A magical blend of fine music by outstanding performers in one of the most enchanting sites in Northern California. Evenings include orchestra concerts, Big Band, chamber music ensembles, dance, blues, jazz, world, folk, bluegrass and popular contemporary music. Daytime concerts include lecture/recitals at the Piano Series, a performance by participants in the Emerging Artists Program, and small concerts in intimate venues throughout the historic town of Mendocino.

Festival Schedule:

Sunday, July 7, 2024

3:00 PM: Susan Waterfall presents: Fauré in His World

Join us for the exciting premiere of Susan Waterfall’s new film, Fauré in His World. Immerse yourself in the composer’s world, and enhance your experience of the many Fauré offerings in this summer’s Festival: the Festival Orchestra’s performance of his Elégie; Jeffrey LaDeur and Kindra Scharich’s performance of his L’hiver a cesse; the Calder Quartet’s performance of his only string quartet; and the two narrated chamber music concerts, The Early Salon Years and Indian Summer.

Waterfall’s film explores the cultural milieu and creative life of Gabriel Fauré (1845–1924) through art and photographs from his era and excerpts from all his major works.

A Q&A will follow the screening. Thanks to Deborah Whigham and Gary Ratway for sponsoring this screening.

Written and directed by Susan Waterfall.
Art and photograph collection by Mina Cohen.
Filmed and edited by Julian Pollack.

Thursday, July 11, 2024

6:00 PM: Lobster Feed

Celebrate and support the Festival by enjoying a mouthwatering family-style lobster-boil dinner at the enchanting Mendocino Grove. Enjoy fine Mendocino County wines from Baxter, Bon Pari, Drew, Handley, Lichen, Scharffenberger and Toulouse.

Another hot dish being served up, CZ and the Bon Vivants, will provide “infectious Cajun/Zydeco dance music.”

Location: Mendocino Grove, 9601 California 1, Mendocino, 95460

Saturday, July 13, 2024

7:30 PM: Miko Marks

Miko Marks is one of the Bay Area’s most visible country music singers, but recently her role as a Black, woman country music pioneer has gained attention. Marks, who lives in Oakland, was named one of CMT’s Next Women of Country in 2022 and recently made her third appearance on the Grand Ole Opry. The release of her third album, Our Country, in 2021, finally sent Marks through the glass ceiling in Nashville. With a blend of country music’s storytelling and elements of blues, gospel, soul, and Americana, the recording reveals Marks’ many influences. In 2019, Marks reconnected with two members of her live band, Justin Phipps and Steve Wyreman, founders of a community based recording business, Redtone Records, in East Palo Alto, and she and the Resurrectors recorded the songs of social protest and prayerful pleading that got rave reviews from Billboard and Rolling Stone.

Cost: $15 – $65

Location: Tent Concert Hall, 45035 Main Street, Mendocino, CA 95460

Sunday, July 14, 2024

6:00 PM: Festival Orchestra 1

The opening concert begins with a wild gallop of gauchos over the plains of Argentina in Ginastera’s Estancia. Cellist Evan Kahn is featured in two works, the dramatic Elgar Cello Concerto, which depicts hope for the future after the tragedy and loss of war, and the lovely Elégie by Fauré. Moussorgsky’s grand “Pictures at an Exhibition” wends its way through an eclectic art gallery, describing everything from oxen and chickens to stately processionals, ending the concert in triumphant style.

Cost: $15 – $65

Location: Tent Concert Hall, 45035 Main Street, Mendocino, CA 95460

Monday, July 15, 2024

2:30 PM: Solstice

Solstice is an a cappella vocal ensemble specializing in music written for women’s voices. Their music spans different genres, with an emphasis on world, pop, and jazz. The group has performed in many Bay Area and Northern California venues: Freight and Salvage, La Pena, Music on the Hill, the Berkeley Arts Center, Villa Montalvo, and the Opus Chamber Music series on the Mendocino Coast. Solstice has also sung on KALW’s “Folk Music and Beyond” On-Air Folk Festival.

Cost: $15 – $40

Location: Preston Hall, 44867 Main Street, Mendocino, CA 95460

7:30 PM: Mr Sun

Mr Sun is made up of some of the most original musicians to apply themselves to the American string band genre. Legendary fiddler Darol Anger is at home in a number of musical genres, some of which he helped to invent, and is a member of the original “nuclear” generation of pickers who extended bluegrass, jazz, and classical music to find their common ground. In Mr Sun, the latest iteration of that legacy, Anger is joined by Grant Gordy, Aidan O’Donnell, and Joe K. Walsh.

