Rockport Chamber Music Festival’s artistic director Barry Shiffman
The Rockport Chamber Music Festival, typically six weeks of concerts through June and July, re-scheduled this summer’s programs to encompass four long weekends over three months.
“We tried to mitigate the health risks, and not lose the festival altogether,” says artistic director Barry Shiffman. “That’s why we spread it out over the summer. It was our feeling that if something changed, we wouldn’t have to lose the whole festival. We hoped it would improve, and by the end of the festival we would be back to normal.”
A return to normal certainly has not happened yet. But RCMF has successfully welcomed audiences back this summer to the Shalin Liu Performance Center—one of the first venues to return to indoor entertainment. As the final weekends approach, Shiffman took the time to assess the success so far of this year’s festival, RCMF’s 40th anniversary.
“We had very good few weeks of concerts in July and August,” he says. “Concerts that were beautiful, a lot of emotion. What was missing was the mix and mingle, artists hanging out with audiences in informal ways. It’s still a difficult situation, particularly in certain parts of the U.S. We’re not there yet.”
Certainly not. Rising infection and hospitalization rates have forced venues to require proof of vaccination—which RCMF will do for all September performances. Mask-wearing will also be mandatory.
“We have to be nimble,” he says. “Nobody wants to have to wear a mask—that’s just the reality we’re in.
“Like any presenter, I’m curating an experience,” he says, “a transformative interaction with music. That isn’t possible if your audience is terrified. Now we must go through these mitigating protocols to make it happen.
“We required all the artists to be vaccinated,” he says, “and we feel it’s a good thing to require proof for audiences, to the degree that we can provide a safe environment.”
The final concerts begin with a re-scheduled appearance—Canadian pianist Jan Lisiecki’s recital Sept. 3, postponed from July, when Lisiecki was unable to travel. “Presenting international artists in the U.S. was a challenge prior to Covid,” Shiffman says. “They have to jump through extraordinary hoops to get visas.
“For the musicians, this has been impossibly difficult,” he says. He should know: a longtime member of the St. Lawrence String Quartet, who return to the festival Sept. 10, Shiffman is also associate dean at Toronto’s Royal Conservatory, and director of the prestigious Banff International String Quartet Competition. In each of those capacities, he works with musicians who have struggled to stay afloat during the past year-and-a-half.
“It’s been a long time,” he says. “For those without a symphony job, or a teaching position—it’s been hard. For emerging artists, whose careers just launched—they need support.
“But there are good things that come from these situations,” he says, trying to sound an upbeat note. “It creates conversations.”
The upcoming weekends of RCMF feature a succession of chamber music luminaries. Along with Lisiecki and St. Lawrence, violinist James Ehnes performs with pianist Steward Goodyear; the Brentano Quartet makes a return appearance; pianist Simone Dinnerstein performs Philip Glass, Schumann, and Couperin; and pianist Wu Han takes the stage with cellist David Finckel and violinist Philip Setzer. Each live performance will be available for online viewing 48 hours after the concert.
Shiffman admits “I tried to build a little crescendo in terms of the artists, and popular awareness, at the end of the festival. These are incredible musicians, at the top of their game.”
A half-dozen classical programs have been announced for the upcoming concert season, but planning for next year’s RCMF remains on hold.
“I’m not ready to announce next summer yet,” Shiffman says, “but we want the festival to return to its regular footprint in June and July. A more condensed environment—a festival should become more than the sum of its parts.”
The final concerts of this year’s Rockport Chamber Music Festival take place Sept. 3, 9–12, and 17–19. Tickets ($44–$86) are available at rockportmusic.org or by calling 978 546-7391. Tickets for virtual performances ($15–$25) will be available for one week, 48 hours after each performance.
Keith Powers covers music and the arts for Gannett New England, Leonore Overture and Opera News. Follow @PowersKeith; email to keithmichaelpowers@gmail.com.