The Classical Tahoe Music Festival will return this summer to serenade the natural splendor of the Sierra Nevada mountains for its 10th anniversary season. A world-class celebration of arts, Classical Tahoe features three weeks of orchestra concerts with international guest conductors and soloists, chamber music concerts, and free education and engagement programs on the Sierra Nevada University campus. And for the first time in its decade-long history, the music festival will hold a Truckee concert.
Classical Tahoe attracts some of the most sought-after musicians from around the world. The Classical Tahoe Orchestra brings together 70 virtuoso musicians from the Metropolitan Opera; Los Angeles, and New York Philharmonics; as well as the symphonies of San Francisco, Seattle, Dallas, Toronto, Vancouver, and other exceptional organizations.
This season, for the first time, Classical Tahoe will include a performance in Truckee, made possible by a grant from The Spirit Burns Fund, which was formed in memory of late Tahoe Donner resident Tim Burns. A longtime supporter of Classical Tahoe, Burns attended orchestra concerts and special events each summer. In addition to being a spirited patron, according to Joan Duffield, a trustee of The Spirit Burns Fund, he was also a generous donor who contributed his time and sought to help make classical music, jazz, and Classical Tahoe’s free family and educational program more available to Truckee.
“Through the work of Classical Tahoe, The Spirit Burns Fund honors Tim’s legacy and fulfills his passion for making the world a better place through accessible public art,” Duffield said.
The grant made it possible to bring Classical Tahoe to the Truckee Amphitheater Series with the Brubeck Brothers Quartet on Aug. 18. It also supports the Aug. 8 Family Concert & Music Maker’s Faire, a free-with-registration concert and hands-on art activities at Nevada Discovery Museum and Nevada Museum of Art, the festival’s partners. And of course, there will be ice cream for all.
For the past three years, Classical Tahoe has also offered the Truckee & Incline High School Jazz Workshop. For one week, the jazz bands of Truckee and Incline high schools form a SuperTahoe Jazz Band. The band workshops together for the week with legendary jazz performers and then gives a free performance — side by side on stage with the pros — for family and friends. This year they will workshop and perform the week of Aug. 10 with the Brubeck Brothers Quartet.
This anniversary year’s festival will keep true to its roots with the program following the vision of Classical Tahoe’s artistic director and principal conductor, Maestro Joel Revzen, who died May 2020 from complications related to Covid-19.
“I worked closely with Joel from the very beginning of the festival,” said Classical Tahoe’s founding concertmaster and interim artistic director, Laura Hamilton. “We shared a vision of presenting concerts to this community which would be at the very highest artistic level. Despite his untimely death, that vision has never wavered. Our extraordinary musicians can’t wait to perform together again, a major step toward healing and connection through art.”
Info: Find ticket pricing, performance dates and times, and further information at classicaltahoe.org or by calling (775) 298-0245.
~ Juliana Demarest|Moonshine Ink
MUSIC MAKERS: Every summer, renowned musicians from around the world venture to the Sierra Nevada mountains to join together in making music and memories as part of the Classical Tahoe Music Festival. Courtesy photo
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