The Meeting House Chamber Music Festival opened its 44th season at Cotuit Center for the Arts on Sunday, June 25. Two outstanding New York-based musicians—oboist Stuart Breczinski and bassoonist Nanci Belmont—joined the festival’s founder and pianist Donald Enos in an exciting program of classical and contemporary works. On Monday, June 26, the premiere concert was given again at the festival’s primary venue, Holy Spirit Episcopal Church in Orleans.
The concert opened with a romantic piece, “Terzetto,” by the French virtuoso oboist and composer Théodore Lalliet (1837-1892). With its dramatic introduction, enchanting melodies, and lyrical quality, the work showcased the character and beauty of the oboe, bassoon, and piano. The exhilarating possibilities of these three instruments were further explored in works by Saint-Saëns, Albinoni, Francaix, Jolivet, Carter, André Previn, and Francis Poulenc.
The festival’s 2017 series spans six weeks, with music also by Mendelssohn (Trio, Op. 49), Schumann (Quartet op. 47), Beethoven ("Kreutzer" Sonata), Boccherini, Ysaye, Mozart, Arensky (Trio, Op. 32), Vivaldi, Rossini, John Williams, and many others. A complete season listing is attached and available at http://www.meetinghousemusic.org.
Cape Cod residents and visitors look to this concert series—Cape Cod’s longest-running music festival— for great music performed by superb musicians from the region and the world stage, and this year will not disappoint. Two internationally acclaimed artists—cellist Amit Peled and violinist Irina Muresanu—will be featured, along with Joyce Hammann, a highly versatile artist famous for delivering performances that dazzle, whether they be on Broadway or in the intimate concert settings of the Meeting House Chamber Music Festival. Gracing the festival as well this year will be mezzo-soprano Krista River, acclaimed by The New York Times for her “shimmering voice...with the virtuosity of a violinist and the expressivity of an actress."
As the season unfolds, the line-up of outstanding instrumentalists will also include cellists Bo Ericsson and Matthias Naegele; violinists Katie Lansdale and Heather Goodchild Wade, violist Laura Manko Sahin, and harpist Elisabeth Remy Johnson.
Two additional Cape Cod venues will host festival concerts this year, broadening the festival’s reach to music-lovers Cape-wide. A mid-season concert will be held at 1717 Meetinghouse in West Barnstable on Sunday, July 16, at 7:30 pm and the season finale will take place at Highfield Hall in Falmouth on Sunday, July 30 at 4 pm.
The Meeting House Chamber Music Festival was founded in 1973 by Donald Enos, who also holds the position of Wesley DeLacy Chair in Perpetuity with the Cape Symphony. Enos welcomes all to experience the Meeting House Festival this summer. In his words, the festival offers “the delight of hearing exquisite instrumental nuance in ensemble, and the full range of exposed emotion made possible through chamber music.”
The Meeting House Chamber Festival is grateful for the support of the Massachusetts Cultural Council, the Cape Cod 5 Foundation, and the Mary-Louise and Ruth N. Eddy Foundation.
Tickets can be purchased at the door or in advance. Single tickets: $25 (under 18 free). 7-Concert Series: $110. Contact: 508.896.3344 or meetinghousemusic@gmail.com. A complete listing of concerts is attached and available on the festival’s website: Meeting House Chamber Music Festival.
Enjoy this glimpse of a Meeting House Chamber Music Festival concert in 2015!