenaw Peninsula, and other towns in the Upper Peninsula. Headquartered in Hancock, Michigan, it is supported by donations, ticket sales, and grants. Visit the web at www.pmmf.org or call 888-309-7861 for more information, or call 1-877-746-3999 for tickets.

Portage Library to host Bergonzi Quartet in Children's Concert June 23

The Bergonzi String Quartet will also host a free children’s concert at 1 p.m., Saturday, June 23, at the Portage Lake District Library, Houghton. Featured will be The Story of Babar, the Little Elephant, arranged for String Quartet by Pamela McConnell and narrated by Joshua Major, PMMF artistic director.

There is no admission for this library children's concert and all are welcome to attend. For more information, please call the library at 482-4570 or visit www.pldl.org.

Pine Mountain Music Festival to present Mozart opera

HANCOCK -- Pine Mountain Music Festival presents Mozart’s great opera Così fan tutte  at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, June 21, at the historic Calumet Theatre. The opera is a masterpiece of comic invention and dramatic detail. The alternative title, The School for Lovers (La scuola degli amanti), is perhaps a more precise description of the opera -- four naïve young lovers trying to understand and figure out the nature of love and relationships.

Martin Bakari and Jacqueline Shoda-Iwasaki in Così fan tutte. (Photo © Joe Kirkish and courtesy Pine Mountain Music Festival)

Two young men disguise themselves to test their lovers’ fidelity, but what starts out as fun and games turns into something no one quite bargained for. The mischief makers, Don Alfonso and Despina, two characters with a little more experience, lead the young lovers through the opera, imparting their worldly advice and cynical points of view.

Tickets are $30 for adults or $10 for students and are available at Michigan Tech Ticketing Services (located at the Michigan Tech Student Development Complex), or by calling 877-746-3999.  Tickets are also available at the Calumet Theatre Box Office and at the door. There will be a free pre-opera talk one hour before the performance.

The opera will be sung in Italian, with English surtitles above the stage. Così fan tutte will also be performed at 3 p.m. on Sunday, June 17, at the Vulcan Performing Arts Center in Norway and at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, June 19, at Kaufman Auditorium in Marquette.

The singers for Così fan tutte will be the festival's six Resident Opera Artists. A chorus composed of local singers from the Keweenaw area will round out the cast for this dramatic and popular opera. The opera will be conducted by the remarkable Joseph Mechavich (Il matrimonio segreto 2010) and directed by Artistic Director, Joshua Major.  Mr. Mechavich will present a pre-opera talk one hour before performance.

Claire Shackleton and Alex DeSocio in Così fan tutte. (Photo © Joe Kirkish and courtesy Pine Mountain Music Festival)

Mezzo-soprano Claire Shackleton performs the role of Dorabella while the role of Fiordiligi is sung by soprano Jacqueline Shoda-Iwasaki. Singing the parts of the two fiancés are tenor Martin Bakari as Ferrando and baritone Alex DeSocio as Guglielmo.   Completing the cast is Julie Tabash as Despina, the maid, and Jonathan Christopher as Don Alfonso. All six Resident Opera Artists will also perform in A Little Night Music in July.   

This production is supported by the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs and the National Endowment for the Arts. 

Pine Mountain Music Festival presents a season of opera, classical and popular music each June-July in the Dickinson County area, the Marquette area, the Keweenaw Peninsula, and in other towns in the Upper Peninsula. Headquartered in Hancock, Michigan, it is supported by donations, ticket sales and grants. Visit the web at www.pmmf.org or call 888-309-7861 for more information.

Pine Mountain Music Festival to host Keweenaw Kickoff Gala June 12

HANCOCK -- Pine Mountain Music Festival (PMMF) announces the opening event of its 22nd Season, the Keweenaw Kickoff Gala on June 12, at the Rozsa Center for the Performing Arts, Houghton.

