Music at Penn’s Woods is a unique summer music festival in the central Pennsylvania region. Showcasing the talents of outstanding community musicians and Penn State faculty, alumni, and students, the festival presents superior musical performances of the great works from the chamber music and orchestral repertories.
Tickets are now on sale for the 2013 season - four fantastic nights of wonderful music in Esber Recital Hall! Select your seats in advance by visiting the Eisenhower Auditorium box office or the Downtown Theatre Center. You may also purchase tickets online by clicking here or by calling the Eisenhower Auditorium ticket center at 1-800-ARTS-TIX (extra handling fees apply). Tickets are available at the door one hour prior to the performance. Please arrive early.
Full festival season: $75.00 adult/$38.00 student
Single Saturday concerts (June 22, June 29): $28.00 adult/$15.00 student
Single Wednesday concerts (June 19, June 26): $18.00 adult/$8.00 student
Enjoy a family night! With the purchase of one Wednesday adult ticket at $18.00, all students 18 and under are just $2.00 (no limit).
Festival Concert Programs
June 19, 7:30 p.m.
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Quintette en forme de choros; Heitor Villa-Lobos
Naomi Seidmann, flute; Timothy Hurtz, oboe; Robyn Dixon Costa, english horn; Anthony Costa, clarinet; Daryl Durran, bassoon
Quintet for Piano and Winds, Op. 16; Ludwig van Beethoven
Timothy Shafer, piano; Timothy Hurtz, oboe; Anthony Costa, clarinet; Lisa O. Bontrager, horn; Daryl Durran, bassoon
Sonata for Flute, Viola and Harp; Claude Debussy
Naomi Seidman, flute; Timothy Deighton, viola; Anne Sullivan, harp
Before the Storm; Jake Heggie
Suzanne Loerch, mezzo-soprano; Stephen Feldman, cello; Ann Deighton, piano
Caprice No. 24 in A Minor; Niccolo Paganini
“Summertime” from Porgy and Bess; George Gershwin
Mark Minnich, violin; Sally Minnich, violin
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Flamingo; Michael Daugherty
Double Concerto in A Minor, Op. 102; Johannes Brahms (featuring violinist Clara Lyon and cellist Elizabeth Lyon)
Orchestral Suite No. 1 in D Minor, Op. 43; Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Gerardo Edelstein, conductor
June 26, 7:30 p.m.
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Concert Piece No. 2 in D Minor, Op. 114; Felix Mendelssohn
Janice Minor, clarinet; Anthony Costa, bass clarinet; Ann Deighton, piano
Horn Trio in E-flat Major, Op. 40; Johannes Brahms
James Lyon, violin; Matthew Patton, horn; Svetlana Rodionova, piano
Sextet in A Major, Op. 48 (B. 80); Antonín Dvořák
Joanne Feldman, violin; Debbie Trudeau, vioin; Melinda Daetsch, viola; Nicola Hicks, viola; Kim Cook, cello; Jonathan Dexter, cello
June 29, 7:30 p.m.
Music in the Gardens: Healing the Soul
Thursday, June 6, 6:00 p.m.-dusk
The Penn State Arboretum
E. Park Ave, State College, PA 16803
See map: Google Maps"How sweet the moonlight sleeps upon this bank! Here will we sit and let the sounds of music creep in our ears: soft stillness and the night become the touches of sweet harmony."*
Partnering with Mount Nittany Health and The Arboretum at Penn State, Music at Penn's Woods presents an evening of music performed outdoors within the garden rooms of the H.O. Smith Botanic Gardens at The Arboretum at Penn State.
Begin your exploration of nature's healing force at 6:00 p.m. by wandering the garden pathways, drinking in the heady aromas of the summer rose garden, and sitting in quiet meditation pondering the Joel N. Myers Sundial. At 7:00 p.m., listen to a solo violin singing in the Esplanade, wood flute echoing from the Bamboo Alleé, and a plaintive cello nestling under the Hosler Oak. 
The music continues as you walk the garden paths and lose yourself in the serenity of the visual and aural beauty surrounding you.
At 8:00 p.m., meet friends back in the Overlook Pavilion for light refreshments, remarks by Maestro Gerardo Edelstein, and a short performance by the members of the Pennsylvania Quintet, and Allegría Ensemble while contemplating the dusky fields bordered by historic Hartley Wood.
Let the magic of the music performed by members of the Music at Penn's Woods Festival Orchestra, joined with the visual beauty of the Arboretum's magnificent gardens, both heal and restore your soul.
The public is welcome. If inclement weather causes cancelation, the event will occur June 12.
