Bear Valley Music Festival

08/23/2024

Who else is still thinking about summer of 2023 and the incredible experience of hearing Arjun Verma perform the Ravi Shankar Symphony for sitar and orchestra? Well, there's good news. Plan a trip to Oklahoma City in February and you can hear it again. Our friends at the Oklahoma City Philharmonic know how to present music, and it's a fabulous city to visit as well.

Symphonies East & West Sat. February 22, 2025 – 8:00 PM Civic Center Music Hall BUY TICKETS SUBSCRIBE AND SAVE! Create-Your-Own Season! Concert Details Alexander Mickelthwate, conductorArjun Verma, sitar SHANKAR: Symphony COPLAND: Symphony No. 3 Run Time: Approx. 120 minutes including 15 minute in...

08/08/2024

What a season! We danced, we sang, we laughed, we cried... we felt all the feels. Thank you to our staff led by Priscilla Call Essert, our musicians led by Alexander Mickelthwate, our many dedicated volunteers, our incredible soloists including Scott Moughton, Ryan Murray, conductor, Amos Yang, Marat Gabdullin, Charles Spruill, Bella Hristova, the Sonora Community Choir, Susan Rudolph, Carrie Hennessey, Soprano, and Salvatore Atti. And most of all - thank YOU for the support and enthusiasm. See you next year - July 18th to August 3rd, 2025.
Photo credit: the amazingly talented Ken Iisaka

08/08/2024

We're already missing this gang. What a great staff that supported Alexander Mickelthwate through the whole festival (sometimes quite literally). Mark your calendar for next year's festival which is July 18th-August 3rd.

08/02/2024

Here's what the New York Times said about tonight's soloist, Bella Hristova "She brought accomplished technique, penetrating sound and probing musicianship to Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No. 2 in G minor…it was clear that we were hearing an artist in command of what she was doing." She's also a delightful human being who we've enjoyed having in Bear Valley the last few days.

Join us for the "Blockbuster Classical" concert tonight at 7pm. What better way to spend a Friday night in the mountains? Tickets available on our website or at the door.
https://www.bearvalleymusicfestival.org/events/blockbuster
Calaveras County Visitors Bureau, California
Bear Valley Resort

Blockbuster Classical

08/01/2024

Here's a little behind the scenes peek at Maestro Mickelthwate working with internationally renowned violinist Bella Hristova in preparation for Friday's Blockbuster concert. Prokofiev's 2nd violin concerto is virtuosic, and it will be paired with Shostakovich’s powerful Symphony No. 5. It doesn't get much more blockbuster than that! Tickets online or at the door. bearvalleymusic.org

08/01/2024

On Sunday afternoon at 2pm we conclude this summer's festival with an afternoon of music inspired by Andrea Bocelli. Carrie Hennessey, Soprano and tenor Salvatore Atti will join the orchestra for favorite selections from Bocelli’s repertoire, including works by Verdi, Puccini, and Schubert, and modern pieces like “Never Enough” from “The Greatest Showman”, "Here Comes the Sun" and “Moon River.” Come early to enjoy lunch in our picnic area pre-concert and do one last browse through the Arts of Bear Valley show. You can get concert tickets on our website or at the door.

Romantic Voices

07/30/2024

Thursday night's concert is a musical journey from Maestro Alexander Mickelthwate's year-around home in Oklahoma to his summer home here in the High Sierra. He'll start with the musical Oklahoma!, journey along Route 66 with pieces by Michael Daugherty, John Adams and Phillip Glass, and end with a movement from the Dead Symphony No. 6 - a tribute to the Grateful Dead. Only Alexander could pull this off, and you know he will. You will not want to miss it. Tickets online or at the door.
https://www.bearvalleymusicfestival.org/events/from-oklahoma-to-california

Oklahoma City Philharmonic
Bear Valley Resort
Calaveras County Visitors Bureau, California

From Oklahoma to California

07/29/2024

We're entering the final week of the music festival. It's been wildly entertaining so far. Here's Maestro Mickelthwate to tell you what's in store for our final week. Tickets are available at the door or on our website. bearvalleymusic.org

07/29/2024

Chamber music is called "The music of friends" because of its intimate nature. Join us in the tent on Wednesday at 7pm for our Candlelight Chamber Concert. The tent will be magical with the glow of candles and our orchestra musicians in small groups performing music they've specially chosen for you.

Candlelight Chamber

07/29/2024

The secret is out. We have something truly special in Bear Valley that you simply can't experience anywhere else. San Francisco Classical Voice has captured it beautifully in this article.

Our festival is entering the last week for the season with Candlelight Chamber on Wednesday, a concert themed around Alexander Mickelthwate's journey from Oklahoma to California on Thursday, and a Blockbuster Classical concert with Bella Hristova performing Prokofiev on Friday. We conclude with the gorgeous voices of Carrie Hennessey, Soprano and Salvatore Atti on Sunday afternoon.

Oklahoma City Philharmonic

Where can you hear music by Chickasaw composer Jerod Impichchaachaaha Tate, with narration by Sacramento resident and Yaqui Tribe member Susan Randolph, part of a themed evening called "Our Earth, Our Stars, and Beyond," and even a piece inspired by the Hubble telescope? At the Bear Valley Music Festival, with conductor Alexander Mickelthwate at the helm.

Mickelthwate himself is one of the draws of the festival, as Executive Director Priscilla Call Essert describes audiences enraptured by his storytelling from the podium.

Learn more about his unique connection to Bear Valley and what to anticipate at this year's festival.
https://www.sfcv.org/articles/preview/panoramic-music-festival-high-sierra

07/28/2024

Today's concert starts at 2pm and is free for youth under 17. You'll hear music from Mozart and his "rivals" with Maestro Mickelthwate telling their stories from the stage. It's music for people of all ages. Bear Valley Resort will be there serving lunch pre-concert and Arts of Bear Valley is leading art activities starting at 12:30pm. Tickets for the concert are available at the door or online.

Mozart’s Rivals

07/27/2024

Tonight at 7pm- we've got a choir singing Faure's requiem after we get a rendition of Stairway to Heaven with the orchestra and a Native American piece to start off the night. It'll be spectacular.

Tomorrow at 2pm - the concert focuses on the composers of Mozart's era. Tickets are FREE for youth 17 and under. Here's Alexander Mickelthwate to tell you more about it.

Tickets for all concerts available at bearvalleymusic.org or at the door.

07/26/2024

The dress rehearsal with bagpiper Ryan Murray, conductor brought a certain Facebook poster to tears, and she wasn't the only one. It was a wildly unexpected reaction. Then the Elgar Cello Concerto (which you'd know from the movie Tár), and wow... It'll be an emotional night tonight. Tickets at the door or on our website.

Bagpipes in the Highlands

07/26/2024

Thank you for your partnership, Arts of Bear Valley. Don't miss their beautiful art show right across from the festival tent. It's open to everyone whether you're coming to a concert or not.