Mozart in the Knobs festival to kick off next week in Floyd County

Jul. 14—FLOYD COUNTY — A new festival will bring two weeks of classical music to Southern Indiana while offering educational opportunities for musicians.

The first Mozart in the Knobs festival will kick off next Tuesday. The classical music series will feature performances at different venues in Floyd County.

Ian Elmore, the artistic director and founder of the festival, said the Mozart in the Knobs organization is bringing the music of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart "to people in a way that it hasn't been provided necessarily in the past."

"We want to eliminate access issues," he said. "We want to kind of make Mozart a little more inviting, make classical music a little bit more inviting socioeconomically," he said.

Elmore and Mozart in the Knobs Executive Director Gabriel Villamizar have been talking for years about the possibility of creating a classical music festival.

Elmore is the artistic director of the Floyd County Youth Symphony and one of the conductors of the Louisville Youth Orchestra, and he also teaches private music lessons in the area.

Villamizar is a musician based in Miami, Florida. He is a cellist who has performed for nearly two decades with various organizations, and he also works for a performing arts center in Miami.

"I think our first conversation started when we were at a music festival together, like over a meal just being like, hey, what if we did this one day," Elmore said. "So it's been a very organic partnership because he's a very good friend of mine."

Mozart in the Knobs is bringing together a group of fellows, who will perform along with professional faculty during the educational festival. The fellows submitted auditions to participate in the festival, and about 30 musicians were selected out of about 100 applicants.

The fellows came from 20 different states and five different countries. Elmore emphasizes that fellowships are often costly for musicians who participate in those educational experiences, but there is no cost for fellows to participate in Mozart in the Knobs.

"So essentially, we eliminate socioeconomic barriers for these students, so they can study this music and perform this music and play alongside these faculty and have the opportunity to hone their craft and get better," Elmore said. "And I think that's really unique. There are not many festivals in the world that are doing what we are doing."

More Information

Visit mozartintheknobs.org to buy tickets or learn more about the festival.

PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE

* Opening Night Chamber Concert: Tuesday, July 18, 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Mount Saint Francis Center for Spirituality in Floyds Knobs

* "Symphony 39:" Wednesday, July 19, 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at St. Mary of the Annunciation in New Albany

* "A Little Night Music;" Thursday, July 20 from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Mount Saint Francis

* Friday Frolic Chamber Concert: Friday, July 21 from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Mount Saint Francis

* Benefit Concert and Dinner: Saturday, July 22, 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. at Mount Saint Francis

* Mozart Strings Performance: Monday, July 24 from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Mount Saint Francis

* Potpourri Chamber Concert: Tuesday, July 25, 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Mount Saint Francis

* "Requiem Mass:" Wednesday, July 26, from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at St. Mary's of the Annunciation

* "Don Giovanni:" Saturday, July 29, from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. at Ogle Center at Indiana University Southeast in New Albany

The festival features five chamber concerts at the Mount Saint Francis Center for Spirituality in Floyds Knobs, two symphonic concerts at St. Mary's of the Annunciation Church in New Albany and the opera "Don Giovanni" at the Ogle Center in New Albany.

The symphonic concerts do not require payment, and they are donation-based. The festival also offers a pay-what-you-can option at the door of the venues.

"Equity and inclusion are at the forefront of what we're trying to do," Villamizar said. "We are not doing a select opportunity for select community members. We are opening the doors to anyone and everyone who loves Mozart and wants to participate."

As the music industry faces challenges such as funding and limited opportunities for musicians, Villamizar looks forward to giving musicians a boost through Mozart in the Knobs.

"We viewed it as an opportunity to do something different...to give opportunities for our fellows, for students to get them something on their resume — the technique that is required to play Mozart, to study the faculty — all these things will set them aside from the large pool of applicants, from the competition they're competing with," Villamizar said. "And it will also give the faculty a well-paying job," he said.

Elmore selected the faculty at Mozart in the Knobs based on relationships he has built during his career as a musician. About 20 faculty members are participating in the festival, including professional musicians who have performed nationally and internationally.

The festival will also feature a benefit concert and dinner at Mount Saint Francis. Tickets are $150, which helps pay for a seat at the table for one of the Mozart in the Knobs fellows, who will be attending for free.

"So essentially if you come to that benefit dinner, you get to share a meal with a fellow, and there's going to be a short performance before where some of the performances and the faculty are going to perform," Elmore said. "That's something we're pretty excited about because you don't really see galas or benefit dinners like that where's that level of transparency between the fellows and faculty and donors."

Villamizar said attendees can expect "art at the highest quality" at the upcoming performances.

"And it's an educational program," he said. "It's not that we're striving for perfection, but we're striving for quality music. You can go throughout those two weeks and see the growth of the musicians that we're featuring."

Elmore said it is his "life's mission to bring music to everyone."

"I think music is a tool that brings people together, and it's something that's very powerful and is very empathetic and should be accessible at every level for every person," he said. "There should not ever be an artistic door that is shut to a person."