SummerFest 2017 is a week-long festival of classical and pops orchestra concerts held in McCall, Idaho, presented by McCall Music Society. The opening artists’ showcase concert will be held at McCall Community Congregational Church, and all orchestra concerts will be in the air-conditioned comfort of Mountain Life Church.

Back by popular demand is the $75 SummerFest Orchestra Series ticket.
Save $15 off single ticket prices and gain admission to the
Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday night concerts.

David Itkin returns for his third season as SummerFest’s Artistic Director and Conductor. He is the Music Director/Conductor of the Abilene Philharmonic, Director of Orchestral Studies at the University of North Texas College of Music, Conductor Laureate of the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra, author of Conducting Concerti, and a composer of classical orchestral music and film music.

In addition to the 50-piece SummerFest Orchestra, featured soloists for 2017 include the ever popular violinist Tim Fain; Broadway baritone Jason Forbach; up-and-coming pianist Halle Puckett; bassist Andy Anderson accompanied by McCall’s own Tanya Hansen; trumpeter Scott Thornburg accompanied by our favorite organist, Tom Robin Harris; and The SummerFest Brass Quintet and Cello Quartet.

Presented by Kent & Bev Hellman.

David Itkin

Leading off with Sergei Rachmaninoff, Halle Puckett and the orchestra will perform Piano Concerto No. 2, one of his most imaginative and popular compositions. During the second part of the evening, Maestro Itkin and the SummerFest Orchestra will tell the story of The Arabian Nights through the colorful Scheherazade by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, making for a wonderful musical escape.

Halle Puckett
At the age of 16, Halle Puckett was the Abilene Philharmonic Orchestra’s 2012 Young Artist Scholarship Competition first place winner. She made her orchestral debut performing Mozart’s Piano Concerto in A major with the orchestra in January 2014. Halle showed great interest and talent in piano and composition at the age of three, which developed into a tremendous love for classical piano music after years of practicing, composing and improvising. With parents as pianists, they instructed her up until her early teen years. She has performed in numerous master classes and traveled throughout France as a participant in The French Piano Music Tour 2013. Currently, she is a piano performance major at Texas Christian University.

$30
Tuesday/Thursday/Saturday Orchestra Series Ticket: $75

Presented by Albertsons.

The SummerFest Orchestra and baritone Jason Forbach will transport you to the movie theater and the Broadway stage, featuring music from Les Misérables, South Pacific, My Fair Lady, James Bond, Pirates of the Caribbean and much more.

Jason Forbach
Jason Forbach is thrilled to be performing at SummerFest. He most recently appeared in the 2014 Tony nominated revival of Les Misérables as Enjolras, where he reprised the role he played on the 25th Anniversary National Tour for three years. He also appeared in The Phantom of the Opera for three years with the Las Vegas company. Currently, Jason is in the revival of The Secret Garden, playing Albert Lennox, that is slated to return to Broadway next season. He has performed Off-Broadway with The New Group at Minetta Lane and with the ActFrench Festival at 59e59 Theater, and regionally with companies such as Washington D.C. Shakespeare Theater Company, Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival, Paper Mill Playhouse, 5th Avenue Theater, The Kennedy Center, North Shore Music Theater, Sacramento Music Circus and Theater Under the Stars. He has sung on the concert stage at Carnegie Hall, Omaha Symphony, New Jersey Festival Orchestra, Las Vegas Philharmonic, Abilene Philharmonic and on the opera stage with Boston Lyric Opera, Fresno Opera and Central City Opera. He has also performed on TV’s America’s Got Talent, Good Morning America and The 68th Annual Tony Awards. Jason has three solo albums: A New Leading Man, Revolutionary and Remembering to Dream, all available on iTunes, and has appeared on original cast albums of An American Victory and Song of Solomon with Broadway Records.

$30
Tuesday/Thursday/Saturday Orchestra Series Ticket: $75

Continuing the SummerFest tradition, the orchestra will present a free Family Concert on Saturday morning, featuring the music from Peter and the Wolf, narrated by local music enthusiast Bob Hallock, and selections from Leonard Bernstein’s On the Town. Children of all ages will enjoy how the musical instruments bring the stories to life!

Presented by The Ludwig Family.

The final concert will showcase music by Leonard Bernstein, Maurice Ravel, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky and more, along with selections from Georges Bizet’s Carmen Suites. Joining the orchestra throughout the evening will be violinist Tim Fain for what promises to be a special closing night.

Tim Fain
Tim Fain has been a favorite at SummerFest since 2014. A dynamic and compelling performer in traditional works, he is also a fervent champion of 20th and 21st century composers. He worked closely with composer Nicholas Britell on the Oscar and Golden Globe-winning film Moonlight, creating the sound world and performing and recording the score, which received much critical acclaim. In March 2017, he performed the live film score to a sold-out audience during a special screening of the film in Los Angeles. Tim performed Resonance in a virtual reality music video in collaboration with Google. His latest CD, First Loves, was released in September 2015 and is a 2-disc set featuring some of the works that first inspired him, as a child, to become a violinist.

$30
Tuesday/Thursday/Saturday Orchestra Series Ticket: $75