The series will be held at the same time as the OU Summer Music Camp
Classical music will ring from all parts of Athens during the week-long, multi-venue concert series Mozart on the Green Chamber Music Festival.
The fifth edition of the series, taking place Monday through Saturday, includes casual, hour-long performances from Ohio University faculty and guest pianist Alan Chow.
“It’s classical music, but it’s not necessarily the traditional classical music stereotype,” Steven Huang, associate professor of instrumental conducting-orchestral and creator of the event, said. “It’s all very accessible, fun and exciting.”
Despite the name, not every piece of repertoire is composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, but including the composer in the title emphasizes that the series is based around classical music, Huang said.
Tuesday’s performance by string musicians will take place on College Green, since it has been a tradition for the series to feature at least one concert there.
For the first time, the OU Summer Music Camp is occurring at the same time as the series, and the campers will be able to see the level of performance expected and aspired at the college level and beyond, said Kelly Burns, assistant professor of voice at OU.
Burns took part in the festival last year for the first time and is becoming more involved this year with a larger repertoire. He’ll sing arias from operasby Mozart and Gaetano Donizetti, songs from the Bel Canto era by Vincenzo Bellini and “nice romantic sounding, lush harmonies” from Roger Quilter, a British composer, with piano accompaniment.
The series aims to continue to promote the arts in Athens as much as possible and to have the community involved, Burns said.
“We’re trying to reach out to the community to build audiences and share our love of music,” he said. “Hopefully, for them (the event is) to build a love for this type of (music).”
New faculty member Lucas Borges, assistant professor of trombone, is partaking in the event and said he hopes Mozart on the Green allows people to realize classical music is just as fun as any other genre.
“It’s just fun and beauty. No politics. It’s beautiful art,” he said.
In the past, the series has taken place at ARTS/West, Donkey Coffee and Espresso and Stuart’s Opera House.
Having the performance in a different place each night is an important aspect of the series because it’s a great way to work with the community and appeals to different people who might not be as willing to see a classical performance, Huang said.
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