Lake Tahoe Music Festival
Inaugurated in 1982, the Lake Tahoe Music Festival is one of several summer festivals in the Tahoe area that draw crowds of people to this popular vacation destination. The festival was founded by Edward Braun, then-conductor of the San Francisco Chamber Orchestra, with a mission to present “diverse and quality musical experiences in the classic tradition from Bach to Blues and Beyond, and to create educational and performance opportunities for aspiring young musicians.”
Today, the Lake Tahoe Music Festival attracts about 12,000 visitors for its diverse list of concerts and the community is very involved in fundraising efforts that assist the festival in paying for musicians and other necessities that allow the event to go off without a hitch.
A total of eight concerts are included in the festival,
held on various evenings during the last two weeks of July and the first
week of August (with some variation from year to year). The Reno
Philharmonic is the guest artist for at least one of the concerts each year
and the other slots are filled by an ever-changing list of well-known and
emerging musicians. Previous performances have included artists like Huey
Lewis, Dave Mason, Kenny Loggins, Frederica von Stade, the Sacramento Opera
Chorus, Juice Newton, Sha Na Na, The Fifth Dimension, the Russian National
Orchestra, The Vienna Choir Boys, Manhattan Transfer, The Kingston Trio,
Cleo Laine, Rita Coolidge, Chuck Mangione, the U.S. Air Force Band, The
Blind Boys of Alabama, and a host of other musical greats. The current
artistic director of the Lake Tahoe Music Festival is Timm Rolek, conductor
of the Grand Forks (ND) Symphony Orchestra and a former member of the
conducting staff at the Metropolitan Opera in
The concerts for this festival are not held at just one
venue but rather many around the
Because the concerts are held outdoors, eating is part of the fun as well. At all the concert venues, a variety of food and beverage – including alcoholic drinks – are available for guests to purchase. Ticket holders are also welcome to bring their own picnic and enjoy it prior to the concert.
All seating at the Lake Tahoe Music Festival concerts
is on the lawn or ground of the venue and only chairs with legs of 4 inches
high or less are permitted in order to not obscure anyone’s view of the
performers. High back chairs can be used at the very rear of the seating
section. Special needs attendees can be accommodated and should indicate
their needs when they purchase their tickets. Concert tickets can be ordered
and printed online or may be purchased by phone or in person at the festival
office in
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