Music with Altitude

Presented by the Catskill Mountain Foundation
In Collaboration with Close Encounters With Music

The Catskill High Peaks Festival, in its 3rd year in 2012, will offer an exciting combination of concerts, literary lectures, films and master classes open to the public and led by distinguished faculty with talented young musicians from around the world. Come and immerse yourself in the sounds of music and learn of the intertwined influences of the arts and culture in the beautiful surroundings of the Northern Catskill Mountains. Serving as a backdrop for the High Peaks Festival, these magically beautiful summer landscapes will be a draw for musicians, listeners and culture lovers alike to visit a destination where artists and musicians have gathered for hundreds of years. The festival will take place at multiple venues throughout the scenic and historic New York mountaintop towns of Hunter and Tannersville and Windham.

Artist Biographies
Concert I: Classical Hollywood
Concert II: Fascinatin' Rhythm
Student Residency
Schedule of Events
Film Program
History Hikes in the Catskills
Literary Lecture
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This year's theme is Classical Hollywood, tracing the cross-influences between the concert stage, the Silver Screen, cabaret, and the jazz club and the composers who bridged these worlds. Listen to music you know from films in a classical concert setting. Watch films and listen to the music that carries you along in the emotions of the narrative.

Yehuda Hanani, Artistic Director, has gathered again for this summer an exciting line-up of world-class musicians, who will delight audiences in two concerts. The first will be Classical Hollywood: Cinematic Piano on Sunday August 19th at 2pm and the second will be Fascinatin' Rhythm on Saturday August 25th at 8pm. Festival artists this year include pianists Michael Chertock and Dianna Anderson, violinist Stefan Milenkovich, cellist Erik Anderson, percussionist Arti Dixson, and bassist James Cammack. Each concert will open with a Prelude Performance Showcase, introducing international festival students who are participating in the music residency.

Amala Levine will return again this year to lead a Literary Lecture on "From Berlin to America in Literature, Music and Film," which will complement the summer's theme of art and dislocation. This lecture is scheduled on August 25th.

Concurrent with the performances, Yehuda Hanani and colleagues lead a residency for 24 cellists, violinists and pianists selected from around the world. Daily master classes are open and free to the public. Join them and gain insight into the interaction between master and young artist.

"We are looking forward this summer to ten days of high level performance with seasoned artists as well as young colleagues on the cusp of professional life. Our focus will be Hollywood composers, film music, and jazz. Combined with the extraordinary scenery and mountain air that inspired the Hudson River School of painters -- as well as an engaging symposium on urban and bucolic art -- Catskill High Peaks Festival: Music with Altitude is the perfect culmination to your summer plans. I enthusiastically welcome you this August to the summits of chamber music, informal opportunities to discuss the wonders of music, literature and art, and a chance for encounters, friendship, and inspiration.
 
"As an educational institution, our mission is to infuse students over a relatively short period with love and enthusiasm for their chosen vocation and with an appreciation of past traditions and a spirit of adventure and discovery."
 -- Yehuda Hanani, Artistic Director, Catskill High Peaks Festival

"We are thrilled to again welcome Yehuda Hanani and the talented young artists who come from around the world to study with him and with his faculty colleagues as part of the Catskills High Peaks Festival. We have a full calendar of concerts, literary lectures, films, and master classes and look forward to welcoming you to all of these events."
-- Pam Weisberg, Director of Performing Arts, Catskill Mountain Foundation

For more information, contact Catskill Mountain Foundation at 518-263-2063.