Fans of chamber music on period instruments can rejoice that this year’s Valley of the Moon Music Festival (VMMF) is back with a robust slate of both live concerts and virtual performances. This year’s programming features Classical and Romantic chamber music with a wistful theme: Love and Longing: Reaching Across the Distance. The festival runs July 17 – August 1, 2021, with a special preview concert on June 24.
According to VMMF co-founder Tanya Tomkins, this year’s festival “echoes a major theme of the pandemic period — our collective desire to reconnect and emerge from social isolation. In this spirit, we have curated a season of incredible music that expresses our universal need for closeness, performed by VMMF artists both near and far, allowing us to celebrate our togetherness despite the distance between us. In addition to virtual offerings, we are delighted to offer safe opportunities to experience the joy of live performance.”
“This year we acknowledge the present by looking to the past,” adds co-founder Eric Zivian. “The expressions of love and longing in Classical and Romantic songs and chamber music are more relevant than ever. Thanks to the passion and perseverance of our patrons and artists, we’re able to connect with audiences through timeless music.”
VMMF artists will perform all the music on instruments that match the period when the music was composed: gut strings rather than steel strings for the string players, and four different period pianos.
In addition to the musical performances, a lecture series will provide historic and social context of the music. The complete lecture series will be announced at a later date.
RSVP is required and is now open for all virtual events. A limited number of tickets for the live, outdoor, socially-distanced concerts in Sonoma County will be available for purchase on or around May 1, 2021. Please visit https://valleyofthemoonmusicfestival.org/ to make a seating reservation.
Here are the planned performances:
Thursday, June 24th, at 6 p.m.
Long-Distance Love
Free Virtual Concert and Festival Preview
Brahms: Liebeslieder
Beethoven: An die Ferne Geliebte
With:
Nikki Einfeld, soprano
Emily Marvosh, contralto
Kyle Stegall, tenor
Edward Nelson, baritone
Allegra Chapman and Eric Zivian, 4-hands piano
Saturday, July 17, at 4 p.m.
Longing
Virtual concert
Mendelssohn String Quartet and German Songs
With:
Emily Marvosh, contralto
Eric Zivian, fortepiano
Anna Presler, violin
Liana Bérubé, violin
Phyllis Kamrin, viola
Tanya Tomkins, cello
Sunday, July 18 at 4 p.m.
Romance
Virtual concert
Clara Schumann Romances
Mozart Piano Concerto in E-flat Major, K. 482
German Songs
With:
Emily Marvosh, contralto
Rachel Barton Pine, violin
Suren Barry, piano
Elizabeth Blumenstock, violin
Carla Moore, violins
Liana Bérubé, viola
Tanya Tomkins, cello
Eric Zivian, piano
Wednesday, July 21, at 3 p.m.
Master Class – Free
Rachel Barton Pine, violin
Wednesday, July 21, at 6 p.m.
Virtual Love Letter
Mini-Concert – Free
Josephine Lang Songs
With:
Kyle Stegall, tenor
Eric Zivian, piano
Thursday, July 22, at 6 p.m.
Collaboration
Virtual concert
Music of Harry Burleigh, Dvořák, and others
With:
Dashon Burton, baritone
Renana Gutman, piano
Audrey Vardanega, piano
Saturday, July 24, at 5 p.m. (+ livestream) and 7 p.m.|
Friendship
Live performance, Hanna Boys Center, Sonoma
Clara Schumann Trio
Fanny Mendelssohn Adagio
Louise Farrenc Impromptu for solo piano
With:
Rachell Ellen Wong, violin
Tanya Tomkins, cello
Eric Zivian, piano
Sunday, July 25, at 5 p.m. (+ livestream) and 7 p.m.
Connecting
Live performance, Hanna Boys Center, Sonoma
2021 Apprentices:
Schubert Grand Duo for Violin and Piano
Weber Piano Quartet
With:
Kako Miura, violin
Vivian Mayers, violin
Ramón Carrero-Martínez, viola
Drake Driscoll, cello
Suren Barry, piano
Thursday, July 29, at 6 p.m.
Les Sentiments
Virtual concert
Fauré Piano Quartet in G Minor
French Songs
With:
Emily Marvosh, contralto
Lisa Lee, violin
Liana Bérubé, viola
Tanya Tomkins, cello
Eric Zivian, piano
Saturday, July 31, at 5 p.m. (+ livestream) and 7 p.m.
Transformation
Live performance, Yulupa Mountain Ranch
Rolla Duets
Beethoven String Quartet in A Minor, op. 132
With:
Bettina Mussumeli, violin
Jodi Levitz, viola
Kako Miura, violin
Vivian Mayers, violin
Ramon Carrero-Martinez, viola
Drake Driscoll, cello
Sunday, August 1, at 5 p.m. (+ livestream) and 7 p.m.
Possibility
Live performance, Yulupa Mountain Ranch
Dvořák Miniatures
Mendelssohn Octet
With:
Rachell Ellen Wong, violin
Bettina Mussumeli, violin
Jodi Levitz, viola
Tanya Tomkins, cello
Kako Miura, violin
Vivian Mayers, violin
Ramon Carrero-Martinez, viola
Drake Driscoll, cello
