Summer Chamber Music Festivals
Maine is renowned for its summertime chamber music and classical festivals. Chamber music, written to be performed in informal, intimate settings by modest numbers of musicians, is celebrated with an incredible variety of festivals across the state, often in breathtaking locales. For decades, audiences have enjoyed live performances by some of the finest chamber musicians in the world right here in Maine, sharing musical insights and personal connections. For as long as people have been vacationing here, chamber music has been part of the picture. In fact, Kneisel Hall in Blue Hill is known as “the cradle of chamber music in America.” In all corners of the state, the small ensembles, small spaces, and small audiences of chamber music festivals complement the warmth and intimacy of summer vacation mode.
“It's not just visual artists who are inspired by everything Maine has to offer—the same musicians who perform at the world's most prestigious festivals like Tanglewood and Aspen love coming here too,” says Alice Kornhauser, executive director of the Portland Chamber Music Festival. “In Maine, we get to enjoy world-class performances in casual, accessible settings.”
In MidCoast Maine, you can enjoy the Bay Chamber Concerts in Rockport which aims to introduce audiences to the breadth of chamber music. The Bowdoin International Music Festival celebrates classical musicians from around the world at Bowdoin College in Brunswick for six weeks of intensive chamber music study, with a variety of performances. The Salt Bay Chamberfest in Damariscotta features standard chamber music as well as new and existing works of living composers performed by today’s finest musicians.
Each August, the Portland Chamber Music Festival has concerts, special events, artist showcases, stage talks, and composer interviews. Additional programs year-round include a Salon Series of concerts in private homes, restaurants, and other informal spaces. Waterville's Atlantic Music Festival, hosted by Colby College, has a chamber music series as well as ensembles and concerts, all with free admission!
SummerKeys is held in the seaside town of Lubec with free concerts all summer long. Music lovers gravitate to the Bar Harbor Music Festival and its stunning location in Bar Harbor. Enjoy lakeside chamber music at the Sebago-Long Lake Music Festival at the historic Deertrees Theatre.
And musicians come to Maine to learn, too! Kneisel Hall Chamber Music Festival offers both a summerlong concert series as well as a young artist music program, and the Maine Chamber Music Seminar at Snow Pond is a two-week summer intensive for college and graduate-level musicians.
_ photo credit: Salt Bay Chamber Festival / Jim Dugan
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