ONE AUDIO PIECE The 25th anniversary edition of The Lancaster Festival opens next week, on July 23rd and runs through August 1. You can get all the information you need from http://lanfest.org/. This is music director Gary Sheldon's 22nd year at the Festival. Recently I was delighted to talk with co-founders Barbara Hunzicker and Eleanor Hood. My chat with them will be part of an arts feature on WOSU radio (820/89-7) Friday, July 24 at 8.50 AM. The Festival takes over this lovely small city in the Hocking Hills for ten days of activities for people of all ages, from clowns to Shostakovich. I'll be there on the 23rd at 3:30PM to host an opera program at the Elks Lodge with pianist Barbara Sahr and four gifted young singers from Opera Columbus. Also on the 27th at 3:30PM for an afternoon of chamber music at Shaw's Inn. (I dream of the prime rib and hot fudge at Shaw's. The music is great, too.) [caption id="attachment_3643" align="alignright" width="170" caption="Richard Stoltzman with Lancaster Festival Orchestra CD"][/caption] The Lancaster Festival recently released their first commercially available compact disc with music by William Bolcom and Clare Fischer. Ragomania features William Bolcom's Clarinet Concerto with the great Richard Stoltzman; he's an OSU alumnus and friend of the Festival. This CD is based on performances given last summer, and fantastic they were: Bolcom: Ragomania-A Classical Festival Overture (excerpt) [audio:rago1.mp3] Gary Sheldon conducting The Lancaster Festival Orchestra. The CD, called Ragomania is published by Marquis Classics. It's available from Arkivmusic.com. See you in Lancaster! There's lots to enjoy. The web site with all information, one more time: http://lanfest.org/ -Christopher Purdy
The Lancaster Festival Opens Next Week
