For the May concerts, members of the public must be masked at all times in the halls, and seats will be socially distanced. Additional entrances and exits have been added to reduce public congestion. Enhanced cleaning procedures have been developed and everyone associated with the festival, from performers to staff, will be screened for COVID-19 daily.
“Regardless of vaccination status, it’s too early to let our guard down,” McMaken said. “We’re going to stick with that for this miniseries. Hopefully by October we will be in a different scenario.
Among the performers this year is Camille Thurman, tenor saxophonist and singer of the Darrell Green Quartet, who will perform on May 26.
“We haven’t seen an audience for a year,” she wonders. “It’s even surreal to say that because a lot of what we do, we go in and out of our homes to connect with people all over the world, sharing music with them.”
Thurman has kept busy during her year of social distancing by listening intently to records, practicing and performing live concerts. She’s also started hosting Haven Hangs, a series of virtual Q&A sessions that connect early-career female musicians with some of the best female jazz musicians in the field, creating a mentor-like space for women to learn from. more about the business.
“I started thinking about my own experiences as a young musician and how I wished there were opportunities to talk to other young female musicians, just to get some ideas on how to continue this. travel.” she says. “The first female musician I met, I was in college. Before that, I had never seen a woman perform jazz on stage. She hopes to expand Haven Hangs to in-person sessions when it is can be done safely.
As a freelance musician, the prospect of performing on stage again gave Thurman a new drive and dedication. “Last year around this time it was a nightmare to have your whole touring schedule disappear overnight,” she said. “I can’t wait to be able to feel the energy of people, to feel their spirit, and to just be able to be in the same space.”
FESTIVAL OVERVIEW
Savannah Music Festival. May 23-30. Tickets $25-$146. Free Live Stream – $10. Metal building at Trustees Garden, 10 E. Broad St., Savannah. Trinity United Methodist Church, 225 W. President St., Savannah. 912-525-5050, www.savannahmusicfestival.org.
Festival Highlights
Jazz at the Lincoln Center Orchestra Septet with Wynton Marsalis. Led by trumpeter Wynton Marsalis, the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra was scheduled to perform at the 2020 festival with a solid line-up of jazz musicians. Listeners will be able to hear this year a refined but no less dynamic version of the ensemble. Alongside trombonist Elliot Mason, the powerful frontline includes saxophonists Ted Nash and Walter Blanding. 4 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. May 23, Metal building.
Piano puzzle. From the NPR show “Performance Today”, Piano Puzzler tries to surprise listeners by recreating popular songs in the style of classical music. For the party, pianist Bruce Adolphe and animator Fred Child extend the concept to a concert-time presentation of the game. 6 p.m. May 25, metal building.
Generation Y by Ulysses Owens Jr. with Camille Thurman and the Darrell Green Quartet. Ulysses Owens, artistic educator in residence at the festival, twin Generation Y, his quintet of young jazz artists, in concert with the dynamic saxophonist and singer Camille Thurman, supported by his longtime collaborators, the Darrell Green Quartet. 7:30 p.m. May 26. metal building
Rodney Crowell. The Grammy-winning singer-songwriter last performed at the Savannah Music Festival seven years ago with Emmylou Harris. He returns this year to likely play tracks from his 2019 album “Texas,” a recording of duets with Steve Earle, Willie Nelson, Lyle Lovett and Lee Ann Womack, among other artists, that pays homage to his home country. 8 p.m. May 27, metal building
David Finckel and Wu Han. Cellist David Finckel and pianist Wu Han offer Savannah a bespoke program entitled “The Immortals”, celebrating sonatas by Bach, Beethoven and Brahms. Also included are selected interludes for solo piano from Brahms’ ‘Klavierstucke’. 5:30 p.m. May 27, Trinity United Methodist Church.
Amythyst Kiah and Jontavious Willis. Featured in Rhiannon Giddens’ 2019 recording “Songs of our Native Daughters,” guitarist and banjo player Amythyst Kiah appears in concert with Georgia-born, Greenville-born blues singer Jontavious Willis. 7:30 p.m. May 28, Metal building.
Paul Huang and Anne-Marie McDermott. Pianist Anne-Marie McDermott and violinist Paul Huang make their Savannah Music Festival debut with a program of sonatas by Prokofiev, Brahms and Franck, opening with Arvo Part’s ‘Spiegel Im Spiegel’. 3 p.m. May 29, Trinity United Methodist Church.
Jeremy Denk. Since performing at the Savannah Music Festival five years ago, pianist Jeremy Denk has released a haunting exploration of music for solo piano. The recording, “c.1200-c.2000”, presents 25 compositions chosen over the previous seven centuries. During his concert in Savannah, Denk will continue his musical investigation, presenting works by Coleridge-Taylor and Blind Tom Wiggins alongside Bach, Schubert and Beethoven. 3:30 p.m. May. Trinity United Methodist Church.
