MasterWorks Fest Has New Offerings For '15
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By David [email protected]
The festival begins with a faculty chamber recital at 7:30 p.m. June 13 at Rodeheaver Auditorium, Winona Lake, and ends at 7:30 p.m. July 11 with the Festival Orchestra.
In an interview May 21, MasterWorks Director Patrick Kavanaugh said, “We started our choral program last year, but this year we’re bringing John Nelson, who is not only one of the greatest conductors, especially choral conductors, in the world, but he also conducted the Indianapolis Symphony for over 20 years. So John is coming back and we’re so glad. This guy is conducting all over the world at any given moment.”
Nelson is coming to the festival for the season finale, July 11, at 7:30 p.m. at Rodeheaver Auditorium.
“We’re doing Brahms’ ‘Requiem’ for chorus and orchestra. It’s a huge piece and we have a lot of local singers joining in the chorus, which is always fun,” Kavanaugh said. “That’s one of the things I love about the choral program.”
Kavanaugh said there’s room for more choral singers. Interested singers can call 574-267-5973 or apply online at masterworksfestival.org
“In the past, for years, MasterWorks is more geared toward young students from around the world, so it’s nice to have a choral program and there’s no ago limit. Last year we had someone in their 70s,” he said.
The chorus will be topped off at 85 singers this year.
“The singers are almost exclusively from America, one of them is from Honduras, whereas the instrumentalists are from every continent, except Antarctica,” he said.
New to the festival this year is the acting on film program. It’s a behind-the-scenes program for students, he said.
“We’ve done, of course, theater for many years, and we will again this year,” Kavanaugh said.
This year, the MasterWorks theater program will perform William Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night.” Performances are: 8:30 p.m. July 9, McClain Auditorium; 2:30 p.m., July 10, Grace Village Chapel; and July 11, 2 p.m., McClain Auditorium. Director is Susan Somerville Brown.
Kavanaugh said MasterWorks had at first planned to do Shakespeare’s “Midsummer Night’s Dream,” but once they saw the Wagon Wheel Theatre was producing it this summer, the decision was made to do “Twelfth Night” instead.
After the theater group’s last performance, Kavanaugh said they will load up in vans and travel to a couple performances of the show at an off-Broadway theater, Studio 315, in New York. The students will have masterclasses there as well.
“This is also the first year – we always have lots of soloists come in, usually we have no more than one on any instrument – but this year we’re doing two world-class violin soloists,” Kavanaugh said. “We have so many great violin students, more than any other instrument, to say the least.”
Violinist Rachel Barton Pine is returning. She not only plays concertos with major orchestras, but also has her own rock band.
“She does heavy metal violin. It’s really interesting,” he said.
Pine will perform with the Philharmonic Orchestra June 19 at 7:30 p.m. at Rodeheaver. She also will give a violin masterclass June 18 at 3 p.m. at Rodeheaver.
The other violinist, who is new and came highly recommended, Kavanaugh said, is Hye-Jin Kim, from Korea. She will play on the violin with the Festival Orchestra July 3 at 7:30 p.m. at Rodheaver. “She will be coming in, doing the Barber ‘Violin Concerto,’” he said.
Another new thing this year that Kavanaugh said the MasterWorks Festival has never done before is the world premiere of a new piece. It was written by composer Eric Ewazen for Linda Strommen, who plays the oboe.
“On Saturday, June 27, he will be here to hear the premiere of his ‘Oboe Concerto’ which he wrote for one of our faculty members, Linda Strommen. It turns out, I found out, they were classmates at Juillard years ago. Linda’s been teaching for some years at Indiana University down in Bloomington,” Kavanaugh said.
That Festival Orchestra concert starts at 7:30 p.m. June 27 at Rodeheaver. Miriam Burns is conducting.
“It’s kind of neat to have a world premiere just for MasterWorks and have the composer present. And this guy is certainly one of the most famous composers alive today. I went to his website and I was astonished at how much music he’s written,” Kavanaugh said.
Strommen also will offer an oboe masterclass at 3 p.m. June 26 at Church of the Good Shepherd.
Kavanaugh said he was “so glad” that Phil Smith was returning to MasterWorks this year. For over 30 years, Smith has been known as the greatest trumpet player in the United States if not the world, Kavanaugh said. He was the concert master of the New York Philharmonic.
