FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: LuAnn Bielawa, Director of Operations
luann.bielawa@maverickconcerts.org
845-594-6518

MAVERICK CONCERTS RETURNS IN 2022
WITH FULL SUMMER SCHEDULE OF MUSIC IN THE WOODS

Woodstock, NY – April 19, 2022     Maverick Concerts, returns this summer with a full schedule of world class Classical, Jazz, Contemporary and family concerts beginning on July 2 and running through September 11. A national historic treasure nestled in the woods near Woodstock, NY, the Maverick Concert Hall presents concerts on Saturday evenings and Sunday afternoons, including three Maverick Family Concerts on Saturday mornings.

Freedom and Joy: Duke Ellington, Joseph Haydn and Voices of Color in American Music will be the cornerstone of the 106th season of the Maverick Concerts. This special mini-series is supported by a grant from the National Endowment of the Arts. The music of composers Joseph Haydn, “The Father of the String Quartet”, and Duke Ellington, a superstar of American jazz, serve as inspiration for Maverick’s 106th season of legendary Classical, Jazz, and Contemporary music. Haydn and Ellington’s infectious charm will cast its spell throughout the Maverick’s eleven weekends of “Music in the Woods.”

The Maverick 2022 season begins on Saturday evening July 2, with a special 50th Birthday bash in celebration of the acclaimed NEXUS Ensemble, led by Woodstock legend Garry Kvistad featuring special guests, Paul Winter and Brazilian pianist, Henrique Eisenmann. Opening festivities continue Sunday July 3 with an 85th birthday nod to American music living legend Philip Glass — along with classics of Beethoven and Bach – by two of the most exciting stars in classical music today, pianist Simone Dinnerstein and violinist Tim Fain.

Jazz, contemporary and world music hold a special place on Saturday nights at Maverick Concerts. Woodstock legends share the stage with talents from all over the musical world. Woodstock favorite Simi Stone makes her Maverick solo debut on July 16; Woodstock’s luminary of folk music, Happy Traum, returns on July 23, with Cindy Cashdollar, David Mansfield, and Zach Djanikian. Masters of Palestinian music, Oud virtuoso Simon Shaheen and Trio, make their debut at the Maverick on July 30, and Christian Sands — one of the finest young pianists in American jazz today — returns to the Maverick with his trio in a program celebrating the genius of Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn (August 6).

Continuing the eclectic Maverick spirit, Steve Gorn, Woodstock’s own master of Indian classical music, returns for another splendid evening of Indian Ragas with friends from the Subcontinent on August 13; and barnstorming New York pianist Anthony de Mare, long famous for his explorations into the music of Stephen Sondheim, makes his long-overdue Maverick debut in a special program in memory of this master of American song (August 20). Maverick favorites the Bill Charlap Trio, known the world over for their innovative take on Jazz traditions, return to the Hall on September 3, and Jerome Jennings — Director of the Jazz orchestra at Juilliard, and one of the greatest drummers in Jazz today — returns to the Maverick leading his own ensemble in a grand finale of the Saturday series, in tribute to Duke Ellington (September 10).

Sunday afternoons of Classical music have been the foundation of the Maverick Concerts since the very first Festival in 1915, and that tradition continues — in particular, the Maverick’s tradition of presenting the finest string quartets in the world in programs in which vital new works from a diverse range of American voices engage in conversation with repertoire from the great masters. The awesome string quartets of Joseph Haydn, who literally invented the genre in the 18th century, serve as the bedrock of this summer’s unique programming.

July 10th sees the return of the Escher String Quartet, from the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, in a montage of Haydn, Tchaikovsky and Russell Platt; and July 17 will mark the return by popular demand of Israeli pianist Daniel Gortler, in classics of Schubert and Grieg at the Maverick’s Yamaha C7 grand piano, made possible by a generous gift from Yamaha Corporation of America.

July 24 brings the return from Paris of the distinguished Quatuor Danel, in a program especially suited for our times — Beethoven, and the two great quartet masters of Russian music: the Quartet No.13 of Dmitri Shostakovich, and the two string quartets based on Ukrainian themes by Tchaikovsky. And the very next Sunday sees the return of the hottest string quartet in America today, the Miro Quartet, in masterworks by Haydn, Ravel and Philip Glass, in tribute to his 85th birthday (July 31).

August 7 marks the return of one of North America’s finest piano trios, the Horszowski Trio, in favorites by Schumann and Mendelssohn, as well as two more recent gems by the young New York-based Chinese American composer Wang Jie; and August 21 will feature another Maverick perennial, the Borromeo String Quartet from Boston, in classics by Haydn, Beethoven, and the British-Jamaican contemporary star Eleanor Alberga. 

Music Director Alexander Platt’s innovative flair for programming in which great canonic repertory is blended into contemporary realities, is in full force at the Maverick Concerts in August and September. On Sunday August 14, the Harlem String Quartet, joined by two of the finest African American classical artists today — pianist Terrence Wilson and flutist Brandon George — combine forces to pay tribute to some of the great “survivor” spirits of musical history: Duke Ellington, Joseph Haydn, and the Black composer William Grant-Still, whose music, forty years after his death, is only beginning to receive its due. And on the Sunday afternoon of Labor Day weekend (September 4), the trend-setting Catalyst Quartet, famous for their celebrations of overlooked artists of color, combine with the brilliant young baritone Dashon Burton for Haydn’s “Sunrise” Quartet, Samuel Barber’s Dover Beach, and the newly discovered String Quartet in A Minor of Florence Price.