Cost: $15 – $65

Location: Tent Concert Hall, 45035 Main Street, Mendocino, CA 95460

Tuesday, July 16, 2024

2:30 PM: Piano Series: Rachel Breen

American pianist Rachel Breen’s performances have been described as “truly show-stopping” (Gramophone UK) and having “a beautiful piano sound and original detail.” She has enjoyed an active and successful competition career and has performed and taught masterclasses around the world. In this concert Breen will perform Beethoven’s Bagatelles, Opus 126; a “Suite of Miniatures” she designed (based on pieces by Prokofiev, Kurtág, Fauré, Scriabin, Boulez, Chopin, Berio, Medtner, and Rachmaninoff); and Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No. 30 in E Major, Opus 109.

Cost: $15 – $40

Location: Preston Hall, 44867 Main Street, Mendocino, CA 95460

7:30 PM: Julian “J3PO” Pollack Trio, with featured artist Sy Smith

Embark on an evening of soul-tinged jazz and fusion, with a look to the future, marbled by intricate glistenings of electronica and hip-hop. This trio, who tours throughout the year with Chris Botti as his rhythm section, features Albion native Julian Pollack on piano and synthesizers, Juilliard-trained Dan Chmielinski on bass and synthesizer, and the legendary Lee Pearson on drums. The trio will also feature the illustrious Sy Smith on vocals, performing hypnotic jams from the ’70s and ’80s as well as some tasty originals.

Sy Smith has provided vocals for, (among others) Whitney Houston and The Rickey Minor Band (as seen The Tonight Show with Jay Leno). Most recently she has caught the ear of jazz aficionados as a featured guest with Grammy-winning trumpeter Chris Botti.

Dan Chmielinski has worked with Wynton Marsalis, Brad Mehldau, and Jon Batiste to name a few, and has appeared at The Hollywood Bowl, The Newport Jazz Festival, The Monterrey Jazz Festival, and the Ravinia Festival.

Julian “J3PO” Pollack is a Los Angeles-based pianist/keyboardist and producer; known for his innovative playing in jazz, fusion, hip-hop, and electronic styles of music. He has toured extensively with Marcus Miller, and with Chris Botti.

Lee Pearson is one of the most electrifying drummers of today, ranging from Broadway to jazz, to hip-hop and R&B. Pearson has played on The Tonight Show with the Jay Leno Band and has toured with Chris Botti.

Cost: $15 – $65

Location: Tent Concert Hall, 45035 Main Street, Mendocino, CA 95460

Wednesday, July 17, 2024

2:30 PM: Gwyneth Moreland

Born and raised in Mendocino, Gwyneth Moreland has toured with her Folksy Americana tunes from coast to coast and has released five solo albums. Her songs have ranked as high as the top five on the Americana and Roots Radio Airplay charts and she was hosted on NPRs Music City Roots: Live at the Loveless Cafe in Nashville, which also aired on PBS. She will be joined by her brother and local luthier, Morgan Daniel; the siblings weave tight vocal harmonies supported by Morgan’s soaring yet intricate guitar style, giving the songs wings.

Cost: $15 – $40

Location: Preston Hall, 44867 Main Street, Mendocino, CA 95460

Thursday, July 18, 2024

2:30 PM: Fauré: The Early Salon Years

Susan Waterfall will accompany mezzo-soprano Silvie Jensen in a selection of songs. She will be joined by Julian Waterfall Pollack for “The Dolly Suite.” Susan will play two of Fauré’s most famous works for piano: the Barcarolle No 12 in E-flat Major and the Nocturne No. 6 in D-flat Major. The Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 1 in A Major will close the concert, with Sam Weiser, violin, and Carolyn Steinbuck, piano.

Cost: $15 – $40

Location: Preston Hall, 44867 Main Street, Mendocino, CA 95460

7:30 PM: JigJam

When virtuoso Irish playing jumps the pond and runs naked through the wide open fields of bluegrass/Americana, JigJam is born. Bluegrass and American Folk music originated from the group’s home, and now JigJam is here to take it back! Described as “The best Irish band in bluegrass,” JigJam has been hailed as “Ireland’s answer to New Grass Revival.” Making its Grand Ole Opry debut in Nashville in March, 2023 to critical acclaim, this Offaly and Tipperary-born band purveys “foot-stomping, high-energy badassery” in every concert.

