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Britt classical season has Crater Lake connection Comment By Bill Varble for the Mail Tribune MailTribune.com By Bill Varble for the Mail Tribune Posted Feb. 11, 2016 at 2:47 PM Updated Feb 11, 2016 at 5:13 PM By Bill Varble for the Mail Tribune Posted Feb. 11, 2016 at 2:47 PM Updated Feb 11, 2016 at 5:13 PM » Social News The Britt Festivals’ classical season will see a rollout worthy of Hollywood with the two-day world premiere of a major new work by American composer Michael Gordon July 29 and 30 at Crater Lake National Park. The site-specific piece, which will put musicians and listeners all over the landscape, was commissioned by Britt in honor of state’s only national park. “It will set the tone for the season,” says Britt Music Director Teddy Abrams, in town to herald the Crater Lake composition and the rest of Britt’s classical season, which will run through Aug. 20. Tickets go on sale Friday at 9 a.m. to both members and nonmembers. Call 541-773-6077 or visit brittfest.org . The season promises three weeks of concerts at the Britt Pavilion in Jacksonville. Other highlights include a performance of Mahler’s seldom-done second symphony, “Resurrection,” and a collaboration with Oregon Shakespeare Festival company members celebrating music inspired by Shakespeare. “Bill Rauch (OSF artistic director) came to see us last summer, and he agreed to a collaboration,” Abrams says. “The music celebrates Shakespeare and is linked to this year’s OSF season.” The season will include guest pianist Yefim Bronfman performing Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 2, pianist Jeremy Denk performing Brahms’ Piano Concerto No. 1, and the world premiere of a piece by Russian-American composer Lev Zhurbin. Composer Julia Wolfe, winner of the 2015 Pulitzer Prize for music and Michael Gordon’s wife, will perform on the same bill with Bronfman. The Britt Orchestra annually draws 90 musicians from top orchestras across the country. For the Crater Lake concerts, Abrams will lead 40 of them with the famously blue lake as the backdrop. Musicians will play without amplification at such iconic spots as The Watchman, and listeners will be able to go where the musicians are. The performances will include a choir, students from Southern Oregon University and members of the Klamath Tribes’ Steiger Butte Drum. There will be three complete performances each day, all of them free to park visitors. The orchestra will also perform the work the last night of the classical season, Aug. 20, on the Britt hillside in Jacksonville. Abrams says Gordon was already on the short list of possible composers for the commission when his record company happened to send Abrams his new CD, and he realized that the composer would be perfect for the Crater Lake project. Gordon, who is identified with the post-minimalism movement, is the founder of New York City’s Bang a Can Festival. Also this season, violinist Ray Chen will perform Shostakovich’s First Violin Concerto, Britt’s popular Symphony Pops will welcome Oregon jazz singer Halie Loren, and Wolfe will perform “Amber Waves of Grain.” Abrams says those who loved the orchestra’s performance of "Carmina Burana," last summer will want to see the Mahler. “It’s ‘Carmina Burana’ times 10,” he says. The season also includes a series of free children’s concerts in Britt’s Performance Garden, with seven interactive, mid-morning concerts. The concerts will be created by Gabriel Globus-Hoenich and Jenifer Knippel, returning in the wake of a popular Britt children’s concert in 2015. For more details on guest artists and full programs, see brittfest.org . Here’s the 2016 schedule: July 20 and 30: Britt Orchestra at Crater Lake National Park, world premiere Michael Gordon composition. Free. Aug. 5: Lev Zhurbin: world premiere commission, TBA; Shostakovich: Violin Concerto No. 1 , Ray Chen, violin; Stravinsky: Petrushka; Tchaikovsky: 1812 Overture. Aug. 6: Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 1, Jeremy Denk, piano; Mozart: Symphony No. 25; Hindemeth: Symphonic Metamorphosis of Themes by Carl Maria von Weber. Aug. 8: “Shakespeare and Song,” with OSF company members and works by works by Berlioz, Tchaikovsky, William Walton and more. Aug. 13: Mahler: Symphony No. Two, “Resurrection”; Celena Shafer, soprano, and Lauren Eberwein, mezzo-soprano. Aug. 14: Symphony Pops. Aug. 19: Wolfe: “Amber Waves of Grain”; Prokoviev: Piano Concerto No. 2; Copland: Symphony No. 3. Aug. 20: Crater Lake showcase with Crater Lake commission by Michael Gordon; Mason Bates: Anthology of Fantastic Zoology; Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition. Tickets are $47 reserved, $32 lawn, $10 child/student. Symphony Pops tickets are $20/$5. Bill Varble writes about arts and entertainment for the Mail Tribune. He can be reached at varble.bill @gmail.com. By Bill Varble for the Mail Tribune MailTribune.com By Bill Varble for the Mail Tribune Posted Feb. 11, 2016 at 2:47 PM Updated Feb 11, 2016 at 5:13 PM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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