Featured Artists

Stephanie Jutt, flute
Jeffrey Sykes, piano
Emily Nebel, violin
Michael Gurevich, violin
Peter Dudek, viola
Trace Johnson, cello
Timothy Jones, bass-baritone

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About This Event

Elegiac, searching, and profoundly moving, this program traces music’s power to console and sustain. From intimate love songs of Kevin Puts to the gripping, dramatic piano quintet of Shostakovich, it’s an evening that lingers long after the final chord.

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Program

• Jennifer Higdon (b. 1962): Nocturne for cello and piano (2006)
• Samuel Barber (1910-1981): Mélodies passagères (“Fleeting Melodies”), Op. 27 (1950)
• Kevin Puts (b. 1972): In at the Eye (2016), poems by William Butler Yeats (1865-1939)
• Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975): Piano Quintet in G minor, Op. 57 (1940)

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35 Summers of Serious Fun

They said no one would ever understand a name like Bach Dancing & Dynamite Society. They told us that chamber music was Serious Business—and that door prizes, mystery guests, playful titles, and a little audience mischief had no place in it. They said a festival like this wouldn’t last.

Thirty-five summers later, here we are. We are still surprising ourselves, still chasing curiosity, and still proving that chamber music can be both passionately committed and Serious Fun. What began as a leap of faith has become a tradition built on trust: trust in great music, fearless artists, and an audience that is always up for an adventure. So much for “never.”

That said, there are a few things we will happily say never to:

• We will never program music that doesn’t make our own hearts race.
• We will never give a performance anything less than our all.
• We will never lose our sense of humor, our love of mischief, or our gratitude for the generosity that keeps this festival humming.
• We will never take our audience for granted.

After all, you show up year after year, waiting for that familiar thrill to cross your mind: “They’ll never do that.”

Never Say Never.