LUDLOW, Vermont — The 2008 TD Banknorth Summer Festival Tour of the Vermont Symphony Orchestra will be making its annual visit to Okemo Mountain Resort’s Jackson Gore Inn on Friday, June 27. Sponsored by Okemo Mountain Resort and Mary W. Davis Realtor & Associates, this is an Okemo tradition music lovers won’t want to miss. The grounds open at 5:30 p.m. for pre-concert picnicking and Coleman Brook Tavern barbecue. The concert is slated to begin at 7:30 p.m. Concert tickets are available in advance at okemo.com or at The Jackson Gore Inn’s Coleman Brook Tavern. Adult tickets are $30 and $6 for children under 18. Tickets will also be available at the gate, on the day of the concert, for $32 and $8 respectively. Attendees are encouraged to bring lawn chairs or blankets for seating.

“From Vermont with Love” is the theme of this summer’s tour. From “boy meets girl” in Oklahoma, to hot-blooded Carmen, to the comic mismatchings of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, love conquers all in this program devoted to affairs of the heart. In keeping with tradition, the program’s finale will be a performance of Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture accompanied by a magnificent fireworks display. This performance of the Vermont Symphony Orchestra will be conducted by Anthony Princiotti and feature soloist Esther Kim on violin.

In 1934, a small group of musical enthusiasts meeting in Woodstock convinced each other that by working together, they could assemble the necessary musical and financial resources from across rural Vermont to create a statewide symphony orchestra. At their center was an inspiring young conductor named Alan Carter, fresh from musical studies in Cologne and Paris, who became the first music director of the Vermont Symphony Orchestra.

While the Orchestra has grown over the years, its basic philosophy and much about its operation have remained the same. The steps taken by a farsighted Vermont legislature of 1939 (to provide $1,000 for a performance at the New York World’s Fair), have been followed by subsequent lawmakers, so that today the legislature continues to be a major source of funding. The VSO is the oldest state-supported orchestra in the country.

Since 1999, Jaime Laredo has been Music Director for the VSO. Known worldwide in the multiple roles of violinist, conductor, recitalist and chamber musician, Laredo has performed with orchestras including Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, New York and Philadelphia, and with such conductors as Barenboim, Mehta, Ozawa, Slatkin, and Colin Davis. Laredo makes his home in Guilford, Vt.

On Friday nights throughout the summer season, the lawn in the courtyard at Okemo’s Jackson Gore Inn is transformed into an outdoor concert venue featuring renowned local and regional entertainers. Except for the performance of the Vermont Symphony Orchestra, admission to the Jackson Gore Outdoor Music Series is free. Concerts are scheduled from 6 to 9 p.m.

For more information, please visit www.okemo.com or call (802) 228-1600.

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