2019 Season of Amelia Island Chamber Music Festival
The 2019 season of the Amelia Island Chamber Music Festival (www.aicmf.com) promises to be the best in its 18-year history, featuring three superstar headliners: legendary jazz trumpeter Wynton Marsalis and his 15-member Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra on January 25; violin virtuoso Joshua Bell on February 1; and renowned pianist Emanuel Ax on March 22. The 12 performances of the Festival’s 18th season will run from January through April.
The star power of the 2019 season will not stop with the headliners. The upcoming schedule also includes performances by the celebrated Dover Quartet, the Festival\s quartet-in-residence; the acclaimed Miro Quartet; renowned violinist and Festival favorite Anne Akiko Meyers; and award-winning bluegrass band Balsam Range.
Tickets for the headliners and entire 2019 season will go on sale later this fall at www.aicmf.com or by calling 904-261-1779. The 2019 season also will offer two free performances open to the public.
Christopher Rex, the Festival’s artistic and general director, said: “Our 2019 schedule will make our 18th season the most memorable in our long history. Presenting Wynton Marsalis, Joshua Bell and Emanuel Ax in a single season clearly reflects our status as one of the nation’s premier festivals. But the addition of such internationally acclaimed stars as the Dover Quartet and Anne Akiko Meyers surely makes the Amelia Island Chamber Music Festival the envy of other classical music events around the country. So we invite you to take part in what will be our greatest season yet.”
Highlights of the Festival’s 2019 season include:
Miró Quartet with Romie de Guise-Langlois: January 19
The critically acclaimed Miró Quartet has won first prizes at major national and international competitions, including the Banff International String Quartet Competition and the Naumburg Chamber Music Competition. In 2005, the Miró Quartet became the first ensemble ever to be awarded the coveted Avery Fisher Career Grant. Praised as “extraordinary” by The New York Times, clarinetist Romie de Guise-Langlois has appeared as soloist and chamber musician on major concert stages throughout the world.
Wynton Marsalis and his Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra: January 25
Wynton Marsalis, the managing and artistic director of Jazz at Lincoln Center, has long been a world-renowned trumpeter and composer. Born in New Orleans, he began his classical training on trumpet at age 12, entered The Juilliard School at age 17 and then played with jazz legend Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers. He made his recording debut in 1982 and has since recorded more than 60 jazz and classical albums, nine of which have won Grammy Awards. He is the first and only artist to win both classical and jazz Grammys in the same year, not once but twice. Mr. Marsalis will perform with his celebrated15-member Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra.
Joshua Bell: February 1
With a career spanning more than 30 years as a soloist, chamber musician, recording artist and conductor, Joshua Bell is one of the most celebrated violinists of this era. His more than 40 CDs have won Grammy, Mercury, Gramophone and Echo Klassik awards. He also is the recipient of the prestigious Avery Fisher Prize. Mr. Bell was named music director of the renowned Academy of St. Martin in the Fields chamber orchestra in 2011.
Dover Quartet: February 24, April 6
Catapulted to prominence after sweeping the 2013 Banff International String Quartet Competition, the Dover Quartet has become a major presence on the international scene. Called “the young American string quartet of the moment” by the New Yorker, the Dover was named Cleveland Quartet Award winner for the 2016–17 and 2017–18 seasons and was awarded the Avery Fisher Career Grant in March 2017. Members of the Dover will mentor promising young musicians from the Jacksonville area at a free master class on February 23.
Balsam Range: March 3
Coming from the mountains of western North Carolina, Balsam Range is one of the bluegrass world’s most award-winning groups. Garnering 10 International Bluegrass Music Association Awards on the heels of six critically acclaimed albums, the group also was named 2014 Entertainer of the Year and 2014 Vocal Group of the Year. Balsam Range has headlined major festivals from coast to coast and appeared many times at the Grand Ole Opry.
Emanuel Ax: March 22
Recognized as one of the greatest pianists of his generation, Emanuel Ax is winner of the Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Competition and Avery Fisher Prize. He has received Grammy awards for the second and third volumes of his cycle of Haydn’s piano sonatas. Mr. Ax has also made a series of Grammy-winning recordings with cellist Yo-Yo Ma of the Beethoven and Brahms sonatas for cello and piano. Deeply committed to chamber music, he has worked with Mr. Ma, Edgar Meyer, Peter Serkin, Jaime Laredo and the late Isaac Stern.
Anne Akiko Meyers with Jason Vieaux: April 26, Closing Gala
Anne Akiko Meyers is one of the most in-demand violinists in the world. Regularly performing as guest soloist with the world’s premier orchestras, she presents critically acclaimed recitals and is a best-selling recording artist with 36 albums. Grammy-winner Jason Vieaux, ranks “among the elite of today’s classical guitarists” (Gramophone). His most recent solo album, Play, won the 2015 Grammy Award for Best Classical Instrumental Solo.
Visitors to Amelia Island will receive a 50% discount on all Festival tickets by presenting a valid confirmation number from any lodging establishment on the island. Subject to availability, student tickets for all concerts are available 30 minutes prior to the performance for $10 with a valid student ID and proof of age under 25. Tickets also are available through the Student/Teacher/ Parent Complimentary Ticket Program. If a concert is not sold out a week before the performance date, up to four complimentary tickets are available for a music student, the teacher and parents. All of these discounts, which cannot be combined, are available through the Festival office at 904-261-1779.
To get a colorful taste of the Festival and learn up-to-the-minute news, be sure to visit us on Facebook and at www.aicmf.com.
About the AICMF
Entering its 18th season, the Amelia Island Chamber Music Festival is one of the nation’s most renowned music festivals. The Festival is a not-for-profit, tax-exempt organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.
