2016 Cape Cod Chamber Music Festival to Open Next Week

The Cape Cod Chamber Music Festival (CCCMF), celebrating 37 years as Cape Cod's premiere presenter of summer chamber music, opens its 2016 summer season in just 10 days, presenting 13 compelling concerts from July 29 through August 26 at 7:30 pm in locations throughout the region.

A notable season highlight, the opening concert, The Next Generation features the stars of tomorrow. Phenomenal students and faculty of Curtis on Tour, The Nina von Maltzahn Global Touring Initiative of the Curtis Institute of Music, perform Holland's newly commissioned piece 'Forged Sanctuaries' in the presence of the composer himself, paired with works by Schubert and Elgar. The new work commissioned by CCCMF, inspired by Cape Cod National Seashore, in offered as a commemoration through a grant honoring the 50th Anniversary of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and the centennial celebration of the National Park Service (NPS). The concert also kicks off a season dedicated to honoring the collectively celebrated 10th anniversary of Artistic Directors Jon Nakamatsu and Jon Manasse, and Executive Director Elaine Lipton.

The grant award is part of the National Endowment for the Arts and National Park Service's Imagine Your Parks initiative, supporting projects that utilize the arts to engage people with memorable places and landscapes of the National Park System.

Cape Cod National Seashore Superintendent George Price said, "We are so pleased to be supported by this grant. Cape Cod has a long and rich history with the arts, and this effort will not only help us celebrate the National Park Service Centennial, it will engage musicians and the public in this special place that is such an important part of the American experience."

Celebrity chamber music ensemble Escher String Quartet stays in residency for CCCMF, filling the final week with three diverse concert programs. The performances feature the Festival's two artistic directors as instrumental guests, both celebrating the 10th anniversary serving CCCMF. Escher Residency and Nakamatsu performs on Monday, August 22 at 7:30 pm in Orleans; Escher Residency and Manasse is held on Wednesday, August 24, 7:30 pm in Chatham, and the season comes to a brilliant close with Escher Residency and Symphonic Finale on Friday, August 26, 7:30 in Wellfleet.

Amongst the season highlights, Escher String Quartet commences its residency week in concert with Artistic Director Jon Nakamatsu as guest musician on piano. An engaging program of Schubert's lyrical Arpeggione Sonata and Brahms' electrifying Piano Quartet in G Minor promises a thrilling kick off to the week. On Wednesday, Schubert's breathtaking Quartettsatz and Schoenberg's String Quartet No. 1 continue the residency in concert featuring Artistic Director Jon Manasse on clarinet, joining the ensemble for Carl Maria von Weber's rousing Clarinet Quintet. The season finale concert on Friday gathers all nine performers in a triumphant collective performance, with chamber arrangements of three giant orchestral works: Strauss' Till Eulenspiegel, Beethoven's Symphony No. 2 and Chopin's Piano Concerto No. 1 with Jon Nakamatsu as soloist.

The Escher String Quartet is widely acclaimed for profound musical insight and rare tonal beauty. Helming from New York, the ensemble is a former BBC New Generation Artist, serves as Artists of The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and is one of the very few chamber ensembles awarded the prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant. Championed by world-renowned Emerson Quartet (also appearing this season at the Festival), the Escher Quartet was invited by both Pinchas Zukerman and Itzhak Perlman to be Quartet in Residence at their respective summer festivals.

Concerts are held in six communities from Provincetown to Cotuit, ensuring maximum accessibility to Cape Cod audiences, at these venues:

Provincetown: Provincetown Art Association and Museum, 460 Commercial Street

Wellfleet: First Congregational Church, 200 Main Street

Orleans: Church of the Holy Spirit, 204 Monument Road: 73 Main Street

Chatham: First Congregational Church: 650 Main Street (at the Rotary)

Dennis: Dennis Union Church: 713 Main Street (Route 6A)

Cotuit: Cotuit Center for the Arts: 4404 Falmouth Road (Route 28)

Tickets are $38 General Admission; $15 for students over 18; free for attendees 18 and under. General Admission to three or more concerts $36. Tickets to Emerson String Quartet's concert are $55 (individually or as part of a three concert series).

Special benefit premium tickets are $100 to $125, including reserved seating and a pre-concert or post-concert reception for concerts on August 1, 4 and 9.

Festival seating is limited to venue capacity, advance purchase is recommended. Tickets ordered online are available at will call at the performances. Tickets may also be purchased by calling or visiting the box office at 508-247-9400 or at 3 Main Street Unit 6, North Eastham. Box office hours are 10 am to 3 pm, Monday through Friday. Phone orders are available until 12 noon on the day of each concert.

For more information about Cape Cod Chamber Music Festival's 2016 season, performers, mission and venues, visit capecodchambermusic.org, or follow Cape Cod Chamber Music Festival on Facebook and Twitter.

Hailed by The New York Times as "A Triumph of Quality," the Cape Cod Chamber Music Festival (CCCMF) has been a year-round presenter of chamber music and a major contributor to the cultural life of Cape Cod since its inception in 1979. Founded as the Cape & Islands Chamber Music Festival by the late collaborative pianist Samuel Sanders, the Festival continues his legacy. Now entering its 37th season, CCCMF presents four weeks of intensive chamber music programming in a variety of Cape locations in July and August. Throughout the rest of the year, CCCMF presents autumn and spring concerts, a community outreach program, and benefit concerts in New York and on Cape Cod. Hoping to ignite the interest of a younger audience, CCCMF welcomes all youth up to age 18 to attend any regular concert free of charge. The Festival is also host to a Composer-in-Residence program, and features composers with Cape Cod connections. CCCMF is a private, non-profit organization supported by a volunteer Board of Directors with financial support from individuals, corporations, and foundations both local and nationwide. For more information about CCCMF's programs, schedule or tickets, visit capecodchambermusic.org, call 508-247-9400 or follow Cape Cod Chamber Music Festival on Facebook and Twitter.

Pictured: Escher String Quartet by Sophie Zhai

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