21st Annual Southern Illinois Music Festival
Edward Benyas, Artistic Director
May 23 - June 8, 2025
Now in its 21st season, the 2025 Southern Illinois Music Festival runs May 23 through June 8, under the
artistic and administrative direction of SIU School of Music Emeritus Professor Edward Benyas. Professional singers and instrumentalists from across the United States and Europe converge in South
ern Illinois to perform orchestral and chamber music, opera, jazz and educational programs, along with
select SIU faculty and students. Symphony magazine listed it as the only professional music festival in Illinois south of I-80, AAA magazine described it as a Midwest Travel Treasure, and the Chicago Tribune cited it as one of 24 top summer activities (musical and otherwise) in an eight-state region. Major highlights of SIFest 2025 are tragic and comic operas by the early 19th century Italian master
opera composer, Gaetano Donizetti, starting with the Southern Illinois premiere of Anna Bolena, which
tells the tragic tale of Anne Boleyn and Henry VIII’s new love, Jane Seymour, in a rare outdoor presentation in the shadow of SIU’s Altgeld Hall castle. The Festival will close with Donizetti’s
delightful opera, Elixir of Love, set in the Shawnee W**e Trail. Both works are chock full of beautiful melodies, arias and choruses, and feature internationally acclaimed singers and the Meredith Young Opera Artists, all of whom will also appear at an “Opera Teasers” concert at Alto Vineyards. Our orchestral programs will feature the music of Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven and Schubert, among others. Several longtime Festival artists will be featured instrumental soloists, including violinist, Amelia
Korbitz, cellist David Peshlakai, and flutists Kelly Sulick and Abby Simoneau. We will present the first
two of Haydn’s “London” symphonies—the final dozen of his 104 in the genre—and plan to complete the cycle of all 12 in time for Haydn’s 300th anniversary in 2032. SIFest orchestra members will perform chamber music by Vivaldi, Mozart, Beethoven, Dvořák and more, throughout the festival in a variety of locations. Festival venues include Shryock Auditorium, Carterville High School, Artspace304, First
United Methodist Church of Carbondale, John A. Logan College, SIU’s Morris Library, Anna Arts Center, Rend Lake Event Center and the Harold Jones Fine Arts Center in Cairo. We will also present our popular free admission Jive with Jazz and Klassics for Kids events at venues around the region. Complete details on the artists and performances are at www.SIFest.com. SIFest is presented by the SIU School of Music and College of Arts and Media, with support from major
sponsors, including the Illinois Arts Council, Southern Illinois University, City of Carbondale, Carbondale Community Arts, Dale Budslick, Amber Hanson, Patricia Guyon, Glenn & Jo Poshard, John Summey & Rivi Meltzer, Dorothy Beyler & Neal Foland, the Garwin Family Foundation, Peter Gregory, Dennis & Julieta Leitner, John & Mary Pohlmann, Howard Saver & Robin Russell, Rob & Melissa Jensen, Barbara Bates, Don & Shirley Beggs, Gary & Mary Kinsel, Carl Lutes, the Martin family, the estate of Bob & Ruth Mueller, Jan Radtke, Jack Raino & Kelly Hessian, Bonnie & Steve Wheeler, WSIL TV 3, Southern Illinois Ob-Gyn Associates, Meredith Funeral Homes, the Hastings Foundation, the Albany Clinic, and WSIU Public Broadcasting. Tickets to most Festival events are $25 general and $10 for students of any age, and are always available at the door, or in advance by mail using the order form on the SIFest brochure. A $150 All-Festival Pass provides admission to all concerts (except the opening two Soirées), and includes a free SIFest program booklet ($250 value). Festival Passes are also available in advance by mail using the order form on the SIFest brochure.