Surviving, as fate would have it, is also the theme of the annual Maverick Chamber Orchestra concert on Saturday night August 27, with Alexander Platt conducting the Caroga Arts Ensemble. Fresh from his concerto appearance with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Belarus emigre Yevgeny Kutik makes his Maverick debut in a special concerto version of the Dmitri Shostakovich 1968 Violin Sonata, as made famous in recent years by Gidon Kremer. Following the beloved Adagietto from Mahler’s Symphony No.5, the evening will close with the thrilling Concerto Grosso No.1 of the great Jewish-American composer of the early 20th century, Ernest Bloch.

Finally, just as the COVID crisis knocked out the long-planned 250th birthday celebrations of Ludwig van Beethoven, so have the convulsions of 2022 nearly obliterated any notice of the bicentennial of the birth of one of the very greatest composers of the 19th century: the Belgian organist and composer Cesar Franck, who was one of the great musical voices of the golden age of Paris, until his untimely death in 1890. Three unique, bespoke programs will mark this milestone for one of the great composers of the Romantic era, whose Piano Quintet has long been a mainstay of the chamber music repertoire.

On Sunday August 28, another of the great Maverick “perennials”, the Amernet String Quartet from Miami, bring their fiery, old-world style to an afternoon celebrating Beethoven’s legacy in Paris, followed by two neglected masterworks of the French late-Romantic canon: the Quartet in D Major of Franck, and the totally obscure E Minor String Quartet of his famous rival, the composer of The Carnival of the Animals, Camille Saint-Saens. And in the revival of an old Maverick tradition, the 6:30 pm Postlude concert, the KASA String Quartet and pianist Mei-Hsuan Huang will make their Maverick debuts in the world premiere of the Piano Quintet of Franck’s devoted disciple Ernest Chausson, as arranged by Alexander Platt for the occasion.

The ultimate musical monument to the spirit of Cesar Franck will be erected on the final Maverick concert of the season: Sunday afternoon September 11, when the brilliant young Tashkent-born pianist Roman Rabinovich, now a resident of Canada, will make his Woodstock debut in a unique procession of the four masterworks of Franck for solo piano. Two of them, the Prelude, Fugue and Variation and the Prelude, Chorale and Fugue, have long been famous; but the afternoon, and Maverick’s 2022 season will close with what Alexander Platt has termed “the ultimate rarity”: the Sonata for Violin and Piano of Cesar Franck — the most often-played violin sonata in the world — in its incredible transcription as a sonata solely for piano, by the legendary pianist Alfred Cortot.

The Maverick Concert Hall is located at 120 Maverick Road, Woodstock, NY. Reserved seating and general admission tickets for all concerts are available online at: www.maverickconcerts.org. Maverick Family Concerts, Saturday afternoons on August 6, 13 and September 3 are free for ages 16 and under, and $5 for adults. Maverick’s traditional “Rock Bottom” section under the trees is by donation at the box office.

###

About Maverick Concerts

Maverick Concerts, the oldest continuous summer chamber music festival in America, is set amid the serene Catskill woodland just outside Woodstock, NY. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the uniquely charming rustic hall, with its superb acoustics, provides an ideal venue for an intimate encounter with chamber music. Maverick presents concerts by internationally renowned classical, jazz, and contemporary music ensembles from late June to early September. Maverick Concerts sustains the vision of its founder, Hervey White, who built the historic concert hall in 1916 and opened his land and hospitality to artists, musicians, the community. Concerts are on Saturday evenings and Sunday afternoons, with four Maverick Family Concerts on Saturday mornings.

Maverick Concerts 2022 Schedule – Performers:

Sat. July 2: NEXUS Percussion
nexuspercussion.com
paulwinter.com
henriqueeisenmann.com

Sunday, July 3: Simone Dinnerstein and Tim Fain
simonedinnerstein.com
timfain.com

Sunday, July 10: Escher String Quartet
escherquartet.com

Saturday, July 16: Simi Stone & Friends
simistone.net

Sunday, July 17: Daniel Gortler
danielgortler.com

Saturday, July 23: Happy Traum and Friends featuring Cindy Cashdollar
happytraum.com
Cindy Cashdollar, Dobro and Steel Guitar

Sunday, July 24: Quatuor Danel
quatuordanel.eu

Saturday, July 30: Simon Shaheen Trio
https://www.facebook.com/SimonShaheenOfficial

Sunday, July 31: Miro Quartet
miroquartet.com

Saturday, August 6 – 11 am – 12: Christian Sands/Maverick Family Concert
christiansandsjazz.com

Saturday, August 6: Christian Sands Trio
christiansandsjazz.com

Sunday, August 7:  Horszowski Trio
horszowskitrio.com

Saturday, August 13 – 11am – 12: Terrence Wilson/Maverick Family Concert
terrencewilsonpiano.com

Saturday, August 13: Steve Gorn and Friends
stevegorn.com

Sunday, August 14: Harlem Quartet with Brandon Patrick and Terrence Wilson
harlemquartet.com
brandonpatrickgeorge.com
terrencewilsonpiano.com

Saturday, August 20: Anthony de Mare
Anthony de Mare | Pianist

Sunday, August 21: Borromeo Quartet
borromeoquartet.org

Saturday, August 28: Annual Chamber Orchestra Concert w/Caroga Arts Ensemble
Alexander Platt, Conductor

Sunday, August 29: Amernet Quartet; Kasa Quartet
amernetquartet.com
kasaquartet.com

Saturday, September 5 – 11:00 am – 12: Catalyst Quartet/Maverick Family Concert
catalystquartet.com

Saturday, September 5: Bill Charlap Trio
billcharlap.com

Sunday, September 6: Catalyst Quartet with Dashon Burton
catalystquartet.com
dashonburton.com

Saturday, September 10: Jerome Jennings with Laurin Talese
jeromejennings.com
laurintalese.com

Sunday, September 11: Roman Rabinovich
romanrabinovich.net