Long Island Mozart Festival

The Long Island Mozart Festival arrives at Old Westbury Gardens this weekend, offering a variety of activities designed for family appeal. While the focus is, of course, on the music of the Austrian composer, the festival is geared toward involving families in appreciating classical music.
“We want to make the music accessible to everyone, not just the seasoned concertgoer,” said David Winkler, executive director of Chamber Players International, the organization that presents the two-day event. “For those that don’t know much about classical music this is a way to introduce them to it, by hearing music in a number of different ways.” And for the dedicated concertgoers, the mainstage concerts offer serious performance of classical masterworks, including some non-Mozart works performed by musicians of international renown.
“We like to think of this as Lincoln Center in your own backyard,” Winkler said.
But this version of Lincoln Center has a twist.
Old Westbury Gardens provides a colorful backdrop, as it shows off its spring beauty. Along with the music, the events on Saturday and Sunday, May 15-16, include a children’s festival, garden tours, carriage rides, fencing demonstrations, and a Porsche automobile show (on Sunday).

The Gardens is open for tours and strolls throughout the weekend. Wherever guests go throughout the grounds, they will be surrounded by the sounds of music-making.
“There seem to be some things that go particularly well in a beautiful

atmosphere,” said Old Westbury Gardens spokesman Vince Kish. “Classical music blends perfectly with this venue.”
The mainstage concerts, at 2 p.m. both days, will take place at the North Lawn opposite the main house. “It’s an ideal location for a concert,” Winkler said.
In an effort to expose younger audiences to classical music, this year’s festival has a youthful focus. The many youth-related offerings include Musical Wisdom Trio, an interactive concert of classical music and storytelling for families and children; Music for Aardvarks, a concert for preschoolers, and a Mozart Dice Game, where kids can create a minuet. Also on Sunday, the Kende Trio offers an introduction to classical music at a concert/talk that combines performance with instruction about string instruments.
Of course, Winkler wants kids and teens to experience the Mainstage concerts. Saturday’s concert, featuring Mozart’s String Quartets K.378 and K.465, is performed by guest artists, the Voxare String Quartet. This young ensemble – consisting of Emily Ondracek and Galina Zhdanova, violins, Erik Peterson, viola, and Adrian Daurov, cello – “is an extraordinary group of young musicians,” Winkler said.
Sunday’s concert is performed by renowned violinists Anna Rabinova, and Dmitri Berlinsky, with the Long Island Mozart Festival Chamber Orchestra, led by New York Philharmonic Assistant Conductor Daniel Boico. They will present a Mozart Divertimento, J.S. Bach’s Double Violin Concerto, and Mozart’s Eine Kleine Nacht Muzik. Also on the program is the World Premiere of Winkler’s Double Violin Concerto, a piece he composed for the celebration of Old Westbury Gardens’ 50th Anniversary.
All events are outdoors. “We are combining the ambiance of the gardens, family activities and serious musical fare in a format that will reach the community,” Winkler said. “With less and less of these type of events available in the region, we are trying to fill that void.”

Long Island Mozart Festival
Saturday and Sunday, May 15-16, noon-4 p.m.; gardens open at 10 a.m. $10, $8 seniors, $5 ages 7-17.
Fee includes the Mainstage concert and all activities for that day. Information: (877) 444-4488 or www.longislandmozartfestival.org/. Old Westbury Gardens, 71 Old Westbury Rd, Old Westbury.