In Brevard, North Carolina, a town cradled in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains, the hills are indeed alive with the sounds of music—music by the likes of Mozart, Verdi, Schumann, Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff, Mahler, Gershwin and many more of the world’s greatest composers.
The Brevard Music Center (BMC), situated on a bucolic 180-acre campus, has become one of this country’s premier institutes for training musicians and a mecca for summer festival lovers.
Under the artistic direction of acclaimed conductor Keith Lockhart, music director of the Boston Pops and the BBC Orchestra in London, more than 400 gifted students—ages 14 through post-college—come to BMC every summer to study with distinguished faculty and renowned guest artists. From the end of June to the beginning of August, they participate in a rigorous program of instruction and performance that includes private lessons, orchestral ensembles, chamber music and opera.
BMC president Mark Weinstein tells us that Brevard’s hallmark is its powerful sense of community. “A shared love of music,” he says, “brings faculty and students together to present over 80 concerts to more than 30,000 enthusiastic fans from across the country.”
Over the past 79 years, BMC’s always-popular summer festival has been privileged to welcome world-class soloists, including Itzhak Perlman, Yo-Yo Ma, Joshua Bell, Frederica von Stade and other talented virtuosi.
The summer festival also features the popular BMC Presents series, which has brought non-classical artists such as Mary Chapin Carpenter; Marvin Hamlisch; Peter, Paul and Mary; and Michael Feinstein to the Brevard stage. This summer, BMC Presents will showcase the Brevard Blues Festival, Steep Canyon Rangers and Garrison Keillor’s A Prairie Home Companion.
Almost half of the festival’s concerts are free and open to the public. Music-lovers are welcome to bring their own food and beverages for a pre-concert picnic on the lawn or purchase delectable treats on campus.
Brevard is only an hour’s drive from Asheville and Highlands, North Carolina, and just 30 minutes from Hendersonville.
For details on performances, season subscriptions and single ticket options visit brevardmusic.org; follow BMC on Facebook Twitter and YouTube; or call 828-862-2131.
