Newport Classical Music Festival brings concerts for all to the Classical Coast
Summer is certainly upon us here in the City-by-the-Sea. At Newport Classical, we are thrilled to return this year to a full slate of performances in some of our city’s most stunning mansions and historic locations. Our Newport Classical Music Festival, opening this Friday, July 1 and running through July 17, includes 24 concerts at The Breakers, Blithewold Mansion, The Elms, Castle Hill Inn, Chinese Tea House, Great Friends Meeting House, King Park, Newport Art Museum, Redwood Library & Athenæum, and more.
Our opening night concert featuring Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and violinist Chad Hoopes is sold out, but limited tickets are still available for Grammy-nominated pianist Joyce Yang on July 2 and the “supergroup” Junction Trio made up of three renowned soloists – Stefan Jackiw, Conrad Tao, and Jay Campbell – on July 3 at The Breakers. On July 4, we will be at King Park with Triton Brass for a free Fourth of July concert, before the fireworks. The following morning, a Movie Music concert at Blithewold Mansion will feature incredibly cinematic music – from Harry Potter to Indiana Jones, and Schindler’s List to E.T. Also on July 5, we will present a piano marathon at Newport Art Museum exploring four hours of music by women composers spanning the centuries, performed by pianist and new music advocate Sarah Cahill. You can drop in and listen for as long as you like.
Other highlights of the festival for which limited tickets are still available include Black Oak Ensemble in its Newport debut performing the uplifting works of six promising, early 20th century Jewish composers on July 6. For a deeper dive into the lives of the composers and a conversation around “Silenced Voices” during the Holocaust, join us for a free conversation at Temple Shalom at 3 p.m. On July 7, Ukrainian-American pianist Inna Faliks will bring her program “Reimaging Schumann and Ravel” to Castle Hill Inn. Later in the festival, the wonderful harpist Emily Levin makes her Newport debut on July 14 in a morning concert that explores the domestic roots of the harp, the stereotype of its femininity, and the female harpists and composers who championed its development. That evening, Rukus will bring a high-energy performance of the enduring music of J.S. Bach to The Breakers. During our closing weekend on July 16, we will have a very special “Cocktails and Concert” event with two of classical music’s greats – pianist Marc-André Hamelin and cellist Johannes Moser – celebrating the close of our festival and the 275th anniversary of the Redwood Library & Athenæum. This closing evening includes an extended reception during intermission, included in your ticket purchase.
Our mission at Newport Classical is to bring performers from across the classical music spectrum to Newport – up-and-coming artists, artists who have been festival favorites and returned year after year, as well as world-class internationally known musicians – in timeless music, for today. This organization has always had a long tradition of encouraging and inviting the next generation of musicians, and we are building upon that with initiatives like our program to commission a BIPOC or woman composer to write a new piece for the festival each year – it is important to us to actively ensure the future of classical music.
This year’s commissioned composer is Shawn E. Okpebholo, who has a dynamic career and is highly sought after. We are so honored to be bringing his music to Newport on July 9, premiered by Cuban pianist Aldo López-Gavilán at The Breakers. His new piece Crooked Shanks is inspired by Occramer Marycoo, an enslaved African in 18th-century Newport who was re-named Newport Gardner by his enslaver. Despite his circumstance, Gardner became educated, spoke multiple languages, and trained as a classical musician. Shawn writes, “This composition is also loosely influenced by African and Latin sensibilities, reflecting Gardner's and my, and López-Gavilán's cultural heritages, respectively. In getting to know Gardener’s journey, I kept gravitating to the notion of traveling, which, along with the perils of the enslaved, the hope of freedom, and the return home, is the extra-musical core of this work.” Crooked Shanks was commissioned by Newport Classical for Aldo López-Gavilán’s July 2022 performance in Newport, RI in loving memory of Marilyn J. Woloohojian for her extraordinary generosity, commitment to the future of classical music, and in honor of her thirty years as a member of the Board of Directors.
We are so looking forward to welcoming audiences to experience the full spectrum of classical music with us this summer. Newport Classical is now programming year-round, so we will also have a fantastic schedule of performances later this summer and this fall. Stay tuned for that announcement in our next column, in July.
The Newport Classical Music Festival runs from July 1-17, 2022 in locations throughout Newport. Visit www.newportclassical.org for tickets and more information.
The Daily News is excited to welcome Gillian Friedman Fox, executive director of Newport Classical, as our newest columnist. The column, provided by Newport Classical, will appear each month in The Daily News and online at newportri.com. For more information, visit newportclassical.org.
This article originally appeared on Newport Daily News: Newport Classical Music Festival offers concerts for all in July
