World-class culture

The 2004 Summer Music Festival, IU's School of Music's summer season, began Sunday and is scheduled to bring international musicians to Bloomington to perform first-rate music in a wide variety of concerts through August 14.\n"This year there will be students from Japan, Mexico, Switzerland and France and teachers coming in from France, Sweden and Wyoming," said professor Mimi Zweig.\nThe Chamber Music Series is a highlight of this summer's programming.\n"Both students and community members attend the performances," Zweig said, referring to the Chamber Music Series. "All concerts in previous years have been sold out."\nZweig said she was enthusiastic about the coming series, which will begin June 25 and features world famous musicians playing classical masterpieces.\n"It is one of the most exciting places for young people to be in the country, if not the world," she said. IU also has the privilege of hosting the sixth USA International Harp Competition from July 1 to 11. \n"This is one of the most prestigious competitions in the world," said Moya Wright, executive director of the competition. \nHeld once every three years, the harp competition is the only one of its kind in North America. This year it hosts 50 musicians from more than 17 countries who will play concerts throughout the week. The concerts are free to the public.\nWright said the final competition July 11 at the IU Auditorium will be exciting. \n"The three finalists will play with the University orchestra," she said. "The jury will vote during the intermission, and the prizes will be awarded on the stage."\nWright said the competition's winner will receive a Leon and Healy gold harp, a CD recording and recitals in London and New York. \n"The runners-up also receive substantial cash prizes," she said.\nWright, who has attended several finals, said the atmosphere is electrifying. The audience also has been growing.\n"Last year, the (Musical Arts Center), which has a capacity of 1,500 people, was completely full," she said. "This year we are expecting the auditorium, which has a larger capacity, to be full."\nAlain Barker, interim director of the IU Music School Office of Marketing and Publicity, said the summer is the time for the music school to step into the community.\n"Summer is different because there is a conscious attempt to create a music festival for the public," he said.\nBarker said the range of performances has been evolving over the years. This year the festival features two performances by IU Opera Theater. Jerry Bock's "She Loves Me," a romantic comedy following two feuding clerks who find solace in their anonymous romantic pen pals -- each other -- has been adapted into several films, such as "Shop Around the Corner" and "You've Got Mail," and plays from July 9 to July 11 at the Ruth N. Halls Theatre. Giacomo Puccini's "Tosca" runs July 30 and 31 at the IU Auditorium and tells the story of a prima donna caught in a complex web of deception in her attempt to save her liberal patriot lover from the Roman police in 19th century Italy.\nBarker praised the Bloomington community's commitment to classical music.\n"The education for classical music in Bloomington is very strong," Barker said. "We are blessed in that respect."\n-- Contact staff writer Sheeba Madan at smadan@indiana.edu.