Southern Illinois Music Festival kicks off May 23

CARBONDALE, Ill. (KFVS) - The 21st Southern Illinois Music Festival (SIFest) kicks off over the Memorial Day holiday weekend in Carbondale.

The festival begins on Friday, May 23 and runs through Sunday, June 8.

Organizers say the nationally recognized festival offers the region an opportunity to enjoy professional singers and instrumentalists from the United States and Europe, along with a mix of select Southern Illinois University Carbondale faculty and students.

Features include orchestral and chamber music, opera, jazz and educational programs.

Organizers say highlights over the 12 days are powerful operas by Italian master composer Gaetano Donizetti, along with the first two of Austrian composer Joseph Haydn’s “London Symphonies.”

The following are a few of the festival highlights:

Memorial Day weekend, May 23-24 two exclusive evening chamber music soirées, with drinks and hors d’oeuvres, featuring violinists Michael Barta and Kiril Laskarov, and the ensemble Some Strings Attached.
May 30 at 7 p.m. “Opera Teasers” a semi-outdoor concert at Alto Vineyards in Alto Pass
May 31 at 8 p.m. outside at Altgeld Hall on the SIU campus Donizetti’s “Anna Bolena” with a rain date of June 1
June 3 at 7 p.m. at John A. Logan College’s O’Neil Auditorium: An orchestral program with music by Haydn, Mozart and German composer Max Bruch. The works include Haydn’s first two London Symphonies (93 and 94), Bruch’s “Kol Nidre,” featuring Peshlakai, and Mozart’s “Exsultate Jubilate” with soprano Diana Higbee.
June 6 at 7 p.m. and June 8 at 2 p.m. Donizetti’s “Elixir of Love” both in Shryock Auditorium on the SIU campus
June 7 at 7 p.m. the final orchestral program at Carterville High School featuring Beethoven’s violin concerto with Korbitz as soloist, Domenico Cimarosa’s Concerto for Two Flutes featuring Simoneau and Sulick, and Schubert’s 2nd Symphony.

Tickets to many festival events are $25 for general admission and $10 for students of any age. A season pass is available for $150 (excluding the May 23 and May 24 soirées) and includes an SIFest program booklet. Tickets and festival passes will be available at the door.

Ticket information, artist biographies, ensembles and the full schedule of concerts are available on the festival website by clicking here.