This traditional kickoff event is a festive occasion to meet the festival's 2012 Resident Opera Artists in a more intimate and personal setting. These Resident Opera Artists (ROA) from all over -- Oregon, Ohio, Texas, Maryland, Bermuda, and Illinois -- come together in the Upper Peninsula for the first time. Following an elegant dinner, guests will enjoy highlights from opera and American musical theatre repertoire.

Joshua Major, Pine Mountain Music Festival artistic director. (Photo courtesy Pine Mountain Music Festival)

Joshua Major, PMMF Artistic Director, and Lucy Thrasher, ROA Program Director will host the evening event. Susan Byykkonen, accomplished teacher and pianist from Calumet, Mich., will accompany.

Be the first to meet the Festival’s six Resident Opera Artists, who will later star in Mozart’s Così fan tutte on June 21 at Calumet Theatre, as well as in Sondheim’s A Little Night Music on July 13 and 15 at the Rozsa Center for the Performing Arts, Houghton.

PMMF’s 2012 Resident Opera Artists are (top to bottom, left to right) Jacqueline Shoda-Iwasaki, Martin Bakari, Julie Tabash, Alex De Socio, Jonathan Christopher, and Claire Shackleton. (Photo courtesy Pine Mountain Music Festival)

The ticket price includes full dinner and dessert, and there will be a cash bar. This year’s elegant dinner will feature a choice of entrées: brie-stuffed French-cut chicken breast with Minnesota wild rice pilaf and chef’s vegetables or Lake Superior trout with parsley potatoes and chef’s vegetables. Tickets are $75 and are available until June 5; call 1-877-746-3999 (toll free.) Seating is limited. 

Pine Mountain Music Festival presents a season of opera and classical music each June and July in Dickinson County, Marquette County, the Keweenaw Peninsula, and in other towns in the central and western Upper Peninsula and northeast Wisconsin. Visit www.pmmf.org for season details or call 888-309-7861 for more information.

Pine Mountain Music Festival 22nd Season: "It's All About Love ..."

HANCOCK -- Pine Mountain Music Festival (PMMF) announces its 22nd season -- "It’s All About Love: from Mozart to Sondheim." Opening on June 7 and concluding on July 15, the Festival will enchant audiences in nearly a dozen towns across the central and western Upper Peninsula and northern Wisconsin. Some 37 performances will be presented, including opera, musical theatre, chamber music, and classical recitals.

Two productions this summer, Mozart’s Così fan tutte and Sondheim’s A Little Night Music, propose two views of love from very different perspectives. Both offer comedy and an insightful look at human nature and our search for love. In Così, two young men disguise themselves to test their lovers’ fidelity, and what begins as fun and games turns into something no one quite bargained for. The production will be sung in Italian, with projected English surtitles and an orchestra in the pit. Featuring PMMF's six Resident Opera Artists, Così will tour to Norway on June 17, Marquette on June 19, and Calumet on June 21.

Sondheim’s enduring and touching masterpiece, A Little Night Music, is the perfect midsummer musical. With a sweeping, lush score ("Send in the Clowns," "A Weekend in the Country") and a plot that cleverly weaves together stories of love, intrigue, and heartache, Sondheim continues the festival's exploration of love. Featuring guest artists Lucy Thrasher (Désirée), Marquette’s Paul Truckey (Fredrick), and sensational singer Luretta Bybee (Madam Armfeldt) along with PMMF Resident Opera Artists, A Little Night Music will be performed on July 13 and 15 in Houghton.

Returning after a year’s absence, the Bergonzi String Quartet will make their 15th appearance with the Festival. Bringing their charm, humor, and great music-making to the stage, they will be joined by piano sensation Tian Ying to offer a version of Gershwin’s masterpiece "Rhapsody in Blue" for string quartet and piano. Evening concerts and free afternoon children’s concerts are scheduled in Houghton on June 23, Kingsford on June 25, and Marquette on June 26.

