Stratford Summer Music Festival
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Stratford Summer Music is an annual music festival operating in Stratford, Ontario, Canada, since 2001. Led by Artistic Producer John A. Miller, the festival hosts local and international performers, in indoor and outdoor performances over a three-week period in July and August.
An earlier festival by the same name operated in Stratford from 1980 to 1984. The festival was founded by pianist Peter Elyakim Taussig who was its first artistic director. John A. Miller, the current Artistic Producer, was the original general manager. In its first two seasons the festival headlined such international artists as Elly Ameling, Sarah Vaughan, Philip Entremont, Leonard Rose, and The Canadian Brass, to name but a few. In 1983 conductor Boris Brott was appointed artistic director.
The 2005 season headlined Canadian soprano Measha Brueggergosman, and the Tivoli Boys Guard Band from Copenhagen, Denmark. The 2007 season will feature British Columbia's own Langley Ukulele Ensemble.
In honor of the 250th anniversary of the birth of Mozart, the focus of the 2006 season was the famous composer. The season also featured the von Trapp Children, great-grandchildren of Georg Ritter and Maria von Trapp. After a sell-out performance at the festival, the von Trapp Children returned to Stratford on December 16, 2006, for two Christmas performances organized by Stratford Summer Music.
The festival traditionally hosts an After-Theatre Cabaret at the Stratford Church Restaurant featuring actors from the Stratford Festival of Canada.
