Brevard Music Center Summer Festival

June 3-August 19, 2023

Don't miss one of the top summer music festivals in the country - with concerts under the stars in a beautiful mountain setting! Each summer, the Brevard Music Center presents a big variety of 100+ events and performances during a 10+ week span while students from around the world gather at their campus. The BMC Summer Festival includes an exceptional line-up of orchestra, chamber music, opera, bluegrass, and jazz performances from June through August. BMC Artistic Director and alumnus Keith Lockhart—Principal Conductor of the Boston Pops for more than 25 years—provides artistic leadership for the ten-week summer music festival.

As one of the country's top summer music schools, the Center's 500 gifted young musicians perform alongside an artist faculty from world-renowned orchestras and universities - plus some well-known headliners. Concerts are held at multiple venues on campus and in Brevard. Their campus is about 34 miles southwest of downtown Asheville.

Concerts are held in Whittington-Pfohl Auditorium, Western North Carolina’s most beautiful outdoor concert hall, and in Brevard Music Center’s stunning new indoor concert venue, Parker Concert Hall. All operas are staged nearby at the Porter Center on the Brevard College campus and complemented by English supertitles above the stage. Arrive early to picnic by the lake or on the lawn adjacent to the Whittington-Pfohl Auditorium during a show. Bring your food or buy snacks, beer, hard cider, and more at the concession stand.

Here's just a sampling of their season:

Here's just a sampling of their season:
2023 Opening Week: June 23 - June 27

• Friday, June 23: Opening Night! Carmina Burana 
• Saturday, June 24: BMC Presents: Patti LuPone
• Sunday, June 25: Tchaikovsky's Symphony No 6 with 
• Monday, June 26: Beethoven's Archduke Trio
• Tuesday, June 27: BMC Presents: Revolution - The Music of the Beatles

The 2023 BMC Summer Festival includes an exceptional line-up of more than 80 symphonies, opera, chamber music, pops, jazz, country, and bluegrass concerts. 

Opera
Three fully staged operas include Bizet’s Carmen, Mozart’s Abduction from the Seraglio, and Leigh-Wasserman’s Man of La Mancha - plus a recital of Opera’s Greatest Hits and a very special Evening of Cole Porter. All operas are staged at the Porter Center (on the Brevard College campus) and complemented by English supertitles above the stage.

Subscription and Ticket Information

Tickets to Brevard Music Center’s Summer Festival are on sale, priced from $24 for lawn tickets; subscriptions are still available. We recommend covered, reserved seating in case of rain–note that concerts take place rain or shine! Lawn seating is free for children under 17 with a paying adult. See ticketing policies on brevardmusic.org/tickets for complete details. Popular concerts may sell out, so be sure to plan for the music you love and purchase tickets in advance. Parking is free.

For tickets and a complete concert schedule, visit brevardmusic.org/tickets.

Brevard Music Center is one of the few organizations of its kind that owns and operates its own physical facilities. The BMC campus encompasses more than 150 buildings spread over 180 beautiful mountainside acres in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina.

Arrive early to picnic by the lake. Or picnic on the lawn adjacent to the Whittington-Pfohl Auditorium during a show. Bring your food or buy snacks, beer, hard cider, and more at their concessions stand.

From Asheville: Allow 45 minutes to drive. GPS: 349 Andante Ln, Brevard. Take I-26 E to the Asheville Airport exit, #40. Turn right off the exit onto Highway 280 and drive 16 miles into Brevard. As you approach downtown Brevard, you will see directional signs to the Music Center. For their complete schedule, go to their website.