Belvedere Chamber Music Festival
The 20th annual Belvedere Chamber Music Festival (belvederefestival.org) will be held at Grace-St. Luke’s Episcopal Church June 17-20. Concerts are presented each evening Wednesday through Saturday at 7:00 and on Friday and Saturday afternoons at 3:00. The Belvedere Festival is produced by Luna Nova Music (www.lunanova.org) for the purpose of featuring masterworks of the 20th and 21st centuries as well as new works by young, aspiring composers. It features twenty performers from Memphis and around the country (www.belvederefestival.org/performers.html). Composers included in this year’s festival are Bach, Vaughan-Williams, Martinu, Finzi, Howells, and many others. Concerts last approximately an hour with no intermission. All are free and open to the public. There will be a reception after the first concert on Wednesday night. Over 150 videos from recent Festival performances are online at: www.belvederefestival.org/video.html.
A new feature of the Festival is a composition contest for new works for pipe organ. It is open to composers world wide. This year there were 46 entrants from all over this country as well as from Spain, Italy, England, Portugal, Japan, Cameroon, and the Czech Republic. The purpose is to encourage young organ composers and to celebrate the 25th anniversary of our own chancel organ.
In addition to the concerts Luna Nova performers will offer masterclasses to local young musicians in the areas of woodwinds, strings, and pipe organ exploration. Anyone wanting more information about masterclasses should contact Patricia Gray at 901-493-0958. The Belvedere Festival is designed to appeal to chamber music lovers everywhere. We hope everyone in the Grace-St. Luke’s community and all their friends will be joining us!
Below are four videos from recent Festivals:
Igor Stravinsky: Histoire du Soldat
https://youtu.be/3D7Qxf_R25M?si=xBg9mMGiaIlgCha7
Bela Bartok: Duos for Two Violins
https://youtu.be/z6u-OY7x8wQ?si=qonTj2yeuIDpXIIX
Patrick Scott: Improvisation
https://youtu.be/OK70EXACR6Q?si=xbtCv-mkubRT2a8D
Astor Piazzolla: The Four Seasons
https://youtu.be/Jb3wxSex1Rc?si=ziBBn-BE-KAROgVz