ACMF's 11th season kicks off with a celebration of the indelible influence of France on music from the last century. Andre Jolivet's mystical Pastorales de Noël weaves lyrical flute and bassoon melodies over the harp, featured this season for the first time at ACMF. Igor Stravinsky made his name composing for the Ballet Russes while living in Paris, for whom he composed some of his most notable works including The Rite of Spring, The Firebird, and, featured here in a chamber version, Petrushka. The program concludes with Maurice Ravel's String Quartet in F major, one of the seminal 20th century string quartets, highlighting texture, color and lyricism in a quintessentially French way.