Impressive Lineup Set for 2010 Savannah Music Festival

Rob Gibson, executive and artistic director of the Savannah Music Festival, announced earlier this evening the lineup for the 2010 edition of the two-week, multi-venue musical celebration in March, and it’s arguably the most impressive, and diverse, roster of artists yet in the festival’s eight years.

After attending my first Savannah Music Festival last year—five concerts in about ten days (mostly of the classical music variety) that surpassed even my exceedingly high expectations—I didn’t think it could get much better. Until tonight’s lineup announcement, which will likely result in a severely depleted bank account by tomorrow afternoon (tickets go on sale Friday morning). But, as the 2009 experience demonstrated, it’s worth every penny.

2010 Lineup Standouts

Here’s where you can find me between March 18 and April 3:

• The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, featuring pianist Lang Lang (the renowned 27-year-old phenom who made Time magazine’s 2009 list of the world’s 100 most influential people), kicks things off Thursday, March 18, at the Johnny Mercer Theatre with performances of Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 2 in F minor, Op. 21, and Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5 in E minor, Op. 64. Need I say more?

• “Wizards and Gypsies” take the stage at the Lucas Theatre for the Arts. Brazilian-born brothers Sergio and Odair Assad (aka The Assad Brothers) display “a kind of wizardry,” as described by the New York Times, with their guitars, and Hungarian virtuoso fiddler Roby Lakatos, along with his ensemble, “blends jazz and classical playing atop the gypsy violin tradition.”

• The powerful duo of cellist David Finckel and pianist Wu Han (artistic directors of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, along with many other noteworthy achievements in the world of classical music) return to Savannah following last year’s stirring performance of Rachmaninov’s Sonata for Piano and Cello in G minor, Op. 19.  For the 2010 festival, the pair will be joined by Finckel’s Emerson String Quartet colleague, violinist Philip Setzer, on Monday, March 22, in the Telfair Academy rotunda—the ideal setting for an evening of chamber music. The piano trio will “pay tribute to the genius of Schubert,” as Finckel put it, with performances of his Piano Trio in B-flat, Op. 99, D. 898, and Piano Trio in E-flat, Op. 100, D. 929. The trio recently released a recording of the two Schubert piano trios.

• After seven albums in 15 years, Wilco is no longer much of a secret known only to its cult devotees, though the band has flourished for years in the land between the Underground and the Mainstream by following its true artistic compass rather than creating radio-ready hits. Blending traditional rock, folk and alt-country (among other styles), the Chicago-based band led by Jeff Tweedy, whose songwriting and vocal stylings echo Bob Dylan and Neil Young at times, has been called the “American Radiohead” by several critics for its diverse, and sometimes experimental, catalog (iTunes, Amazon). Rolling Stone described Wilco as “one of America’s most consistently interesting bands” and “America’s foremost rock impressionists.” Perhaps the biggest score to date for the Savannah Music Festival, Wilco is sure to rock a packed Johnny Mercer Theatre on Thursday, March 24.

• She & Him—a duet between indie guitarist/singer-songwriter M. Ward and actress Zooey Deschanel that resulted in their 2008 album, Volume 1 (iTunes, Amazon)—will treat the audience at the Trustees Theater on Saturday, March 27, with simple, charming fare that harkens back to light-60s pop with hints of sentimental, sad country and a dash of sweet folk. Deschanel is not your typical movie-star-turned-singer: her voice is quite affecting, her vocals are not only tolerable but enjoyable. She & Him‘s Savannah debut should be a fun show.

• The Sensations chamber music series is a highlight of the Savannah Music Festival, thanks to the vision of world-class violinist Daniel Hope, who serves as the festival’s associate artistic director. In 2009, two of the five shows I attended were part of the Sensations series, and both were sensational, including the world premiere of Chanson d’Orage for two violins by young American composer Alexandra du Bois. While no premieres are currently slated for the 2010 series, the musicians forming these ensembles are exciting, as is what they’ll be playing. Three Sensations series concerts in 2010 are now on my calendar: Sensations III on Sunday, March 28, at the Telfair Academy; Sensations IV: Forbidden Music on Thursday, April 1, at Temple Mickve Israel; and Sensations V on Saturday, April 3, at the Telfair Academy. Lorenza Borrani—a 26-year-old Italian violin virtuoso, a leader of the Chamber Orchestra of Europe and rising star in the classical music world—returns to Savannah for Sensations III (Mozart’s Piano Quartet No. 1 in G minor, KV 478, and Dvorák’s Sextet in A, Op. 48) and Sensations IV (with works by Schulhoff, Gideon Klein, Zikmund Schul, and Paul Haas). Borrani—from the first notes of Beethoven’s String Trio in G Major, Op. 9, No. 1, which kicked off the Sensations series in 2009—was a revelation, playing with a technical mastery, of course, but also with a palpable passion, fiery intensity and an emotional honesty that enabled the audience to feel, not just hear, the music. The Sensations V ensemble, performing works by Copland, Gershwin, Bernstein, and John Williams, will feature the renowned violinist Mark O’Connor, who I first discovered when he teamed with Yo-Yo Ma and Edgar Meyer for Appalachian Journey and Appalachia Waltz.

• Immediately following Sensations III on Sunday, March 28, the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis performs masterworks from the history of jazz, along with original works and arrangements, at the Johnny Mercer Theater.

• David Finckel and Philip Setzer return to work with the other half of the Emerson String Quartet (violinist Eugene Drucker and violist Lawrence Dutton) on Tuesday, March 30, and Wednesday, March 31, for a two-part series of Dvorák quartets. A rare visit to Savannah by the entire ensemble, these are must-see concerts. The recordings of the Emerson String Quartet—one of the world’s most accomplished, and most popular, string quartets (The Beatles, if you will, of classical music)—are a staple in any classical music lover’s diet, and these performances at the Telfair Academy should be a feast.

• With three shows over the last two days of the festival, Bill Frisell and Bassekou Kouyate share the bill as each make their Savannah debut. Revered by fellow musicians and praised by critics (though lesser known to the general listening public), Frisell “plays the guitar like Miles Davis played the trumpet: in the hands of such radical thinkers, their instruments simply become different animals,” noted The New Yorker. Kouyate’s an expert with a different type of stringed instrument entirely: a ngoni, or West African lute. He’s joined by African dance band Ngoni Ba, featuring his wife, vocalist Ami Sacko.

For a complete lineup, check out the rest of the 2010 performance schedule. Head over to SMF Listening Room for music from 2010 artists and live recordings from select 2009 performances (click “View All Stations” and scroll right to the “SMF Live” button).