Christopher O'Riley

Although the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra’s Classic Series ended last weekend at Kleinhans Music Hall with an electrifying performance of the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto by Elmar Oliveira, the Western New York summer classic music season is just beginning.

The 12th annual Bach & Beyond Baroque Music Festival kicks off its three day run this Friday, June 9 at the 1891 Fredonia Opera House. The festival has long been a great place to hear rarely performed baroque pieces, with many of the works performed making their area premieres. The theme for this year’s festival is humor in music and Artistic Director Grant Cooper has unearthed some rarities, such as the 1701 Suite: The Comedy Call’d the Funeral by William Croft as well as better-known works such as Haydn’s Quartet Op. 33 No. 2, known as The Joke. Of course, some listeners might feel that one of the works to be performed might have better been left buried—the cantata Iphigenia in Brooklyn, by P.D.Q. Bach. On the other hand, no one who enjoyed the highly entertaining production of P.D.Q. Bach’s The Abduction of Figaro at King Concert Hall last April will want to miss this performance. Visit www.fredopera.org for more information.

The Roycroft Chamber Music Festival returns to St. Mathias’ Episcopal Church in East Aurora for two consecutive weekends beginning Saturday, June 16. For the festival’s 14th season, many BPO musicians, including several first chair players, will once again join violinist Nancy McFarland Gaub and pianist Eugene Gaub, who jointly serve as the artistic directors. The always thoughtfully designed programs join seldom-heard pieces like Moszkowski’s Suite for Two Violins and Piano and Jacques Ibert’s String Quartet with works that are more familiar. Fresh from his successful world premier performance of Persis Vehar’s City of Light Concerto, BPO principal clarinetist John Fullam brings his highly refined technique to Herbert Howells’ Rhapsodic Quintet and Khachaturian’s Trio for Violin, Clarinet and Piano Visit www.roycroftchambermusic.org for more information.

On Monday, June 18, the WNED Buffalo Niagara Guitar Festival & Classical 94.5 WNED present Uruguayan guitarist Eduardo Fernandez in concert at the acoustically perfect Flickinger Performing Arts Center on the Nichols School Campus. Fernandez may not generate instant name recognition, but to anyone who has listened to the extensive selections from his discography played by WNED in the last few weeks his artistry is both evident and impressive. The program by the world touring guitarist and educator includes a pair of transcribed suites by Bach as well as the Sonata Romantica by Manuel Ponce and the Sonata No. 1 by Carlos Guastavino Visit www.wned.org for more information.

Pablo Garibay

The Chautauqua Institution will be celebrating the final season of the 18-year tenure of Uriel Segal as music director of the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra. The 21-concert season begins in the Amphitheater on June 30, when violinist Cho-Liang Lin joins the CSO for a performance of the Beethoven Concerto. Some of the other concerts conducted by Segal include that of July 7, featuring cellist Colin Carr in the Cello Concerto No. 2 by Shostakovich, as well as a concert version of Verdi’s opera Otello with the BPO Chorus on July 28. Guest conductor Stefan Sanderling leads the CSO for four performances beginning with that of July 24, which features a rare performance of the 1953 Concerto for Trombone and Orchestra by Kazimierz Serocki. Segal returns to lead a pair of ninth symphonies—Mahler’s on August 9 and Beethoven’s on August 18. Segal’s final concert on August 21 features Ralph Kirshbaum in the dark Cello Concerto in E Minor by Edward Elgar.

Opening on Friday, July 6, Donizetti’s delightful comedy The Elixir of Love is the first production in this year’s opera series in Norton Hall at Chautauqua. The shy Nemorino loves the fickle Adina, but with the help of a “love potion” that he buys from the quack Doctor Dulcamara, he attempts to win her away from the swaggering Sergeant Belcore. Bizet’s Carmen, perhaps the most popular of all operas, begins its run on July 20, followed by Jules Massenet’s Werther. Goethe’s description of the poet Werther’s unrequited love for Charlotte is the basis for this opera’s libretto, and it inspired the composer to write his most lushly beautiful score.

Also at Chautauqua, the nine-performance Logan Chamber Music Series takes place at 4pm Mondays in Lenna Hall, beginning on June 25 with flutist Carol Wincenc and friends. Full details for this and all other series at Chautauqua are available at www.ciweb.org.

Summerfest at Artpark, the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra’s July concert series, begins on July 7, with Canadian violinist Lara St. John as soloist in the Sibelius Violin Concerto. The program, the first of five led by BPO Resident Conductor Robert Franz, features The Planets by Holst, a work nicely suited to the open feeling of the venue. “Gershwin’s Greatest Hits” is the title of the July 8 concert and it features pianist Kevin Cole in the Concerto in F, as well as vocal standards sung by Colleen Williams, who has been described as a “cool effortless singer who wraps her voice around each note she sings.” The Kingston Trio headlines on July 14, and in an all-Beethoven program on July 15 pianist Sarah Buechner performs the Piano Concerto No. 1, while the BPO Chorus and soloists joins the orchestra for the Symphony No. 9. The Neglia Ballet performs Adam’s Giselle on July 20.

Michael Ludwig

Critically acclaimed BPO Concertmaster Michael Ludwig will perform the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto on July 21, substituting for the originally scheduled Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, who has recently canceled all her appearances this summer. BPO Music Director JoAnn Falletta will lead this program, which also includes Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4, as well as all the remaining concerts in the series.

One concert not to be missed is the July 22 From the Top with its host, pianist Christopher O’Riley. WNED radio has been broadcasting the National Public Radio program weekly on Saturday mornings for the last several years and on the station’s Thinkbright TV channel this spring. O’Riley has consistently used his well-developed sense of humor, along with his uncanny musicianship, to make the highly talented school-age musicians on his program feel at ease. This show will be taped for future broadcast.

The program for July 27 includes arias from some of the most popular operas in the repertoire, while bandoneon (Argentinean accordion) player Daniel Binelli returns with the award-winning tango dancers Pilar Alvarez and Claudio Hoffman on July 28 for an evening of Argentine tango. The BPO Summerfest concludes on July 29 with a performance of Castelnuovo-Tedesco’s Concerto for Guitar and Orchestra featuring soloist Pablo Garibay, the winner of the 2006 JoAnn Falletta International Guitar Competition, and Dvorak’s popular New World Symphony. Visit www.bpo.org for more information..