This year’s Bridgehampton Chamber Music Festival focuses on love

For classical music fans in the East End, this summer is a time of love. From July 14 to August 11, the 2024 Bridgehampton Chamber Music Festival will return for the 41st time, presenting a dozen concerts at Bridgehampton Presbyterian Church, Channing Daughters Winery, Madoo Conservancy and Parrish Art Museum.

This time, however, the affection is likely to be even deeper, as it will be reciprocated by focusing on the twin themes of transformation and love in music at BCMF 2024.

“The programs we do always find out, in one way or another, how we feel in the present,” explained Bridgehampton Chamber Music founder, flutist Marya Martin. “The idea of ​​transformation and changing everything is both good and bad. I’ve chosen to see the good side of transformation here, and also love. For me, love and respect go together, and that’s something we need so much right now.”

That’s why the BCMF’s annual fundraiser is even fitting with the theme and is entitled “For the Love of a Cause.” It will take place on Saturday, July 27, at the Atlantic Golf Club.

The idea to focus on love and transformation in 2024 came about when Martin and BCMF’s executive director Michael Lawrence were discussing ideas for a festival theme. Martin recalled that she suggested including a romantic piece in each program so people wouldn’t forget how inspiring life can be.

“I don’t want to sound missionary, but as you get older, you think more about certain things,” Martin said. “What’s important in your life, which is to be inspired, to feel feelings of love and to have happiness in this world, comes out more. And I feel like I’m the luckiest person in the world.”

“What also really makes me happy and inspires me and gives me energy are the young musicians who are coming to the festival now,” she said. “They are so wonderful, so talented and so hard-working, their minds and hearts are open to music from all over the world. It’s inspiring to be part of their musical lives.”

“They know it’s a beautiful celebration,” she added. “They know that they will be respected, admired and truly loved when they come here. I’m interested in their careers, what’s new with them, what ideas they have.”

Martin notes that the musicians, young and not-so-young, who participate in BCMF each summer do so because the programs are diverse, featuring both centuries-old music and brand-new, cutting-edge compositions.

“The feedback is that the programs are always interesting,” Martin said. “They don’t come here and play the same thing over and over. Yes, we have Mozart or Brahms that they’ve played before, but there’s always something they haven’t played yet.”

Among the new pieces that no one has played yet this year is “The Lotos-Eaters,” which will have its world premiere at the festival on August 1 and was commissioned by BCM’s pianist and composer Michael Stephen Brown. The work is inspired by Tennyson’s poem of the same name, which in turn is taken from a story in Homer’s “Odyssey,” which tells of sailors who, once they taste the lotus, forget their homeland and spend their final years in bliss.

“Two years ago, Michael sent me some scores and then another piece I liked, so I said, ‘I want you to write this for us,'” Martin said. “‘The Lotos-Eaters’ has marimba, xylophone and bells, and each movement is a slightly different combination of cello, piano and flute.

“Michael will tell us more about the piece at the concert, but it’s out there. I think the music is ethereal, like the poem. I think it’s going to be very beautiful,” Martin said. “The amazing thing is we’re only rehearsing it in three days. We’ve only just got the score and it’s barely finished. But we know it, we sit with it and hear the score in our heads. You can hear the pieces coming together. For a brand new piece, we always take more time.”

In designing this festival, Martin and Lawrence were also interested in including the works of composers who are underrepresented. For this reason, the festival’s opening concert on July 14 is entitled “Schumann’s Journey” and includes a piece by Chinese composer Zhou Tian called “Viaje” for flute, cello and piano. The same program includes a piece by Florence Price, a composer of African descent, whose “Adoration” for violin and piano speaks of divine devotion.

“Nobody knew Florence Price until times changed and people started to become interested in African-American music,” Martin said.

The opening concert’s programme also includes Mozart’s Duo for Violin and Viola in G major and Schumann’s Piano Quintet in E-flat major.

“Each program has its own iteration in terms of the journey,” Martin explained. “‘Viaje’ means journey in Spanish, and that’s what life is about – it’s not about getting somewhere. The Price piece continues that journey lovingly, and the Mozart and Schumann pieces on the program are the icing on the cake.

“It’s hard to get that across in these little program notes that I write. But at the concerts, I spend five or 10 minutes explaining why we have this piece or that piece,” she said. “Schumann wrote this piece about Clara, who was not allowed to marry because she was his student and much younger, and it’s important to put that at the beginning of the program so they hear it in the music.”

Another new addition to the festival this year is the venue at the Madoo Conservancy in Sagaponack, which will host a wine reception and concert on August 7 in the garden’s newly reconstructed gallery.

“It’s a small venue, so it sold out in a second,” Martin said. “It’s a little more informal, so it could be a place to showcase younger musicians or different types of music, or something where we want to offer something to attract younger audiences.”

Another concert that may interest young people is the Wm. Brian Little Concert on August 9 at the Channing Sculpture Garden, with wine and appetizers. The concert features the great jazz guitarist Stephane Wrembel in a program that explores the connection between the music of Bach and jazz legend Django Reinhardt, including Reinhardt’s own interpretation of Bach’s Double Violin Concerto.

“(Wrembel) plays this version of Bach’s Violin Concerto in D minor. I’ve heard him play it and it’s incredible,” Martin said. “We play Vivace from Bach’s Concerto for Two Violins in D minor, then he comes in and takes over and goes crazy and we stop playing. It’s a really interesting way to look at this iconic piece of Bach.”

It sounds like there will be a lot of exciting things happening in Bridgehampton in the coming weeks.

