Music

Keeping It Classy: Your summer guide to classical music

As live performance returns to the concert halls, the summer months offer many opportunities to see music in open outdoor spaces. For classical music lovers, there are some great events to look forward to over the next few months: 

The 2022 Music On The Hill festival presents seven concerts of chamber music through June 12 at various locations throughout the state, including Cranston, East Greenwich and North Providence. For more: musiconthehillri.org

The Chorus of Westerly presents its free summer pops concert on Saturday, June 18 in Wilcox Park at 8pm. This family-friendly concert is always a good time. For more: chorusofwesterly.org

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The Rhode Island Philharmonic Orchestra kicks off its summer pops concerts at Narragansett Town Beach on July 15 with a followup on Aug 3 at Roger Williams Park in PVD. Watch for upcoming outdoor performances in Bristol and Pawtucket. For more, visit riphilharmonic.org 

The Newport Music Festival presents multiple concerts of chamber music from July 1 – 17. The wide variety in programming promises to keep any music fan coming back for more, not to mention the unique settings of chamber music in and around Newport’s historic mansions. For more, visit newportclassical.org

The 34th annual Kingston Chamber Music Festival, in partnership with the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, presents a series of seven concerts July 20 – 31 at URI. For more information visit kingstonchambermusic.org

Further north are two festivals worth considering in New Hampshire. The Monadnock Music Festival generally runs mid-June – mid-August. The New Hampshire Music Festival at Plymouth State University runs July 7 – 23. For anyone vacationing in New Hampshire, these festivals are a wonderful addition to  your itinerary. For information: monadnockmusic.org   nhmf.org

To the south, The Talcott Mountain Music Festival featuring the Hartford Symphony Orchestra performs outdoor weekend concerts starting in June. Dates and times TBA as of this writing. For more: hartfordsymphony.org/concerts-tickets/series/talcott-mountain-music-festival

For die-hard classical music fans, Tanglewood Music Center in Lenox, MA remains the epicenter of classical music in New England over the summer months. The season features regular concerts by the Boston Symphony and Boston Pops orchestras, the Festival of Contemporary Music, as well as various pop and jazz artists. For more information, see the schedule at bso.org