In Focus: Lakes Area Music Festival Begins 2021 Summer Season

The Lakes Area Music Festival will begin its 13th season this weekend at a brand-new location in Brainerd.

This year, performances will be held at the Gichi-ziibi Center for the Arts, which will house the first live and in-person concerts for the festival in over 16 months. Concerts will run through August 22.

This weekend’s performance will begin the season with two programs. The theme of the season is “New Roots”, symbolizing the return of an audience in a new venue, but also bringing in new talents and voices.

One of this weekend’s programs, “American Roots”, will be a salute to American composers and works. Tickets to the program, which will be held Saturday, July 31 and Sunday, August 1, are free of charge, but there is a suggested donation. Registration is required and can be completed by visiting my.lakesareamusic.org.

For those that cannot attend the concerts in person, the Lakes Area Music Festival will stream 10 concerts on Facebook and YouTube at no charge every Friday, Saturday, and Wednesday from July 31 through August 21. The festival will end their 2021 season on August 22 with Tribute to the Earth, featuring a world premiere by Peruvian-American composer Jimmy López that is followed by Sibelius’s Second Symphony.