“It doesn’t get much better than that,” Kavanaugh said. “We used to have him a lot. When we started MasterWorks we were in New York so he would slip away and come. But when we moved to Indiana, it was hard to get him here. But he just retired from the orchestra so I immediately called him up. He’s a great guy and I’ve known him for many years.”
Kavanaugh said he was one of the first calls Smith received to come perform.
New this year to the festival also will be a guest string quartet from New York. The quartet is called the Aeolus String Quartet. It will perform at 3 p.m. July 5 at the Free Methodist Church.
“They’re phenomenal,” Kavanaugh said. “I saw them perform in New York last year and I was like, ‘We’ve got to get these kids. They’re fantastic.’ And as it turns out, two of them in the quartet were MasterWorks students years ago and have gone pro.”
A new theater faculty member with MasterWorks, Steven Snyder, is the head of the theater department at Penn State. He will be teaching at MasterWorks, but also will give a unique performance, Kavanaugh said.
“He literally does a dramatic performance of the entire Gospel of Mark. He’s memorized it,” Kavanaugh said. “He must have a great memory.”
The performance, titled “Gospel of Mark,” is at 8:30 p.m. June 22 at Church of the Good Shepherd.
Every year the public looks forward to the Fourth of July Pops Concert, Kavanaugh said. The concert with the Philharmonic Orchestra will be given twice this year, at 7 and 8:30 p.m. July 4 at Rodeheaver. Kavanaugh is conducting with soloists Jennifer Davis Jones and Robin Leigh Massie.
Along with the big concerts, theatrical performances and masterclasses, MasterWorks also offers faculty recitals. The recitals are June 13-14, 21, 28 and July 5 at 7:30 p.m. at Rodeheaver.
This is the 19th year for the MasterWorks Festival. The first five years were in New York and the last 14 years in Winona Lake.
Kavanaugh estimated every year there are around 40 performances, every one of them free and open to the public. The masterclasses also are open to the public to attend and watch but not participate in.
“Frankly, we love kids. We don’t mind. Bring the kids along. We love to see families come in. Nowadays, it’s so hard, as expensive as typical tickets are, to bring a whole family (to a show). We really love seeing all the families come in to these concerts,” he said.
For a complete listing of times, dates and venues for this year’s festival, visit the website at masterworksfestival.org or call 574-267-5973. The schedule is subject to change.[[In-content Ad]]
The festival begins with a faculty chamber recital at 7:30 p.m. June 13 at Rodeheaver Auditorium, Winona Lake, and ends at 7:30 p.m. July 11 with the Festival Orchestra.
In an interview May 21, MasterWorks Director Patrick Kavanaugh said, “We started our choral program last year, but this year we’re bringing John Nelson, who is not only one of the greatest conductors, especially choral conductors, in the world, but he also conducted the Indianapolis Symphony for over 20 years. So John is coming back and we’re so glad. This guy is conducting all over the world at any given moment.”
Nelson is coming to the festival for the season finale, July 11, at 7:30 p.m. at Rodeheaver Auditorium.
“We’re doing Brahms’ ‘Requiem’ for chorus and orchestra. It’s a huge piece and we have a lot of local singers joining in the chorus, which is always fun,” Kavanaugh said. “That’s one of the things I love about the choral program.”
Kavanaugh said there’s room for more choral singers. Interested singers can call 574-267-5973 or apply online at masterworksfestival.org
“In the past, for years, MasterWorks is more geared toward young students from around the world, so it’s nice to have a choral program and there’s no ago limit. Last year we had someone in their 70s,” he said.
The chorus will be topped off at 85 singers this year.
“The singers are almost exclusively from America, one of them is from Honduras, whereas the instrumentalists are from every continent, except Antarctica,” he said.
New to the festival this year is the acting on film program. It’s a behind-the-scenes program for students, he said.
“We’ve done, of course, theater for many years, and we will again this year,” Kavanaugh said.
This year, the MasterWorks theater program will perform William Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night.” Performances are: 8:30 p.m. July 9, McClain Auditorium; 2:30 p.m., July 10, Grace Village Chapel; and July 11, 2 p.m., McClain Auditorium. Director is Susan Somerville Brown.
Kavanaugh said MasterWorks had at first planned to do Shakespeare’s “Midsummer Night’s Dream,” but once they saw the Wagon Wheel Theatre was producing it this summer, the decision was made to do “Twelfth Night” instead.
After the theater group’s last performance, Kavanaugh said they will load up in vans and travel to a couple performances of the show at an off-Broadway theater, Studio 315, in New York. The students will have masterclasses there as well.
