Category Archives: SMF News

Schedule View Test – April 14

2015 Director’s Choice

Curating and assembling a 17-day musical arts festival is a gratifying, challenging and lengthy endeavor that results in bringing together more than 500 artists in our hospitable city. While some of the events slated for SMF ’15 were scheduled more than two years ago, others were confirmed only days before our season announcement. Collectively, they…

Audition Notice

Audition for comprimario roles for the Savannah Voice Festival/Savannah Music Festival joint productions of Suor Angelica and Gianni Schicchi. Applicants may also be considered for future productions by the Savannah Voice Festival and VOICExperience. Auditions will take place at Christ Church, 28 Bull Street, Savannah, Georgia. Wednesday, October 29, 4:00 – 7:00pm Thursday, October 30,…

Daniel Hope Extends Contract as Associate Artistic Director of Savannah Music Festival Through 2018 Season

  British violinist Daniel Hope has just extended his contract as Associate Artistic Director of the Savannah Music Festival through the 2018 season. He has served in this post since 2004, and, thanks in no small part to the creative vision he brings to its classical programming, “the festival seems to broaden its musical reach…

Musical Explorers Comes to the Lowcountry

This fall, Savannah Music Festival is proud to launch Musical Explorers, a new, year-round K-2 curriculum in partnership with Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute. As part of Music for Our Schools (sponsored by Gulfstream Aerospace Corp.), Musical Explorers builds basic music skills in the classroom and connects to curriculum in reading, social studies and other…

Q&A with SMF Supporter Wet Willie’s Management Corp.

Emily Dickinson, VP for Wet Willie’s Management Corp. (pictured above right with Joe Ann Brandt and Bill Dickinson) reflects on the organization’s involvement with SMF. When did Wet Willie’s develop an interest in getting involved with SMF? Wet Willie’s decided to get involved with SMF during the 2012 season. As a music buff, our CEO…

SAVANNAH VOICE FESTIVAL AND SAVANNAH MUSIC FESTIVAL ANNOUNCE MARCH 2015 PUCCINI OPERA

  On opening weekend of the 2015 Savannah Music Festival, the Savannah VOICE Festival (SVF) and Savannah Music Festival (SMF) will co-produce a full-scale opera – a first in the SMF’s 26-year history. Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi and Suor Angelica will be presented on Friday March 20th and Sunday March 22nd 2015 at the Lucas Theatre…

Looking Back with the Outgoing Board Chairman

On June 30, Harold Yellin wrapped up a very successful two-year term as Chairman of the SMF Board of Directors. We checked with Harold on July 1 to seek some reflection on his tenure at the helm of the SMF Board, and here are some of his comments: When and why did you develop an…

25th Anniversary in Review

by Rob Gibson, Executive & Artistic Director As reviews and press clips come in after each festival, we always take pleasure in seeing what new food metaphors are used to describe SMF’s programming. Phrases such as “feast,” “smorgasbord” and “omnivore’s delight” are among the culinary comparisons that critics have employed to describe our event. I’ve…

Savannah Music Festival Announces 2014 Lineup

SAVANNAH, GA – The 25th Anniversary Season of the Savannah Music Festival (SMF) features an international roster of artists, replete with one-time only productions, new collaborations and commissioned works that celebrate the organization’s commitment to artistic excellence across the entire spectrum of the musical arts. “Whether it’s a 400-year old masterpiece or the premiere of…

Project 440 starts today!

SAVANNAH MUSIC FESTIVAL PRESENTS CLASSICAL MUSIC RESIDENCY WITH PROJECT 440 IN LOCAL SCHOOLS AND AFTER SCHOOL PROGRAMS BEGINNING SEPTEMBER 16TH SAVANNAH, GA – From September 16th through 20th, Savannah Music Festival (SMF) presents Project 440’s original musical interpretation of The Fish Who Could Wish for students grades K-4. Musicians from Project 440 present a 50-minute performance to ten different groups of local…

the world is much closer

by Rob Gibson, Executive & Artistic Director As we prepare to celebrate our organization’s 25th anniversary this coming season, our staff has been gathering photos, recordings, videos and publications from the years since the 1990 debut of our festival in an effort to showcase some of the highlights and history. The growth of our organization…

Ben Tucker (December 13, 1930 – June 4, 2013)

It is with great sadness that we mourn the passing of one of Savannah’s greatest jazz musicians and advocates, Ben Tucker. The Savannah Music Festival shared many momentous occasions and memories with Ben, having celebrated both his 80th and 75th birthdays with special productions during previous festivals. Regular SMF artists such as Marcus Printup, Kevin…

Looking back at the 2013 Festival

The 2013 Savannah Music Festival was a tremendous success, thanks to enthusiastic participation by our patrons, artists, volunteers, community partners and educators, an increase in out-of-town visitors and unprecedented national/international critical acclaim. Heralded by the Chicago Tribune as an event that is “breaking the sound barriers,” SMF continues to be recognized by music lovers throughout…

The 2013 SMF Artists Holiday Playlist

In the spirit of the holidays, we at SMF wanted to share a holiday playlist made up of songs performed by 2013 Savannah Music Festival artists. Load the pop-up player below to stream a range of holiday recordings, including classical organ, jazz vocals, fretless banjo, dobro, jazz piano and guitar and much more!  Artists on…

2013 SMF Posters are here

For our 2013 season, we commissioned illustrator Brian Stauffer to come up with an image that represents our cross-genre programming while also evoking springtime in Savannah. His Savannah Music Festival 2013 poster illustration was recently selected to appear in the New York based Society of llustrators’ annual publication! As a contributing artist to publications including…

New Staff Members

The Savannah Music Festival is pleased to announce the hire of two new staff members.

SAVANNAH MUSIC FESTIVAL HONORED WITH 2012 GOVERNOR’S AWARD FOR THE ARTS & HUMANITIES

Georgia Governor Nathan Deal presented the first annual Governor’s Awards for the Arts & Humanities. The Savannah Music Festival (SMF) was among two organizations and ten individuals that received the 2012 award out of nearly 100 nominations statewide.