Agency Details:

Vermont Mozart Festival

The Vermont Mozart Festival was founded to promote cultural life in Vermont through an annual three-week celebration of classical composers, which includes pieces performed by world-renowned musicians from around the globe.

Description:
The Vermont Mozart Festival was founded in 1974 by Mel Kaplan, a Juilliard School of Music professor for twenty-five years and a well-known figure in the world of chamber music. Having recently moved to a farm in Charlotte, Mel was struck by the similarity of Vermont’s beauty to that of Mozart’s Austria and had the inspiration to conceive a festival in the European model: a variety of interrelated musical events in a variety of gorgeous settings. With the help of Bill Metcalfe, chair of the Music Department at the University of Vermont, and in collaboration with UVM’s Lane Series, the Mozart Festival debuted with a season of ten concerts in six Burlington-area locations.

The Mozart Festival became an independent organization in 1977, and, bolstered by fantastic reviews in the national media, quickly grew from a small festival to a true destination event. The three-week festival now draws upwards of 16,000 visitors annually to concerts throughout Vermont. Since its first year, the Mozart Festival has performed 3,000 pieces in fifty-six different venues. It has consistently been named by the Vermont Chamber of Commerce as one of Vermont’s Top Ten Summer Events, and is regarded by its attendees as one of their favorite summer rituals.

The Festival has presented many of the premier soloists and ensembles of our time: the Grammy Award-winning Emerson and Angeles String Quartets, pianists Claude Frank and Menahem Pressler, the Tokyo Quartet, the Beaux Arts Trio, guitarist Sharon Isbin, flutist Julius Baker, clarinetist Benny Goodman, and many others.

In recognition of the enormous impact he has had on the cultural life of Vermont, founder and Artistic Director Mel Kaplan has received both the Governor’s Award for Outstanding Contributions to the State of Vermont, and the Vermont Arts Council’s Lifetime Achievement Award.

Contact people:

Katie Anderson, Volunteer Coordinator, (802) 651-9675, (email) Emily Delonge, Operations Manager, (802) 651-9684, (email)

Office fax number: (802) 862-2201

Address:

3 Main Street Suite 217 Burlington, VT 05401 (See a map)

Web Site: http://www.vtmozart.com

Directions:

Nearest Bus Stop: CCTA/ College Street Shuttle ends at 1 Main Street, 1 minute walk

Miscellaneous Information

1. What target populations does your agency serve?
	Serving New England
3. How many paid staff (FTE) do you have?
	5
The organization's main phone number is
	8022-862-7352
4. Please indicate your organization type:
	Independent 501 (c)3
How many clients do you serve annually?
	18,000 audience members yearly.
Volunteers for this agency can serve in these county(s):
	Chittenden, Franklin and Grand Isle Counties

Last updated on May 26, 2009