SMF favorites David Finckel and Wu Han return with a program entitled Three Cultures. Recipients of Musical America's "Musicians of the Year" award, David Finckel and Wu Han enjoy a multi-faceted musical life that encompasses performing, recording and artistic direction at the highest levels. Join us on stage at the Lucas Theatre for the Arts...
Savannah native Joseph H. Conyers is a highly acclaimed, multi-faceted artist whose innovative work in music education and youth advocacy has been recognized internationally. Now principalbass of the Philadelphia Orchestra, Conyers is also the artistic director and founder of Dubhe, a collective of some of the most influential chamber and orchestral musicians in the world...
Kennedy Center Honoree Renée Fleming is one of the most highly acclaimed singers of our time, performing on the stages of the world's great opera houses and concert halls. Winner of five Grammy Awards and the US National Medal of Arts, she has sung for momentous occasions from the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony to the...
In celebration of the 100th anniversary of Gershwin's Rhapsody In Blue, Savannah Music Festival favorite Sebastian Knauer brings a program of American music anchored by the solo piano version of the celebrated composition. Knauer has appeared in almost every season of SMF since 2004 in roles including recitalist, soloist, conductor and chamber musician. He began...
This opening concert of the series traces a journey from Bach to Brahms and Shostakovich, through the Romantic Era, featuring two composers that admired Bach immensely.
Escher String Quartet has received acclaim for its profound musical insight and rare tonal beauty. Violinists Adam Barnett-Hart and Brendan Speltz have been residents in the Philip Dukes & Friends series for the past two seasons. For this season of SMF, the full quartet returns for their first featured appearance since 2021, welcoming Dukes to...
This concert features two composers that were most definitely not influenced by JS Bach, and in the case of Tchaikovsky, Bach's music was very much "back and beyond." Although he acknowledged his technical skills, he in no way regarded Bach as a musical legend.
Back for his second chamber music residency at Savannah Music Festival, clarinetist Michael Collins performs his first Savannah recital, also featuring returning pianist Ana-Maria Vera. As Gramophone noted, "Collins plays with an irresistible exuberance.
Some 200 years after Bach's death, 20th Century composers were still heavily inspired by the Baroque Era and the compositional techniques used (fugue, counterpoint, etc.), Stravinsky being one such composer. The fact that this will unquestionably still be the case in 2050, makes Bach's music an eternal inspiration.
No series featuring the music of Bach would be complete without his music for voice. Collaborating with the Savannah VOICE Festival to present Mark Delavan (who played Gianni Schicchi in the collaborative Puccini production at SMF 2015), the Bach Cantata in the first half is contrasted by a second half of songs by Copland and...
For this long-anticipated Savannah Music Festival debut, celebrated pianist Emanuel Ax brings a unique program of Beethoven Sonatas interspersed with works by Schoenberg. “Ax’s playing is always marvelously articulate and totally unfussy. Nothing is done for effect or to draw attention to the player rather than to what he is playing; though his range of...
Following their appearance with Terence Blanchard & E-Collective, the Turtle Island Quartet returns with Island Prayers. This performance features four new works co-commissioned by Savannah Music Festival, composed by founding violinist David Balakrishnan, Rhiannon Giddens, Terence Blanchard and Jerod Impichchaachaacha’ Tate. This project is supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts....
