This summer’s festival will include the music of 19^th-century composer Giuseppe Verdi of Italy and 20^th-century composer Benjamin Britten of England. Selections from their operas will heighten the drama of the festival, said , an EMU music professor who is the festival’s artistic director and conductor.

The festival, founded by Nafziger, will feature a diverse cast of artists this year. They include a cluster of New York musicians, a Cuban violinist, child-prodigy flutist, and many others.

Grant supports acclaimed artists

A $12,000 grant from the Rhodes and Leona Carpenter Foundation of Richmond, Va., is helping bring a number of acclaimed artists to this year’s festival.

The festival opens on Sunday, June 9, at 3 p.m., with a concert at EMU’s Lehman Auditorium that includes Bach’s well-known Brandenburg Concerto No. 3, performed by the festival orchestra. Also on the program is Japanese pianist Naoko Takao, performing Britten’s Young Apollo. Tickets are available at 540-432-4582 or emu.edu/boxoffice.  

During the following week, June 10-15, the festival offers noon chamber music concerts at in downtown Harrisonburg. No tickets are required, but donations are requested at the door. The complete schedule for the noon concerts is available at .

The child prodigy flutist, Emma Resmini of Fairfax Station, Va., will perform at the Wednesday-noon concert. Last summer she studied in Switzerland with legendary flutist Sir James Galloway. She is the youngest person ever accepted in the National Symphony Orchestra’s youth fellowship program and has soloed with other major symphonies.

Concerts easily accessible to all

On Monday, June 10, at 5:30 p.m. is the annual faculty recital of the , an event sponsored by the Bach Festival. The recital features instruments and performance styles that were typical of Bach’s era. The event, held at Asbury United Methodist Church, requires no ticket, but donations are requested.

The Baroque Academy, held June 9-15, offers solo master classes and ensemble coaching by internationally acclaimed artists Arthur Haas, harpsichord; Martha McGaughey, viola da gamba; and Linda Quan, Baroque violin. More information is available at .

Festival Concert 2 on Friday, June 14, at 7:30 p.m., will feature the festival orchestra performing Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 1 and Britten’s “Four Sea Interludes” from the opera Peter Grimes. The orchestra will be joined by the festival’s internationally known soloists who will sing eight popular arias from Verdi’s operas.

The following night, Saturday, June 15, at 7:30 p.m., the orchestra will be joined by the featured vocal soloists and the festival chorus of 88 singers from near and far. They will perform Verdi’s Requiem.

On Sunday, June 16, at 10 a.m., Nafziger will lead the annual Leipzig service that is inspired by the Lutheran services for which Bach composed and directed music when he was a church organist. Nafziger will be joined by the festival orchestra, organist Marvin Mills, the featured vocal soloists, and North Carolina pastor Isaac Villegas, who will deliver the homily. The service will include Bach’s Cantata 88. No tickets are required for the service, but donations are requested.

New: Father’s Day brunch

New this year, after the Leipzig service, is a Father’s Day buffet brunch in EMU’s Northlawn dining hall. Reservations must be made by June 1 at .

An event connected to the Bach Festival is the Road Scholar Program (formerly Elderhostel) that offers classes throughout the United States. From June 12 to 16 the participants will enjoy the history and culture of the Shenandoah Valley while attending the Bach Festival’s rehearsals, concerts, and classes with the musicians, conductor, and musical scholars. More information is available from .

, an EMU music professor who is also executive director of the Bach Festival, said the annual event brings a sense of imagination to the Valley. “It is an opportunity to feed the souls of residents,” she said.

Advance tickets for the festival are available at the EMU box office – 540-432-4582 or . They will also be available at the door at slightly higher prices.

The complete program for the week is available at .

“Through the grant we were able to secure Veronica Chapman-Smith, Kenneth Gayle, Heidi Kurtz, Grant Youngblood and Naoko Takao as part of our concerts,” said , executive director of the Bach Festival. “The support of the Carpenter Foundation is deeply appreciated and will strengthen our program.”

Chapman-Smith, Kurtz, Gayle and Youngblood are soloists who Adams says will be integral parts of the June 14-16 concerts. The group will sing opera arias and ensemble pieces on Friday night, will be the soloists on Saturday in Giuseppi Verdi’s “Requiem,” and be the solo quartet on Sunday morning in Johann Sebastian Bach’s Cantata No. 88.

Takao will perform piano with string orchestra on Benjamin Britten’s “Young Apollo.” Throughout the week she will be the accompanist for the noon chamber music recitals.

“Four of these five performers are return engagements with the Shenandoah Valley Bach Festival,” said , artistic director and conductor. “They are well known here, and have become favorites of audiences and performers.”

About the performers

, soprano, an artist-in-residence at Temple University, has sung roles for opera companies all over the country including Lyric Opera of Chicago, Opera Birmingham, Opera Company of Philadelphia, and Opera Colorado.

Chapman-Smith has been a soloist for the Bach Festival, Charlotte Symphony, Choral Arts Society of Philadelphia, Mendelssohn Club of Philadelphia, Ursinus College, In Clara Voce, and Orquestra Sinfonica Municipal de Caracas.

, mezzo-soprano, is a 1989 graduate of ˛ÝÝ®ÉçÇř. She is a core member of The Crossing, The Philadelphia Singers and most recently the Opera Chorus of Philadelphia. She has appeared as a soloist with both groups, as well as with The Mendelssohn Club of Philadelphia, Singing City and Vox Amadeus.

Kurtz has made several solo appearances at the Bach Festival, including Bach’s St. Matthew’s Passion, Misa Cubana, Samson and Beethoven’s “Symphony No. 9.” Since 1999 she has been a guest artist with the Chester County Chorale in their yearly performance of Handel’s Messiah.

, tenor, serves as producing director for Music Doing Good, a non-profit organization that educates, entertains and enriches through innovative musical programming.

Gayle’s national credits include performances with the Lyric Opera of Chicago, Ravinia Music Festival, Seattle Opera, Seattle Symphony, Grant Park Music Festival and a national television appearance at the NAACP Image Awards with Three Mo’ Tenors.

, baritone, has performed recently with the Metropolitan Opera in their recent production of Strauss’ “Capriccio,” a debut with Opera North in the role of Count Almaviva in “Le Nozze di Figaro,” and a company debut at the Nashville opera in his signature role of Giorgio Germont in “La Traviata.”

Youngblood has also appeared with the Dallas Symphony, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Florida Philharmonic, the Chautauqua Symphony, the Louisville Symphony, the Naples Philharmonic, the Jacksonville Symphony, the Spokane Symphony Orchestra, and the Bucharest Philharmonic, among others.

, pianist, is an assistant professor of keyboard pedagogy at the Frost School of Music at the University of Miami. Takao won a gold medal in the 2000 San Antonio International Piano Competition.

She has performed with the Smithsonian Chamber Players, the Post Classical Ensemble and the Left Bank Quartet at venues such as the Kennedy Center Terrace Theater, the Coolidge Auditorium at the Library of Congress, Lensic Performing Arts Center (Santa Fe), Domaine Forget (Canada), Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center (MD), and Festival Miami.

More information

The Bach Festival opens on June 9, 2013. More information can be found at .