Opening the season will be three Gala concerts: June 7 in Marquette, June 12 in Houghton, and June 13 in Iron Mountain. Offered in intimate and personal settings, these concerts introduce the festival's six Resident Opera Artists, who were selected through nationwide auditions from over 350 applicants.

International Croatian guitar sensation, Ana Vidovic, returns to the Upper Peninsula where she enthralled audiences in 2007 and 2008.  Once again, Ana will bring her exceptional musicianship, technical mastery, and grace to concert stages in Iron Mountain on June 14, Marquette on June 16, and Calumet on June 18.

“An Evening of Brahms” concert features the stunning solo piano playing of Tian Ying, two Brahms lullabies with Pamela McConnell of the Bergonzi String Quartet, and the romantic Liebeslieder Waltzes featuring four our Resident Opera Artists. Performances are scheduled on June 28 in Kingsford, June 30 in Houghton, and July 2 in Marquette.

Michigan native and rising star, Jeremy David Tarrant, will offer the festival's annual organ recital in Calumet on July 3, Ishpeming on July 6, and Iron Mountain on July 10.

This season, PMMF welcomes the Third Coast Brass ensemble, comprised of some of the finest brass musicians in the Midwestern United States, in a program featuring music of Mozart, Sibelius, Ewald, and Sondheim. Hear them in Marquette on July 5, Iron Mountain on July 6, and in Houghton on July 8.

A special feature of the Festival this year is an “UPstarts” concert, featuring up-and-coming musicians from the Upper Peninsula.  Tenor Miles Mykkanen from Bessemer and soprano Amada Boundy from Eben Junction will join Savannah Clayton, flute, and Susan Byykonen, piano, both from Calumet, to give audiences a look at what the U.P. can accomplish. They will perform seven concerts throughout the U.P. and Wisconsin: June 22 in Ontonagon, June 23 in Ironwood, June 24 in Land O’Lakes (WI), June 27 in Ishpeming, June 28 in Escanaba, June 29 in Munising, and July 1 in Houghton.

The Pine Mountain Music Festival presents a season of opera, symphony and chamber music each June-July in the Dickinson County area, the Marquette area, the Keweenaw Peninsula, and other smaller towns in the Upper Peninsula and northeastern Wisconsin.  Headquartered in Hancock, Michigan, it is supported by donations, ticket sales, and grants. Visit the web at pmmf.org, or call 888-309-7861 for more information. Tickets are now on sale and are available by calling 1-877-746-3999.

Noteworthy women's chorus to present Pine Mountain Music Festival Benefit Concert series

HOUGHTON -- The women’s chorus Noteworthy will celebrate the music of Broadway legends Stephen Sondheim and his mentor, Oscar Hammerstein II, in its upcoming concert series, "Bling and Sing with Stephen Sondheim."

 

As a benefit for the Pine Mountain Music Festival, the Noteworthy women's chorus, known for its a cappella harmonies, will perform "Bling and Sing with Stephen Sondheim" at the Calumet Theatre May 12, the Ontonagon Theater May 18, and the Pine Grove Country Club in Iron Mountain May 19. (Photo courtesy Pine Mountain Music Festival)

Noteworthy will perform the concert of familiar favorites at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, May 12, at the Calumet Theatre. A benefit for the Pine Mountain Music Festival, the program is a prelude to Sondheim’s A Little Night Music, which is on the Festival’s summer schedule.

Noteworthy is also performing the same concert on Friday, May 18, at the Ontonagon Theater and on Saturday, May 19, at the Pine Grove Country Club in Iron Mountain, also at 7:30 p.m.

Tickets are $10 and are available at the door, or by calling Michigan Tech Ticketing Services, 877-746-3999, or online at www.mtu.edu.

Noteworthy, the only women’s barbershop chorus in the Copper Country, is recognized for its lush tonal quality and intricate, a cappella harmonies. This rich array of show tunes has added new depth to its barbershop repertoire.

