The Swannanoa Chamber Music Festival, one of the longest running chamber music festivals in the United States, presents its 44th season to the listeners of Western North Carolina.

For the first concert we welcome back the Emmy nominated Enso String Quartet. The Enso Quartet will be joined by Inessa Zaretsky on piano and William Hoyt on horn. After whetting the audience’s appetite with the Mozart “Dissonance” quartet we will hear the rarely performed Quintet for Horn and String quartet by Bernhard Heiden. Members of the quartet will then join Innesa with the famous Piano Quartet in C minor by Brahms.

For the second concert we welcome back flutist George Pope. One of the most interesting attributes of the Swannanoa Chamber Music Festival is the opportunity to perform chamber music with rare combinations of instruments. The first piece on the program by Devienne is for Flute, Horn, Viola, and Piano. The second by Martinu is for Flute, Cello, and Piano. The third, Aesop’s Fables by Plog, is for Horn, Piano, and Narrator. We return to tradition on the second half of the program when the Enso Quartet presents the famous “Harp” Quartet by Beethoven.

The third concert welcomes back the Cleveland Quartet Prize winning Jasper Quartet as well as oboist Cynthia Watson, clarinetist David Bell, and bassoonist Lynn Heilman. The program opens with a delightful trio for Flute, Oboe, and Bassoon by Cambini. The Jasper Quartet then performs two very different quartets, Fünf Sätze by the Viennese composer Webern and an early Beethoven quartet, Op. 18, No. 4. The concert ends with the grand Sextet by Dohnányi.

We travel to Eastern Europe for the fourth concert. After a set of Ancient Hungarian Dances for woodwind quintet the Jasper quartet presents the dynamic Bartók 5th String Quartet. For the second half, pianist Paul Nitsch returns to collaborate with the Jasper Quartet on one of the chamber music masterpieces of all time, the Quintet for Piano and Strings by Dvorák.

For the final program of the season we present the Wind Spectacular. Joining the Swannanoa Chamber Player winds will be Reid Messich, oboist, Rose Sperrazza, clarinetist, David Kappy, hornist, and Saxton Rose, bassoonist. The program will feature various pieces for wind instruments and is anchored by the Sextet by Beethoven and the dramatic Serenade in C Minor by Mozart, which was a model for Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony.

We’re proud to present the finest in chamber music to the audiences in Western North Carolina.

The five week festival will perform concerts in Swannanoa in Kittredge Theater on the Warren Wilson College campus on June 25, July 2, 9, 16 and 23; and in Waynesville at the Waynesville Performing Arts Center on June 23, 30, July 7, 14 and 21. All concerts begin at 7:30.

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Listen to The Enso Quartet performing “Puccini’s Minuet No. 3” right now!

 

Festival Schedule

Program 1
Music of Mozart, Heiden, and Brahms
June 25 at 7:30 p.m. – Kittredge Theater, Warren Wilson College
June 23 at 7:30 p.m. – Waynesville Performing Arts Center

Program 2
Music of Devienne, Martin, Plog, and Beethoven
July 2 at 7:30 p.m. – Kittredge Theater, Warren Wilson College
June 30 at 7:30 p.m. – Waynesville Performing Arts Center

Program 3
Music of Cambini, Webern, Beethoven, and Dohnányi
July 9 at 7:30 p.m. – Kittredge Theater, Warren Wilson College
July 7 at 7:30 p.m. – Waynesville Performing Arts Center

Program 4
Music of Farkas, Bartók, and Dvorák
July 16 at 7:30 p.m. – Kittredge Theater, Warren Wilson College
July 14 at 7:30 p.m. – Waynesville Performing Arts Center

Program 5
Music of Canteloube, Beethoven, Schmitt, and Mozart
July 23 at 7:30 p.m. – Kittredge Theater, Warren Wilson College
July 21 at 7:30 p.m. – Waynesville Performing Arts Center

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If You Go: Ticket prices are $20 for individual tickets and $75 for a series ticket. If you would like to contact us in Swannanoa, phone (828) 771-3050 or e-mail chamber@warren-wilson.edu. In Waynesville (828) 452-0593. More information is available by visiting www.swannanoachambermusic.com.