In America, we will be celebrating the 250th birthday of the country. I’ve avoided typical July 4th concerts this week, but Best Bets: June 29th – July 5th is certainly not without its Americana. Take a look:
ASPEN MUSIC FESTIVAL – Multiple Venues – Aspen, CO – July 1st – August 23rd
This year’s annual Aspen Music Festival and School season has numerous highlights. They include the following:
July 5th – Robert Spano conducting a concert that includes Charles Ives’ Variations on “America,” S and selections from Nixon in China by John Adams with Renée Fleming and Thomas Hampson.
The concert closes with Aaron Copland’s Symphony No. 3.
July 11th: The world premiere of Donald Crockett’s Chamber Concerto.
July 13th and 14th: The musical Guys and Dolls conducted by Andy Einhorn with Julie Benko, Bonnie Milligan, Christopher Sieber and Ryan Vasquez.
July 19th: The world premiere of Matthew Aucoin’s Two Thresholds with mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato. Cristian Mǎcelaru conducts.
July 29th: Yuja Wang and People of Earth performing a program of Latin jazz.
August 1st: Wang plays Samuel Barber’s Piano Concerto in a program that also include David Lang’s the wealth of nations.
August 6th, 8th and 11th: Beethoven’s violin sonatas performed over three nights by violinist Gil Shaham with Akira Eguchi on piano.
August 22nd: Timothy Weiss leads the Aspen Contemporary Ensemble in the world premiere of Jesse Benjamin’s JONES: ENNEAD.
Click on any of the dates above for my recommended concerts. For more tickets and to review the full schedule, please go HERE.
HAIR – Kokandy Productions Chopin Theater Mainstage – Chicago, IL – July 2nd – September 13th
OPENING NIGHT: JULY 18th
Brennan Urbi directs this production of the Galt MacDermot, James Rado and Gerome Ragni musical that is likely to feel just as timely today as it did when it was first produced.
This is the musical that gave us Aquarius, Easy to Be Hard and Let the Sunshine In.
The key members of the tribe are Joshua Emmanuel as Hud; Amy Yesom Kim as Crissy; Chosen Mitchell as Dionne; Catherine Rodriguez O’Connor as Sheila; Gavin Rhys as Claude; Zac Richey as Berger; Nicki Rossi as Jeannie and Stone Teselle as Woof.
Normally I wouldn’t add a regional production of a well-known musical, but Kokandy’s Jekyll and Hyde, a huge commercial and critical success last year, is moving to Broadway in Chicago this upcoming season. They must be doing something very right!
For tickets and more information, please go HERE.
SANTA FE OPERA 69th SEASON – Santa Fe Opera – Santa Fe, NM – July 3rd – August 29th
This 69th seasons opens on July 3rd with Madama Butterfly with Karen Chia-ling Ho as Cio-Cio San; Stephen Costello as B.F. Pinkerton (through August 20th – Jonathan Burton completes the final two performances on August 26th and 29th) and Jarrett Ott as Sharpless. Melanie Bacaling directs and John Fiore conducts.
The rest of the season features:
The Magic Flute (July 4th – August 28th): Cast includes Josh Lovell as Tamino; Joélle Harvey as Pamina; Alexander Köpeczi as Sarastro; Will Liverman as Papageno and Jeni Houser as Queen of the Night. Christopher Luscombe directs and Harry Bicket conducts.
Eugene Onegin (July 18th – August 19th): Cast includes Olga Kulchynska as Tatyana; Mattia Oliveri as Onegin; Ivan Ayon-Rivas as Lensky; Lindsay Ammann as Olga; Köpeczi as Prince Gremin and Susan Graham as Larina. Alessandro Talevi directs and Keri-Lynn Wilson conducts.
Rodelinda (July 25th – August 21st): Cast includes Lucy Crowe as Rodelinda; Iestsyn Davies as Bertarido; Anthony Gregory as Grimoaldo; Meridian Prall as Eduige. R.B. Schlather directs and Bicket conducts.
Lili Elbe (August 1st – August 27th): The American premiere of this Tobias Picker opera is the one opera I’d go see in a heartbeat.
The cast includes Lucia Lucas as Lili Elbe; Sylvia D’Eramo as Gerda Wegener; Ammann as Mother Wegener; Lovell as Claude LeJeune and Andrew Harris as Professor Warnekros. James Robinson directs and Robert Kalb conducts.
For tickets and more information, click on each opera’s name. You can also go HERE to see more about Santa Fe Opera.
NORTH BY NORTHWEST – Old Globe Theatre – San Diego, CA – July 3rd – August 2nd
I’m a fan of Emma Rice’s stage adaptations of major movies, so the North American premiere of her new show, based on one of Alfred Hitchcock’s most popular films, is high on my list.
This is a classic story of mistaken identity that, at least on film, involves the famous crop-dusting sequence and a finale at Mount Rushmore. It will be interesting to see how Rice brings those moments to life in this show.
Danny Collins portrays Roger Thornhill (the Cary Grant role); Patrycja Kujawska plays Eve Kendall (the Eva Marie Saint role); Karl Queensboro plays Phillip Vandamm (the James Mason role) and the rest of the cast (playing multiple roles) are Evangeline Dickson; Simon Oskarsson, Katy Owen and Bryony Pennington.
Simon Baker composed the music (a pretty high bar to climb given how amazing Bernard Herrmann’s score was for the film).
For tickets and more information, please go HERE.
PHILIP GLASS SYMPHONY NO. 15, “LINCOLN” – Tanglewood – Stockbridge, MA – July 5th
The world premiere of composer Glass’s Lincoln symphony was originally scheduled to take place at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. But the work was pulled when Donald Trump’s name was added to the building and the institution itself.
Karen Kamensek will conduct the Boston Symphony Orchestra in the world premiere on a program that is fully centered around the 16th President.
Baritone Zachary James is part of Glass’ symphony.
The second half of the program opens with a suite of music from John Williams’ score for the film Lincoln. The concert closes with Alec Baldwin serving as the narrator for Aaron Copland’s Lincoln Portrait.
For tickets and more information, please go HERE.
That’s all for Best Bets: June 29th – July 5th.
Enjoy your week and go see a show! Go see two!
Main Photo: Philip Glass (photo by Danny Clinch/Courtesy Tanglewood)