Boscobel Chamber Music Festival is Back This September
BOSCOBEL CHAMBER MUSIC FESTIVAL BRINGS WORLD CLASS PERFORMANCES TO THE HUDSON VALLEY FOR SECOND ANNUAL FESTIVAL
September 1-10, 2023
Arnaud Sussmann, Artistic Director
Photo By @dj_nimbus
BOSCOBEL HOSTS PREEMINENT
CHAMBER MUSIC PERFORMING ARTISTS IN THE HUDSON VALLEY,
FEATURING EHNES STRING QUARTET, JENNIFER FRAUTSCHI,
BENJAMIN BEILMAN, MICHAEL STEPHEN BROWN AND OTHERS
TWO WEEK-LONG RESIDENCIES INCLUDE COMMUNITY AND SCHOOL ENGAGEMENT OFFERINGS
GARRISON, NY (May 22, 2023) — Boscobel House and Gardens is proud to announce the second annual Boscobel Chamber Music Festival in partnership with the Chamber Music Society of Palm Beach, led by Artistic Director and violinist, Arnaud Sussmann.
Over the course of nine days, from September 1st to 10th, the festival will present five performances by some of the most sought-after chamber musicians in the country, along with wide-ranging educational offerings on Boscobel’s historic site and throughout the Hudson Valley.
The festival’s international roster of artists include violinists Jennifer Frautschi and Benjamin Beilman, violists Milena Pájaro-van de Stadt and Jonathan Vinocour, cellists David Requiro and Nicholas Canellakis, pianist Michael Stephen Brown, and the Ehnes String Quartet.
The Boscobel Chamber Music Festival concert highlights include:
- Acclaimed violinist Benjamin Beilman and pianist Michael Stephen Brown open the festival as soloists for Ernest Chausson’s Concert for Violin, Piano, and String Quartet. Jennifer Frautschi will also be featured on Chausson’s beloved Poème. Both pieces were dedicated to the great Belgian violinist Eugène Ysaÿe whose music will also be performed on opening night. Benjamin Beilman will be playing a violin once owned by Ysaÿe himself.
- Music-themed tours of Boscobel’s house and grounds during August and September, and an exhibition on period instruments including a flute purportedly owned by Major John André, the infamous British spy hanged for colluding with Benedict Arnold.
- An engaging talk and demonstration on September 2 with Master Luthier, Samuel Zygmuntowicz, one of the world’s finest violin makers.
- String sextets make up an outdoor concert program, with violinists Arnaud Sussmann and Jennifer Frautschi leading Dvořák’s String Sextet in A major, inspired by Czech folk dances, and Tchaikovsky’s Souvenir de Florence, named after the city where the piece was first conceived.
- Week Two concerts feature the incomparable Ehnes String Quartet led by superstar concert violinist James Ehnes, performing Haydn and Schubert, and then being joined by festival Artistic Director Arnaud Sussmann for Mendelssohn’s String Quintet in B flat, a work emblematic of Mendelssohn’s evolving style from more a classical form towards favoring drama and expression.
- The Ehnes Quartet will then close out the festival with a family concert on September 10.
About the Site-Wide Programming
Music has always been a part of Boscobel’s history. The house was designed to accommodate music being played by and for the Dyckman family. Boscobel’s renowned collection includes musical instruments and many furnishings decorated with Classical references to music. The festival updates this tradition for Boscobel’s growing and increasingly diverse audiences, and the astonishingly talented guest musicians.
Artists in week-long residencies will engage with Boscobel and the community through open rehearsals, school programs, VIP events, and field trips.
The Boscobel Chamber Music Festival returns for a second season after a successful inaugural festival in September, 2022. The prior festival, which marked the start of the Emerson String Quartet’s farewell tour, attracted more than 1,000 audience members, in participation with the Cold Spring Farmers’ Market, The Manitou School, Storm King Art Center, and The Glynwood Center for Regional Food and Farming.
“We are so pleased to count the Chamber Music Festival among Boscobel’s widening variety of meaningful Hudson Valley experiences. Now in its second year, the Festival has become another one of Boscobel’s anticipated events in which our site celebrates history and beauty, and strives to inform and inspire local families, schools, artists, and patrons.”
–Jennifer Carlquist, Boscobel House and Gardens’ Executive Director and Curator
“We’re thrilled to be returning for our second season of the Boscobel Chamber Music Festival. Last year’s inaugural festival exceeded all of our expectations, and we’re eagerly looking forward to building upon that success. We can’t wait to celebrate the power and beauty of chamber music, inspired by the beauty of Boscobel House and Gardens.”
–Arnaud Sussmann, Chamber Music Society of Palm Beach’s Artistic Director
Tickets & Information
Boscobel House and Gardens (1601 9D, Garrison, New York) will present events in two venues:
- The Great Lawn (outdoor; capacity: 800+) Inspirational setting with iconic Hudson River Valley views
- The West Lawn Pavilion (indoor; capacity: 350+) Boscobel’s 5,000 sq ft state-of-the-art glass pavilion
$45 – $85 for adults;
$25 – $45 for musicians and children (<16)
Sponsorships Available and Tickets on Sale June 1st
About Boscobel House and Gardens
Located in the heart of the Hudson Valley, 60 miles north of New York City, Boscobel is one of America’s most beautiful places, with iconic Hudson River views, 68 acres of stunning gardens and grounds, a woodland trail, and an important collection of early New York design in its Historic House Museum.