Cost: $15 – $65

Location: Tent Concert Hall, 45035 Main Street, Mendocino, CA 95460

Friday, July 19, 2024

2:30 PM: Kim Nalley, with Tammy Lynne Hall

Dr. Kim Nalley has been a fixture in the San Francisco Bay Area—and here in Mendocino as well—as a quality soulful jazz and blues singer, very much in the tradition of the best vocalists of the 1940s and ‘50s. Always exciting to hear, she can go from operatic to gritty blues on a dime, with projection that can whisper a ballad and fill a room without a mic, sporting a sensational sense of humor to boot. Nalley keeps the style alive without copying any of her predecessors, singing vintage songs in her own way and riveting audiences with blistering scat solos that swing with intensity.

Cost: $15 – $40

Location: Preston Hall, 44867 Main Street, Mendocino, CA 95460

7:30 PM: Festival Orchestra 2: Così fan tutte

Mozart’s comic masterpiece shows us what can happen when two sisters and their suitors are tested by a manipulative friend, Don Alfonso. The men accept his wager that their brides-to-be will remain faithful to them, and orchestrate a plot to test that hypothesis: they will be “called away to war,” but will in reality disguise themselves and attempt to woo each other’s fiancées. What could go wrong? Written at the height of Mozart’s musical prowess, it is a testament to his wit and skill. If you like to have a laugh at the theatre, you’ll love this opera.

Guest Conductor Ryan Murray

Cost: $15 – $65

Location: Tent Concert Hall, 45035 Main Street, Mendocino, CA 95460

Saturday, July 20, 2024

2:30 PM: Piano Series: Jeffrey LaDeur with Kindra Scharich

The second Fauré program will feature pianist Jeffrey LaDeur and mezzo-soprano Kindra Scharich in L’hiver a cesse, an exploration of Fauré’s music for voice and piano. Jeffrey LaDeur is known for his blend of insight, spontaneity, and approachable, communicative playing. Mezzo-soprano Kindra Scharich has been praised by the San Francisco Chronicle for her “fearless technical precision,”and “irrepressible musical splendor.” She enjoys the full complement of recital, concert and opera engagements alike. Join these frequent collaborators for a beautiful afternoon that will include Faure’s song cycle, La bonne chanson, and his piano masterpiece, Thème et Variations, as well as pieces by Rameau and Déodat de Séverac, a contemporary of Fauré.

Cost: $15 – $40

Location: Preston Hall, 44867 Main Street, Mendocino, CA 95460

7:30 PM: Festival Big Band, featuring Maiya Sykes

Maiya Sykes completely and utterly wowed the audience at the 2023 Big Band concert. She’s a former back-up singer whose rendition of “Stay with Me” on The Voice in 2014 catapulted her to lead singer fame. Based in Los Angeles, Sykes is a classically trained musician who graduated from Yale and studied with Betty Carter and Nina Simone. Among her recent projects was a reinterpretation of Jimi Hendrix’s “Purple Haze”, with the funk band Scary Pockets.

Cost: $15 – $65

Location: Tent Concert Hall, 45035 Main Street, Mendocino, CA 95460

Sunday, July 21, 2024

2:30 PM: Calder Quartet

Hailed as “imaginative, skillful creators” by the New York Times, the Calder Quartet captivates audiences with its explorations of a broad repertoire, always striving to fulfill the composer’s vision in their performances. The group’s distinctive artistry is exemplified by the musical curiosity they bring to everything they perform.

Program:

Schubert Quartettsatz
Haydn Op. 77 No. 2

Intermission

Caroline Shaw “Entr’acte”
Fauré String Quartet

Cost: $15 – $65

Location: Cotton Auditorium, 500 N Harold Street, Fort Bragg, CA 95437

7:30 PM: Rose's Pawn Shop

With its fusion of bluegrass instrumentation and folk-rock amplification, Rose’s Pawn Shop has spent the better part of two decades perfecting a sound that’s as diverse as the band’s native Los Angeles. Their past releases offer modern day roots music shot through with electric guitar, fiddle, raw percussive stomp, and stacked vocal harmonies. It’s a sound for the heart as well as the heartland. “We’ve always resonated with people who live in remote communities and far-flung locations,” says frontman Paul Givant. “We spend a lot of our time playing mountain towns like Madrid, New Mexico, connecting to the people who, like us, are out there searching for something.”

