The sound of music is everywhere, with music festivals throughout the world launching their summer seasons. Festivals also look at ideas, creativity, Native American culture, lights and folk art, and newly opened museum facilities have interesting exhibits on tap.
Domestic
Atlanta -- Four of Monet's celebrated water lily paintings, including his 42-foot-wide triptych, "Reflections of Clouds on the Water-Lily Pond," on loan from New York's Museum of Modern Art, are the attraction at the High Museum of Art. Its "Monet Water Lilies" are on view from June 6 to Aug. 23.
Chicago -- The photography galleries in the Art Institute of Chicago's recently opened, $294 million Modern Wing provide the setting for "Photography on Display: Modern Treasure" through Sept. 9. The exhibit features 130 works by 70 photographers. The Modern Wing's Abbott Galleries feature "Cy Twombly: The Natural World, Selected Work, 2000-2007" through Sept. 13.
The Chicago Blues Festival from June 11 to 14 will be held on six stages in Grant Park.
Cooperstown, N.Y. -- More than 100 works by artists such as Thomas Cole, George Inness and Childe Hassam are included in "America's Rome: Artists in the Eternal City, 1800-1900" at the Fenimore Art Museum through Dec. 31.
Gettysburg, Pa. -- Sites in and around town, including the Majestic Theatre and the Civil War battlefield, are settings for the Gettysburg Festival from June 18 to 28, with 60 events celebrating America's cultural arts.
Grand Rapids, Mich. -- The Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park celebrates the anniversary of one of the top public sculptures in the U.S. with the exhibition "Alexander Calder: 1969 -- The Fortieth Anniversary of La Grande Vitesse" from June 5 to Sept. 7.
Highland Park, Ill. -- From June 5 to Sept. 20, the Ravinia Festival, with the Chicago Symphony in residence, features classical, pop, jazz and dance performances.
Katonah, N.Y. -- Top classical music, jazz and opera artists along with family concerts are featured at the Caramoor International Music Festival from June 27 to Aug. 2.
Kutztown, Pa. -- The Kutztown Fairgrounds is the site of the Kutztown Folk Festival from June 27 to July 5, featuring crafts, folk art and antiques along with entertainment on five stages and lots of food.
Lenox, Mass. -- James Levine is music director of the acclaimed Tanglewood Music Festival from June 22 to Aug. 23, featuring the Boston Symphony and other noted artists.
Los Angeles -- "Cast in Bronze: French Sculpture From Renaissance to Revolution" at the J. Paul Getty Museum from June 30 to Sept. 27 features outstanding bronze sculptural works.
New Haven, Conn. -- The annual International Festival of Arts and Ideas from June 13 to 27 in several dozen venues throughout the city offers a potpourri of exhibitions, lectures, theater, dance and musical performances, including several world premieres.
New York -- Some 70 drawings by artists from the ninth to 14th centuries are featured in "Pen and Parchment: Drawings in the Middle Ages" at the Metropolitan Museum of Art from June 2 to Aug. 23.
The Frick Collection showcases four full-length portraits along with 15 pastels and etchings by James Abbott McNeill Whistler in "Portraits, Pastels, Prints: Whistler in the Frick Collection" from June 2 to Aug. 23.
The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center looks at "Diaghilev's Theater of Marvels: The Ballet Russes and Its Aftermath" from June 26 to Sept. 12.
The Public Theater's Shakespeare in the Park season, which opens with "Twelfth Night" from June 10 to July 12, follows with classic Greek drama, Euripides' "The Bacchea," from Aug. 11 to 30.
Lincoln Center's 50th anniversary celebration gets into full swing with the annual Lincoln Center Festival July 7 to 26; Midsummer Night Swing, July 7 to 25; Mostly Mozart, July 28 to Aug. 22; and the free performances at Lincoln Center Out of Doors from Aug. 5 to 23.
"Klaus Moje: Painting With Glass" at the Museum of Arts and Design through Sept. 20 offers a comprehensive, 30-year survey of the work of one of world's top glass artists. Shown at right, an untitled work by Moje.
Museumgoers will have the opportunity to visit nine of the city's leading museums for free on June 9 at the annual Museum Mile Festival, on Fifth Avenue from 82nd Street to 105th Street from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Reno, Nev. -- Artown, the giant festival held throughout the city from July 1 to 31, is virtually nonstop with 350 events, most of them free.
Sedona, Ariz. -- Music, dance and film are in store on the square and elsewhere in the Festival of Native American Cultures from June 5 to 13.
San Francisco -- The exhibit "Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs" is a highlight at the deYoung Museum from June 27 to March 28. It features 50 objects from the boy king's tomb along with 80 others from the tombs of Tut's ancestors.
"Lords of the Samurai" at the Asian Art Museum from June 12 to Sept. 20 looks at the paintings and calligraphy of the fabled warriors, along with their swords and armor.
Washington -- The National Mall provides a dramatic setting for the giant Smithsonian Folklife Festival, from June 24 to 28 and from July 1 to 5, with daily and evening programs of music, dance, crafts, cooking and storytelling
The National Gallery of Art looks at armor worn by Spain's rulers in "The Art of Power: Royal Armor and Portraits From Imperial Spain," an exhibition from June 28 to Nov. 1 that features works by Rubens, van Dyck and Velazquez.
Williamstown, Mass. -- The focus is on a famed photographer's work at the Williams College Museum of Art in the exhibit "Edward Steichen: Episodes From a Life in Photography" from June 6 to Nov. 8. A complementary exhibit, "Edward Steichen: In High Fashion, the Conde Nast Years, 1923-1937," runs through Sept. 13.
International
Amsterdam -- In the first exhibit in its new and enlarged facility, the Hermitage Amsterdam features "Russian Court Life" through Jan. 31.
Basel, Switzerland -- The mammoth international show of modern and contemporary art, Art 40 Basel, features 300 galleries and works by 2,500 artists from June 10 to 14 at Messe Basel.
Brussels -- The new Rene Magritte Museum opens its doors June 2 with a permanent collection of 150 works by the Surrealist artist.
Jerusalem -- The Jerusalem Light Festival from June 10 to 16 features displays of light-inspired art around the Old City, including light installations, screenings and a parade of lights.
Ljubljana, Slovenia -- The streets, squares and parks of the city will be filled with actors, performers, jugglers and fire eaters at the annual International Street Theatre Festival from July 2 to 5.
London -- The National Gallery looks at the development of open-air landscape painting up to the Impressionists in "Corot to Monet: A Fresh Look at Landscapes From the Collection" from July 8 to Sept. 20.
Madrid -- The key period in a famed artist's life is explored in depth in "Matisse: 1917-1942" at the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum from June 9 to Sept. 20.
Manchester, England -- The Manchester International Festival, launched two years ago as the first festival to focus on original new work in every area of the arts, returns for its second go-round in sites throughout the city from July 2 to 19.
Montreal -- From July 1 to 12, the Montreal International Jazz Festival in downtown sites hosts more than 500 concerts featuring such artists as Tony Bennett, Dave Brubeck and Ornette Coleman.
"Expanding Horizons, Painting and Photography of American and Canadian Landscapes 1860-1918" is the attraction at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts from June 18 to Sept. 27.
Toronto -- The city is alive with more than 100 events in every area of the arts in the Luminato Festival of Arts and Creativity from June 5 to 14.
Longtime arts and tourism writer Alvin H. Reiss is editor of Arts Management and author of eight books including his latest, The ReissSource Directory of the Arts (AEBMedia, Chicago). He can be reached at [email protected].