CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Four-time Grammy-winner Arturo Sandoval has performed with Dizzy Gillespie, Johnny Mathis, Frank Sinatra, the Boston Pops, the London Symphony, Celine Dion, Alicia Keys and Justin Timberlake. On Sept. 2, he'll be playing in an old hay barn.
It's the beautifully restored century-old Dutch barn that's the home of the Allerton Music Barn Festival. Sandoval will headline the event. Other concerts will feature the Grammy Award-winning Pacifica Quartet, and internationally renowned musicians Stefan Milenkovich (violin) and Ian Hobson (piano).
For a complete schedule, visit www.allertonmusicbarn.com.
This marks the fifth year of the annual festival, created by Karl Kramer, the director of the University of Illinois School of Music. It has sold out every year since its inception. For the 2011 festival, the schedule changes slightly, with concerts beginning at 8 p.m. Ticket prices remain the same: $26 per concert for adults, $20 for students and senior citizens. An all-weekend pass is $100 for seniors, students and performers, $130 for everyone else.
The festival opens Sept. 1 with the Allerton Salon Orchestra performing a variety of "Viennese bonbons" under the direction of Donald Schleicher. Johann Strauss' "Blue Danube Waltz" will be included on the program.
Cuban-born trumpet master Sandoval performs Sept. 2, backed by a half-dozen professors from the U. of I.'s jazz studies program, including department head and tenor saxophonist Chip McNeill, who, for several years, toured the world as Sandoval's full-time musical director. In addition to his Grammy awards, Sandoval has six Billboard Music Awards, plus an Emmy for composing the score for the HBO movie "For Love or Country," based on his own life story, starring Andy Garcia. Sandoval is known for his virtuosity in Latin jazz, be-bop, ballads and classical music.
Pacifica - the U. of I.'s resident artist string quartet -- performs on Sept. 3 and will feature guest musicians from the music faculty. John Dee, former principal oboist with the Florida Philharmonic Orchestra, will play Mozart's Quartet in F major, K. 370. Hobson, who has made some 40 CDs as a soloist and performed with major orchestras around the world, will join Pacifica for Brahms' Piano Quintet in F minor, Op. 34.
The festival's Sunday morning concert, occurring so close to the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, is dedicated to the memory of victims of that tragedy. Titled "Mourning Music," the concert will feature the Allerton Bach Choir and Orchestra performing Bach's Cantata No. 198 ("Trauerode"), and the world premiere of "Credo," commissioned for the festival and composed by Erik Lund, the chair of the composition and theory division in the college's School of Music. The Rev. Roger Digges, senior pastor of Grace Lutheran Church in Champaign, will offer a homily.
Sunday evening (Sept. 4), Milenkovich performs Handel's Sonata for Violin and Piano in D major, Beethoven's Sonata No. 7 in C minor, and fiery works by Pablo de Sarasate, Henryk Wieniawski, Paganini and Fritz Kreisler. Milenkovich will be joined by renowned pianist Rohan De Silva, who has performed with Joshua Bell, Midori, Itzhak Perlman, Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg and Pinchas Zukerman.
The series closes Monday night with a concert by the Allerton Winds, conducted by Robert Rumbelow, performing works by Richard Strauss and Dvorak.
Bistro-style food, beer and wine will be available beginning one hour before each evening concert. There will be tables indoors, and picnic tables outdoors. Patrons may also bring their own picnic dinners and non-alcoholic beverages.
Tickets are available online, or at Krannert Center for the Performing Arts, 217-333-6280. The barn is well-ventilated, but not air-conditioned.