Concert tradition just a month away

6/19/2008

Music Under the Stars, Toledo's beloved free outdoor concert tradition, is set to begin at 7:30 p.m. July 13 in the Toledo Zoo amphitheater. The Toledo Concert Band led by Sam Szor will present a series of free concerts on eight consecutive Sundays. Various local musicians, dancers, and entertainers will join the band during the season, which is to conclude Aug. 31.

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The Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival opened June 14 and will continue through June 29 in subscription and nonsubscription series planned by festival director and pianist James Tocco. In focus this year is music by four American composers who turn 70 this year - William Bolcom, John Corigliano, John Harbison, and Joan Tower - as well as French composers including Messiaen, Ravel, Ibert, Saint-Saens, and Debussy.

In performance at 7:30 p.m. today and 10:44 a.m. tomorrow will be Joseph Silverstein, Paul Katz, Sara Sant'Ambrogio, Anthony McGill, the Amernet String Quartet, Edward Auer, and Pei-Shan Lee. On the program are works by Schubert, Tower, Ravel, and Messiaen. Both performances are at Kirk in the Hills Refectory, 1340 West Long Lake Rd., Bloomfield Hills, Mich.

The same players plus Lori Gemmell and Nicholas Kendall will perform music by Ibert, Corigliano, Ravel, and Franck at 8 p.m. Saturday in the Seligmann Performing Arts Center, 22305 West Thirteen Mile, Beverly Hills, Mich. On Sunday, Tocco, McGill, Auer, the Amernet, and Trio Lunaire will play music by Haydn, Poulenc, and Schumann at 11:30 a.m. in the Detroit Institute of Arts, one of the nonsubscription concerts. Tickets are $10 to $35 at www.greatlakeschambermusic.org., where a complete list of events running through June 29 is available.

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Meadowbrook Festival, the outdoor concert series at the Meadowbrook Pavilion, 3554 Walton Blvd., Rochester Hills, Mich., will kick off its summer season at 8 p.m. Sunday with ABBA, The Symphonic Hits Tour. The Swedish band Arrival, which includes two original members of the hit vocal group, will perform. Tickets are $10-$32.50.

Classical and pops concerts by the Detroit Symphony under new music director Leonard Slatkin and guest conductors will be presented July 26 and 27 and Aug. 1-3. For more information on programs and soloists, use www.detroitsymphony.com.

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Dancer/choreographer Carol Mahn is looking for dancers who want to make a splash in Toledo and don't mind a stone stage. Mahn, who developed the Performance in the Pond venue years ago for the annual Labor Day weekend celebration, is to present "Beyond the Dream," a new work, this year for the Artists on the River Festival. "People need to know they will get wet and be dancing on stone," Mahn explained this week.

Dancers age 17 and up are eligible to participate and may make an appointment for an audition with Mahn at 419-324-4705.

Items for News of Music should be sent to svallongo@ theblade.com two weeks before the performance.