TUCSON DESERT SONG FESTIVAL

TUCSON DESERT SONG FESTIVAL debuts new work

By Beverly Medlyn

Mark your calendar for Feb. 4, 2021, when the Tucson Desert Song Festival presents the premiere of a musical work created and performed by two internationally renowned opera celebrities.

“This is a very special event!” says George Hanson, festival coordinator. “Jake Heggie is the most important and best-known living opera composer in the world today. He is writing a work for us, and will accompany Jamie Barton, who is among the most important mezzo-sopranos in the world.”

Heggie’s work, commissioned by the Tucson Desert Song Festival, will be presented at 7 p.m. Feb. 4 at the University of Arizona Fred Fox School of Music. The performance will be held in a large recital hall so the audience can maintain social distance protocol. Venue is subject to change.

“Songs of Love” is the theme for the 2021 Tucson Desert Song Festival, celebrating music inspired by humanity’s most profound emotion, particularly poignant in these troubled times.

Typically, the Tucson Desert Song Festival spans three weekends in January and February, partnering with the city’s top performing arts groups to bring nationally known vocal soloists to concerts at venues across the city and Green Valley.

The festival’s mission is to make Tucson the place to be for music lovers, who come from around the nation. Information about the festival and other arts events is available at onstageaz.com.

“In the winter, Tucson is full of visitors from major cities who are used to a cultural life that exists at a very high level,” Hanson says. “They can come here to play golf if they want, but they can also come here for great artistry, to hear great singing.”

Hanson expects the festival to be back in full swing by January 2022, just in time for its 10th anniversary celebration.

For more, visit tucsondesertsongfestival.org.