To mark the occasion, Noteworthy’s members will be adding "bling" by replacing their standard concert garb with fancy dress, including sequins, rhinestones, satin and sparkles.

"We wanted to reflect some of the excitement of this awesome music," said Noteworthy director Joan Petrelius. "We’re also proud and honored to be singing on behalf of the Pine Mountain Music Festival, which brings absolutely wonderful entertainment to our area."

Sondheim songs on the program include the sassy "Let Me Entertain You" and standards "Everything’s Coming Up Roses" and "Together Wherever We Go," from his 1959 musical Gypsy, and "Send in the Clowns," a poignant lament made famous by folk singer Judy Collins. Pianists Susan Byykkonen and Monica Rovano will provide accompaniment for the haunting "Children Will Listen," from the 1986 musical Into the Woods.

A top lyricist and producer, Hammerstein teamed up with many composers, most famously with Richard Rodgers, with whom he wrote many musicals, including The Sound of Music. He also mentored young Sondheim after the divorce of the boy’s parents in what would be one of the most high-impact apprenticeships in musical theater. Sondheim went on to win an Academy Award, eight Tony Awards, a Pulitzer, and the Lawrence Olivier Award.

Noteworthy will sing a selection of songs from The Sound of Music, including "Climb Every Mountain," "Edelweiss" and "The Sound of Music." During the Calumet performance, they will be joined in "Do Re Mi" by several of the members’ grandchildren. Another favorite, "You’ll Never Walk Alone" from the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical Carousel, is also on the program.

Marcia Goodrich will perform "I Know Things Now," Little Red Riding Hood’s reflections upon being eaten by the wolf, from Into the Woods. And Bonnie Horn will sing her own adaptation of "Not While I’m Around," the wistful song of a boy wishing to protect his mother figure, from Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd.

Noteworthy was formed in 1996 under the direction of Theresa Goodell, a retired music teacher. Under her care, the eight-member group grew to nearly 30. Petrelius took up the baton in July 2010, after Goodell’s retirement. A retired band and choral teacher, Petrelius quickly embraced the barbershop style, and Noteworthy has continued to thrive under her direction.

Cultural events related to opera "Rockland" being held July 13, 14, 16

HANCOCK -- Several events related to the Pine Mountain Music Festival (PMMF) production of the opera Rockland are happening this week.

At 5 p.m. on Wednesday, July 13, PMMF will present a free symposium on commissioning new music -- with a panel composed of John and Pauline Kiltinen, Jukka Linkola, Esa Ruuttunen and Peter Van Pelt. This event will be held at Portage Lake United Church in Houghton. The Kiltinens, of Marquette, have been ardent supporters of Rockland from the beginning. Linkola is the Finnish composer of Rockland and numerous other musical works. Ruuttunen is a well-known baritone who will sing in Rockland. He is artistic director of the Jokilaakso Music Foundation in Finland which produced the Old World Premiere of the opera. Van Pelt is executive director of Pine Mountain Music Festival.

At 5 p.m. on Thursday, July 14, at the Jutila Center in Hancock, Larry Lankton, professor of history at Michigan Technological University and author of several books and articles on the area, will speak on "History and Conditions of the Mining Industry in the Copper Country in the Early 1900s." Lankton is well-known as a popular lecturer on historical topics. The event is free and open to the public.

At 7 p.m. on Saturday, July 16, Arnold Alanen, the 2009-2010 Finlandia Foundation National Lecturer of the Year and professor emeritus of landscape architecture at University of Wisconsin-Madison, will speak on "Finnish Impact on the Cultural Landscape in North America." His talk will be illustrated with numerous slides and will give special attention to Rockland. This free event will also be at the Jutila Center in Hancock.

Besides these free events, the Ameriikan Poijat (Boys of America), a brass septet from Minnesota, will present a 7 p.m. concert on July 14 at the Calumet Theatre, followed by dancing in the ballroom. Tickets for this event are $15 (or $10 for students and children). Andy Hill, resident of Wakefield and grandson of Alfred Laakso on whose first-hand account the opera Rockland is based, will be narrator for this concert.

