The Best New Events in the World of the Arts in July

The Dandelion Chandelier Luxury Calendar for The Arts highlights noteworthy events around the world in July 2018 in ballet, modern dance, performance art, classical music, opera and jazz –plus notable new art museum exhibits and installations. Looking for a transporting cultural experience? Look no further. For the rest of the Luxury Calendar, click here. 

From Tanglewood to the Hollywood Bowl and Ravinia to the Blossom Festival, in July some of our favorite orchestras move into their summer homes, making for new and more relaxed ways to enjoy their magic. This month also marks some wonderful classical, opera, chamber music and jazz festivals.

If you prefer dance to song, there are also a number of beautiful dance festivals to take in, including Les Etés de la Danse and the Nantucket Atheneum Dance Festival.

In visual arts, July marks the arrival of some big names in museum exhibitions that will give your favorite beach some serious competition. Among them? Michael Jackson on the Wall and Banksy, Greatest Hits, both in London, and Disney: The Art of Storytelling in Madrid.

Performing Arts

The Grand Teton Music Festival in Jackson Hole launches its season with vocalist Audra McDonald – July 2 – Aug 18

The Cleveland Orchestra takes up summer residence at the Blossom Festival with a series of weekend performances. Of special note are performances led by Herbert Blomstedt, Vasily Petrenko and James Gaffigan, and a special evening in which Yo-Yo Ma plays all six of Bach’s Cello Suites – July 3 – Sept 2

Les Etés de la Danse in Paris will host the Pacific Northwest Ballet Seattle – July 3 – 7

The Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, France is now in its 70th year; catch a number of “complicated-female” story lines, including The Fiery Angel by Prokofiev. Audiences can also become part of Orfeo & Majnun, a participatory opera and parade – July 4–24

It’s the 40th anniversary of the San Francisco Ethnic Dance Festival.  This year’s event will open with an award-winning performance by the Lily Cai Chinese Dance Company – July 6 – 22

West Side Story gets a hip, urban look to go with the original Jerome Robbins choreography at the Glimmerglass Festival in Cooperstown, NY – July 7 – 24

The LA Philharmonic arrives at its summer home, the Hollywood Bowl – July 10

Ravinia will host the Chicago Symphony Orchestra for its summer residency. 15 diverse programs will be led by eight different conductors, including Gustavo Dudamel in his long-awaited Ravinia debut – July 12 – Aug 19

The Mostly Mozart Festival program has expanded to embrace dance, theater, and music and has also diversified geographically to include presentations in Brooklyn and Central Park.  The season will open with the Lucinda Childs Dance Company’s Available Light, a confluence of dance, architecture and music. Cannot wait to see this. – July 12 – Aug 12

The Umbria Jazz Festival is one of the most important jazz festivals in the world, and has been held annually since 1973 – July 13 – 22

Andris Nelsons conducts Puccini’s La bohème at Tanglewood in Lenox, MA – July 14

New York City Ballet returns to the Saratoga Performing Arts Center for the summer; programs include a full-length story ballet choreographed by Peter Martins and shorter pieces by George Balanchine, Justin Peck, Gianna Reisen, Lauren Lovette and Jerome Robbins – July 17 – 21

The 42nd edition of the Festival de Jazz de Vitoria-Gasteiz takes place in Vitoria, Spain; performers this year include former French First Lady Carla Bruni and Kool and the Gang – July 17 – 21

The Verbier Festival in Switzerland celebrates its 25th anniversary this year; its programming again pairs young talent with some of the biggest names in strings. There will be almost 60 concerts, ranging from opera to symphonic music to chamber pieces— July 19–August 5 

Held in the birthplace of Mozart, the Salzburg Festival offers orchestral, chamber music, opera and theater performances – July 20 – Aug 30

This year marks the 11th year of the Nantucket Atheneum Dance Festival; two evening performances will showcase dancers from the New York City Ballet, Houston Ballet, Miami City Ballet and Pacific Northwest Ballet – July 24 – 28

The Heineken Jazzaldia, more commonly known as the San Sebastian Jazz Festival, takes place in Spain – July 25 – 29

The Bayreuth Festival presents only the operas of Richard Wagner; the artist himself conceived and promoted the idea of a festival to showcase his own works, in particular his Der Ring des Nibelungen and Parsifal – see what a little self-promotion can do? – July 25 – Aug 29

Jazz in Marciac returns to the South of France – July 27 – Aug 15

Anton Rubinstein’s operatic masterpiece Demon opens at The Fisher Center for the Performing Arts at Bard College in New York’s Hudson Valley – July 27

Now in its 30th season, The Vail International Dance Festival features both ballet and modern dance – July 28 – Aug 11

Visual Arts

Cartier: The Exhibition at the National Gallery of Australia closes at the end of the month;  it  brings together more than 300 rare and exquisite pieces, owned by some of the world’s most glamorous women. Highlights include the Queen’s “Halo” tiara, worn by Kate Middleton on her wedding day and Princess Grace of Monaco’s knockout 10.48-carat diamond engagement ring – through July 22

Michael Jackson On the Wall at the National Portrait Gallery in London explores the artist’s influence on some of the leading names in contemporary art; the exhibition’s opening coincides with what would have been the artist’s 60th birthday – through Oct 21

Featuring approximately 100 objects, John Singer Sargent and Chicago’s Gilded Age at the Chicago Art Institute examines the artist’s breadth of accomplishment and the many connections between Sargent, his patrons, his creative circle and the city – July 1 – Sept 30

At Rencontres d’Arles, the Romanesque town in the south of France transforms shops, 12th-century chapels, and former industrial buildings into vibrant photography exhibition spaces. This year’s highlights include Americana from Robert Frank, Raymond Depardon, and Paul Graham; a retrospective of William Wegman’s dog portraiture; and an exhibition dedicated to the work of René Burri – July 3–September 23

Obsession: Nudes by Klimt, Schiele, and Picasso at The Met Breuer will present a selection of 50 works from the Scofield Thayer Collection— a brilliant group of erotic and evocative watercolors, drawings, and prints by Klimt, Schiele, and Picasso whose subjects, except for a handful, are nudes – July 3 – Oct 7

The Yoshida family has produced three generations of woodblock print artists, many of whom have been central to the major Japanese print movements of the 20th century.  The Yoshida Family: Three Generations of Japanese Print Artists at The Art Institute of Chicago presents highlights of their work – July 7 – Sept 30

Lazarides will return to the gallery’s street art roots with Banksy, Greatest Hits: 2002-2008, showcasing several iconic images, including Girl and Balloon – July 12 – Aug 25

Liverpool Biennial in the UK celebrates contemporary art. The 10th edition, titled Beautiful world, where are you?, invites artists and audiences to reflect on a world of social, political and economic turmoil – July 12 – Oct 28

As part of its 10th anniversary, Madrid’s La Caixa Foundation is hosting Disney: The Art of Storytelling featuring original drawings, watercolors, storyboards and production notes from the legendary American animation studio – July 17 – Nov 11

Susan Meiselas: Mediations at SFMOMA brings together projects from the beginning of her career in the 1970s to the present day, including her iconic portraits of carnival strippers, vivid images of the conflicts in Central America in the 1980s and an ongoing investigation into the history and aftermath of the Kurdish genocide – July 21 – Oct 21

See Other July 2018 Events:

— Travel

— Food & Drink

— Planes, Yachts & Autos

— Fitness & Sports

— Fashion & Design

— Entertainment

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