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Estonian mystic John Kamfonas to play Greencastle Music Festival
Pianist John Kamfonas, the versatile American classical and improvising pianist who became a favorite of Greencastle Summer Music Festival 2011 and 2012 appearances, returns to Greencastle to play at Starbucks Tuesday. His performance is part of the weekly Classical Revolution open mic night that takes place at 8:30 p.m. at Starbucks.
Kamfonas will be a performer AT the Greencastle Summer Music Festival Wednesdays at 7:30 p.m. in the sanctuary of Gobin Memorial United Methodist Church.
Singers and instrumentalists of any genre or level of experience are invited to participate in the open mic night at Starbucks.
All events are free and open to the public.
The festival, dedicated to "bringing the community together with friends making music for friends," is supported by donations from individuals, businesses including the Inn at DePauw and a fast-growing endowment from the Putnam County Community Foundation.
Kamfonas, whose playing has been lauded as "mesmerizing ... inspirational...and eccentric" by the Deccan Herald in Bangalore, will be joined in the second half of the concert by cellist Eric Edberg and the Cassel Grubb University Professor of Music at DePauw University.
The program will include improvisations and music by Johannes Brahms, Claude Debussy, Francis Poulenc and the Estonian mystic composer Arvo Pärt.
Kamfonas currently lives in Paris, France and is in the U.S. briefly for a series of performances, including this week's Greencastle events.
Embracing his penchant for improvisation, pianist Kamfonas has given wide-ranging performances including a fully improvised solo piano concert at Columbia University, solo and collaborative harpsichord performances with the Manhattan School of Music's Baroque Aria Ensemble and solo concerts featuring both composed works and free improvisations in cities around the country.
Kamfonas' summer festival performances include appearances at the International Academy of Music in Tuscany, Italy; Aspen Music Festival, PianoSummer at New Paltz and the Beijing International Music Festival and Academy
Kamfonas organized the Bootstrap Arts Festival, a multi-disciplinary arts festival sponsored by the New York Foundation and has staged numerous events featuring dance, poetry, music, and visual artwork in venues around New York.
Eric Edberg is a classical and improvising cellist, organizer, teacher, coach and consultant dedicated to using music and the creative process to bring people together in celebration of life and the power of the arts.
The founding artistic director of the Greencastle Summer Music Festival which aims to bring the community together with friends making music for friends through weekly free concerts.
Edberg participated in Bach in the Subways Day in New York, and organized the 2012 "Bach Everywhere Day," in which students and faculty of the DePauw University School of Music perform across the city in celebration of the composer's birthday.
Trained at the North Carolina School of the Arts, Juilliard, and the Peabody Conservatory, he studied with some of the most eminent cellists of the 20th century.
He is the Cassel Grubb University Professor at DePauw University.
The Greencastle Summer Music Festival provides free concerts, which are supported by donations, every Wednesday from May 28 - August 20 at 7:30 p.m. in the sanctuary of Gobin Memorial United Methodist Church as well as the Classical Revolution events at the Greencastle Starbucks.