Composer Stacy Garrop, photograph by Darrell Hoemann. The Boston Trio premieres her “Beacon of the Bay,” the first-ever commission by the Newport Music Festival, on July 12.
Three major chamber music festivals take three different approaches in their return to live performance this summer. At Tanglewood, at Rockport Music, and at the Newport Music Festival, audiences will be returning in July, after a year’s hiatus. The resumption of performances arrives with a mix of indoor, outdoor and streamed options.
Shortened performances, distancing protocols, limited capacity and additional protections are the new norm for concertgoers. Still, with music lovers waiting more than a year for live concerts, the limited tickets available are selling quickly.
At the Newport Music Festival, adjustments to the new norms almost overshadow the dramatic changes in direction. Incoming executive director Gillian Fox takes over the venerable festival, which will be performed entirely outdoors, mostly in tents on the grounds of Newport’s famous mansions.
Concerts will last 60–75 minutes, without intermission, and capacities will be limited by distancing protocols. Fully vaccinated patrons will not be asked to wear masks; other patrons are requested to do so. Proof of vaccine will be “mostly be on the honor system,” Fox says. “We estimate that our patrons will be fully vaccinated,” she says, emphasizing that the situation is fluid, and that protocols may have to change.
Concerts will not be available virtually: “It’s Newport, and our live experience is really what we’re known for,” Fox says.
A Far Cry performs on opening night, and that adventurous string ensemble serves as a symbol for the changes at Newport. “We want to present the familiar, but also where classical music is going,” Fox says; “works from the canon, paired with music of today.”
Included in the programs is a world premiere—the first-ever commission, in more than five decades of performances, at Newport. American composer Stacy Garrop’s “Beacon of the Bay” will be debuted by the Boston Trio on July 12.
Pianists Lara Downes and Aaron Diehl, clarinetist Anthony McGill, the Harlem Quartet, Chanticleer, Brooklyn Rider and Third Coast Percussion are among the artists in Newport’s revamped lineup. Concerts run July 4–20 (newportmusic.org).
Rockport Music re-opens the doors of its Shalin Liu Performance Center on July 9. The organization kept active during the pandemic with live-streaming and multiple recording projects, but this summer marks a return to live performances indoors.
The popular chamber music festival, celebrating its 40th anniversary, returns along with the enthusiastically attended jazz and Celtic music festivals. Normally a consecutive run of five or six weeks, the Rockport Chamber Music Festival will be limited to four weekends, spread out through July, August and September.
Audiences at the July performances will be socially distanced—“six feet of space in all directions,” says CEO Tony Beadle. That means only 125 tickets available, for the 330-seat hall. Concerts will run approximately one hour, without intermission. Artists are scheduled for two performances each evening.
For the August concerts, spacing protocols will be more relaxed: “You won’t share an armrest with anyone,” Beadle says, although the six-foot requirement will no longer be in place. “And in September, we’ll be back to one house,” Beadle says. “But anything can happen between now and then.” Masks will not be required, nor will proof of vaccination. “We can’t become the vaccination police,” he says.
RCMF will continue to offer ticketed online options for audiences who aren’t ready to sit inside. Each festival performance will be recorded and edited, and made available at rockportmusic.org two days after the performance for one week.
Artistic director Barry Shiffman has created a mix of new artists and familiar ones. The Dover Quartet, with pianist George Li, opens the festival July 9. Simone Dinnerstein, the Brentano Quartet, James Ehnes, Junction Trio, and St. Lawrence String Quartet are some of the artists performing this summer.
At Tanglewood, concerts return to the Shed and lawn, but not to Ozawa Hall or the other venues on the campus. No vocal music will be performed. Programs will run approximately 80 minutes, without intermission. The usual hectic Tanglewood summer gets reduced to six long weekends, opening July 9 and running through August 16.
Extensive protocols have been put in place. Seating in the Shed will be at about 50% capacity—about 2400 ticket-holders—with a three-foot distancing policy. About 6600 lawn tickets are available. Social distancing will not be enforced on the lawn. Tanglewood will not require proof of vaccination, and mask wearing will be optional.
The music? Plentiful, by any standard. Emanuel Ax performs with music director Andris Nelsons and the orchestra on opening night, and Nelsons will maintain a strong presence throughout the summer. The shortened season includes appearances by Yo-Yo Ma, Daniil Trifonov, Lisa Batiashvili, Yefim Bronfman, and Gil Shaham.
Anne-Sophie Mutter performs a world premiere of John Williams’s second violin concert July 24, with the composer conducting. Judith Weir, Kaija Saariaho, Elena Langer, Missy Mazzoli and Jessie Montgomery will have works performed. The Festival of Contemporary Music, directed by Thomas Adès, also returns in a shortened format (bso.org).
Beginning a practice that will likely continue, select Tanglewood performances will be streamed weekly on BSO NOW, the orchestra’s highly successful streaming portal.
Keith Powers covers music and the arts for Gannett New England, Leonore Overture and Opera News. Follow @PowersKeith; email to keithmichaelpowers@gmail.com.