Bridgehampton Chamber Music Hosts Third Year of BCM Autumn

Bridgehampton Chamber Music presents the third year of BCM Autumn, its fall mini-series, with Saturday evening programs October 21, November 11, and December 9, a holiday program. The three concerts take place in the Bridgehampton Presbyterian Church, the home of Long Island’s longest-running classical music festival.

“Our 40th season fulfilled our every hope,” said BCM Founder and Artistic Director Marya Martin. “We had full houses, happy audiences, and fantastic performances, including Bridgehampton debuts by some phenomenal young artists – the singer and pianist Joseph Parrish simply brought the house down at our Wm. Brian Little concert. Now we continue the celebration with our third Autumn series, bringing a wide range of repertoire, much of which we’ve never presented before.”

On October 21, the all-star trio of pianist Orion Weiss, violinist Stella Chen, and cellist Carter Brey performs “Heroic Beethoven,” a program featuring the Symphony No. 2 arranged for piano trio by Beethoven himself, and the famed “Archduke” Piano Trio. The “Fall Fantasy” program on November 11 was curated by frequent BCM oboist James Austin Smith, and presents works by William Grant Still, Benjamin Britten, Johannes Brahms, Iva Bittova and Gabriel Fauré; Smith is joined by violinist Jennifer Frautschi, violist Ayane Kozasa (BCM debut), cellist Nina Lee, and pianist Amy Yang (BCM debut). And for the December 9 holiday program, “Festive Baroque,” Marya Martin will be joined in a program of joyous music by Vivaldi, Telemann, and more, by harpsichordist Kenneth Weiss, oboist Liam Boisset (BCM debut), violinists Benjamin Baker and William Hagen, violist Natalie Loughran (BCM debut), and cellist Nicholas Canellakis. (See more program details below.)

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 39 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 offers a full season of programming.

BCM Festival: Usually comprising more than 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 gradually expanded to include other special event venues, including the Channing Sculpture Garden and Atlantic Golf Club in Bridgehampton and the Parrish Art Museum in Water Mill.

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: The Autumn concert series was launched in the fall of 2021 with two concerts, which in 2022 expand to three.

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.

Bridgehampton Chamber Music has a wide variety of performance videos and online programs from past seasons posted on its website and YouTube channel.

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