The Crescent City Chamber Music Festival (CCMF) will mark its sixth anniversary with seven free public concerts at venues throughout New Orleans from September 30 to October 10, 2021.
This year’s festival is themed “(Over)come Together” and will bring together 21 world-class chamber music artists as well as prominent classical musicians in New Orleans. Music lovers will be treated to performances by Grammy-winning classical guitarist Jason Vieaux, described by NPR as “perhaps the most precise and soulful classical guitarist of his generation.” In a different twist for the festival, the October 5 concert at the University of New Orleans Performing Arts Center will feature all local classical musicians.
The 2021 festival will welcome an ensemble-in-residence, the Escher String Quartet, a group based in New York City where they serve as Artists of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. And, as always, the festival will once again feature the renowned Manhattan Chamber Players, a collective of New York-based musicians who have delivered compelling performances of the most moving pieces that the chamber repertoire has to offer year after year at CCCMF.
Festival Director and native New Orleanian Luke Fleming has made the Crescent City his permanent home, moving back from New York during the pandemic. He now serves on the faculty of the University of New Orleans School of the Arts. “I am thrilled to be back home in the city that I love, teaching music and also working to grow the Crescent City Chamber Music Festival from right here in New Orleans,” Fleming said. He continues to perform internationally with some of the world’s most talented musicians, many of whom volunteer their time at CCCMF.
Community outreach is an important part of the festival’s mission. Since its inception, festival musicians have performed privately for audiences at nursing homes, hospitals, schools, homeless shelters and other charitable organizations across the Greater New Orleans area. “It is important to the festival’s mission that we continue make our community outreach and free performances available to people from all walks of life,” Fleming said. “We will, of course, follow all COVID-19 protocols in place at that time.”
Join some of the most talented Classical musicians in the world for performances filled with deeply moving musical masterworks performed in beautiful, acoustically magnificent venues.
SCHEDULE OF PERFORMANCES
Thursday, September 30
Opening Night BYOB Gala
Felicity Church, 1220 Felicity Street
Jason Vieaux, guitar, and the Escher Quartet
Doors Open: 6:30 p.m.
Concert: 7:30 p.m.
Friday, October 1
“Music for the End of Time”
Saint Charles Avenue Presbyterian Church, 1545 State Street
The Escher Quartet and the Manhattan Chamber Players
Music by Strauss, Barber, and Messiaen
Doors Open: 6:30 p.m.
Pre-Concert Talk and Q&A: 7 p.m.
Concert: 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, October 3
“…in the Age of Noise”
UNO Performing Arts Center, 2000 Lakeshore Drive
The Escher Quartet and Friends
Music by Dvořák, Bartók, George Walker, and Andrea Casarrubios
Doors Open: 3:30 p.m.
Concert: 4 p.m.
Tuesday, October 5
“Treasures of NOLA”
UNO Performing Arts Center, 2000 Lakeshore Drive
Various New Orleans classical musicians
Music by Brahms, Schubert, and Vaughan Williams
Doors Open: 7 p.m.
Concert: 7:30 p.m.
Thursday, October 7
Relaxed Classical Music with Beer Pairings
Urban South Brewery, 1645 Tchoupitoulas Street
Doors Open: 6:30 p.m.
Pre-Concert Talk and Q&A: 7 p.m.
Concert: 7:30 p.m.
Friday, October 8
“A Celebration of Virtuosity”
Dixon Concert Hall, Tulane University
Manhattan Chamber Players
Music by Mozart, Beethoven, and Mendelssohn
Doors Open: 6:30 PM
Pre-Concert Talk and Q&A: 7 PM
Concert: 7:30 PM
Sunday, October 10
“A Hymn to Music”
Rayne Memorial United Methodist Church, 3900 St. Charles Avenue
Music by Ralph Vaughan Williams, Aaron Copland, and Andrea Casarrubios
Doors Open: 3:30 PM
Concert: 4 PM
Reception to follow
For more information on the Crescent City Chamber Music Festival and to keep up with possible changes, please visit the CCMF website.
