Beethoven-on-Hudson Festival Begins!

Excited to announce that I will serve as co-host and curator of a unique, year-long Beethoven festival based in Nyack, N.Y.  (home of the well-regarded Carnegie Concert Series) but appealing to fans throughout  upstate New York, NYC, New Jersey and Connecticut.

In fact, it is titled "Journeys With Beethoven," after my new book with Kerry Candaele.  It will  include dozens of concerts, film showings, a Marathon at the Mall,  and (we hope) a massive choral sing-out in the park, a rocking Beethoven-palooza, dance, a theater piece, events for (and recitals by) young folks, and much, much more.   I'm assisting Yashar Yaslowitz, who does a great job with the successful Carnegie series.   We're marking the 100th anniversary of the first symphonic recording--naturally, Beethoven's Fifth.

The festival kicks off on Feb. 4 with a free event--the first of monthly get-togethers ("meet-ups with music," we call them)  focused on Beethoven, each one with a discussion, live performances, film excerpts and guests, at Nyack Library.  This first one will be vital, as we solicit ideas from creative artists and others in the community. We even have a Meetup page.

Then a Rivertown screening in Nyack on Feb. 13 of the terrific A Late Quartet, with a panel (including well-known former members of quartets) to follow.   The first two concerts at the library in the festival are March 2 and March 23.  Later: the complete string quartets, Diabelli variations, and Choral Fantasy, all live-streamed nationally and internationally.

And throughout: full public participation, joining in with their own Beethoven music, playing and singing and dancing.   So stay (well) tuned!