Newport Classical Music Festival welcomes over 7,000 audience members this summer
We’re in the midst of the 2023 Newport Classical Music Festival, and I could not be more excited by the response we have received this year. We have been so happy to welcome back many familiar faces to our performances, but are also thrilled that over 38% of attendees are coming to a Newport Classical concert for the very first time. This summer, we will have welcomed over 7,000 people from all over the world to the 27 concerts we’re presenting throughout Newport’s mansions, historic venues and outdoor spaces. It’s so rewarding to share today’s classical music with such a wide community of Newport locals, visitors, newcomers and our long-time patrons.
If you’ve not yet been to a concert this summer, there’s still time! The festival runs through Sunday, July 23, and there are a few concerts with good seats remaining. In addition, Newport Classical presents a year-round concert series - our Chamber Series - at our recital hall in downtown Newport, beginning on Sept. 1 and running monthly until June next year. We’ll be announcing our Chamber Series concerts next week on July 26.
Performances I’m particularly looking forward to for the remainder of the festival this week include our Musical Soirée with Anthony McGill and Anna Polonsky on July 21 at 8 p.m., at the Redwood Library & Athenæum. This is a wonderful opportunity to hear Anthony, who is the principal clarinetist of the New York Philharmonic and also performs across the country as a soloist and chamber musician, in a very intimate venue. He will be playing music by a wide range of composers including Amanda Harberg, Copland, Adolphus Hailstork and more. During the intermission reception, we invite you to explore the Library while enjoying cocktails and hors d’oeuvres, included in your ticket.
On July 22 at 2 p.m. at The Colony House, we’ll be presenting an exciting young ensemble – Excelsis Percussion – an international group of women percussionists redefining the classical concert experience. Excelsis brings an impressive energy to their performances, and the music they present spans from classical to avant-garde to pop. They have been hailed by imminent percussionist Jonathan Haas as “one of the most innovative and exciting percussion ensembles to emerge in the golden age of chamber music,” for their immersive sound world.
That evening at 8 p.m. at The Breakers, we’ll be presenting a very special concert featuring the world premiere of a new piece by Grammy-nominated violinist and composer Curtis Stewart, performed by our incredible Festival Artists – Ariel Horowitz, violin; Lun Li, violin; Edwin Kaplan, viola; Titilayo Ayangade, cello; and Llewellyn Sanchez-Werner, piano. Our Festival Artists have been with us for the entire festival this summer, performing in no fewer than nine concerts while here, and have already received tremendous feedback from concert-goers! This program is anchored by Shostakovich’s Piano Quintet in G Major and the world premiere of Curtis’s new piece, The Gilded Cage. The Gilded Cage is inspired by Curtis’s father’s time living in Newport and being part of the Baptist AME church community, as well as the history of The Breakers’ many caretakers over the decades. It is the latest in our ongoing, annual commissioning initiative, which we began in 2021.
We’ll conclude this summer’s festival on July 23 at 8 p.m. with The Knights, a New York-based orchestral collective of adventurous musicians, performing at The Breakers. The Knights are led by brothers Eric Jacobsen (artistic director and conductor) and Colin Jacobsen (artistic director and violinist) and are dedicated to eliminating barriers between audiences and music. I really admire their open-minded approach and camaraderie. The group performs around the world, they have a concert season at Carnegie Hall, and are presented at major venues and festivals including Tanglewood, Ravinia, The Kennedy Center, and more. The concert program that they’ll perform at The Breakers really highlights their mission of showcasing the classical tradition alongside their passion for artistic discovery, and includes Vivaldi’s Flute Concerto featuring flutist Alex Sopp, Anna Clyne’s Prince of Clouds, Bartók’s Romanian Folk Dances featuring violinist Alex Gonzalez, Aaron Copland’s Appalachian Spring, and Colin Jacoben’s A Shadow Under Every Light. I know it will be a remarkable closing night for what has been a very memorable festival this year.
We hope you can join us for these remaining performances this summer, and look forward to welcoming you throughout the year to our Chamber Series concerts at Newport Classical Recital Hall downtown.
Tickets for Newport Classical’s concerts can be purchased online at www.newportclassical.org/music-festival. For assistance or to join the waitlist for a sold out performance, please email the box office at info@newportclassical.org.
Gillian Friedman Fox is the Newport Classical executive director. Her column appears monthly in The Newport Daily News and on newportri.com.
This article originally appeared on Newport Daily News: Newport Classical Music Festival draws over 7,000 for 2023 concerts
