Vermont Mozart Festival
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The Vermont Mozart Festival is a popular series of indoor and outdoor concerts presented annually at sites throughout the state of Vermont. The inaugural Festival of 1974 was conceived as a celebration of both the natural beauty of the state and the genius of the Festival's namesake, composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The Festival's mission quickly grew, and since its third season it has featured performances of a much broader range of classical and other repertoire.
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[edit] History
The Festival was founded in 1974 by Melvin Kaplan, oboist and teacher at Juilliard, in collaboration with conductor William Metcalfe and the University of Vermont. The first season featured all-Mozart performances at the UVM Show Barn, Shelburne Farms, Royall Tyler Theatre, Fleming Museum, St. Paul's Cathedral, and aboard the S.S. Champlain. Notably, the Shelburne Farms concert marked the first time that the site was opened for a public event. In all, ten concerts were held over two weeks; every concert sold out. The following season, the Festival's format was expanded to include 15 concerts and three workshops. This format has remained mostly unchanged for the past 33 years, though in 2006 the Festival presented 19 concerts. The Festival has performed more than 3,000 pieces in over 50 locations, including 278 of Mozart's 626 works—possibly more than any other festival or concert series in the United States.
The Festival was incorporated as a non-profit organization in late 1976; the first full board of directors was assembled in early 1977. Following a successful fundraising campaign, the Festival achieved national recognition when CBS Sunday Morning filmed a week of concerts on location. A series of winter concerts began in 1978, and by 1979 the Festival was firmly established, drawing praise from the New York Times, Boston Globe, Los Angeles Times, and Montreal Star. In 1983, the complete Winter Series was recorded by National Public Radio and aired on Performance Today. In 1984, the Festival presented its first concert on the meadow of the Trapp Family Lodge in Stowe, Vermont, which quickly became, along with Shelburne Farms, one of the Festival's two largest and most popular concert sites. Today, all concerts on the Trapp meadow are followed by fireworks displays.
[edit] Performers
Over the years, the Festival has featured an impressive roster of performers including both established musicians and up-and-coming talent.
Soloists (partial list)
Julius Baker, flute
Charles Bressler, tenor
Daniel Epstein, piano
Eliot Fisk, guitar
Claude Frank, piano
Marc-André Hamelin, piano
Sharon Isbin, guitar
Melvin Kaplan, oboe
Jean-François Latour, piano
Louis Lortie, piano
Robert Mann, violin
Jean-Claude Pennetier, piano
Harvey Phillips, tuba
Menahem Pressler, piano
James Thompson, trumpet
Walter Trampler, viola
Orchestras
Vermont Mozart Festival Orchestra
Concert Royal Baroque Orchestra
Musica Aeterna Orchestra
Orchestre Symphonique de Québec
McGill Chamber Orchestra
The New Orchestra of Westchester
Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal
Conductors
Samuel Baron
Luis Biava
Alexander Brott
James Chapman
Charles Dutoit
Paul Lustig Dunkel
Mark Gould
Efrain Guigui
Peter Leonard
William Metcalfe
Roland Pidoux
Simon Streatfeild
Frederic Waldman
Arthur Weisberg
Christopher Wilkins
Ensembles (partial list)
Amelia Piano Trio
Beaux Arts Trio
Borodin Quartet
Emerson Quartet
Festival Winds
Guarneri Quartet
New York Chamber Soloists
Paris Piano Trio
Salomon Quartet
Ying Quartet
[edit] Traditions
- The Grand Opening Concert of the Summer Festival is preceded by a classical dressage exhibition.
- The Summer Festival concludes with Mozart's Ave verum Corpus.
[edit] Financial Stability and Sustainability
Despite the Festival's ongoing popularity and acclaim—it is routinely selected by the Vermont Chamber of Commerce as one of the state's top ten events—the organization has throughout its history faced significant financial obstacles. Because of their love for the state and their long-standing relationship with the organization, many of the Festival's performers play for considerably less than their usual fees. Likewise, the Festival would not be possible without a large and fiercely dedicated volunteer staff whose tasks include ushering, stubbing tickets, and facilitating parking. Nevertheless, the Festival's financial stability is consistently at the mercy of the state and national economy, as well as Vermont's sometimes dubious weather.
In 2005, Executive Director Rebecca Stone announced that the Festival had accumulated approximately $140,000 in debt—enough to put the Festival's continued existence in serious jeopardy. Many Festival supporters responded with gifts; following two successful seasons, about half of that debt has been eliminated. Still, the financial burden on the Vermont Mozart Festival remains immense.
[edit] In the Media
"Melvin Kaplan, the oboist who is the Festival's artistic director, has pieced together a remarkably attractive season that in its resourcefulness, sophistication and occasional downright giddiness puts many of our better-established festivals to shame."
- Donal Henahan, New York Times, 1978
"One has all the ingredients necessary for a splendid musical vacation. For those with... a love of gorgeous sites and sounds, the Vermont Mozart Festival is a definite must."
- Montreal Star, July 1979
"The Vermont Mozart Festival brings the music of Mozart to life."
- CBS Sunday Morning, August 1991
"Mozart under the lights at Lincoln Center is an enchanting musical experience. Mozart under the stars at Shelburne Farms... is something else again. This is a perennial favorite."
- New York Times, 1992
"On the score of settings, it's difficult to beat the Vermont Mozart Festival."
- Boston Globe, 1993
[edit] References
- The Vermont Mozart Festival: The First Twenty-Five Years by Mary Siegchrist Hill (1998)
