ARTS + ENTERTAINMENT WRITING A NEW CHAPTER

4:30 p.m. on June 8 at Holley Hall, 709 N. Tamiami Trail Beach, Schumann, Valerie Coleman, Brahms

‘Scenes and Seasons’

7:30 p.m. on June 9 at Sarasota Opera House, 61 N. Pineapple Ave. Vivaldi, Janacek, Gabriela Lena Frank, Dvorak

‘Pastorale’

7:30 p.m. on June 10 at Sarasota Opera House

Mendelssohn, Schumann, Beethoven

‘Rising Stars’

2:30 p.m. on June 11 at Holley Hall

Previn, Schulhoff, Beethoven, Franck and more

‘Gold Standard’

4:30 p.m. on June 15 at Holley Hall

Weinberg, Sato Matsui, Caroline Shaw, Ravel

‘Appalachian Spring’

7:30 p.m. on June 16 at Sarasota Opera House Mozart, Copland, Brahms

‘Sound Stories’

7:30 p.m. on June 17 at Sarasota Opera House Respighi, Tchaikovsky, Mozart

‘Rising Stars’

2:30 p.m. on June 18 at Holley Hall

Dvorak, Brahms, Ibert, Faure and more

‘Fairy Tale’

4:30 p.m. on June 22 at Holley Hall

Dutilleux, Janacek, DeFalla/Reisler and more

‘Rising Stars’

2:30 p.m. on June 23 at Holley Hall

Fanny Mendelssohn, Brahms, Strauss, Ravel and more

‘Traditions and Trans- formations’

7:30 p.m. on June 23 at Sarasota Opera House Debussy, Ligeti, Beethoven, Mendelssohn

‘Kahane Plays Beethoven’

7:30 p.m. on June 24 at Sarasota Opera House Beethoven, Emily Cooley, Schumann

Tickets: $32 and up

Information: Visit SarasotaOrchestra. org/Festival/ConcertSchedule the concert its name, replete with the sounds of bird calls, gurgling streams and a dramatic thunderstorm, exemplifying how instruments can capture the sounds of nature.

MORE NEW

Along with McDermott, there are several newcomers to the festival’s faculty roster, including violinist Melissa White and oboist Marion Kuszyk. White will appear in the artist showcase “Romance and the City” on June 8 and in “Scenes and Seasons” the following night, when she will perform “Summer” from Vivaldi’s Four Seasons.

Kuszyk, who is associate principal oboe of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, will join faculty hornist Michelle Reed Baker and six fellows in Mozart’s serenade for wind octet.

The serenade is part of the “Appalachian Spring” program on June 16 featuring the Aaron Copland work of the same name about a young pioneer couple just starting out in their marriage. The concert will feature Grammy-winning Attacca Quartet and Kahane playing in one of chamber music’s crown jewels— Brahms’ Piano Quintet in F Minor. Attacca will also appear on June 15 in

“Gold Standard,” a program featur- ing a composition by Caroline Shaw, whose works the quartet is known for performing.

In addition to members of Attacca Quartet, another artist guaranteed to be a crowd pleaser is Jasmine Choi, dubbed “the goddess of flute” by the Korea Times. Choi will play Dutilleux’s Sonatine for Flute and Piano alongside pianist Michael Adcock in the artist showcase “Fairy Tale” on June 22.

SUMMER SPECIAL

Many of Sarasota’s world-renowned festivals, whether they be jazz or film, take place during the Gulf Coast arts capital’s season. Not so for the Sarasota Music Festival, founded nearly 60 years ago as a one-week event by Paul Wolfe.

But Kahane doesn’t see the June timing of the festival as a handicap.

“We have lots of locals in the audience, and there are snowbirds who come back for the festival,” he says. It goes without saying that the fes tival’s two performance venues — Holley Hall and the Sarasota Opera House — are air-conditioned. Who cares if temperatures outside are in the 80s?

Asked to define what sets the Sarasota Music Festival apart from its peers, Kahane responds without hesitation: “Intimacy.” The casual, welcoming backdrop of Sarasota lends itself to increased interaction between fellows and faculty and even between audience members and artists, he says.

“There’s lots of opportunity to interact between fellows and faculty that you don’t necessarily have in other situations,” Kahane says.

“There’s a wonderful atmosphere of collegiality among the faculty,” all of whom are selected by Kahane himself.

Paige Stafford, an oboist who is a returning fellow, agrees with Kahane’s assessment. Stafford notes the fact that all faculty and fellows stay at the same hotel, the Hyatt Regency, and eat breakfast and lunch together creates a fraternal environment.

“There’s really a great social aspect,” says Stafford, who will be entering her second year of a graduate program at Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music in the fall. She made a few friends during last

“Pastorale” concert and will play in chamber music performances.

“It’s really inspiring to be able to hear the faculty concerts,” she says. “All of the chamber groups have coaches. It helps you rehearse when you play alongside them. They lead by example.”

Last year’s festival marked the first time Stafford, a native of Jamestown, N.Y., visited Sarasota. Among extracurricular activities for festival fellows, kayaking in the bay through the Hyatt’s rental service was her favorite. Other off-campus highlights were trips to Marie Selby Botanical Gardens, Mote Marine Laboratory and Aquarium and the downtown farmers market.

“I really liked the climate and seeing the wildlife, although those little lizards scared me,” says Stafford.

Not all of the fellows who participate in the Sarasota Music Festival will go on to become professional musicians, but the majority do, according to Kahane. Over the past