Newport Music Festival: Malkovich Memorial Concert

Dr. Mark P. Malkovich, III, Late Newport Music Festival Impresario, to be Honored with July 7 Memorial Concert at Portsmouth Abbey School

               
            PORTSMOUTH, R.I., June 27, 2011 – The 2011 Newport Music Festival will kick off its 43rd season on Thursday, July 7, with a special event – a benefit concert to honor the memory of Dr. Mark P. Malkovich, III, who, in his 35 years as festival director, brought the event to international prominence and firmly established it as one of the most prestigious classical music celebrations in the world.  Dr. Malkovich was killed in a car accident in May of 2010.

Portsmouth Abbey School and the Newport Music Festival will collaborate to present Sanctus Solemnitas, a collection of important sacred works to benefit The Mark P. Malkovich, III, Memorial Fund.  Featuring Portsmouth Abbey’s Music Director, Joshua Horsch, as conductor and the Portsmouth Abbey Ensemble and Chorus, the concert will highlight the music of Pärt, Gorecki, Joio and Takemitsu, four 20^th-Century composers well known for their creative genius and spiritual depth. 

“This is a great way to honor Dad,” said Mark P. Malkovich, IV, a 1978 graduate of Portsmouth Abbey, “and to continue his, and our family’s, long relationship with Portsmouth Abbey.”  Dr. Malkovich chose to move his family to Portsmouth in 1974 so that his three sons – Mark IV, Eric ’79 and Kent ’85 – could attend Portsmouth Abbey School.  It was in 1975 that Dr. Malkovich was asked to take the reins of the Newport Music Festival, a then-struggling, little-known concert series.  Mark IV established the fund in the elder Malkovich’s memory at the Music Festival Foundation, and Portsmouth Abbey has also started a memorial fund in Dr. Malkovich’s honor to benefit the School’s music program. 

The concert will take place at 8:00 p.m. in the Auditorium of Portsmouth Abbey School, located at 285 Cory’s Lane, Portsmouth, RI.  For those who are interested, vespers (an evening church service) will begin at 5:30 p.m., and will be followed by a tour of the Church of Saint Gregory the Great at 6:00 p.m. and a pre-concert cocktail reception at 6:30 p.m.   

Tickets for the concert only are $40.00 and may be purchased at the door or by contacting Fran Cook at (401) 643-1281 or fcook@portsmouthabbey.org.

Tickets to attend vespers, the church tour, the pre-concert reception and the concert are $100.00 and must be purchased by Friday, July 1.  Please contact Fran Cook at 401-643-1281 or fcook@portsmouthabbey.org.

Tickets may also be purchased through the Newport Music Festival Box Office:  401-849-0700.