Dante Summer Festival 13-17 July 2011
How often can you hear an internationally famous string quartet playing great music in your local church, schoolchildren performing alongside top professionals, and a celebrated flamenco/jazz Spanish guitarist playing by candlelight in an old village school? Only at the Dante Summer Festival, running from 13-17 July in the Tamar Valley, in venues from Callington to Calstock.
The festival attracts big local audiences and visitors from far away. The musicians of the Dante Quartet play with skill and passion, presenting the music informally and extending a warm welcome to families and first-time concert-goers. Shared meals, walks, open rehearsals and family workshops give everyone a chance to mix with the musicians and each other.
Highlights in this year’s festival include an appearance with the great pianist Lars Vogt, who is more often playing solos with the world’s top orchestras; and a special evening of Spanish music with flamenco-jazz guitarist Eduardo Niebla.
“We love seeing our festival audience grow from year to year”, says lead violinist Krysia Osostowicz. “Although we play all over the world, the Tamar Valley has become a sort of musical home for us, where we can programme all our favourite music but also experiment with new ideas. For example, this year Eduardo Niebla asked if we’d like to work on a new piece with him, and was thrilled when we invited him to our festival. We also love the workshops and Open Rehearsals, where the audience sometimes gets the chance to vote on how we should play something. We get very heated about differences of interpretation, so this is a great way to resolve arguments!”
Since the Dante Quartet’s members are based between London, Amsterdam and Granada, the group has to maintain quite a long-distance relationship. Nonetheless the Dante Festival has a very strong community base in the Tamar Valley. All four players visit in advance and work with local schoolchildren, who then take part in the final concert of the festival. The Dantes have also built up a proud tradition of contributing to local charities, and this year the concerts will support Children’s Hospice South West and Shelterbox.
Contacts:
Artistic Director – Krysia Osostowicz t. 07976 755082 e. krysiao@btinternet.com
Festival Administrator – David Seward t. 07583 050581 e. dandm@seward.eclipse.co.uk
Festival website www.dantefestival.org