Bridgehampton Chamber Music Unveils BCM Spring Series: Danish String Quartet And More

BCM Spring, Bridgehampton Chamber Music's spring series, will welcome the season of renewal in 2025 with three lively Saturday evening programs featuring some of the best chamber musicians performing today.

The Danish String Quartet, one of today's most exciting chamber ensembles, makes its BCM debut on April 5 with a concert featuring a Caroline Shaw work and music by Britten, Shostakovich, and Schubert. “Spring's Clarity” on April 26 evokes the freshness of spring with music for winds – Eugene Goossens's Pastorale et Arlequinade for flute, oboe and piano; William Grant Still's Summerland for flute and piano; and Grazyna Bacewicz's Oboe Sonata – as well as Mendelssohn's Piano Trio No. 2. The series culminates on May 17 with a program spotlighting great piano quartets, featuring Mahler's only existing piece of instrumental chamber music, his Piano Quartet in A minor, and Brahms's Piano Quartet in G minor, which concludes with the popular “Rondo alla Zingaresque.” (The complete programs follow below.)

Led by flutist and BCM Artistic Director Marya Martin, the series' esteemed musicians include James Austin Smith, oboe; Paul Huang, violin; Chad Hoopes, violin; Ettore Causa, viola; Clive Greensmith, cello; Saeunn Thorsteinsdottir, cello; Michael Stephen Brown, piano; Shai Wosner, piano; and the Danish String Quartet.

The three concerts take place at BCM's home venue, Bridgehampton Presbyterian Church, at 5:00 pm.

The Danish String Quartet describes itself thus: “We are three Danes and one Norwegian cellist, making this a truly Scandinavian endeavor. Being relatively bearded, we are often compared to the Vikings. However, we are only pillaging the English coastline occasionally.” The group has been acclaimed worldwide for its inventive programming and startling clarity of ensemble, their ability to play as one. As the Boston Globe said, “So what is it about them that prompts such acclaim? …For my part, I've got to give it to two things: their commitment to connecting and contextualizing music from all areas of the concert music tradition and beyond, and the unbridled joy they take in playing with one another.” www.danishquartet.com

Bridgehampton Chamber Music

“This longtime East End festival, directed by the flutist Marya Martin, has flourished by offering concerts both effervescent and distinguished,” said The New Yorker. In the 40 years since its founding, Bridgehampton Chamber Music has become known for presenting a broad range of music performed by some of the best musicians in the world in one of the most beautiful seaside settings on the East Coast.  With autumn and spring mini-series joining the summer festival, Bridgehampton Chamber Music now offers programs almost year-round.

BCM Festival: Usually comprising a dozen events over four weeks, the summer festival has developed a loyal core audience among local residents and summer visitors since it began with four artists in two concerts in the intimate setting of the Bridgehampton Presbyterian Church. The festival is still based in the graceful 1842 church – which boasts glowing acoustics – and has expanded to include other special event venues, including the Channing Sculpture Garden and Atlantic Golf Club in Bridgehampton, the Parrish Art Museum in Water Mill, and the Madoo Conservancy in Sagaponack.

BCM Records: In 2012, BCM launched its own record label, BCMF Records.  Signifying the festival's commitment to American composers, the label's first recording was BCMF Premieres, a disc of contemporary American music. The label's current discography of 12 releases includes music by Bruce Adolphe, Robert Beaser, Leon Kirchner, Howard Shore, Paul Moravec, Kevin Puts, and Elizabeth Brown, as well as Haydn, Beethoven, Brahms, and more.

BCM Spring: Convinced that there were music lovers looking for more opportunities to hear excellent chamber music year-round, BCM introduced its Spring series in 2015, and in 2017 expanded it from two concerts to three.

BCM Autumn: This three-concert series was launched in the fall of 2021.

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