The 11th Annual Princeton Festival Begins June 6th!

NEW LISTENING CHOICES FOR THIS YEAR’S PRINCETON FESTIVAL AUDIENCES
Country Music, Indian Music and Dance, and Baroque Orchestra join the line-up for the three week long program in June

The Princeton Festival in its eleventh season continues to bring new and different genres to its audiences. This year’s Festival, which runs from June 6 to June 28, will feature for the first time country music by the guitar duo “Striking Matches”, traditional Indian Music and Dance by Pradhanica, and a concert by the Festival Baroque Orchestra to join the wide program of opera, musical comedy, chamber and choral music, piano recital, jazz and a cappella jazz, not to mention the Festival’s own piano competition for young artists.

“Striking Matches” is currently making a grand stir on the country music scene. The new CD by the singer-songwriter, guitar-wielding duo of Sarah Zimmerman and Justin Davis, “Nothing but the Silence” produced by the legendary T Bone Burnett, hit the music scene in March and was covered extensively by major media. The duo has been in great demand since and is in the midst of an East Coast tour. Their own special brand of music brings together blues, pop, country and rock. “Striking Matches” began its rise in 2012, leading to its frequent appearances on Grand Ole Opry and other top country music stages. Their appearance with the Festival is on Sunday, June 21 at 7:30pm in the McAneny Theatre at Princeton Day School.

From the other side of the world comes traditional northern Indian music and dance performed by Pradhanica, a Kathak dance and world drum ensemble. Their dynamic, spinning dance and haunting music are driven by spell-binding rhythms. Composition is by rhythm master Pandit Divyang Vakil, for many years a leader in teaching the North East about Indian dance. Pradhanica will perform on Saturday, June 27 at 8pm in the Berlind Theatre at McCarter Theatre Center in Princeton. In line with their mission to show the world more of this engaging Indian artform the group will give a free public demonstration at Clark Music Center, The Lawrenceville School on Saturday, June 6 at 4pm.

Another first for the Festival is a concert by the Festival Baroque Orchestra. Playing on period instruments, the chamber orchestra led by concertmaster Juan Carlos Zamudio will present a program of music by Baroque masters on Wednesday, June 24 at 7:30pm in Miller Chapel at Princeton Theological Seminary, Princeton. The concert in the chapel setting will give the audience a chance to take a step back in time to the late 17th and early 18th centuries with music by Heinrich Biber, Georg Muffat, Georg Friedrich Handel and J.S.Bach.

The new features in The Princeton Festival’s June program are framed by the familiar elements that have been the mainstays of the Festival in its past ten seasons, Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro was written in 1786 but it remains one of the most popular operas in the repertoire world wide. The upcoming production features rising opera stars to bring to life the human comedy and moving music that continue to speak to us in the twenty first century. Concordia Chamber Players return with their always adventurous programming, this year ranging from Mozart and Mendelssohn to a serenade for flute by Edward T. Cone. Jazz is well represented to jazz afficiandos by pianist Falkner Evans, and pure enjoyment awaits listeners with the a cappella jazz of West Side 5 and The Tribunes. The Festival’s Conducting Master Class will culminate in a choral concert in which the conductor participants will show their new and polished skills. Fei-Fei Dong was a finalist in the Van Cliburn International Piano competition. She plays an all Chopin recital for the Festival audience. The Festival’s own Piano Competition for Young Performers will continue to bring in top talent from the mid Atlantic region and beyond. No musical comedy could be younger and more fresh than the Tony award-winning The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee which will bring its laughter and song to audiences in ten performances.

For more information about the three weeks of the Festival and a link to ticket sales (handled by McCarter Theater), visit www.princetonfestival.org. To purchase tickets by phone, call McCarter Theatre at 609-258-2787.