Welcome!

Welcome to the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival.

This summer’s programs are organized around the theme of “Anniversaries” — marking significant milestones for musical works, composers, artists, or countries.  For example, an entire concert on August 1 is devoted to the remarkable year of 1826, when Beethoven completed his final quartet, Schubert wrote his Rondeau brillante, and the seventeen-year-old Mendelssohn produced his String Quintet No. 1.

Our Gala this year, on July 25, features a solo program by violinist Augustin Hadelich, a Grammy Award winner and one of the most admired violinists performing today.  An evening with him will be an incredible experience you won’t want to miss.

On August 8, we mark the 250th anniversary of the United States.  At its center is a new work by Nahre Sol, the latest commission in our Musical Bridges project, with material inspired by the American West.  This program also marks the beginning of our exciting new annual collaboration with the American fashion brand Bode!

As you look through the schedule, you’ll find a great Festival Artist roster.  I’m joined by the Brentano, Shanghai, and Ying Quartets; the Horszowski Trio; pianists Boris Berman and Henry Kramer; clarinetists David Shifrin and Mariam Adam; bassoonist Frank Morelli; flutist Tara O’Connor; oboists James Austin Smith and Stephen Taylor; cellist Raman Ramakrishnan; violinist Ani Kavafian, and hornist William Purvis. Each of them brings deep experience and genuine generosity to this musical community.  Our Norfolk Fellows are chosen through extremely competitive auditions from conservatories and universities around the world, and this year’s group is exceptional.  You’ll hear them Thursday evenings and Saturday mornings in the Emerging Artist Series concerts, and on the weekend Festival Artist Series as they join their faculty mentors on stage.  Those intergenerational collaborations are among the most distinctive features of our Festival.

Heartfelt thanks to the Ellen Battell Stoeckel Trust and the Yale School of Music under Dean José García-León for their continued support.  Thanks also to the Yale Institute of Sacred Music for underwriting the Choral Workshop.

Sincerely,