For immediate release
June 18, 2009
Contact: Bonnie MacPherson, director of public relations
Okemo Mountain Resort | 77 Okemo Ridge Road | Ludlow, VT 05149
802-228-1947 | bmacpherson@okemo.com
OKEMO HOSTS VERMONT SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA JUNE 26
LUDLOW, Vt. - The 2009 TD Banknorth Summer Festival Tour of the Vermont Symphony Orchestra will be making its second stop of the season at Okemo Mountain Resort's Jackson Gore Inn on Friday, June 26. Sponsored by Mary Davis Real Estate and Jackson Gore Development, this is the VSO's third annual visit to Jackson Gore. The grounds open at 5:30 p.m. for the 7:30 p.m. concert. Advance tickets are available online at okemo.com or at Coleman Brook Tavern. Adult tickets are $30 and $6 for children under 18. Tickets will also be available at the gate for $32 and $8 respectively. Attendees are encouraged to bring lawn chairs or picnic blankets for seating.
This year's "Lake Effect" theme is a tribute to Vermont's quadricentennial celebration of Champlain's exploration of the lake that bears his name. The performance, conducted by Anthony Princiotti, will feature the works of Handel, Gershwin and other great composers. Keeping with tradition, the program's finale will be Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture and an accompanying flourish of fireworks.
A recent post on the VSO's blog asks, "What's not to love? This tour swirls together like some heavenly flavor of Ben and Jerry's ..."
In 1934, a small group of musical enthusiasts meeting in Woodstock convinced each other that by working together, they could assemble the necessary musical and financial resources from across rural Vermont to create a statewide symphony orchestra. At their center was an inspiring young conductor named Alan Carter, fresh from musical studies in Cologne and Paris, who became the first music director of the Vermont Symphony Orchestra.
While the Orchestra has grown over the years, its basic philosophy and much about its operation have remained the same. The steps taken by a farsighted Vermont legislature of 1939 (to provide $1,000 for a performance at the New York World's Fair), have been followed by subsequent lawmakers, so that today the legislature continues to be a major source of funding. The VSO is the oldest state-supported orchestra in the country.
Since 1999, Jaime Laredo has been Music Director for the VSO. Known worldwide in the multiple roles of violinist, conductor, recitalist and chamber musician, Laredo has performed with orchestras including Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, New York and Philadelphia, and with such conductors as Barenboim, Mehta, Ozawa, Slatkin, and Colin Davis. Laredo makes his home in Guilford, Vt.
For more information, please visit www.okemo.com or call (802) 228-1600.
# # #
Visit okemo.com for more, or call 1-800-78-OKEMO.