Pine Mountain Music Festival will present the New World Premiere of the opera Rockland at 7:30 p.m. Friday, July 15, and at 3 p.m. Sunday, July 17, at the Rozsa Center in Houghton. Tickets are still available.

Click here to read details on the Rockland performance.

Opera "Rockland" is for everyone

Pictured here, from left, are Leslie Hill, Esa Ruuttunen and Fia Hill Murray, in Nivala, Finland, for the Old World Premiere of Rockland last month. The Hill sisters are granddaughters of Alfred Laakso, who wrote the first-hand account of the 1906 events on which the opera is based. Esa Ruuttunen sings the role of Alfred Laakso in the opera. (Photo courtesy Pine Mountain Music Festival)

HOUGHTON -- The new opera Rockland, a Pine Mountain Music Festival (PMMF) production, with a cast of nearly 50 and an orchestra of over 40, will have its New World premiere at 7:30 p.m. Friday, July 15, and at 3 p.m. Sunday, July 17, at the Rozsa Center for the Performing Arts in Houghton.

Last month, the "Old World Premiere" of Rockland took place in Nivala, Finland. The audiences there felt connected to the opera because many had ancestors who had emigrated to Michigan around a century ago. The idea of the opera came from a first-hand account of the 1906 events written by a Finn in Rockland named Alfred Laakso, and his descendants will be on hand for a reception after the July 17 performance.

The opera is based on actual events in the town of Rockland, Ontonagon County, in 1906, when about 100 Finnish miners went on strike and two of them were shot and killed by sheriff’s deputies.

"There is so much in this opera that is both real and symbolic," said Peter Van Pelt, PMMF executive director. "The heart of the story is literally true, but in a broader sense the opera speaks of the entire history of the U.P. and its mining heritage and different ethnic stories. It’s powerful."

Tickets for the opera are selling well, Van Pelt reported, but there are still seats available.

"This opera is for everyone," Van Pelt noted. "Opera is another way of telling a story, like a book or a movie or a stage play, but with opera you get the thrill of hearing great music and well-trained opera voices -- and that is something that everyone can appreciate."

After one recent rehearsal, a PMMF staff person said, "I knew the principal singers would be well prepared, but I was unexpectedly blown away by the quality of the chorus -- what glorious sound!"

The chorus is composed of local singers plus a number of undergraduates from Concordia College and the University of Michigan.

Tickets for Rockland are available from the Rozsa Center box office, 877-746-3999, or at the door if space permits. The box office is currently operating out of the Student Development Complex at the top of MacInnes Drive in Houghton.

Click here to purchase tickets on line.

Pine Mountain Music Festival presents a season of opera and classical music each June-July in the Dickinson County area, the Marquette area, the Keweenaw Peninsula, and other towns in the Upper Peninsula. Visit www.pmmf.org or call 888-309-7861 for more information.

Editor's Note: Click here to read about artist Mary Wright's "Story Line" project -- more than 7,000 cloth panels telling stories of ancestors -- now displayed in and around the Rozsa Center in conjunction with the opera Rockland.

Popular organist returns for U.P. recitals

HANCOCK -- Christina Harmon, who has roots in the Upper Peninsula but now lives in Dallas, returns to the U.P. to give organ recitals in four communities this month. She was brought here in 2009 by Pine Mountain Music Festival (PMMF) and was warmly embraced by her audiences. She returned in 2010 to make recordings with some of her favorite organs, and now is back again.

On Monday, June 20, she will perform at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church, Lake Linden; on June 22 at First Lutheran Church, Iron Mountain; on June 24 at St. Joseph and St. Patrick Church, Escanaba; and on June 27 at Bethany Lutheran Church, Ishpeming. All performances are at 7:30 p.m. local time. Tickets are $20, or $10 for children and students.

