Jamaica’s Celebrated Concert Pianist Orrett Rhoden to Host 2nd Annual International Music Festival of Jamaica
KINGSTON, Jamaica – Recognized as the only classical music festival in the English-speaking Caribbean, the second staging of the Orrett Rhoden International Music Festival will feature a number of acclaimed local and international musicians during a series of concerts in Kingston and Westmoreland, beginning Sunday, November 24.
Annual festival performances will not only take place in Jamaica, but will also tour the home country of the featured composer for that year, followed by a gala concert at Carnegie Hall in New York City in summer 2014. Following is a lineup of events:
· November 24th (7:00 p.m. EST) – Held at the University of the West Indies (UWI) Chapel in Mona, Kingston the concert will feature concert pianists Greek-American “Beethoven High Priest”, Louis Orphanos; Swedish concert pianist Oskar Ekberg; Canadian concert violinist Preston Hawes and Orrett Rhoden. A few featured composers include Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky and Sergei Rachmaninoff from Russia; as well as Johan Helmich Roman and Elfrida Andree from Sweden.
November 26th (12:30 p.m. EST) – Lunch hour concert at the Mountambrin Theatre Gallery in Caledonia District, Westmoreland featuring a few composers including Alexander Scriabin and Dimitri Shostakovich from Russia; Yannis Constantinidis from Greece and Olivier Messiaen from France. Also included are concert favorites by J.S. Bach, Franz Schubert, Ludwig van Beethoven, and Frederic Chopin and a special performance of Canadian composer Dr. Virginia-Gene Rittenhouse’s Jamaican Suite for Violin and Piano.
· November 27th (12:30 p.m. EST) – The final lunch hour concert at the Mountambrin Theatre Gallery. The famed trio DEORO led by the great American cellist Dave Eggar Jamaican concert pianist, Paul Shaw; as well as the celebrated member of Third World band, Stephen “Cat” Coore (on cello and guitar) will make their first guest appearance.
· December 1st (6:00 p.m. EST) – Held at the University of the West Indies (UWI) Chapel in Mona, Kingston the concert will feature two young and upcoming Jamaican artists Soprano Filicia Morrison-Williams and songwriter/tenor, Marcel Rhoden, who will premier his first classical reggae composition for voice and grand piano. The Akwaaba Drummers of Jamaica will also make their festival debut.
Season tickets are US$50 (US$30 for students with I.D.); and US$30 (US$20 for students with I.D.) for single event tickets. Tickets are available at the concert venues; The Music Mart (8 South Avenue, Kingston 10); and at Vista Eye Clinic (120 Great Georges Street, Savanna-la-mar, Westmoreland). The next season of the festival, March 2014, will feature the world premiere of the 7th Symphony by Primous Fountain.
Concerts on November 24th (7:00 p.m. EST) and December 1st (6:00p.m. EST) will be live streamed on www.orrettrhoden.com. For more information on the line up of performers for the Orrett Rhoden International Music Festival, please visit www.orrettrhoden.com or email [email protected]
