AppSummer Chamber Music Offerings Announced in The New York Times

Every year, on Mother’s Day weekend, The New York Times runs a preview of the nation’s most prominent and interesting summer arts festivals from around the country. This year, An Appalachian Summer Festival was one of three North Carolina festivals mentioned, along with the Eastern Music Festival and the American Dance Festival.  The Times listing specifically noted the Broyhill Chamber Ensemble’s upcoming concert series, under the direction of Gil Morgenstern, to be performed on July 5, 12, and 26. The Eastern Music Festival’s performance series was also highlighted. One of those performances, featuring conductor Gerard Schwarz and pianist Alexander Toradze, as well as last year’s Rosen-Schaffel Young Artist Competition winner Ben Robinette will be presented as part of the AppSummer line-up on Sunday, July 15. Additional details about these wonderful classical performances are available on the festival website.

Christopher Warren-Green to Serve as Juror for Rosen-Schaffel Young Artist Competition

An Appalachian Summer Festival proudly welcomes internationally acclaimed conductor Christopher Warren-Green, Music Director of the Charlotte Symphony and London Chamber orchestras, as a juror for the Rosen Schaffel Young Artist Competition’s final round of competition. This season, Christopher Warren-Green makes his debut with the Detroit and Milwaukee symphony orchestras and the Zürcher Kammerorchester, and will return to the London Philharmonic, Sapporo Symphony and the Royal Philharmonic orchestras. On the personal invitation of HRH the Prince of Wales, Warren-Green arranged and conducted the music for the celebration of his marriage to the Duchess of Cornwall last spring. Maestro Warren-Green joins Gerard Schwarz and Robert Moody as the competition’s three distinguished jurors for this very special event on Sunday, July 1, from 1-5pm in Rosen Concert Hall. The final round of competition is free and open to the public.

Westglow July 4th Celebration to Feature Gourmet Dinner, Dancing, Fireworks and Nellie McKay!

 

While the festival will take the “day off” on July 4^th, lead sponsor Westglow Resort & Spa will celebrate the holiday in grand style, with a gourmet dinner, spectacular fireworks display, dancing, and Broadway singer Nellie McKay— set against the magnificent backdrop of Westglow in Blowing Rock.

Nellie McKay has stolen the hearts of many with her portrayal of Polly Peachum in the Broadway production of The Threepenny Opera, which won her a Theatre World Award. She has appeared in films such as PS I Love You and wrote original music for the film, Rumor Has It. Her music has been featured on popular TV shows such as Grey’s Anatomy and Weeds and her latest project I Want to Live!, has The New York Times saying she has “virtually unlimited gifts as a singer, songwriter, actress, pianist, ukulele player, mimic, satirist and comedian…”

To purchase tickets for the event, call Westglow Resort & Spa at 828-295-5146.

An Appalachian Summer Festival Featured in US Airways Magazine

The festival, along with a variety of other High Country cultural resources, is being profiled in the May issue of US Airways Magazine. The official in-flight publication of US Airways, the magazine enjoys a circulation of approximately 375,000 airline passengers traveling to 200 cities across the U.S., Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean and Europe.

The magazine notes that “Boone offers a rich variety of cultural offerings on par with any major urban area. Consider the Turchin Center for the Visual Arts on Appalachian State’s campus, the largest facility of its kind in western North Carolina, eastern Tennessee, and southwestern Virginia, As for performing arts, few events rival An Appalachian Summer Festival, an extravaganza of world-class music, theater, dance, visual arts, and film.”