These are some of the most beautiful churches and most impressive organs in the U.P. In these concerts, Harmon will be joined by two trumpet players: Mark Flaherty of Marquette Symphony Orchestra and Joel Neves, conductor of Keweenaw Symphony Orchestra.

Harmon will offer a workshop for organists in the morning of Tuesday, June 21, on the historic tracker Barckhoff organ at Keweenaw Heritage Center in Calumet, sponsored jointly by the Center and Organists of Keweenaw. The cost is $15 per person (cash or checks payable to Christina Harmon). Contact Jan Dalquist at jandalq@pasty.com (preferred) or call 906-482-0709 for information and registration.

Harmon was so impressed with some of the organs that she played on in 2009, that she has produced a CD called "Eight Historic Organs of the Copper Country." It will be available locally for $15 and also through www.ravencd.com and the Organ Historical Society. One of the eight organs featured is that of St. Joseph Church in Lake Linden, where she will perform on June 20.

Christina Harmon is a respected figure on the international organ circuit and has played at such prestigious places as Westminster Abbey in London and Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. She is a graduate of Oberlin Conservatory of Music and Southern Methodist University and has a doctoral residency from the University of North Texas.

Her U.P. roots are in Menominee, where her father was a church and school choir director.

Besides the organ concerts, other events in the PMMF 2011 season will include opening galas in Lake Linden and Iron Mountain; a string octet; a two-piano recital by Stephanie and Jonathan Shames; a recital by renowned Finnish baritone Esa Ruuttunen; a musical revue featuring songs about New York and Paris by Cole Porter, Richard Rodgers, Edith Piaf and others; appearances by Ameriikan Poijat, a brass septet from Minneapolis; and the New World Premiere of Rockland, an opera based on local history, at the Rozsa Center in Houghton on July 15 and 17.

Pine Mountain Music Festival presents a season of opera and classical music each June-July in the Dickinson County area, the Marquette area, the Keweenaw Peninsula, and other towns in the Upper Peninsula. Visit the web at http://www.pmmf.org or call 888-309-7861 for more information. Tickets are available through the Rozsa Center box office, telephone 877-746-3999, or at the door if space permits.

Premium Seats available for "Rockland" Premiere

HANCOCK -- Pine Mountain Music Festival announces the availability of a limited number of premium seats for the July 15, 2011, premiere of the new opera Rockland at the Rozsa Center in Houghton.

This will be the New World Premiere of an important new work rooted in the history of the Upper Peninsula. It will be a fully-staged opera, sung partly in English and partly in Finnish, with English supertitles above the stage so the audience can follow the action. There is a cast of 42 singers on the stage and an orchestra of 43 musicians in the pit.

Premium seats are available for $125 each. Patrons will have some of the best seats in the house and will be invited to a pre-opera reception at 6 p.m. Friday, July 15, with the composer, Jukka Linkola. Light refreshments will be served with champagne, punch or coffee.

Peter Van Pelt, executive director of the Festival, says, "These premium seats are an opportunity for people to really be part of the action on the opening night of this great new opera. Besides the good seats, the reception and conversation with the composer, they have the satisfaction of supporting a landmark U.P. event."

Other tickets are available at $50, $35 and $20. The same pricing applies for the performance at 3 p.m. on Sunday, July 17; but there will be no premium tickets for that performance.

Tickets are available from the Rozsa Center box office, now operating out of Michigan Tech's Student Development Complex at the top of MacInnes Drive in Houghton, or by calling 906-487-3200 or toll-free 877-746-3999.

Among the featured singers in the opera is Paul Truckey of Marquette. Numerous community members will appear in the chorus and the orchestra. More information about the opera Rockland and the rest of the Pine Mountain Music Festival season can be obtained from the Festival office at 906-482-1542. Charter buses are coming to Houghton for the opera from Marquette, Iron Mountain and elsewhere. Visit www.pmmf.org for additional information.