Since 1997, the Cactus Pear Music Festival has been bringing sizzling chamber music during the hottest months here in South Texas—in air conditioning, of course! This summer, the festival's home was the University of the Incarnate Word's Diane Bennack Concert Hall. For this concert, recorded on July 20, a surprising arrangement of Leonard Bernstein's "West Side Story" anchors a program that also features one of Fanny Mendelssohn's best works. Stephanie Sant’Ambrogio, the festival's original artistic director, returns to perform with new Artistic Director Jeffrey Sykes, along with Lachezar Kostov, Christopher Taylor, Peter Flamm and Francis Graeme.
PROGRAM:
- Samuel Coleridge-Taylor: Ballade for cello and piano
- Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel: Piano Trio in D minor
- Kenji Bunch: Concerto for piano trio and percussion
- Leonard Bernstein: Symphonic Dances from West Side Story for two pianos and percussion