Cost: $15 – $65

Location: Tent Concert Hall, 45035 Main Street, Mendocino, CA 95460

Monday, July 22, 2024

2:30 PM: Big Band Rhythm Section: An Afternoon of Jazz

These extraordinary Los Angeles based musicians are the power drivers of the always thrillingly swinging Festival Big Band, and now you can hear them break out on their own.

Julian “J3PO” Pollack is known for his innovative playing in jazz, fusion, hip-hop, and electronic styles of music. He has toured extensively with Marcus Miller, Chris Botti, and his own band, the Julian Pollack Trio.

Dimitris “Jimmy” Mahlis has become known in musical circles as an eclectic interpreter of many musical traditions. Having a thorough knowledge of both eastern and western musical theory, he has developed a playing style on several instruments which is both earthy yet intricate.

Jerry Watts Jr. has worked with the best of the best, a truly eclectic mix of artists at the highest levels of pop, rock, jazz, world beat, and groove musics of every description, having appeared on hundreds of albums, numerous film and TV soundtracks, and live DVDs.

Ray Brinker received a Bachelor Of Music in Jazz Studies from North Texas State University, and performed as a member of NTSU’s Grammy-nominated 1 O’Clock Lab Band. Ray toured worldwide with jazz high-note trumpet player Maynard Ferguson before moving to the West Coast.

Cost: $15 – $35

Location: Matheson Performing Arts Center, Cahto Street and Ford Street, Mendocino, CA 95460

6:00 PM - 9:00 PM: Ledford House: the Iconic Festival Dinner Party

Enjoy a delightful evening of gourmet food and music at one of the area’s leading restaurants, with premium wines generously supplied by Husch Vineyards.

The Ledford House Restaurant is located seven miles south of Mendocino on the Pacific Coast Highway (CA-1) in Albion, California. Its bluff-top location on the Albion headlands allows panoramic views of the Pacific and breathtaking sunsets. The restaurant reflects the provençal style of southern France, and accommodates 65 to 90 people in the elegance of two dining rooms where expansive windows allow the Pacific to become part of the decor. The atmosphere is warm and welcoming with a casual elegance, both comfortable and sophisticated. The food has a strong Mediterranean influence with subtle drawings on Asian and Latin flavors grounded by a California style. The produce, meat, poultry and fish served come from farms, ranches and fisheries guided by principles of sustainability.

Cost: $100

Location: Ledford House Restaurant, 3000 CA-1, Albion, CA 95410

Tuesday, July 23, 2024

2:30 PM: Piano Series: Robert Schwartz

An active performer and teacher at the San Francisco Conservatory, Robert Schwartz has recently performed at the Beijing Conservatory, the Vienna International Pianists series, in master classes at the Chautauqua Institution, and at Portland Piano International. Recent performances in the Bay Area have included Mozart and Shostakovich concertos with the San Francisco Chamber Orchestra and the Palo Alto Chamber Orchestra, recitals at The Steinway Society in San Jose, and Albeniz’ complete Iberia at Old First Church in SF. This afternoon, he will begin and end with Bach: first the Toccata in E minor, and finally with the Prelude to the Violin Partita in E Major. In between, among others, will be Schumann’s Fantasie in C Major Op. 17, Rachmaninov’s Etude tableau in A minor Op. 39, and Tchaikovsky’s “Lullaby.”

Cost: $15 – $40

Location: Preston Hall, 44867 Main Street, Mendocino, CA 95460

7:30 PM: Stephanie Anne Johnson

A singer’s talent is complete when they can bring a crowded dive bar to a collective hush and also get one of the biggest audiences on the planet to a collective standing ovation. Stephanie Anne Johnson is that special singer. Stephanie can don a cowboy hat and sing over a slide as old timers weep. And they have wowed judges on the immensely popular NBC TV series, “The Voice,” showcasing their gifts. Their music, which is rooted in all that’s American, expresses the pain of the past, the roots of the down home and the hope that hard work will lead to proper reward.

Cost: $15 – $65

Location: Tent Concert Hall, 45035 Main Street, Mendocino, CA 95460

Wednesday, July 24, 2024

2:30 PM: Piano Series: Ralph van Raat & Heather Pinkham, duo pianos

Each one a solo artist of distinction, Van Raat and Pinkham join up to make beautiful music together. They will play two-piano pieces by a range of composers: Chick Corea’s “Duet for Two Pianos in Three Parts,” George Gershwin’s “I Got Rhythm Variations,” Vanessa Lann’s “Second Nature,” Frederic Rzewski’s “Winnsboro Cotton Mill Blues,” and William Bolcom’s “Recuerdos,” among others.

