by Blythe Ford, Messenger Staff Writer

The 69th season of the Sewanee Summer Music Festival opens this Sunday, June 14, with a few exciting changes to the program. This season will focus on community engagement, and with the help of grants from the Tennessee Arts Commission and the South Cumberland Community Fund, the festival is now more open and accessible than ever, thanks to free tickets, a no-cost shuttle service running all over the plateau, and a finale that will include free classes and rehearsals for community members wishing to participate in the volunteer-focused Beethoven Choir.

In past seasons, the Sewanee Summer Music Festival (SSMF) has offered educational opportunities to young classical musicians and granted the community access to their artistic talents — community involvement has always been part of their mission, but this year takes it to a new level. In the words of SSMF director Hillary Herndon, “The Sewanee Summer Music Festival serves as a premier training ground for emerging professional musicians while also creating opportunities for people across the Plateau to experience and participate in exceptional musical performances.” She added, “We believe music should be accessible to everyone.” This commitment is reflected in an expansion of the free-of-cost events and the new Bass Line shuttle service which will ferry people from all across the Plateau; not even gas money will be an obstacle for anyone wanting to experience the joy of music.

The season opens with the first of the Faculty Artist Series on June 14 at 7:30 p.m., in Guerry Auditorium, and continues through other performances by faculty and students until closing with the Beethoven Choir on July 12. For anyone new to the festival, the Faculty Series offers a look at the talents of the program’s instructors, and according to Herndon, “set[s] the artistic standard that inspires our students through the summer.” Past crowd favorites have included the OperaFest series, where opera students just beginning their careers perform excerpts from well-known works. For an experience of the best student talent, a spectator can seek out the Chamber Music Intensive or the Jacqueline Avent Concerto Showcase, in which instrumental students compete to perform. However, it is the Beethoven Choir that should draw the most community interest this year.

The Beethoven Choir that ends the season is an event that relies on volunteers to lend their voices to the performance of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, also known as the “Ode to Joy.” Community members are invited to learn, rehearse, and perform under the guidance of the program’s faculty and in collaboration with students to create an event that truly showcases the importance of the plateau and its people to the SSMF. In Herndon’s words: “The season finale of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony will be especially powerful this summer. Bringing together Festival musicians and community singers, it embodies the spirit of collaboration, shared purpose, and celebration that has made the Sewanee Summer Music Festival an important part of life on the Plateau for nearly seven decades.”

The 69th SSMF season has a lot to offer both program participants and lucky spectators; for more information about the SSMF, a full calendar of events, the Bass Line shuttle schedule, and participation forms for the Beethoven Choir, visit the SSMF website at <ssmf.sewanee.edu>. Let’s all enjoy, in Herndon’s words, “a true Summer For All — one that welcomes longtime patrons, first-time concert goers, families, students, and visitors alike.”