The Stillwater Music Festival

ABOUT THE FESTIVAL

STILLWATER MUSIC FESTIVAL

June 20 - June 26

Critically Acclaimed String Quartet BROOKLYN RIDER Plans an All-Scandinavian Concert to Celebrate Minnesota’s 150th Anniversary!

The Stillwater Music Festival is thrilled to announce its third season featuring two magnificent singers Christina Courtin and Heather Johnson, whose vocal talents encompass operatic, jazz and pop worlds. Each will collaborate with the New York-based string quartet Brooklyn Rider for a celebration of vocal chamber music.

This year’s festival will be anchored by two main concerts at the Washington County Historic Courthouse on Friday June 20th and Thursday June 26th. In addition, there will be a pre-concert performance at the Daily Grind coffee shop in Stillwater and a first-ever family concert on the rooftop of the Stillwater Public Library.

The festival’s not-to-be-missed opening concert on June 20th will be a celebration of song with Brooklyn Rider performing Schubert’s breathtaking "Death and the Maiden" string quartet. Schubert was the greatest songwriter of his time and his music will be juxtaposed against one of today’s most engaging singer-songwriters, New York vocalist Christina Courtin. Her debut album will be released this fall on the acclaimed Nonesuch label.

The festival finale will be an all-Scandinavian program in honor of Minnesota’s 150th year of statehood. Brooklyn Rider will take the audience on a musical tour of Scandinavia, including rarely-heard string quartets and regional folk music. The program will also showcase the vocal talents of Heather Johnson, a Minnesota native mezzo-soprano, who has performed on some of the world’s greatest opera stages including the New York City Opera and Glimmerglass.

“This concert will bring together the wonderful songs and instrumental music of the Scandinavian cultures. Many people have heard of Grieg, the Norwegian romantic composer, but there is a wealth of other Scandinavian composers who wrote fantastic music that is rarely played,”said Eric Jacobsen, cellist of Brooklyn Rider.

The Group:
Violinists Colin Jacobsen and Jonathan Gandelsman, violist Nicholas Cords and cellist Eric Jacobsen are thrilled to present the third season of the Stillwater Music Festival. The festival looks to bring world class music making to the St. Croix River Valley, centered around but not exclusive to the intimate world of classical chamber music.

All four musicians live at the intersection of a deeply rooted classical training and a great curiosity and need to work with the music, dance and art of today. Their musical relationship stretches back 10 years to their time as students at the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia and the Juilliard School in New York. Violist Nicholas Cords, a native of White Bear Lake, studied at the MacPhail Center and later with violist Alice Preves of the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra. Now he performs along with Johnny, Colin and Eric in Yo-Yo Ma's Silk Road Ensemble.

Colin and Eric Jacobsen also have a deep Minnesota connection. Their father, Edmund Jacobsen is a violinist formerly with the Minnesota Orchestra and a native of the Twin Cities. Now based in New York, the family has returned every summer to visit Colin and Eric's grandma, Marion Jacobsen (a youthful 101) at their cottage on Square Lake in Washington County.

The Stillwater Music Festival continues to be a valuable contribution to the cultural life of Stillwater and the surrounding region.

Please consider becoming a supporting member of the Stillwater Music Festival! Your tax-deductible contributions are greatly appreciated.