Our Mission
The Savannah Music Festival (SMF) is dedicated to presenting a world-class celebration of the musical arts by creating timeless and adventurous productions that stimulate arts education, foster economic growth, and unite artists and audiences in Savannah. It is Georgia's largest musical arts event and one of the most distinctive cross-genre music festivals in the world. In addition to an array of musical performances that includes dance, film, and narrative programs, the festival operates year-round to produce youth concerts, lectures, in-school touring programs, recordings, a weekly radio series, an annual high school jazz band competition and festival, and interactive websites.
SMF stages original, one-time only productions, premieres and double-bills, including commissioned works and unique series. In 2010, numerous one-time only pairings take place throughout the festival, with particular emphasis on vocalists and string players. Singers Patty Loveless and Kathy Mattea share a bill on opening weekend, as do Ruthie Foster and Kristina Train; they will be followed by two teenage wunderkinds, Canadian Sierra Noble and Texan Sarah Jarosz. Brazilian guitarists Sergio and Odair Assad are matched with violin virtuoso Roby Lakatos and his Sextet; French bassist extraordinaire Renaud Garcia-Fons' trio is paired with fiddle master Mark O'Connor's Hot Swing Trio; Malian ngoni superstar Bassekou Kouyate's family band halves a concert with American guitarist Bill Frisell's Trio.
Original productions in 2010 include: the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra with Chinese piano sensation Lang Lang; the 5th annual Piano Showdown; the 17th annual American Traditions Competition; the All Star Swing Summit/Swing CentralFinale; Ben Tucker's 80th birthday celebration; and our originally conceived chamber music series, Sensations, which combines many of the finest European and American musicians under the curatorial direction of Associate Artistic Director Daniel Hope. Premieres include Mike Marshall's commissioned "Suite Savannah" and the debut of the new Derek Trucks and Susan Tedeschi Band.
In recent years, SMF has premiered numerous commissioned pieces including: Stewart Copeland's "Celeste"; "An Evening with Beethoven" featuring Mia Farrow and the Beaux Arts Trio; Roxanna Panufnik's "Concerto for Hope"; "Trio" by Uri Caine, written for the Beaux Arts Trio; "Welcome to Georgia Town" by Wycliffe Gordon; Alexandra du Bois' "Chanson d'Orage" for Two Violins; "Skylark: Andrea Marcovicci Sings Mercer"; and "Symphony" by Christopher Theofanidis, co-commissioned with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra.
The Festival remains committed to producing a superlative musical event that advances the public's understanding and appreciation of music through a variety of educational initiatives. SMF produces free educational programs for schoolchildren in Chatham and surrounding counties in an effort to help teachers and students gain a more profound understanding of the musical arts. During the 2010 festival, more than 20,000 schoolchildren will participate in our educational programs. In 2008, renowned jazz pianist/educator Marcus Roberts became the Associate Artistic Director of jazz education. In this role, Mr. Roberts helps to shape the future of Swing Central, an annual three-day jazz intensive for high school students that draws twelve bands from around the country to SMF for instruction and the opportunity to compete for prize money.
SMF presents acclaimed artists from a variety of genres including such past performers as Bonnie Raitt, Andre Watts, Wynton Marsalis & the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, Mariza, Zakir Hussain, Dianne Reeves, Emerson String Quartet, Emmylou Harris, Frank Wess, Eddie Palmieri, Béla Fleck, Deborah Voigt, Buddy Guy, Hank Jones, Vusi Mahlasela, Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver, Frederica von Stade, Wayne Shorter, Anoushka Shankar, David Grisman, Ian Bostridge, Savion Glover, Toumani Diabate, Slide Hampton, Edgar Meyer, Garrick Ohlsson, Blind Boys of Alabama, Mike Marshall, Richard Goode, Dick Hyman, Susan Tedeschi, Cedric Watson, Stewart Copeland, Shivkumar Sharma, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra with Robert Spano, Punch Brothers, Wycliffe Gordon, John McLaughlin, Marty Stuart, The Clayton Brothers, Derek Trucks Band, Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder, Isabel Bayrakdarian, Del McCoury Band, Jerry Douglas, Wu Han, Joshua Redman & the San Francisco Jazz Collective, Peru Negro, Travis Tritt, Chick Corea, Toots Thielemans, The Heath Brothers, Prazak Quartet, Hamilton de Holanda, Bucky Pizzarelli, Neko Case, Manuel Barrueco, Debashish Bhattacharya, Kenny Garrett, Janette Fishell, Red Stick Ramblers, Marc-Andre Hamelin, Ana Moura, Bill Charlap, Sam Bush, Nappy Brown, Vasen, Mark Padmore, Borodin Quartet, John Pizzarelli Big Band, Marcus Printup, Jennifer Larmore, Henry Butler, Borodin Quartet, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Plena Libre, Ted Nash & Odeon, Steve Riley & the Mamou Playboys, John Pizzarelli Big Band and many others.
SMF has made collaboration a priority and works with organizations including the Savannah College of Art & Design (SCAD), Telfair Museum of Art, Savannah Tour of Homes & Gardens, The King-Tisdell Cottage/Beach Institute, The Savannah Garden Exposition, Georgia Historical Society, and a variety of the City's houses of worship, all of which have helped to draw record numbers of tourists and locals alike.
