Mozart is coming!

JEFFERSONVILLE, N.Y. - This just in - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is coming in person to meet & greet visitors in Jeffersonville on July 9. The opening day of the Weekend of Chamber Music Summer Festival 2006 kicks off with a town-wide 250th birthday celebration for the beloved composer. There will be a free all-Mozart concert at 2 p.m., and other events are planned by local shops and the Jeffersonville Chamber of Commerce. The festival continues with nine events through July 22. The composer is coming to hear three of his compositions for wind instruments “played in the great outdoors … just the way we did it back when I was a lad,” he said. Mozart will interact with the crowd and pass out treats for the children at the first of nine events during the festival, In the Company of Mozart.. “It isn’t often one gets to celebrate being 250,” said the composer, “and what better way to do it than with a group of superb musicians who are playing my tunes!” A popular pastime in Mozart’s era, outdoor concerts were on his mind when he scored the Serenade in C minor for wind octet with 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 horns and 2 bassoons. The result emits a blend of instrumental resonance that will be heard all along Main Street. The musicians will set up on the grassy area next to the Presbyterian Church on the south side of Main Street (4907 State Route 52) at 2 p.m., and people are welcome to bring blankets and lawn chairs. Two of the master’s Divertimenti, one for wind sextet and one for wind trio, are also on the program. New York Philharmonic veteran bassoonist Leonard Hindell joins Weekend of Chamber Music’s summer lineup for the first time at this event. He has also been working with the Weekend of Chamber Music artists in the Monticello High School coaching project this year. Other newcomers to Weekend of Chamber Music’s summer programs are oboist Adrienne Foutz, clarinetist Anna Maria Baeza, hornist Adam Schommer and bassoonist Shotaro Mori. Three Weekend of Chamber Music audience favorites from past seasons, clarinetist Allen Blustine, oboist Matt Sullivan, and hornist Ann Ellsworth, will also perform. Visit Weekend of Chamber Music’s Web site at Weekend of Chamber MusicConcerts.org for complete details of all Summer Festival 2006 events from July 9 to 22. Information is also available at 845-932-8527.