St. Augustine Music Festival celebrates 12th year of free classical concerts

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The St. Augustine Musical Festival (SAMF) will return for its 12th season of free classical music concerts at the St. Augustine Cathedral Basilica with six performances over two weekends, June 21-23 and June 28-30. All concerts start at 7:30 p.m.

Founded in 2007 by Jacksonville musicians Jorge A. Pena and Jin Kim-Pena, the festival's mission is to educate, elevate and entertain through music. The concerts are free to the public thanks to individual and corporate donors who support the event financially.

SAMF concerts feature professional musicians, many of whom are members of the Jacksonville Symphony. The event is the largest, free festival of its kind in the United States and has been featured on NPR’s "Performance Today."

This year's event includes the return of young violinist Nigel Armstrong, a two-piano concert evening featuring a Mozart double-piano concerto and Saint-Saens' "Carnival of the Animals," charismatic cellist Andres Diaz and a program combining the Cathedral's two pipe organs with brass ensembles.

For concert and sponsorship information, visit www.staugustinemusicfestival.org. The St. Augustine Cathedral Basilica is located at 38 Cathedral Place.

Full list of events:

Thursday, June 21 – Violin Virtuosity

Nigel Armstrong, violin

Overture for Strings in C Minor – Franz Schubert

Rondo in A Major for Violin – Franz Schubert

Caprice Viennois for Violin and Orchestra – Fritz Kreisler

String Quartet “Death and the Maiden” – Franz Schubert

 

Friday, June 22 – Music for Brass and Organ

(Program to be announced)

Saturday, June 23 – Russians and Romantics

String Quartet No. 7 in F-sharp Minor, Op. 108 – Dmitri Shostakovich

Sextet from Capriccio Op. 85 – Richard Strauss

String Sextet in D Minor, “Souvenir de Florence” Op. 70 – Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

 

Thursday, June 28 – Mozart and a Menagerie

Wendy Chen and Ileana Fernandez, pianos

Piano Concerto No. 10 in E-flat for Two Pianos, K. 365 – Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Carnival of the Animals – Camille Saint-Saens

 

Friday, June 29 – Twentieth-Century Sentiments

Andres Diaz, Cello

Fancy on a Bach Air – John Corigliano

Cello Sonata, Op. 19 – Sergei Rachmaninoff

Piano Quintet in G Minor, Op. 57 – Dmitri Shostakovich

 

Saturday, June 30 – Lyrical Suites and Haydn Treats

Andres Diaz, Cello

Capriol Suite – Peter Warlock

Cello Concerto No. 2 in D Major, Hob VII:2 – Joseph Haydn

Idyll Suite for String Orchestra – Leos Janacek

Symphony No. 64 in A Major, Hob I:64 “Tempora Mutantur” – Joseph Haydn