Boscobel offers gardens and grounds admission, tours of the grounds and house, and lively programs that explore history, design, and nature. Boscobel is a 501©3 nonprofit organization with a mission to engage diverse audiences in the Hudson Valley’s ongoing, dynamic exchange between design, history, and nature.
About the Chamber Music Society of Palm Beach
The Chamber Music Society of Palm Beach (CMSPB) has brought world class chamber music performances and educational programming to Palm Beach County and the wider South Florida region since 2013.
Over 10 seasons CMSPB has presented over 120 artists including the Emerson and Harlem string quartets, violinist James Ehnes, pianist Inon Barnatan, and members of the New York Philharmonic, Cleveland Orchestra, and Philadelphia Orchestra, among many others. In 2019 CMSPB introduced frequent guest artist and acclaimed violinist Arnaud Sussmann as its Artistic Director. In his first season Sussmann led CMSPB in launching virtual programming to make CMSPB available to audiences around the globe. The Chamber Music Society of Palm Beach reaches hundreds of students and young musicians each season with hands-on access to some of the finest artists and music educators in the world.
Through masterclasses, in-school performances, and open rehearsals, CMSPB aims to fuel the creativity and curiosity of young people and nurture the artists of tomorrow.
ARNAUD SUSSMANN
Winner of a 2009 Avery Fisher Career Grant, Arnaud Sussmann has distinguished himself with his unique sound, bravura, and profound musicianship. Minnesota’s Pioneer Press writes, “Sussmann has an old-school sound reminiscent of vintage recordings by Jascha Heifetz or Fritz Kreisler, a rare combination of sweet and smooth that can hypnotize a listener.”
Mr. Sussmann has recently appeared as a soloist with the Mariinsky Orchestra under Valery Gergiev, and the Vancouver, and New World Symphonies. As a chamber musician, he has performed at the Tel Aviv Museum, London’s Wigmore Hall, Lincoln Center, and the White Nights Festival in Saint Petersburg. He has also given concerts at the Caramoor, Music@Menlo, La Jolla SummerFest, Mainly Mozart, and Seattle Chamber Music festivals, collaborating with many of today’s leading artists including Itzhak Perlman, Shmuel Ashkenasi, Wu Han, David Finckel, and Jan Vogler.
Sussmann is Artistic Director of the Chamber Music Society of Palm Beach, Co-Director of Music@Menlo’s International Program, and teaches at Stony Brook University.
CLICK FOR BIOS OF ALL FESTIVAL ARTISTS
Chronological List of Festival Programs
August-September
- Music-themed exhibition, and Guided Tours of Boscobel’s collection
Friday September 1, 6PM
West Meadow Pavilion
CHAUSSON – Poème, Op. 25
- Jennifer Frautschi, violin soloist
YSAYE – Rêve d’enfant, Op. 14
- Arnaud Sussmann, violin
- Michael Stephen Brown, piano
CHAUSSON – Concert for Violin, Piano and String Quartet, Op. 21
- Benjamin Beilman, violin soloist
- Michael Stephen Brown, piano soloist
Artists
- Benjamin Beilman, violin
- Jennifer Frautschi, violin
- Arnaud Sussmann, violin
- Milena Pajaro-van de Stadt, viola
- Nicholas Canellakis, cello
- Michael Stephen Brown, piano
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Saturday September 2, 2PM
A Talk and Demonstration with Master Luthier Samuel Zygmuntowicz
What makes a Stradivarius a Stradivarius, and can a modern violin capture the magic of the past? How does craft become art? Violin Maker Sam Zygmuntowicz explores the mystery and science of the violin. Festival artists will join to demonstrate a genuine Stradivari and a “Strad-style” modern violin.
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Monday September 4, 6PM
The Great Lawn
DVORAK – String Sextet in A major, Op. 48
TCHAIKOVSKY – Souvenir de Florence, Op. 70
Artists
- Arnaud Sussmann, violin
- Jennifer Frautschi, violin
- Jonathan Vinocour, viola
- Milena Pajaro-van de Stadt, viola
- Nicholas Canellakis, cello
- David Requiro, cello
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Saturday, September 9, 6PM
West Meadow Pavilion
Ehnes String Quartet
HAYDN – String Quartet Op. 77, No.1
SCHUBERT – Rondo in A Major, D. 438
MENDELSSOHN – String Quintet in B-flat, Op. 87
- Ehnes String Quartet
- James Ehnes, violin
- Amy Schwartz-Moretti, violin
- Brian Chen, viola
- Edward Arron, cello
- Arnaud Sussmann, viola
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Sunday, September 10, 2PM
Family Concert with Ehnes Quartet and Arnaud Sussmann
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Follow @boscobelhg on social media,
or visit online at www.boscobel.org
Press Inquiries
Samantha Faella
Boscobel House and Gardens, Communications Manager
sfaella@boscobel.org
845.265.3636 ext 110
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