White Lake Chamber Music Festival—July 29-August 7

Excitement is building in anticipation of live performances returning to the White Lake area. From July 29 through August 7, the White Lake Chamber Music Festival will present an impressive array of exceptional performances! Excellent programming, world-class artists, and inspiring classical music performances will take place in a variety of venues in the White Lake area.

Evening Concerts:

• The Chicago based, world-renowned Avalon String Quartet returns to the White Lake area as the Festival’s quartet-in-residence. This quartet, described as “…deeply musical and sheerly gorgeous”, is the cornerstone of the Festival. Diverse as their three programs will be, each will feature a work by the great Austrian composer Johannes Brahms. Power, tenderness, beauty of melody and harmony, rhythmic complexity, and formal clarity all combine, making Brahms one of the most beloved of all composers. Their first concert will feature one of the three great string quartets, the second one of the two sextets for strings – augmented by Catherine Brubaker violist with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Marina Hoover chamber music specialist and recitalist. Their third program will conclude with the emotionally charged Piano Quintet in f minor!
• Pianist Andrea Swan will return offering a program showcasing works by Beethoven, Schubert, Schumann, and Chopin (Beethoven the revolutionary and the three great romantics!)  Andrea will be joined by cellist Marina Hoover in a very interesting concert. The first half is entitled “Criss Crossing the Pyrenees”, the mutual influence of Spanish and French composers in early twentieth century war torn Europe. The second half of the program will include the great Brahms E minor Sonata for cello and piano.
• A Detroit Symphony trumpet concert heralds the opening of the festival followed by a return engagement of the wonderful Detroit Symphony Trio – flute, violin, and cello. John Sharp, principal cellist with the Chicago Symphony, and his trio will perform the Brahms Piano Trio in C minor and the Beethoven “Archduke” Trio.
• Concluding the week will be the ever-popular Baroque concert featuring conductor Thomas Wikman, harpsichordist David Schrader, and flutist Lyon Leiffer in a varied program ending with the dazzling Suite in b minor for Flute and Orchestra by Johann Sebastien Bach. Hunter Eberly, trumpet and Katelyn Lee, soprano will also be featured.
  Please note: All evening concerts will be held at the White Lake Golf Course pavilion or at St. James Lutheran. Click here for the full schedule with details.

Daily Salon Concerts: These will be at 4:00PM at the Book Nook and Java Shop and will feature a demonstration and lecture by Lyon Leifer on the Bansuri Flute, a North Indian bamboo flute and Hindustani raga music. Other Salon Concerts feature a Detroit Symphony violin and cello duo, a woodwind trio, mandolin recital, 4-hand piano recital, and more!

Festival Gala: A Gala Dinner/cook out will complete the Festival on August 7 at the White Lake Golf Course Pavilion with artist Michael Schaeffer, accordion.

Tickets: A limited number of tickets will be available starting June 1 at the Book Nook & Java Shop (231-894-5333) and on-line at www,whitelakemusic.org.

Schedule: For a schedule of this year’s delightful Festival events, please visit www.whitelakemusic.org or call 231-329-3056 for more information.

Thank you: The Festival is grateful for a grant received from the White Lake Fund of the Community Foundation for Muskegon County. This, plus the generous support of individuals and businesses, helps make it possible to bring great artists and great music to the White Lake area.

Returning to a full 10-day festival with children’s concerts, a children’s recital, meet and greets, and open rehearsals, there will once again be the world’s greatest music wonderfully played, combined with the soft summer weather, beaches, and spectacular sunsets. All of this makes the White Lake Chamber Music Festival a vacation destination for an ever-growing audience from near and far.