Tickets for concerts at Bridgehampton Presbyterian Church are $75/$50 ($10 for students). Prices vary at other venues. For tickets, visit BCMF.org or call 631-537-6368.

Bridgehampton Chamber Music Festival 2024

Sunday, July 14, 6 p.m., Bridgehampton Presbyterian Church – “Schumann Journey”: Zhou Tian – “Viaje” for flute, cello and piano; Florence Price – “Anbetung” for violin and piano; Robert Schumann – Piano Quintet in E-flat major, op. 44.

Thursday, July 20, 6 p.m., Bridgehampton Presbyterian Church – “Beethoven Variations”: Ludwig van Beethoven – Piano Trio No. 2 in G major, Op. 1, No. 2; George Rochberg – Variations on Pachelbel’s Canon, from String Quartet No. 6; Ludwig van Beethoven – Romance for Violin and Piano in F major, Op. 50; Carl Reinecke – Piano Quartet in E flat major, Op. 34.

Sunday, July 21, 6 p.m., Bridgehampton Presbyterian Church – “Americans in Paris – Gershwin/Debussy/Currier/Ravel”: George Gershwin – Lullaby for string quartet; Claude Debussy – Prélude à l’après midi d’un faune for ensemble (arrangement by Graeme Steele Johnson); Sebastian Currier – “Ongoingness” for harp and string quartet (world premiere, co-commissioned by BCM); Maurice Ravel – Introduction and Allegro for flute, clarinet and string quartet.

Thursday, July 25, 6 p.m., Bridgehampton Presbyterian Church – “All-Bach Concerti”: JS Bach – Concerto for Two Violins in D minor, BWV 1043; Triple Concerto for Flute, Violin and Harpsichord in A minor, BWV 1044; Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 for Harpsichord, Flute and Violin, BWV 1050. Marya Martin, flute; Tien-Hsin Cindy Wu, violin; Anna Lee, violin; Amy Schwartz Moretti, violin.

Saturday, July 27, 6:30 p.m. Atlantic Golf Club – “Bridgehampton Chamber Music Festival Annual Benefit: For the Love of It”: Philippe Gaubert – Pièce Romantique for flute, cello and piano; Michael Stephen Brown – “Argument” from Relationship for clarinet and violin; Robert Schumann – Andante from Piano Quartet in E flat major, Op. 47; Johannes Brahms – “Rondo Zingarese” from Piano Quartet in G minor, Op. 25. Marya Martin, flute. Tickets: 212-741-9073

Sunday, July 28, 6 p.m., Bridgehampton Presbyterian Church – “Beethoven & Strauss”: Ludwig van Beethoven – Piano Trio in B flat major, Op. 97, “Archduke”; Richard Strauss – Piano Quartet in C minor, Op. 13. Erin Keefe, violin; Masumi Per Rostad, viola; Mihai Marica, cello; Orion Weiss, piano.

Thursday, August 1, 6 p.m., Bridgehampton Presbyterian Church – “Mozart Reflections”: W. A. ​​Mozart – Quartet in A major for flute and strings, K. 298; Kevin Puts – “And Legions Will Rise” for clarinet, violin and marimba; Michael Stephen Brown – “The Lotos-Eaters” for flute, cello, piano and percussion (world premiere, commissioned by BCM); W. A. ​​Mozart – Piano Quartet in E-flat major, K. 493.

Sunday, August 4, 6 p.m., Bridgehampton Presbyterian Church – “Dvorák and More”: Louise Farrenc – Sextet for Piano and Wind Instruments in C minor, op. 40; Arvo Pärt – Mozart Adagio for Piano Trio; Antonin Dvorák – Piano Quartet in D major, op. 23.

Monday, August 5, 6 p.m., Parrish Art Museum – “Exploring Color”: Francis Poulenc – Trio for oboe, bassoon and piano; Joseph Suk – Meditation on the Old Bohemian Chorale “St. Wenceslas” (arrangement for wind instruments); Iva Bittová – Hoboj and Divná Slecinka for oboe and viola; Edward Elgar – Salut d’Amour for cello and piano; Sergei Rachmaninoff – Trio élégiaque No. 1 in G minor.

Wednesday, August 7, 6 p.m., Madoo Conservancy – “Wine & Whimsy”: Ludwig van Beethoven – String Quartet No. 12 in E flat major, Op. 127, I. Maestoso. Allegro; Claude Debussy – String Quartet in G minor; Vijay Iyer – Mozart Effects for String Quartet; Vijay Iyer – “Dig the Say” for String Quartet; Parker String Quartet.

Friday, August 9, 6 p.m. wine and hors d’oeuvres, 7 p.m. concert in the Channing Sculpture Garden. Wm. Brian Little Concerto – Stephane Wrembel “Bach & Django”: JS Bach – Vivace from Concerto for Two Violins in D minor, BWV 1043 (arrangement by Reinhardt); Django Reinhardt – Improvisation No. 1 for solo guitar; JS Bach – Air on the G string from Orchestral Suite No. 3 in D major, BWV 1068; Django Reinhardt – Songe d’Automne; Erik Satie – Gymnopédie No. 1 for ensemble (arrangement by Manchon); JS Bach – Prelude No. 12, Book II, from The Well-Tempered Clavier, BWV 857 (arrangement by Reinhardt); Django Reinhardt – Minor Swing for ensemble.

Sunday, August 11, 6 p.m., Bridgehampton Presbyterian Church Bridgehampton. “Outstanding Octets – Mendelssohn/Enescu”: Felix Mendelssohn – String Octet in E-flat major, Op. 20; George Enescu – String Octet in C major, Op. 7.