“This is also the first year – we always have lots of soloists come in, usually we have no more than one on any instrument – but this year we’re doing two world-class violin soloists,” Kavanaugh said. “We have so many great violin students, more than any other instrument, to say the least.”
Violinist Rachel Barton Pine is returning. She not only plays concertos with major orchestras, but also has her own rock band.
“She does heavy metal violin. It’s really interesting,” he said.
Pine will perform with the Philharmonic Orchestra June 19 at 7:30 p.m. at Rodeheaver. She also will give a violin masterclass June 18 at 3 p.m. at Rodeheaver.
The other violinist, who is new and came highly recommended, Kavanaugh said, is Hye-Jin Kim, from Korea. She will play on the violin with the Festival Orchestra July 3 at 7:30 p.m. at Rodheaver. “She will be coming in, doing the Barber ‘Violin Concerto,’” he said.
Another new thing this year that Kavanaugh said the MasterWorks Festival has never done before is the world premiere of a new piece. It was written by composer Eric Ewazen for Linda Strommen, who plays the oboe.
“On Saturday, June 27, he will be here to hear the premiere of his ‘Oboe Concerto’ which he wrote for one of our faculty members, Linda Strommen. It turns out, I found out, they were classmates at Juillard years ago. Linda’s been teaching for some years at Indiana University down in Bloomington,” Kavanaugh said.
That Festival Orchestra concert starts at 7:30 p.m. June 27 at Rodeheaver. Miriam Burns is conducting.
“It’s kind of neat to have a world premiere just for MasterWorks and have the composer present. And this guy is certainly one of the most famous composers alive today. I went to his website and I was astonished at how much music he’s written,” Kavanaugh said.
Strommen also will offer an oboe masterclass at 3 p.m. June 26 at Church of the Good Shepherd.
Kavanaugh said he was “so glad” that Phil Smith was returning to MasterWorks this year. For over 30 years, Smith has been known as the greatest trumpet player in the United States if not the world, Kavanaugh said. He was the concert master of the New York Philharmonic.
“It doesn’t get much better than that,” Kavanaugh said. “We used to have him a lot. When we started MasterWorks we were in New York so he would slip away and come. But when we moved to Indiana, it was hard to get him here. But he just retired from the orchestra so I immediately called him up. He’s a great guy and I’ve known him for many years.”
Kavanaugh said he was one of the first calls Smith received to come perform.
New this year to the festival also will be a guest string quartet from New York. The quartet is called the Aeolus String Quartet. It will perform at 3 p.m. July 5 at the Free Methodist Church.
“They’re phenomenal,” Kavanaugh said. “I saw them perform in New York last year and I was like, ‘We’ve got to get these kids. They’re fantastic.’ And as it turns out, two of them in the quartet were MasterWorks students years ago and have gone pro.”
A new theater faculty member with MasterWorks, Steven Snyder, is the head of the theater department at Penn State. He will be teaching at MasterWorks, but also will give a unique performance, Kavanaugh said.
“He literally does a dramatic performance of the entire Gospel of Mark. He’s memorized it,” Kavanaugh said. “He must have a great memory.”
The performance, titled “Gospel of Mark,” is at 8:30 p.m. June 22 at Church of the Good Shepherd.
Every year the public looks forward to the Fourth of July Pops Concert, Kavanaugh said. The concert with the Philharmonic Orchestra will be given twice this year, at 7 and 8:30 p.m. July 4 at Rodeheaver. Kavanaugh is conducting with soloists Jennifer Davis Jones and Robin Leigh Massie.
Along with the big concerts, theatrical performances and masterclasses, MasterWorks also offers faculty recitals. The recitals are June 13-14, 21, 28 and July 5 at 7:30 p.m. at Rodeheaver.
This is the 19th year for the MasterWorks Festival. The first five years were in New York and the last 14 years in Winona Lake.
Kavanaugh estimated every year there are around 40 performances, every one of them free and open to the public. The masterclasses also are open to the public to attend and watch but not participate in.
“Frankly, we love kids. We don’t mind. Bring the kids along. We love to see families come in. Nowadays, it’s so hard, as expensive as typical tickets are, to bring a whole family (to a show). We really love seeing all the families come in to these concerts,” he said.
For a complete listing of times, dates and venues for this year’s festival, visit the website at masterworksfestival.org or call 574-267-5973. The schedule is subject to change.[[In-content Ad]]
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