Brevard Music Center’s 87th season boasts all-star lineup

Summer festival kicks off in June with “Carmina Burana.”

Classical music fans in Atlanta travel far and wide in search of summer music festivals, often heading to Santa Fe and Tanglewood, not to mention destinations in Europe. The Brevard Music Center, by contrast, is only a three-hour drive away, nestled in a scenic area of North Carolina known for its waterfalls and craft breweries. Tickets for the 2023 summer season are now on sale.

The Brevard Music Center, now in its 87th year, is one of America’s leading classical music summer festivals and training programs. Each summer, more than 700 gifted high school and college-age musicians come from across the U.S. and from overseas to study with a distinguished faculty.

The festival debuted an intimate 400-seat concert hall in 2021, which joined the much larger open-air Whittington-pfohl Auditorium. The two venues will host a range of offerings featuring big-name entertainers performing alongside the students.

The season kicks off June 23 with a presentation of Carl Orff ’s “Carmina Burana,” conducted by Joann Falletta. The following evening will feature a performance by legendary Broadway star Patti Lupone, among other offerings.

The se son will continue through Aug. 6, and guest artists will include pianists Jeremy Denk and Lara Downs, Broadway star Audra Mcdonald, flutists Anthony Trionfo and Ken Lam, violist Roberto Diaz, violinist Simone Porter, jazz master Branford Marsalis, banjo artist Béla Fleck, the Seraph Brass and the Jasper String Quartet. Festival artistic director and conductor Keith Lockhart will be joined by guest conductor Rune Bergmann, in addition to Falletta.

Fully staged operas will include

Verdi’s “La Traviata” and Benjamin Britten’s “The Turn of the Screw.” Stephen Sondheim’s musical theater masterpiece “Into the Woods” will also be staged. Concert highlights include Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 6; Brahms’ Piano Concerto No. 2 and Beethoven’s Fourth Piano Concerto (both performed by Denk); Stravinsky’s Petrushka”; Max Bruch’s “Scottish Fantasy” (played by Porter); and a new work by Adolphus Hailstork (played by Downs).

For the season finale, Lockhart will conduct the Verdi Requiem.

This season will celebrate the tenure of Mark Weinstein, president and CEO of the festival, who will be stepping down after 10 years at the helm — a period of considerable growth.

Jason Posnock, a noted violinist who has been part of the Brevard leadership team for the past 15 years, will be taking over next season.

The complete schedule and ticket information is on the Brevard Music Center website at brevardmusic.org.

A performance by Broadway star Patti Lupone is among the offerings at Brevard.

Audra Mcdonald, another Broadway star, will be a featured artist at the festival.

COURTESY The festival, in North Carolina, debuted an intimate 400-seat concert hall in 2021, which joined the much larger open-air Whittington-pfohl Auditorium.