MusicIC 2012, Iowa City’s summer classical music festival, returns for a second year with a weeklong series of concerts and other events June 10-16. This year’s festival includes more musicians, a concert and scavenger hunt for families, and an ambitious attempt to theatricalize one of the concerts.
The main events are three concerts featuring more than a dozen musicians, including those from the University of Iowa School of Music, in a variety of ensembles on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights, June 14, 15 and 16. The concerts begin at 7:30 p.m. at locations in downtown Iowa City. Details of the concerts will be announced later.
The festival theme, “Where Literature and Music Meet,” continues a tradition of linking the music with Iowa City’s rich literary tradition. The festival also continues its commitment to young musicians from the Iowa City area who have launched careers in music. Pianist Conor Hanick, double bassist Emmet Hanick and soprano Meagan Brus will all be featured performers. Their parents are Pat and Kevin Hanick and Chris Brus, all of Iowa City.
Here’s a rundown of the week’s events, which are free and open to the public:
• Sunday, June 10, 3:30 p.m., UI Museum of Natural History, Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My! This family concert features music inspired by animals and will be followed by a scavenger hunt in the museum’s exhibits.
• Tuesday, June 12, 7 p.m., University Capitol Centre Recital Hall, a conversation, with musical performances, on the importance of music to writer Marcel Proust and the role of memory in the creative process. Hugh Ferrer, associate director of the UI International Writing Program, will facilitate.
• Wednesday, June 13, 11 a.m., University Capitol Centre Recital Hall, a continuation of Tuesday night’s conversation and performances.
• Thursday, June 14, 7:30 p.m., Trinity Episcopal Church, 320 East College Street, A Schubertiade: Music Inspired by Animals. Martin Andrews, co-founder of Iowa City’s Working Group Theatre, will read from a related literary source before each piece.
• Friday, June 15, 7:30 p.m., Trinity Episcopal Church, Proust’s Musical World. Andrews will read from related literary sources before each piece on this night as well.
• Saturday, June 16, 7:30 p.m. Englert Theater, Pierrot Lunaire: Celebrating the Centennial of the Premiere. This performance will honor the first performance, in Berlin, of Arnold Schoenberg’s piece, which set to music a series of poems. Translations of the poetry will be projected on the stage, and the texts and translations will also be available in the playbill as well as on the MusicIC website.
The other musicians who will perform are Tricia Park, violin; Jay Campbell, cello; James T. Shields, clarinet; Emi Ferguson, flute; Jason Weinberger, conductor; Robin Scott, violin; Maurycy Banaszek, viola; Andrew Janss, cello; Stephen Swanson, baritone; Rene Lecuona, piano; and Lynda Hakken, piano.
MusicIC is supported by the UI Office of Vice President for Research and the UI Division of Performing Arts, which is a unit of the UI College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. Festival partners include the Iowa Summer Writing Festival, Iowa City UNESCO City of Literature, Hancher, the UI Museum of Natural History, Iowa City Summer of the Arts, and West Music Co. Addition support comes from Linn Street Café and Leaf Kitchen.
You can follow MusicIC on Twitter at MusicICiowa.