Music Mountain’s 92nd Chamber Music Season

(Falls Village, CT) Live music is back at Music Mountain! On Sunday, July 4, Music Mountain’s 92nd Chamber Music Concert Season kicks off  with the Shanghai Quartet  -- called "utterly sublime" by The New York Times -- playing Beethoven String Quartet in B Flat Major, Op. 18 #6, Zhou Long Chinese Folk Songs and Smetana String Quartet in E Minor, “From My Life.” Chamber music concerts will continue every Sunday afternoon at 3pm through Labor Day.

Audience Safety First

To keep our patrons safe during concerts, seating capacity will be in accord with state health and federal CDC guidelines. Gordon Hall will keep its 16 screen doors open. Large, quiet fans with UV lighting will provide constant ventilation. A complete change of air will take place at intermission. A new area made available at the back of the hall will allow patrons to cue for the washrooms while distanced. Strict cleaning protocols will be implemented to keep all patrons safe. Masks and physical distancing are required. Ushers will direct people and make everyone feel as comfortable and welcome as always. 

In addition, thanks to a grant from the Northwest Connecticut Community Foundation, the Khurshed Bhumgara Fund, the Northwest Corner Fund of the Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation, and individual supporters, this summer Music Mountain concerts will be available in three settings: at historic Gordon Hall, on the Music Mountain lawn (with a large screen and amplification), and at home via live stream.

Stay tuned for the “Jazz and More @ Music Mountain” Concert Series, to be announced later this month. 

A Beloved Music Mountain Favorite

Over the past thirty-seven years the Shanghai Quartet has become one of the world’s foremost chamber ensembles. The Shanghai’s elegant style, impressive technique, and emotional breadth allows the group to move seamlessly between masterpieces of Western music, traditional Chinese folk music, and cutting-edge contemporary works. Formed at the Shanghai Conservatory in 1983, soon after the end of China’s harrowing Cultural Revolution, the group came to the United States to complete its studies; since then the members have been based in the U.S. while maintaining a robust touring schedule at leading chamber-music series throughout North America, Europe, and Asia.

The Shanghai Quartet is a perennial favorite with Music Mountain audiences, and we are thrilled to have them on hand to open this special post-COVID season.

Chamber Music Series Overview

To celebrate Music Mountain’s unique history—this national treasure was built in 1930 for the Gordon String Quartet—the art of string quartet performance will be on full display, featuring the Shanghai, Juilliard, Verona, Harlem, Ulysses, Rolston, Jupiter, American and Cassatt string quartets. Featured pianists include Fei-Fei, Misha Dichter, Benjamin Hochman, and Ursula Oppens.

The programs this summer retain the glorious Music Mountain balance, while drawing inspiration from its first decade, when the music of living composers such as Ravel and Turina was performed side by side master composers such as Beethoven and Haydn. Music by living composers, African American composers, Latino composers, Asian composers, female composers, and artists of varied backgrounds will make Gordon Hall vibrant again in 2021. 

Tickets and Location

Music Mountain is located at 225 Music Mountain Road, in Falls Village, Connecticut, where a short scenic drive will bring you to Gordon Hall atop Music Mountain. Free parking and picnic facilities are available.

Regularly scheduled Chamber Music Concerts are $45. Specially Priced Concerts are as follows: tickets for the Season Opening Concert on July 4 are $75, and Special Concerts on July 11 and August 29 are $60. No fees will be charged. Children ages 5-18 are admitted FREE to ALL CONCERTS when accompanied by a ticket holder. Other discounts apply. Please call (860) 824-7126 for details. Sunday afternoon Chamber Music concerts start at 3 pm and last approximately 2 hours, with a 20-minute intermission. 

For more information, please visit www.musicmountain.org or call (860) 824-7126.

About Music Mountain

Since 1930 generations of music lovers have come to Music Mountain for an exceptional concert experience and, today, audiences continue to praise the outstanding quality and consistency of the events at Music Mountain, the exceptional acoustics of air-conditioned Gordon Hall, and the beauty and peaceful serenity of Music Mountain’s mountaintop grounds. Recent concertgoers see Music Mountain as “a peaceful green oasis” and highlight its “amazing venue, ambience, and experience.”

Music Mountain, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, began as the unique vision of Jacques Gordon, Chicago Symphony concertmaster from 1921 to 1930 and the founding first violinist of the Gordon String Quartet, one of the leading quartets of its time. The buildings at Music Mountain form a well-designed campus in the Colonial Revival style. They were built by Sears, Roebuck & Company’s pre-fabricated housing division and are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Today, artistic director Oskar Espina-Ruiz and Music Mountain’s dedicated board of directors steer Music Mountain through a period of continued growth.

