An exciting and unusual addition to metropolitan Charlotte’s cultural life, the inaugural New South Music Festival will present a series of innovative yet accessible chamber and vocal music concerts featuring a wide range of international, regional and local musicians. The brainchild of community leaders in Union County, NC, this grassroots festival has been designed and programmed by the composer
-pianist-conductor Daniel Thomas Davis --- a native of Union County who's award-winning music has been heard in many of the world's great concert halls (Carnegie Hall, Royal Opera House, Queen Elizabeth Hall). Guest soloists will include Grammy-award winning vocalist Jacqueline Horner (a member of the acclaimed quartet Anonymous 4), clarinetist Tom Lessels (performances include the London Symphony Orchestra), vocalist and native North-Carolinian Andrea Moore (Hamburg Opera and North Carolina Opera), violinist Jae Cosmos Lee (founder of Boston’s acclaimed new chamber orchestra A Far Cry) and cellist Sarah Carter. Joining these soloists are local pianist Daniel Spiegel (performances with the National Symphony Orchestra/Juilliard graduate) and members of the Union Symphony and Charlotte Symphony Orchestra. This year’s concerts will be presented in an intimate and informal setting in both Waxhaw and Monroe, and audience members will have the opportunity to interact with our musicians at each concert. Our aim is to present both established and new works of classical music that are immediate to the times in which we live. Our programs will feature both American music and music inspired by traditional popular music from the around the world. In doing so, our goal is to create musical experiences that are both locally immediate and globally engaged. CONCERT SCHEDULE
Concert 1: “Evening Echoes” Friday, May 20, 2011, 7:30pm: Waxhaw
• Venue: Old Belk Building 200 East South Main Street, Waxhaw (operated by the Waxhaw Women’s Club). Informal seating in tables or clusters, with drinks/snacks available for purchase
• A casual and informal evening of chamber music in downtown Waxhaw. A musical introduction to each of our guest artists. The audience is encouraged to sit back, relax and enjoy our Friday-night “playlist” tinged with echoes of popular music from around the world. Classical music with hints of blues, folk, Latin and gospel. First-come, first-served seating. FREE. Concert 2: “Song Journeys” Saturday, May 21, 2011, 5:00pm: Monroe
• Venue: First Presbyterian Church, Monroe
• A program of vocal music that features Grammy-award winner Jacqueline Horner, soprano Andrea Moore and the New South instrumentalists. New and classical interpretations of traditional music from around the globe.
• $10 suggested donation. (Meet-the-Artists Reception to follow, with hors d’oeuvres - $20 per ticket)
Concert 3: “Spring Visions” Sunday, May 22, 2011, 3:00pm: Waxhaw
• Venue: Old Belk Building 200 East South Main Street, Waxhaw (operated by the Waxhaw Women’s Club).
• A performance featuring a quintet of internationally-recognized instrumentalists and two vocalists. These musicians will be joined by members of the Union Symphony for a performance of Aaron Copland’s beloved American masterwork Appalachian Spring in its rarely-heard original version for thirteen musicians. Also featuring the world premiere of a brand-new, blues-tinged arrangement of “Shenandoah” by Daniel Thomas Davis.
• $10 suggested donation. Please RESERVE early as space is limited. www.newsouthmusicfestival.org
• Informal reception to follow. The New South Music Festival is presented by the Union Symphony Society and sponsored by the Town of Waxhaw and Monroe’s First Presbyterian Church, in cooperation with the Waxhaw Arts Council.
