Newport Classical Reveals 2024-2025 Chamber Series - Expanded Season Of Twelve Concerts

Following its record-breaking 55th summer festival, Newport Classical presents its fourth full-season Chamber Series held on select Fridays at 7:30pm, newly expanded to twelve concerts held between September 2024 and June 2025, at the organization's newly air-conditioned home venue, Newport Classical Recital Hall (42 Dearborn St.).

Newport Classical Executive Director Gillian Fox says, “This year's Newport Classical Music Festival drew thousands of attendees, with 32.5% of audience members attending a concert for the first time and 8.4% growth in total patrons. We are so thrilled to have welcomed so many familiar faces and new patrons to experience classical music with us in an inviting and intimate atmosphere. Our Chamber Series continues this programming throughout the year, and we can't wait to share with the community the incredible artistry of these world-class musicians who will be coming to perform from September through June in downtown Newport.”

Newport Classical's Chamber Series takes place at Newport Classical Recital Hall in downtown Newport, known for its striking architecture and excellent acoustics. The Chamber Series reaffirms Newport Classical's commitment to year-round classical music programming. Audiences are invited to enjoy performances by world-class classical musicians in a relaxed setting, with a complimentary glass of wine from Greenvale Vineyards and homemade treats by Newport Classical volunteers. Both performers and audience members alike have described these concerts as some of their favorites. “Beautiful concert, high artistry and exciting programming . . . a deeply moving and soulful experience, with a rousing and brilliant virtuosity that kept you on the edge of your seat,” raved one attendee.

As part of Newport Classical's desire to create connections between classical music, the artists who perform it, and the Newport community, all musicians performing on the Chamber Series will also go into the Newport-area public schools to perform for and speak with students, through Newport Classical's Music Education and Engagement Initiative.

Newport Classical's Chamber Series opens this fall on September 13 with the “entrancing” (BBC Music Magazine) Merz Trio in an exploration of melody sung into and for the night, beginning with the 12th-century chants of Hildegard von Bingen and spanning the music of Schumann, Alma Mahler, and Brahms, all the way through Thelonious Monk in the 20th-century. On September 27, the Ariel Quartet, distinguished by its virtuosity and fiery performances, performs a concert of catharsis featuring music written by composers Mendelssohn, Lera Auerbach, and Britten in response to loss. Finnish-Cuban pianist Anton Mejias brings the US premiere of composer Philip Lasser's response to Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier to Newport on October 18. On November 1, baritone Markel Reed, known for his appearances at the Metropolitan Opera, sings the music of Brahms, Margaret Bonds, Terence Blanchard, and more. Cellist Seth Parker Woods, celebrated by The Guardian as “a cellist of power and grace,” explores three centuries of music with Bach's contemplative Sarabandes as a point of departure and return in his solo cello concert on November 15.

The Chamber Series continues in 2025 with the Telegraph Quartet, described as “powerfully adept, with a combination of brilliance and subtlety” by the San Francisco Chronicle, presenting music rarely experienced by its creators, the composers Rebecca Clarke, Beethoven, and Smetana, on January 24. Boyd Meets Girl comes to Newport for a performance on Valentine's Day, February 14 – the impressive husband-and-wife guitar and cello duo has toured the world sharing their eclectic mix of music from Debussy and Bach to Radiohead and Beyoncé. On February 28, the acclaimed Trio Karénine, which has established itself in recent years as a key group on the French and international stage, pairs Schubert's second piano trio with Dvořák's rarely programmed second piano trio, filled with color, warmth, lively dance, and Slavic folk elements. Oboist James Austin Smith, hailed by The New York Times as “virtuosic,”and for his “dazzling” and “brilliant” performances, joins forces with acclaimed pianist Gloria Chien in music by William Grant Still, Clara Schumann, Camille Saint-Saëns, and more, on March 21. On April 25, Bulgarian-American violinist Bella Hristova, who has won international acclaim for her “expressive nuance and rich tone” (The New York Times) presents the music of Bach and Messiaen, alongside works by Grieg and Indian-American composer Reena Esmail, with pianist Anna Polonsky. Pianist Orion Weiss, known for his “powerful technique and exceptional insight” (The Washington Post) returns to Newport for a solo recital of Bach's beloved Goldberg Variations on May 16. On June 13, the GRAMMY-nominated Norwegian Trio Mediaeval, who captivate audiences with their crystalline voices, closes the 2024-2025 Newport Classical Chamber Series with an enchanting evening of Norwegian and Swedish traditional songs, hymns, fiddle tunes, and ballads.

Single tickets start at $45 and packages are available starting at $200 for five concerts. AARP members and their guests receive discounts on fall Chamber Series tickets and packages, and thanks to a generous grant from the Gruben Charitable Foundation, a limited number of free student tickets are available on a first-come, first-served basis.

During the 2024-2025 season, Newport Classical will also present several free family-friendly Community Concerts at neighborhood-centered locations, generously sponsored by BankNewport, and two holiday programs, which will be announced later this year. The 2025 Newport Classical Music Festival will take place from July 4-22, 2025.

Newport Classical 2024-2025 Chamber Series Schedule At-A-Glance:

September 13: Merz Trio performs Schumann and Brahms

September 27: Ariel Quartet performs Mendelssohn and Britten

October 18: Anton Mejias performs US Premiere of Lasser's responses to Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier

November 1: Baritone Markel Reed sings Brahms, Bonds, and Blanchard

November 15: Cellist Seth Parker Woods – Bach Sarabandes and Responses

January 24: Telegraph Quartet performs Beethoven

February 14: Boyd Meets Girl

February 28: Trio Karénine performs Schubert and Dvořák

March 21: Oboist James Austin Smith and pianist Gloria Chien

April 25: Violinist Bella Hristova performs Bach and Grieg

May 16: Orion Weiss performs The Goldberg Variations

June 13: Trio Mediaeval

Complete concert details can be found at www.newportclassical.org/concerts. All Chamber Series concerts are held on select Fridays at 7:30pm at Newport Classical Recital Hall (42 Dearborn Street).

About Newport Classical

 

Newport Classical is a premier performing arts organization that welcomes people of every age, culture, and background to intimate, immersive musical experiences. The organization presents world-renowned and up-and-coming artistic talents at stunning, storied venues across Newport – an internationally sought-after cultural and recreational destination.

Originally founded in 1969 as Rhode Island Arts Foundation at Newport, Inc., Newport Classical has a rich legacy of musical curiosity having presented the American debuts of hundreds of international artists and is most well-known for hosting three weeks of concerts in the summer in the historic mansions throughout Newport and Aquidneck Island. In the 55 years since, Newport Classical has become the most active year-round presenter of music on Aquidneck Island, and an essential pillar of Rhode Island's cultural landscape, welcoming thousands of patrons all year long.

Newport Classical invests in the future of classical music as a diverse, relevant, and ever-evolving art form through its four core programs – the one-of-a-kind Music Festival; the Chamber Series in the Newport Classical Recital Hall; the free, family-friendly Community Concerts Series; and the Music Education and Engagement Initiative that inspires students in local schools to become the arts advocates and music lovers of tomorrow. These programs illustrate the organization's ongoing commitment to presenting “timeless music for today.”

In 2021, the organization launched a new commissioning initiative – each year, Newport Classical will commission a new work by a Black, Indigenous, person of color, or woman composer as a commitment to the future of classical music. To date, Newport Classical has commissioned and presented the world premiere of works by Stacy Garrop, Shawn Okpebholo, Curtis Stewart, and Clarice Assad.

Tickets will go on sale to the public on July 30 at www.newportclassical.org.

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