The 24th Season of the Mendocino Music Festival

Mendocino Music Festival LogoFrom July 10-24, 2010, the Mendocino Music Festival will be celebrating its 24th season bringing a wonderful assortment of music styles to the Mendocino Headlands. You will find Orchestras, Chamber Music, Opera, Jazz (including the ever-sold out Big Band Night), Folk, World Music, and more.

In addition to the headline acts, there are many professional musicians from San Francisco Symphony, San Francisco Ballet, San Francisco Opera, Santa Rosa Symphony, and Symphony of the Redwoods that perform in the Festival Orchestra. Alan Pollack, Artistic Director for the Festival, conducts the orchestra.

During the Festival: Stay two nights at the Rack Rate and get Two Complimentary Concert Tickets. Since the Hotel is across the street from the Festival Tent, you can have a leisurely dinner before the concert at either of our two restaurants, and then stroll across the street to the concert. Early Bird Dining is available daily during the Festival from 5:30 pm, and the Bistro is open until 11 pm.

  • Saturday, July 10 at 8:00 PM
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  • OPENING NIGHT
  • Allan Pollack, Artistic Director and THE FESTIVAL ORCHESTRA
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  • Shostakovich: Festive Overture Op. 96
  • Prokofiev: Piano Concerto No. 3 in C Major, Op. 26 • Stephen Prutsman, piano
  • Tchaikovsky: Symphony No 5 in E Minor Op. 64
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  • Sunday, July 11 at 8:00 PM
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  • PEPPINO D’AGOSTINO
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  • Peppino D’Agostino is considered a pioneer of acoustic guitar, breaking new ground with technique while remaining obsessively committed to musicality and melody. His most recent accolade came from Guitar Player magazine when he was voted “Best Acoustic Guitarist” by its readers in the Reader’s Choice Awards in May 2007.
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  • Monday, July 12 at 8:00 PM
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  • STEEP CANYON RANGERS
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  • Bluegrass, newgrass, however you like your grass, you’re going to love this group. SCR draw musical elements from honky-tonk, country and blues, with high energy, brilliant instrumentation, perfect harmony and elegant melodies. This is the band that backs comedian and banjo player Steve Martin.
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  • Wednesday, July 14 at 8:00 PM
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  • DOUBLE BILL—DOUBLE THRILL
  • Philip Aaberg and Paul McCandless
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  • Aaberg composes music that connects a global audience to the sweeping landscape of the West. Two time Grammy Award winner McCandless, a gifted multi-instrumentalist and composer, plays the edge between classical music and jazz. Specializing in reed instruments, his sound for the last 40 years has been a signature for the Paul Winter Consort and the group Oregon. This is Paul and Phil’s first live performance together.
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  • Thursday, July 15 at 8:00 PM
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  • HALLELUJAH, AMERICA!
  • Susan Waterfall and Julian Pollack
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  • Susan Waterfall explores what makes music sound American. A narrated multi-media presentation with works by Copland, Ives, Gershwin, Stephen Foster, Carter, Harrison, Cage, John Adams’ Hallelujah Junction and Crumb’s Music of the Starry Night.
    • Susan Waterfall and Julian Pollack, pianos
    • Erin Neff, soprano
    • Burke Schuchmann, cello
    • Paul Murray, baritone
    • Mark Veregge, percussion
    • Arthur Austin, clarinet
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  • Friday, July 16 and Sunday, July 18 at 8:00 PM
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  • Bizet: Carmen
  • Allan Pollack, conductor
  • Michael Mohammed, director
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  • Seduction, lust, mutiny, betrayal, murder in Bizet’s Carmen.
    • Betany Coffland, Carmen
    • Jeffrey Kitto, Don Jose
    • Christopher Bengochea, Don Jose
    • Matthew Miksak, Escamillo
    • Shawnette Sulker, Micaela
    • Sascha Joggerst, Morales & El Dancario
    • Jillian Boye, Frasquita
    • Paul Thompson, Zuniga
    • Donna Olsen, Mercedes
    • Chester Pidduck, El Remedado
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  • Saturday, July 17 at 8:00 PM
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  • BIG BAND NIGHT
  • Allan Pollack, band leader
  • Ava Logan, vocalist
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  • With his oh-so-sweet sax in hand, bandleader Allan Pollack directs the musical event that is all-in-one a fun, finger-popping romp into the future and a moving-grooving homage to the past.
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  • Tuesday, July 20 at 8:00 PM
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  • ROBERT MOSES’ KIN
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  • Founded in 1995, Robert Moses’ Kin is considered one of the most prolific and exciting new contemporary dance companies to emerge nationally in the past decade.
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  • Wednesday, July 21 at 8:00 PM
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  • THE FESTIVAL ORCHESTRA
  • Juliette White Memorial Concert
  • Allan Pollack, conductor
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  • Brahms: Double Concerto in A Minor, Op. 102
    • Daniel Austrich, violin
    • Burke Schuchmann, cello
  • Brahms: Symphony No. 4 in E Minor, Op. 98
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  • Thursday, July 22 at 8:00 PM
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  • FESTIVAL CHAMBER PLAYERS
  • Les Pfutzenreuter, conductor
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  • Bach: Brandenburg No. 5
  • Britten: Simple Symphony
  • Mozart: Sinfonia Concertante for Violin & Viola • Roy Malan, violin • Don Ehrlich, viola
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  • Friday, July 23 at 8:00 PM
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  • SHEMEKIA COPELAND
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  • Shemekia is known for her powerhouse voice, sassy attitude and creating blues for the 21st century. She’s opened for the Rolling Stones, headlined at the Chicago Blues Festival, and shared the stage with such luminaries as Buddy Guy, B.B. King, Taj Mahal and John Mayer. She shares our stage with her all-star band:
    • Arthur Neilson, guitar
    • Jeremy Baum, keyboards
    • Kevin Jenkins, bass
    • Rod Gross, drums
  • Mendocino Coast musicians Gene Parsons and David Hayes will open this evening’s concert. Multi-instrumentalist Parsons was a member of the Byrds and The Flying Burrito Brothers. Bassist Hayes has toured and performed with Van Morrison for over 30 years.
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  • Saturday, July 24 at 8:00 PM
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  • Walter Green Memorial Concert
  • Allan Pollack, conductor
  • THE FESTIVAL ORCHESTRA & CHORUS
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  • Stravinsky: Petrouchka
  • Orff: Carmina Burana • Shawnette Sulker, soprano • Martin Bell, bass • Michael Mohammed, tenor
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PIANO SERIES : LECTURES AND RECITALS AT PRESTON HALL

