Arkell Pavilion
The multi-Grammy Award-winning soprano Christine Goerke returns to the Manchester Music Festival as the Devil in Stravinsky’s masterful and sardonic take on the Faust legend, L’Histoire du soldat (Tale of the Soldier). Originally conceived for a cabaret setting, the work will be semi-staged at Arkell Pavilion by director James Glossman, and features the award-winning stage, film, and television actor David Strathairn (Goodnight, and Good Luck; Nomadland) as the Soldier, with actor Linda Setzer narrating. The chamber ensemble will be led by Paul Watkins and includes Philip Setzer (violin), Alan Kay (clarinet), and Eduardo Leandro (percussion), as well as Grace O’Connell (trumpet), Bridget Piccirilli (bassoon), and Matthew Nienow (trombone). Choreography created by Peter Sparling (Martha Graham Dance Company) will be performed by Marie Millard. Hailed “the reigning American dramatic soprano of the day” (The New York Times), Goerke will also perform a selection of cabaret songs drawn from the work of Weill, Bernstein, and Sondheim, with Watkins at the piano; and the MMF Young Artists open the program with the Mozart motet Ave Verum Corpus.
View the full festival schedule HERE.
For its 51st season, the Manchester Music Festival brings big talent and bold stories to the Arkell Pavilion at Southern Vermont Arts Center, for “Music and Storytelling,” July 10-August 7, 2025.
Under the leadership of Artistic Director Philip Setzer, famously of the Emerson String Quartet, this year’s Festival presents a range of celebrated artists, including Emmy Award Winner David Strathairn; GRAMMY Award-winning soprano Christine Goerke of The Metropolitan Opera; Anthony McGill, Principal Clarinet, New York Philharmonic; Emi Ferguson, Principal Flute, Handel & Haydn Society; Michael Stephen Brown, Piano and Avery Fisher Career Grant Recipient; Paul Neubauer, Viola, Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center; Sherezade Panthaki, Soprano, Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra; Paul Watkins, Cello, Emerson String Quartet; Gregg August, Bass, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra; and the MMF Young Artists.
Audiences will experience iconic works: Mozart’s Clarinet Quintet, Beethoven’s Kreutzer Sonata, Mendelssohn’s Octet, Schubert’s Trout Quintet, Stravinsky’s The Soldier’s Tale, and so much more, including free family concerts. Fifty-one years on, the Festival continues to be a cultural cornerstone and one of Vermont’s must-visit summer music events. Discover more at mmfvt.org.
Enjoy dinner at SVAC’s curATE café before the performance. Visit OpenTable for reservations or call 802.362.9100.
