Taconic Music Summer Festival Welcomes New Faces and New Works to the Performance Stage

Taconic Music’s ninth Summer Festival will take place from June 16–July 14 at the Riley Center for the Arts at Burr and Burton Academy in Manchester, Vermont. It is anchored by four Chamber Music Saturdays (June 21, 28, July 5 and 12) and a pair of Monday-evening Young Artists Concerts (June 30 and July 16) featuring students from top universities and conservatories across the country. A benefit concert will take place in the rustic barn at Dionondehowa Wildlife Sanctuary and School in Shushan, New York on June 29. Returning faculty include violinists Joana Genova and Heather Braun, violist and conductor Ariel Rudiakov, cellists Hannah Holman and Tom Landschoot, and pianists Willis Delony and Drew Petersen. Four special guests—harpist Rachel Clemente, flutist Matthew Lee, pianist Gili Melamed-Lev, and 2025 Avery Fisher Career Grant winner, cellist Tommy Mesa—will join Taconic’s faculty on the Riley Center stage for the very first time.

In addition to gems from the classical canon, there will be works by composers whom audiences may not be familiar with. At Taconic’s Saturday concerts, concertgoers will experience the calm beauty of Savourna Stevenson and the drama of Beethoven; the sweeping passion of Steven Dankner paired with Paul Schoenfeld’s jazzy style; the lighthearted Ibert and Rutter contrasting Rachmaninov’s lush melodies; playful Wang Jie, colorful Debussy and unabashedly romantic Franck. The Young Artists Monday-night concerts will feature the likes of Beethoven, Schumann, Mendelssohn, Dvořák, Bartók and Shostakovich, along with two living composers: Pulitzer Prize and GRAMMY Award winner Caroline Shaw, and Dinuk Wijeratne, described by the Toronto Star as “an artist who reflects a positive vision of our cultural future.”

Concerts at the Riley Center will be both live in Manchester and livestreamed on Taconic’s YouTube channel. For those able to attend in person, Chamber Music Saturdays are $30 for adults, and include an informal pre-concert reception each week. Reservations are encouraged. Young Artists concerts are free, with a suggested donation at the door of $15 for adults. Admission to all concerts is free for students and children. Co-Artistic Directors Rudiakov and Genova both agree, “As an organization with deep roots in the area, we are continually expanding our year-round offerings from a wide range of musical traditions. The Summer Festival has a special place in our hearts where we can tie together our joy in bringing live music to the community, pride in providing employment and performance opportunities for the musicians who are at the festival’s core, and hope and inspiration in helping train the next generation of chamber music performers. We can’t wait to show you what’s in store.”

For more information about Taconic Music’s summer festival and year-round programs, visit taconicmusic.org or follow @taconicmusic on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.