SPCO will perform with Joshua Bell at opening of Vail music festival

Jun. 17—The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra will make its debut at the Bravo! Vail Music Festival in Vail, Colo., opening the festival's 2021 season with three performances with violinist Joshua Bell on June 24, 26 and 27.

World renowned performer Bell is a former SPCO artistic partner. The chamber orchestra replaces programming originally scheduled with the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, which was canceled due to ongoing travel restrictions. The SPCO joins the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, the Philadelphia Orchestra and New York Philharmonic as one of four orchestras in residence during the festival.

The festival's opening night features an all-Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart program with Bravo! Vail artistic director Anne-Marie McDermott joining the SPCO at the piano for the composer's Piano Concerto No. 9 in E-flat major, K. 271 while Bell performs Mozart's Violin Concerto No. 5 in A major, K. 219 (Turkish). The SPCO will also perform Mozart's Prague Symphony.

The next performance focuses on the theme of "The Four Seasons" with compositions by Astor Piazzolla and Antonio Vivaldi. And in the third performance, SPCO violinist Kyu-Young Kim and violist Hyobi Sim are featured with Bell in a chamber music program for trio and quintet by Franz Schubert and Johannes Brahms.

The Bravo! Vail Music Festival brings world-renowned musicians to venues throughout the Vail Valley for six weeks, drawing music lovers from around the world, according to an SPCO news release. More info about Bravo! Vail is at bravovail.org.