*from Serenade to Music by Ralph Vaughan Williams; extracted from The Merchant of Venice,Act V, Scene I by William Shakespeare
Meet the Music Director
A native of Argentina, Gerardo Edelstein has conducted orchestras and choirs in Europe, South America, Asia and the United States.
Prior to his arrival in Pennsylvania, Maestro Edelstein served as associate conductor of the Richmond Symphony (VA), conducting a variety of performances including several subscription series. Under his leadership, the symphony won first prize in 2000 for innovative music programming, awarded by the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP).
Edelstein has conducted the Israel Sinfonietta and the Israel Kibbutz Orchestra in Israel, the Bohuslav Martinu Philharmonic in the Czech Republic, the Kharkov Philharmonic in the Ukraine, the Tucuman Symphony Orchestra, the Orquesta Sinfonica de la Universidad Nacional de Cuyo in Argentina, the Houston Chamber Orchestra, the Houston Ballet, the San Antonio Metropolitan Ballet, the Pennsylvania Chamber Chorale and Orchestra, and the Kalamazoo, Williamsport and San Antonio Symphonies in the United States. In summer 2004, Maestro Edelstein was invited to guest conduct in the first international orchestra festival in Dublin, Ireland.
Edelstein graduated with high honors from the National Conservatory of Music in Buenos Aires in piano, and from the J. J. Castro Conservatory of La Lucila in choral conducting. He continued his education in Israel at the Jerusalem Rubin Academy of Music, where he won the Leonard Bernstein Conducting Scholarship awarded by the American/Israel Cultural Foundation. In the United States, Maestro Edelstein received a master’s degree in orchestral conducting from Rice University. His teachers include Mendi Rodan, Helmuth Rilling and Larry Rachleff, among others.
Make A Gift to Music at Penn's Woods
Thanks to you, it is working!
The festival was restarted with a commitment of support from a small group of enthusiasts in the community and has blossomed into a successful two-week event, now entering its fourth year. The fact that we started during the worst economic downturn in recent times and in three short years became self-supporting is a tribute to you – our donors and volunteers. Your annual gifts and ticket sales, along with business promotions and the work of many dedicated volunteers, have put the festival on a solid foundation. We could not exist without your support.
Click here to see how you can help!
The Principal Circle
The Principal Circle is a dedicated group of 17 festival enthusiasts whose contributions are applied to the Festival Orchestra’s principal chairs. Your tax-deductible gift of $1,000 will sustain the high quality of these important roles for the 2013 festival. Join the circle today!
If you are interested in sponsoring one of our wonderful musicians, contact:
Sue Haug, director of the School of Music
232 Music Building I
University Park, PA 16802
814-863-4421
Music at Boal Mansion
Paris Salon Tradition Comes to Life
May 11, 2013; 7:00 p.m.
Boal Mansion, 163 Boal Estate Drive, Boalsburg, Pennsylvania
Tickets: $75 per person, benefiting the Boal Mansion and Music at Penn’s Woods. For reservations, call 814-466-6210 or email Boal Mansion Museum.
Faculty members from the School of Music and Music at Penn's Woods participants will perform a chamber music concert in the intimate acoustic of the beautiful Boal Mansion. The program features compositions by Bach, Beethoven, and Bruch as well as lighter music featuring the newest members of our musical community, flutist Naomi Seidman and her husband, cellist Jonathan Dexter. Soprano Jennifer Trost, pianist Sue Haug, and cellist Kim Cook will collaborate, performing Scarlatti cantatas for voice, keyboard, and cello, and solo music for violin and viola will be performed by James Lyon and Timothy Deighton.
The Boal Mansion ambience is reminiscent of the great houses of Europe at the time of Beethoven. Guests will sip champagne and taste abundant fine food from sixteen regional restaurants, and then be treated to a concert. This is a wonderful opportunity to see and hear music "up close and personal," and to chat with the performers about the music they are performing in an intimate evening of fine food and great music.
For more information regarding the beautiful and historic Boal Mansion, click here.
Dine at Harrison's, April 22-28
Music at Penn's Woods and Harrison's Wine Grill have joined for a delicious fundraiser! Dine at Harrison's between Monda
y, April 22 and Sunday, April 28, and 20% of the bill before taxes and gratuity will directly benefit Music at Penn's Woods. Present the flyer found by clicking here, or simply mention your support of Music at Penn's Woods when you enjoy breakfast, lunch, or dinner. There is no limit to the number of times you can participate, dine-in, or carry out (excluding deliveries).
Harrison's is located on East College Avenue in State College within the Hilton Garden Inn.