Music Mountain is supported in part by the Connecticut State Department of Economic and Community Development Office of the Arts, the Peter N. Krysa Fund of Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation, and two funds of the Northwest Connecticut Community Foundation, Inc.: the Khurshed Bhumgara Fund, and the Lucia Tuttle Fritz Fund.

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Music Mountain, 225 Music Mountain Road, Falls Village, CT 06031

2021 CHAMBER MUSIC CONCERT SERIES

(subject to change)

Music Mountain 2021 Season Opening Concert

Shanghai Quartet

July 4

Gordon Hall Tickets $75; Lawn Tickets $40; Live Stream $15

Program

BEETHOVEN String Quartet in B Flat Major, Op. 18 #6

ZHOU LONG Chinese Folk Songs

SMETANA String Quartet in E Minor, “From My Life”

*Underwritten in Part by William Gillers

Special Concert

Juilliard String Quartet

July 11

Gordon Hall Tickets $60; Lawn Tickets $30; Live Stream $15

Program

HAYDN String Quartet in F Major, Op. 77 #2

DUTILLEAUX Ainsi la nuit

RAVEL String Quartet in F Major

*Underwritten in Part by Thomas C. Ragan

Verona Quartet

Fei-Fei, Piano

July 18

Gordon Hall Tickets $45; Lawn Tickets $30; Live Stream $15

Program

DVORAK Cypresses (Selection)

BEETHOVEN String Quartet in C Sharp Minor, Op. 131

GRAZYNA BACEWICZ Piano Quintet #1

Harlem Quartet

July 25

Gordon Hall Tickets $45; Lawn Tickets $30; Live Stream $15

Program

JOSEPH BOLOGNE String Quartet in G Major #5

WILLIAM GRANT STILL Lyric Quartette

JESSIE MONTGOMERY Strum

ADONIS MATOS Fugato

GEORGE WALKER “Lyric for Strings” from String Quartet #1

WYNTON MARSALIS At The Octoroon Balls

JOHN BIRKS “DIZZY” GILLESPIE A Night in Tunisia

BILLY STRAYHORN Take The “A” Train

Misha Dichter, Piano

August 1

Gordon Hall Tickets $45; Lawn Tickets $30; Live Stream $15

Program TBD

Ulysses Quartet

August 8

Gordon Hall Tickets $45; Lawn Tickets $30; Live Stream $15

Program

PAUL FRUCHT Rhapsody

LEOS JANACEK String Quartet #2, “Intimate Letters”

ALI-ZADEH Reqs (Dance)

MENDELSSOHN Quartet in E Flat Major, Op. 44 #3

Rolston String Quartet

Benjamin Hochman, Piano

August 15

Gordon Hall Tickets $45; Lawn Tickets $30; Live Stream $15

Program

DVORAK String Quartet in F Major, Op. 96, “American”

GABRIELA LENA FRANK Leyendas: An Andean Walkabout for String Quartet

SCHUMANN Piano Quintet in E Flat Major, Op. 44

*Underwritten by Michelle Duffy and Robert Connell

Jupiter String Quartet

August 22

Gordon Hall Tickets $45; Lawn Tickets $30; Live Stream $15

Program

FANNY MENDELSSOHN HENSEL: String Quartet in E Flat Major

FLORENCE PRICE Five Folksongs in Counterpoint

FELIX MENDELSSOHN String Quartet in D Minor, Op. 80

JUDD GREENSTEIN Four on the Floor

Special Concert

American String Quartet

Oskar Espina-Ruiz, Clarinet

August 29

Gordon Hall Tickets $60; Lawn Tickets $30; Live Stream $15

Program

HAYDN String Quartet in D Major, Op. 76 #5

SHOSTAKOVICH String Quartet #8 in C Minor, Op. 110

MOZART Clarinet Quintet in A Major, K. 581

Cassatt String Quartet

Ursula Oppens, Piano

September 5

Gordon Hall Tickets $45; Lawn Tickets $30; Live Stream $15

Program

FANNY MENDELSSOHN HENSEL Selections from Das Jahr for piano

MOZART String Quartet in B Flat Major, K. 589, “Prussian”

AMY BEACH Piano Quintet in F Sharp Minor, Op. 67