2021 Summer Festival in Review
Despite all of the challenges, Bridgehampton Chamber Music's 2021 Festival took place live, in person, vaccinated and masked. Performances were sparking with electricity, and audiences were giddy with the excitement of being back in person. Even a hurricane couldn't keep us down!
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Below are highlights from each of our programs this summer
Aug 4, Composer Portrait: Bach's Chaconne
Alan Alda and Jennifer Koh got the Festival off to a beautiful start with a portrait of JS Bach and his unrivaled Chaconne from the Partita for Solo Violin partita in D minor. The concerts were followed by fascinating Q&A's with the artists.
Aug 7, Annual Benefit:
Joy in Gathering
Entirely al fresca, this summer's benefit brought together some of the Festival's most ardent supporters in an evening of Mozart (in a world premiere arrangement my Artistic Director Marya Martin) and Spohr's gorgeous Nonet for Winds and Strings. Luckily the weather cooperated and a beautiful night was had by all at the Atlantic Golf Club.
Aug 8, A Lotta Night Music
The first traditional concert in the Bridgehampton Presbyterian Church featured Mozart's Eine Kleine Nachtmusik in a newly expanded arrangement by Artistic Director Marya Martin (hence the program title "A Lotta Night Music"), and Ludwig Thuille's gorgeous but rarely heard Sextet for Winds and Piano.
Aug 15, Beethoven & Brahms
The first traditional concert in the Bridgehampton Presbyterian Church featured Mozart's Eine Kleine Nachtmusik in a newly expanded arrangement by Artistic Director Marya Martin (hence the program title "A Lotta Night Music"), and Anton Thuille's gorgeous but rarely heard Sextet for Winds and Piano.
Aug 11, Schubert's Cello
Quintet
Sometimes the stars align and a performance just brings together audience and performers so completely that everyone in the room is simply in awe of what they have witnessed. Such was the beauty of these concerts featuring Schubert's Cello Quintet.
Aug 15, Beethoven & Brahms
Gorgeous singing from baritone Gregory Feldmann brought to life charming and inventive folk songs arrangements by Beethoven to start the program. Meanwhile, the superb violinist Stella Chen stepped in to perform Brahms' stirring G minor Piano Quartet to end the program. In a summer of challenges, the artists pulled together for some incredible performances. These concerts were no exception.
Aug 17, BCMF @ the Parrish
For a seventh season, Bridgehampton Chamber Music partnered with the Parrish Art Museum for a concert, this year held on the Parrish's Terrace. As the sun set and the golden hues descended on the surrounding greenery, Festival musicians performed virtuosic works by Boccherini and Tchaikovsky to a capacity crowd. If you were lucky enough to be there, you also discovered the Terrace's unusually lovely acoustics.
Aug 20, Wm. Brian Little Concert:
Seasons Upon Seasons
The Channing Sculpture Garden was the venue for one of the summer's most exciting performances. Artistic Director Marya Martin performed as the soloist for a world premiere BCM commissioned work by Eric Ewazen, and violinists Benjamin Beilman, Stella Chen, and Tessa Lark took turns brilliantly performing concerti by Vivaldi and Piazzolla.
Aug 22–make that 21–
Finale: A Hurricane Averted
In a season of ups and downs, trials and tribulations, the season finale almost didn't happen. With Hurricane Henri making a beeline towards Bridgehampton (luckily it ultimately diverted east), the Festival made the decision to move the concert to Saturday evening. A great crowd assembled for a single concert to hear Nino Rota's Trio for Flute, Violin, and Piano and BCM's premiere of Max Bruch's rich and moving Piano Quintet. As you can see from the looks on the musician's faces, they were thrilled to have the opportunity to perform the work.
THANK YOU!
We are grateful to all of you who have supported us over this difficult period, and we were overwhelmed with positive feedback for our sum. We exist to create live, ephemeral, once-in-a-lifetime experiences, and we could not have pulled off this summer's Festival without the help of our staff, musicinas, and hundreds of dedicated supporters and thousands of audience members. Thank you, and we hope to see you all soon.