Cost: $15 – $40

Location: Preston Hall, 44867 Main Street, Mendocino, CA 95460

7:30 PM: Festival Orchestra 3

Allan Pollack will conduct his own “From an Ancient Book,” written especially for the Festival Orchestra. The brilliant colors of Stravinsky’s ballet score for “The Firebird” will explode in sparkling music that brought instant success to the composer and has delighted audiences ever since. The concert concludes with perhaps the most beloved of all piano concertos, Rachmaninoff’s lush Piano Concerto No. 2. Pianist Keisuke Nakagoshi will surely capture its delicious melody and heartfelt emotion.

Cost: $15 – $65

Location: Tent Concert Hall, 45035 Main Street, Mendocino, CA 95460

Thursday, July 25, 2024

2:30 PM: Fauré: Indian Summer

Faure wrote some of his most astonishing music in his late seventies, when he was becoming increasingly deaf. Susan Waterfall will accompany mezzo-soprano Silvie Jensen in Le jardin clos, Stephen Harrison, cello, and Daniel Lockert, piano, will play the Cello Sonata No. 2 in G minor. The program will conclude with the Ives Quartet playing the Piano Quintet No. 2 in C minor: Hrabba Atladottir, violin; Sam Weiser, violin; Susan Freier, viola; Stephen Harrison, cello; and Keisuke Nakagoshi, piano.

Cost: $15 – $40

Location: Preston Hall, 44867 Main Street, Mendocino, CA 95460

7:30 PM: Damn Tall Buildings

In their early days, Brooklyn-based Damn Tall Buildings didn’t rehearse; they busked. Now, whether live or on record, the band still radiates the energy of a ragtag crew of music students playing bluegrass on the street. But anchoring that energy are their instrumental chops, their strong songwriting, and their varied influences that stretch beyond bluegrass, even beyond American roots music altogether.

Cost: $15 – $65

Location: Tent Concert Hall, 45035 Main Street, Mendocino, CA 95460

Friday, July 26, 2024

4:00 PM: Emerging Artists Recital

The annual concert by the wonderfully talented young string players from the Festival’s Emerging Artists Program is anticipated by all who love hearing accomplished musicians interpret chamber music classics.

Cost: $15 – $40

Location: Preston Hall, 44867 Main Street, Mendocino, CA 95460

7:30 PM: Ladysmith Black Mambazo

Ladysmith Black Mambazo is a South African male choral group singing in the local styles of isicathamiya, which developed in the mines of South Africa, and mbube, rhythmic homophonic a cappella singing. They became known internationally after performing with Paul Simon on his 1986 album Graceland, and have won multiple awards, including five Grammys. Their music is infused with the intricate rhythms and harmonies of their native South Africa. Assembled in the early 1960s by Joseph Shabalala, the group got their first recording contract in 1970, the beginning of an ambitious discography that includes more than 50 recordings.

Cost: $15 – $65

Location: Tent Concert Hall, 45035 Main Street, Mendocino, CA 95460

Saturday, July 27, 2024

7:30 PM: Festival Orchestra 4

The final concert offers comfort and hope in difficult times. Mozart’s Symphony No. 40, sometimes referred to as the “Great G minor symphony” to distinguish it from No. 25, the only other symphony he wrote in a minor key. It is one of his last works, showing him at his most introspective and thoughtful. The magnificent Brahms Requiem features the Festival Chorus and soloists. Ein Deutsches Requiem is so named because Brahms used text from the German Lutheran Bible instead of the expected Roman Catholic Latin lyrics in his attempt to show the mercy of God, rather than his judgment, and to give consolation to those left behind. Soloists Carrie Hennessey, soprano, and Robert Sims, baritone.

Cost: $15 – $65

Location: Tent Concert Hall, 45035 Main Street, Mendocino, CA 95460

Fest Date: July 13 - 27, 2024

Locations:
Preston Hall, 44867 Main Street, Mendocino, CA 95460
Mendocino Grove, 9601 California 1, Mendocino, CA 95460
Tent Concert Hall, 45035 Main Street, Mendocino, CA 95460
Cotton Auditorium, 500 North Harold Street, Fort Bragg, CA 95437
Matheson Performing Arts Center, 45096 Cahto Street, Mendocino, CA 95460
Ledford House Restaurant, 3000 Highway 1, Albion, CA 95410

Click here for more information.