For more information or interview opportunities, contact Jeff Tomczek at: communications@mozartintheknobs.org
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New Albany, IN | July 5th, 2023
First Annual Mozart in the Knobs Classical Music Festival
Set for July 18th - 29th
The new non-profit fest provides equitable opportunities to musicians who will perform nine concerts in the Southern Indiana / Louisville community.
Classically trained musicians from more than twenty US states and as far reaching as Peru are descending upon New Albany from July 18th to the 29th to offer a selection of works from Mozart for the Southern Indiana and Louisville metro arts community. Mozart in the Knobs, a grassroots classical music festival with the ethos of equity and accessibility, was founded by friends Ian Elmore and Gabe Villamizar - also professional musicians. The festival will feature several of the great composer’s masterpieces including: five chamber concerts, two symphonies, a benefit dinner-concert, and an opera. Venues include the chapel at Mount Saint Francis, St. Mary's of the Annunciation, and The Ogle Center.
Raised in the community, Elmore identified a lack of inclusion for both performers and audiences in the more traditionally high-brow performance space. He shares the mission for this upstart summer festival: “Operating as a non-profit organization, our festival uniquely provides scholarships to talented musicians who otherwise face challenges in finding opportunities to take part in similar showcases, which often charge fees to the performers themselves to participate. Similarly, price points to attend classical performances regularly keep a large portion of community members from affording tickets. Not to mention, such concerts would rarely be held in an area like New Albany. For all these reasons, we knew we wanted to disrupt the norms.”
Mozart in the Knobs will open with a chamber concert at Mount Saint Francis and close with a tent pole rendition of the Austrian legend’s beloved opera ‘Don Giovanni’ at the Ogle Center. Symphony events will take place at St. Mary’s of the Annunciation.
Co-founder Villamizar shares why it is their goal to make it an annual event, “Our invited artist fellows will have the opportunity to learn from distinguished faculty facilitating the rehearsals and performances of just a sampling of Wolfgang Amadeus’ over 800 career works. His extensive catalog offers a wealth of options to continue a yearly tradition of bringing world-class classical music to the New Albany area and providing education and advancement for even more young performers. Delivering nine concerts over two weeks is just the start of our vision for the future, we love being as bold as the composer was himself.”
Tickets are available now at www.MozartInTheKnobs.org. Packaged festival passes run $80, with individual concerts and Opera tickets to Don Giovanni for only $32 with applicable discounts for veterans, seniors, and students. Limited seating for the dinner and benefit concert event run $35 per seat. All proceeds go directly to supporting the festival and its fellows.