  • Sunday, July 11 at 3 pm
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  • PAUL ROBERTS
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  • A performance of works by Liszt and Debussy.
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  • Friday, July 16 at 3 pm
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  • JADE SIMMONS
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  • Ms. Simmons will present an innovative multimedia program pairing the Music of Scriabin and the paintings of Kandinsky to explore the relationship between the visual and aural worlds of these two Russian masters.
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  • Tuesday, July 20 at 3 pm
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  • PAUL HERSH
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  • Perennial Festival favorite perform Britten’s Lachrymae for Viola and Piano and Schubert’s Variation on an Original Theme in A-flat Major for piano four-hand with pianist Teresa Yu.
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  • Friday July 23 at 3 pm
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  • DARIA RABOTKINA
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  • Ms. Rabotkina explores the essence of music using the music of Rachmaninoff, Schubert and Chopin.
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VILLAGE CHAMBER CONCERTS

  • Tuesday, July 13 at 3 PM
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  • QUINTESSENTIAL QUINTET
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  • A classic wind quintet performing works of contrasting styles from Haydn to Ibert.
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  • Wednesday, July 14 at 3 PM
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  • MUSICAL GEMS
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  • Ensembles from the Festival Orchestra and Emerging Artists Program perform chamber music.
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  • Saturday, July 17 at 3 PM
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  • ACAFELLAS
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  • This men’s a cappella singing group has a wide-ranging repertoire, including classical, folk, gospel, jazz, R&B and doo-wop. In March they competed at the San Francisco Regional Harmony Sweepstakes.
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  • Monday, July 19 at 3 PM
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  • JAZZ WITH GREG D’AUGELLI & GRANT LEVIN
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  • Features D’Augelli, bass and sax and Levin on piano.
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  • Wednesday, July 21 at 3 PM
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  • RIVER
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  • River, an a cappella trio (Cynthia Frank, Sharon Hansen, Sari Scanlon), sings eclectic music from around the world: from madrigals to Balkan folk music, classical to Gershwin, and Sons of the Pioneers to peace songs.
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YOUTH CONCERTS

  • Sunday, July 11 at 2 PM
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  • FAMILY CONCERT
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  • Maestro Pollack introduces orchestral music to children of all ages. After the concert enjoy the Instrument Petting Zoo—meet the musicians and play their instruments.
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  • Sunday, July 18 at 2 PM
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  • EMERGING ARTISTS CONCERT
  • Musicians from the Emerging Artists Program perform in chamber ensembles with skill, emotion and depth well beyond their years
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