Three-day Red Rocks Music Festival a treat for all ages
Virtuosos Shlomo Mintz, Gustavo Romero headline
classical music fest at SCP

by Sarah Bowes

Under the artistic directorship of internationally acclaimed violinist, Shlomo Mintz, the Red Rocks Festival Orchestra will debut on Labor Day weekend. The music festival spans three days and hosts a full symphony orchestra, guest principals and master-classes, and crescendos with a gala evening concert on September 1 at the Sedona Cultural Park.

The evening concerts will present a diverse repertoire that will attract both the music aficionado and the vacationing family. Pianist Gustavo Romero also will be a featured artist.

Critics, colleagues and audiences regard Mintz as one of the foremost violinists of our time, esteemed for his impeccable musicianship, stylistic versatility, and commanding technique. He regularly appears with the most celebrated orchestras and conductors on the international scene and is heard in recital and chamber music concerts as well as playing the viola and conducting all around the world.

Pianist Romero has earned a growing reputation for both the technical brilliance and interpretive depth of his playing, and for his commitment to in-depth exploration of individual composers, as demonstrated by a recent recital series showcasing the keyboard works of Ludwig van Beethoven, J.S. Bach, and Frederic Chopin. He has performed with such leading orchestras as the New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Pittsburgh Symphony, Boston Pops, Atlanta Symphony, Radio France Orchestra, Honolulu, New World, and Austin symphonies, the Liege Philharmonic, and has held solo concerts all over the world.

The festival begins Saturday, August 31, with a chamber music concert at West Sedona Elementary School. The concert, titled “The Gypsy Spirit,” features Romero and other festival musicians and selections, including Haydn “Piano Trio in G Major,” Kodaly “Serenade Opus 12” for two violins and viola and Brahms “Piano Quartet in G Minor.”

The family concert on September 1, begins at 10 a.m., at Sedona Cultural Park’s Georgia Frontiere Performing Arts Pavilion, with selections from Saint-Saens’ Piano Concerto No. 2 , Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto E minor and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7.

The gala evening concert on the 1st begins at 7:30 p.m., and features Romero and Mintz as soloists. The program includes Saint-Saens’ “Piano Concerto No. 2” (Gustavo Romero soloist), F. Mendelssohn’s “Violin Concerto in E Minor” (Shlomo Mintz soloist) and Beethoven’s “Symphony No. 7.”

Master classes with Mintz and Romero will be held at West Sedona Elementary School on September 2, beginning at 10 a.m. For more information about the festival, go on-line (redrocksmusicfestival.com). For tickets to festival concerts, call Sedona Cultural Park’s box office at (928) 203-4TIX.