It's the most wonderful time of the year!

Love is in the air when the Vermont Symphony Orchestra travels around Vermont again this summer bringing its popular TD Banknorth Summer Festival Tour to towns across the state. From Thursday, June 26 through Sunday, July 6, the state’s premiere orchestra performs “From Vermont with Love” in beautiful mountain and lakeside settings, welcoming pre-concert picnicking, and concluding each performance with Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture and celebratory fireworks.

From “boy meets girl” in Oklahoma to hot-blooded Carmen to the comic mismatchings of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, love conquers all in a program devoted to affairs of the heart. Principal guest conductor Anthony Princiotti leads the orchestra, with soloist Esther Kim, violin. The music of love includes Tchaikovsky’s waltz from Sleeping Beauty, Smetana’s dances from The Bartered Bride, Sarasate’s Carmen Fantasy on Tunes by Bizet, and the Bacchanale from Samson and Delilah by Saint-Saëns, among other favorites in a concert for romance.

The annual outdoor festival of classics and pops connects to communities, bringing the VSO to special settings and historic buildings around the state. Audiences enjoy the history of Hildene Meadowlands, the lakeside elegance of Shelburne Farms, the ridgeline sunset from the Trapp Family Lodge meadow, and other treasured Vermont venues.

The complete list of dates and venues includes:

Thursday, June 26 - Middlebury College, Middlebury
Friday, June 27 - Jackson Gore Inn, Okemo Mountain Resort, Ludlow
Saturday, June 28 – Lincoln Peak at Sugarbush Resort, Warren
Sunday, June 29 - Mountain Top Inn, Chittenden
Monday, June 30 - Quechee Polo Grounds, Quechee
Wednesday, July 2 - Hildene Meadowlands, Manchester
Thursday, July 3 - Grafton Ponds, Grafton
Friday, July 4 - Shelburne Farms, Shelburne
Saturday, July 5 - Three Stallion Inn, Randolph
Sunday, July 6 - Trapp Concert Meadow, Stowe

The concerts begin at 7:30 p.m. in all venues. Tickets range from $25-32 for adults; free to $16 for children. In some locations an AARP discount is also available. All sites are wheelchair accessible. Gates open for picnicking at 5:00 or 5:30 p.m. depending on location.