Tuscan Sun Festival

THE TUSCAN SUN FESTIVAL, THE REGION’S PREMIERE ARTS FESTIVAL AND LIFESTYLE EVENT, ANNOUNCES ITS 9TH EDITION
31st – 7th AUGUST, 2011
IN CORTONA, ITALY

Legendary Pianist Martha Argerich Performs Opening Night Concert

Hollywood Superstars Sharon Stone and Jeremy Irons Narrate Chopin Evening

Trudie Styler Returns to the Festival to Lead Yoga and Pilates Classes
  
The Tuscan Sun Festival announces its 9th season with yet again an exciting and unique programme that encompasses world class concerts, renowned stars, exclusive wine and culinary events, visual art exhibitions and wellness classes making it the premiere arts festival and lifestyle event in Tuscany in August.  Tickets go on sale at the end March.
The Festival is delighted to announce that the event will be launched with a concert featuring the legendary pianist Martha Argerich.  In an evening dedicated to Argentina and its most seductive dance, Ms. Argerich leads an exceptional night of Tango variations by composers such as Ginastera, Piazzolla and Bacalov.  Joined by Argentinian friends such as Oscar-winning composer for Il Postino, Luis Bacalov, Rafael Gintoli, Nestor Marconi and Eduardo Hubert, it is a rare opportunity to hear the acclaimed Martha Argerich as she and the ensemble bring the Tango to life in the intimate venue of Teatro Signorelli, in the very heart of Cortona.
Hollywood superstars Sharon Stone and Jeremy Irons come together to narrate a theatrical evening with music called Nocturne: Seduction, Smoke and Music - The love story of Chopin and George Sand.Chronicling the love story of legendary composer Frédéric Chopin and infamous French writer and feminist Amandine-Lucile-Aurore Dupin, known as George Sand, Nocturne explores the development of their unusual relationship over a decade; from the first meetings that were repulsive to him yet intriguing to her, a wild affair in Majorca, to Sand finally assuming an unlikely motherly role of Chopin that was ultimately doomed.  Oscar-nominated actress, producer, activist and humanitarian Sharon Stone is the unconventional and controversial cigar smoking George Sand.  Academy Award-winning actor, classically trained, with an acclaimed and varied international film career, Jeremy Irons appears as the pianist and composer Frédéric Chopin.  The two stars read the letters exchanged between the lovers in an intimate theatrical evening of the written word, music and dance, accompanied and illustrated by the music of Chopin and his contemporaries. The evening will feature great musicians and dancers,  including the pianist Lucy Parham who has performed the Chopin story in a version for actors and solo piano that she originated.

Once again the Tuscan Sun Festival is honoured to collaborate with local wine makers on not only tasting events, but also for spectacular gala dinners.  To celebrate the Festival the Il Borro winery, the Ferragamo family estate, hosts the opening gala dinner.  The post Nocturne concert gala dinner, on August 5th will be held at the Tenimenti d’Alessandro estate in Manzano hosted by Massimo D’Alessandro and Giuseppe Calabrese.

The Tuscan Sun Festival’s music programme also boasts some of the world’s most distinguished artists in other concerts:  leading violinist Pinchas Zukerman, cellist Amanda Forsyth and Italian flutist Andrea Griminelli perform in concerto; the Zukerman Chamber Players present a night of chamber music; cellist and Co-Founder of the Tuscan Sun Festival Nina Kotova joins the Nocturne evening; violinist Michael Guttman presents a night of Schubert; award-winning pianist Leif Ove Andsnes plays Beethoven in a concert that will include young guitar sensation Miloš Karadaglić; beloved soprano Danielle de Niese returns to the Tuscan Sun Festival for the closing night of Classical and Baroque arias.
Known for celebrating the finest arts and local culture in the charming hill top town of Cortona, the Tuscan Sun Festival’s musical programme in the evening is balanced with daytime events including cooking demonstrations by celebrated chefs as well as other culinary events, art exhibitions, discussions and readings with literary figures and historic walking tours of Cortona.
The Tuscan Sun Festival maintains its vibrant wellness component including regular tai chi classes with Lucia Dalbon and Chinese medicine talks and demonstrations with Dr. Weishe Song.  After the enthusiastic response to her class during the 2010 festival, we are delighted that Trudie Styler will return this year to lead two yoga and pilates classes.
Leading Italian wine expert and former Senior Editor and European Bureau Chief of Wine Spectator and European Editor of Cigar Aficionado, James Suckling returns to the Tuscan Sun Festival to lead exclusive wine events including “Masters of Wine” – the wine tasting and lecture, followed by dinner at Michelin-starred Il Falconiere restaurant, a runaway success of the 2010 Festival.
As part of the visual arts section, this year the festival welcomes renowned photographer Fabrizio Ferri who in addition to his photography has developed projects outside of the photographic field, ranging from video to his own compositions.


FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT PROGRAMM & TICKETS
For ticket information, see www.tuscansunfestival.com. 
For information regarding group bookings, contact Matthew Todd, mtodd@imgartists.com, or Kerstin Alt, kalt@imgartists.com - +44 (0)20 7957 5800
For international press queries, contact:  Tristen Hennigs, IMG Artists, thennigs@imgartists.com, +44 (0) 20 7957 5891

For Italian press queries, contact:  Laura Ruggieri, LR Comunicazione, l.r.comunicazione@libero.it, +39 06/6631305, +39 339/4755329