MENLO PARK, Calif. – With renewed support from the Hewlett Foundation, Silicon Valley’s first world-class chamber music festival, Music@Menlo, finished its second season to standing ovations and sold-out crowds.
Music@Menlo is an annual chamber music festival that presents a comprehensive music program including a concert series at two venues (Menlo School in Atherton and St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Palo Alto), master classes, lectures, young performers concerts, workshops, symposia, an open-house for amateur players, and extensive print and electronic educational materials.
Serious consideration is given to the audience. Encounters, a series hosted by nationally known music authorities, gives participants a chance to peer inside a composer’s world, examining the origin and essence of the musical styles featured in the festival. For its second season, Music@Menlo instituted exciting innovations. Café conversations, informal discussions and presentations focusing on topics related to arts and music were modeled on the tradition of Europe’s great coffeehouses – a place to combine stimulating discussion with a stimulating beverage. Festival patrons also were automatically mailed an AudioNotes CD upon purchase of a ticket. The CD offers program notes to each concert, allowing patrons ample time to prepare prior to the performance.
Programming for the highly successful 2004 festival took listeners through five great musical cultures, ranging from Italy to Russia.
Click here for more information about Music@Menlo.
Click here for more information about the Hewlett Foundation’s Performing Arts Program.