The 2023 Halcyon Music Festival returns to Portsmouth for its ninth season on June 15-24 with six unique chamber music programs. Halcyon Music Festival brings 21 world-class musicians together to live, rehearse and perform over the span of just 10 days. The performances are held at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Portsmouth, NH and all performances begin at 7:00pm. Individual tickets and multi-concert packages are now on sale.
“This year, we have a great lineup of programs and performers. We’re particularly excited to be opening the festival with two large ensemble pieces: Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 in G Major and George Walker’s Lyric for Strings,” said Heng-Jin Park, pianist and the festival’s artistic director. “Also of particular note for this season—baritone Thomas Meglioranza will be the first vocalist to perform as part of the festival. This means audiences will be treated to an expanded selection of works written for chamber ensembles and voice.”
The 2023 Halcyon Music Festival schedule includes:
Opening Night, Thursday, June 15: “Lyric” featuring Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 in G Major,” George Walker’s Lyric for Strings (large string ensemble version), and works by Mozart, and Brahms. There will be a special Q&A with the festival musicians following the opening night performance.
Friday, June 16: “Summer Sounds” featuring works by Dvořák, Britten, and Mendelssohn
Saturday, June 17: “Youthful Genius” featuring works by Rachmaninoff, Schubert, and Schönberg
Thursday, June 22: “For the People” featuring works by Beethoven, Webern, Bolcom, and Brahms
Friday, June 23: “Longing and Lullabies” featuring works by Brahms, Schumann, and Ravel
Closing Night, Saturday, June 24: “Land of Dreams” featuring works by Barber, Shostakovich, Beethoven, and Brahms
Performing this year will be violinists Gabriela Diaz, Emma Frucht, Julia Glenn, Solomiya Ivakhiv, Monica Pegis, Grace Park, and Ben Sayevich; violists Jordan Bak, Tim Deighton, Danny Kim, Katherine Murdock, and Marcus Thompson; cellists Jonah Ellsworth, Alexei Gonzales, David Hardy, Loewi Lin, and Peter Stumpf; bassist Charles Clements; and pianists Heng-Jin Park and Lolita Lisovskaya-Sayevich. Special to this year’s festival is baritone Thomas Meglioranza.
Since 2014 the Halcyon Music Festival’s mission has been to create a community where chamber music will be explored and presented at the highest artistic level; and to make chamber music accessible to everyone, in particular those who might not otherwise experience it in a concert hall.
Single concert tickets are $25 for general admission and $10 for students. Multi-concert ticket packages are also available at discounted rates: six concerts for $130, five for $110, four for $88, and three for $65. Subscribers who select at least one of the Thursday evening performances as part of either the three or four-concert package will receive an additional $10 discount.
Each performance will also be livestreamed and tickets for those virtual performances are also $25.
Tickets are now on sale and can be purchased directly on the festival’s website. For details of the individual performances or to buy tickets, visit www.halcyonmusicfestival.org/concerts.
In addition to the evening performances, Halcyon Music Festival will present a free Children’s Concert at the Portsmouth Public Library on Wednesday, June 14 at 3:30pm.
About the Halcyon Music Festival
The mission of the Halcyon Music Festival is to create a community where chamber music will be explored and presented at the highest artistic level; and to make chamber music accessible to everyone, in particular those who might not otherwise experience it in a concert hall. Each year, the Halcyon Music Festival presents two weeks of passionate, compelling performances, with a focus on providing opportunities for enrichment to people of all ages and musical backgrounds. Halcyon Music Festival is committed to supporting the arts in the greater Portsmouth, New Hampshire area and beyond, and seeks to enhance the growth of chamber music on a local and national level by bringing world-class musicians and talented young professionals to live, work, and perform together. For more information, please visit www.halcyonmusicfestival.org.
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photo by Raya on Assignment