Nothing beats Mozart at Manito

Musical traditions in Spokane flourish like fine gardens in the hands of the right gardeners.

Connoisseur Concerts combines a fine garden setting and a 17-year musical tradition next week with its Mozart on A Summer’s Eve concerts Tuesday and Wednesday at Manito Park.

Verne Windham of KBPX-FM, who has been tending to this traditional concert since its beginning, has arranged a program that includes a wind octet along with the husband-and-wife singing team of soprano Kimberly Monzon and baritone Carlos Monzon.

Windham calls the program of music by Mozart, Beethoven, Grieg, Ravel, Gershwin and Rodgers “The Enchanted Garden.”

“We have always said there is something magic about listening to great music in a beautiful setting like Manito Park,” Windham says.

“And this year we’re including three pieces from Ravel’s ‘Mother Goose’ Suite, ending with ‘The Enchanted Garden,’ as our musical tribute to the place where we’ve always performed these concerts.”

The performers are familiar to most Spokane concertgoers.

The instrumentalists of the Connoisseur Concerts Wind Ensemble include oboists Bethany Schoeff and Gary Plowman, clarinetists Dan Cotter and James Schoepflin, French horn players Windham and Roger Logan, and bassoonists Luke Bakken and John Reed.

Both Monzons hold master’s degrees in vocal performance from the University of Houston and have been resident artists with Pensacola Opera in Florida and the Des Moines Metro Opera in Iowa.

They live in Spokane and have performed with Spokane Opera and in Opera Plus productions in Coeur d’Alene, in addition to appearances with regional opera companies across the country.

The Monzons also will be featured in Opera Plus’ Opera Cruise on the Lake on Sunday on Lake Coeur d’Alene (information above).

“Instead of having Kimberly and Carlos sing just a miscellany of Mozart arias,” Windham says, “we thought it would be more fun to have them do the opening scene from ‘Marriage of Figaro,’ which has become something of a specialty of theirs.

“And they’ll end the program with two hits that are in keeping with our ‘Enchanted Garden’ theme: ‘Some Enchanted Evening’ from ‘South Pacific,’ and ‘Summertime’ from ‘Porgy and Bess.’ ”

The Wind Ensemble will perform Beethoven’s Octet in E-flat and five of Grieg’s Lyric Pieces arranged by former Chicago Symphony bassoonist Willard Elliott, along with the three Ravel pieces arranged by horn player Logan.

There are two types of seating arrangements for the concerts.

Connoisseur Concerts is offering tables that seat eight people for $200, or individual seats at a table for $25 each. That includes coffee and a gourmet dessert prepared by Luna restaurant.

Those tickets must be purchased in advance through TicketsWest. Concertgoers who want to picnic at their table beforehand can come as early as 5:30 p.m.

People who want to bring blankets and their own food and drink can buy lawn tickets for $10, through TicketsWest or at the park.