The 26th edition of the NBSMF takes places in Fredericton August 6-17 with performances by violinist Alicia Choi, cellist Joshua Morris and many others.
The New Brunswick Summer Music Festival returns for its 26th season this year in Fredericton, New Brunswick. One of the longest-running and largest classical music festivals in the region, the festival features several free community outreach concerts such as the two-part Artistic Spaces series taking place at the Beaverbrook Art Gallery (June 27th and July 18th); Concert in the Park (August 6th) in Officers’ Square; and Music at the Cathedral (August 9th ) at the Christ Church Cathedral. The festival’s ticketed main concert series (August 14th to August 17th) will take place at UNB Memorial Hall.
Each year, the festival’s repertoire is selected based upon a unique theme. This year’s theme will be Northern countries and will feature such storied composers as Edvard Grieg (Norway), Jean Sibelius (Finland), and Jan Järvlepp (Canada). This year’s headlining musicians will be violinist Alicia Choi and cellist Joshua Morris, from Quebec.
“Our festival is unique in that the repertoire is decided upon first, and then we hand-select musicians to invite to perform,” said artistic director Richard Hornsby. “We make it a priority to offer young and emerging artists the chance to work alongside seasoned professional musicians, offering them valuable work experience.”
The festival also includes a 2-day mini-festival called FUZE, which bridges the gap between classical music and contemporary genres. Past performers at FUZE have included Pony Girl, Motherhood, and Sleepy Driver. The headliner for FUZE this year will be The Olympic Symphonium, who will perform in collaboration with the FUZE Ensemble on August 9th. August 10th will feature CONSTRUCTIONS, in which 4 emerging artists are invited to create innovative new works of music over the span of a month based upon the year’s FUZE theme. Past participants in CONSTRUCTIONS have included Wangled Teb, Counting on Downstairs, and Pony Girl.
New Brunswick Summer Music Festival runs from August 6th to 17th. Tickets available at the NBSMF website www.nbsummermusicfestival.ca
