Brevard Center Summer Music Festival

June 22-August 5, 2018
Each summer, the Brevard Music Center presents 80+ performances during a 7-week span. The BMC Summer Music Festival includes an exceptional line-up of symphony, opera, chamber, pops, jazz, country, bluegrass and folk performances. Artistic Director Keith Lockhart is also Principal Conductor of the Boston Pops and BBC Concert Orchestra. We highly recommend it!

Enjoy a season of world-class music in their open-air auditorium and in a variety of more intimate spaces. The 2018 Music Festival includes symphonic masterpieces by Mozart, Beethoven, and Tchaikovsky; piano virtuosos Olga Kern and Conrad Tao; bluegrass legends Steep Canyon Rangers and Béla Fleck; The Manhattan Transfer; celebration of Leonard Bernstein; Rock Violin Concerto featuring R.E.M.’s Mike Mills, 4th of July concert and much more.

Located in Brevard, an easy 45-minute drive from downtown Asheville, the Brevard Music Center provides young musicians with the opportunity to develop their talents with renowned guest artists. More than 500 students, ages 14 through post-college, join professional musicians to eat, breathe and sleep music for seven weeks. 

2018 Brevard Music Festival Highlights​

• June 22: Opening night with Artistic Director Keith Lockhart leading Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2, featuring pianist Olga Kern.
• June 23: Grammy® Award-winning quartet The Manhattan Transfer swinging evening
• June 24: Maestro Lockhart launches BMC’s 2018 Bernstein Festival with “Beloved Bernstein”—a distinct collection of beloved pieces. 3 PM
• June 26: Grammy® Award-winning Steep Canyon Rangers with bluegrass, folk rock, pop, and country.
• June 29: Beethoven’s “Pastoral” Symphony - Orchestra
• June 30: Enigma Variations - Orchestra
• July 4: Pendergrast Patriotic Pops concert, featuring the rousing 1812 Overture with live cannon.
• July 6: Brahms Symphony No. 2 - Orchestra
• July 7: R.E.M.’s Mike Mills on keyboard/guitar and Robert McDuffie on violin for “Concerto for Violin, Rock Band, and String Orchestra”
• July 10: So Percussion
• July 11: Brandenburg Concerto No. 4 - Orchestra
• July 13: A Bernstein Celebration - Orchestra
• July 14: “West Side Story” movie with live symphony performing Leonard Bernstein’s classic score
• July 20: Virtuosic pianist Conrad Tao performs Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 1.
• July 21: Brahms Double - Orchestra
• July 22: Pines of Rome - Orchestra
• July 27: Tchaikovsky 4 - Orchestra
• July 28: Time for Three - Orchestra
• July 29: Soloists for Tomorrow 3 PM & Supersonic 7:30 PM
• August 3: Finale weekend with Holst’s “The Planets”
• August 4: Mussorgsky’s “Pictures at an Exhibition”
• August 5: Bernstein’s “Mass"
• August 18: Post season special concert with Grammy® Award-winning banjo legend Béla Fleck
• For their complete schedule, go to their Web site.

Opera Season
All operas are staged in the Scott Concert Hall at the Porter Center (on the Brevard College campus) on Thursdays or Saturdays and complemented by English subtitles above the stage.

• June 21: “Opera’s Greatest Hits”
• June 28 & 30: Puccini’s “Madama Butterfly”
• July 12 & 14: Rossini’s “La Cenerentola” (Cinderella)
• July 26 & 28: Bernstein’s “Candide”
• August 2: “Sondheim on Sondheim”
• For their complete schedule, 

2018 Leonard Bernstein Festival
Brevard Music Festival will include the "Leonard Bernstein Festival" with special symphony, Broadway, and chamber performances, plus the opera Candide, West Side Story (movie + live symphony), Bernstein's Mass and more. They will join 2,000+ events on on six continents to recognize the life and work of the iconic conductor, educator, performer, cultural ambassador and humanitarian.

Subscription and Ticket Information
Tickets to Brevard Music Center’s Summer Festival start at $20 for lawn tickets. We recommend paying extra for covered, reserved seating in case of rain and for better sound ($22-$77, depending on concert). Lawn seating is free for children under 17 (with a paying adult) and students 18 and older with a valid ID. Many performances will be presented free of charge. Many concerts will sell-out, so get tickets in advance.

For tickets and concert information, go to their Web site or call 828-862-2105. Parking is free.

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 145 buildings spread over 140 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.