Mozart Festival events
9 a.m. April 17:
Meters for Mozart 5K walk/run, Joyce Park, Forest Lake Lane, Hamilton/Fairfield. Pre-registration $20 with T-shirt, $15 without. Registration day of event $25 with T-shirt, $20 without.
7 p.m. April 17: Wine Tasting Party, 134 Random Drive, Hamilton. $35 per person. RSVP by April 12.
7 p.m. April 20: Chamber Concert, St. Mark's United Methodist Church, 4601 Fairfield Ave., Fairfield. Concert free. Dinner 5:30 p.m. for $10. Call (513) 844-1818 for reservations.
6 p.m. April 21: Wolfie's Night Out, Symmes Tavern, 500 Wessel Drive, Fairfield.
6 p.m. April 24: Der Mozart Karnival, Harry T. Wilks Conference Center, Miami University Hamilton, 1601 University Blvd., $50 per person. RSVP by April 19.
4 p.m. April 25: Grand Finale Concert, St. Peter in Chains, 382 Liberty St., Hamilton. Followed by Afterglow at Ryan's Tavern, 241 High St., $20 per person.
For more information or to RSVP for most events, call (513) 895-5151.
HAMILTON — For the 14th year, the Hamilton/Fairfield Symphony Orchestra is tuning up for the annual Mozart Festival.
The festivities kick off with a new event this year called Meters for Mozart, a 5K walk-run fundraiser that will be at 9 a.m. April 17 at Joyce Park. The director of the orchestra, John Paul Stanbery, plans to participate in the event in his Mozart costume, if someone agrees to sponsor him for $1,000. Stanbery plans to wear the getup at several events throughout the festival.
“The wig doesn’t fit me right, but that’s part of the shtick,” he said.
Registration for the event can be found at www.runningtime.net or at www.hfso.org, or by calling (513) 895-5151.
Registration before the event costs $20, which includes a T-shirt, or $15 without a shirt. Registration the day of the event costs $25 with the shirt, $20 without. Online registration ends April 15.
One of the coordinators of the event, Connie Baesel, said she will be easy to spot — “Look for the only female in a costume,” she said. She will be one of Mozart’s wenches.
Next up is a wine tasting party at 7 p.m. April 17 at the home of Jim and Barb Noonan at 134 Random Drive in Hamilton. Six wines will be presented. Admission is $35 per person, and a paid RSVP is required by April 12.
The first musical event of the festival will be the Chamber Concert at 7 p.m. April 20 at St. Mark’s United Methodist Church at 4601 Fairfield Ave., Fairfield. Admission to the event is free; dinner will be served at 5:30 p.m. at the church, and costs $10. Call (513) 844-1818 to make reservations.
The concert will feature soprano Olivia Yokers and pianist Tisha Patton playing “wall-to-wall Mozart — you won’t hear another composer all week,” Stanbery said.
Appearing along with the soloists are a string quartet from the College-Conservatory of Music of Cincinnati, and the Quintessential Winds, a quintet of members of the HFSO, Stanbery added.
Next up is “Wolfie’s Night Out” at 6 p.m. April 21 at Symmes Tavern in Fairfield, featuring food, drink and the ubiquitous Stanbery in his Mozart gear, along with more wenches.
At 6 p.m. April 24 is Der Mozart Karnival at the Harry T. Wilks Conference Center at Miami University Hamilton. The dinner event costs $50 per person, with paid RSVP due by April 19. The Fort Hamilton Jazz Band will play, and Stanbery will appear — you guessed it — as Mozart.
“I get a lot of use out of that costume,” Stanbery mused.
Finally, the Grand Finale concert wraps up the festival at 4 p.m. April 25 at the St. Peter in Chains Church at 382 Liberty St. in Hamilton. The orchestra and the 90-voice chorale will perform Mozart’s “Jupiter” symphony, which harkens back to the HFSO’s “Planets” concert last fall. Also on the bill is Mozart’s “Coronation Mass,” one of his earlier works.
A postscript to the festival, immediately after the concert, will be an “Afterglow” at Ryan’s Tavern at 241 High St. in Hamilton, featuring a buffet with a cash bar. This event costs $20, and RSVPs must be made by April 19.
The Mozart event has grown from a single concert into a full-blown festival with events all week long. Some 2,000 people attend the events through the run of the festival, Stanbery estimated.
And at the heart of it all is Mozart himself, revered by many as the greatest of all classical composers.
“Mozart’s genius was that he was able to think in all kinds of ways out of the box. The intricacy of how his brain worked is an incredible thing. He was probably the greatest genius in the realm of music,” Stanbery said.
Except as noted, all RSVPs may be made by calling (513) 895-5151.
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