The Oyster Bay Music Festival returns to the Gold Coast for its 14th annual weeklong concert series, bringing award-winning musicians to local venues across the Gold Coast.
The concert series, which will kick off on Friday, June 27, and end on Thursday, July 3, will feature 22 classically trained musicians. The seven-day series will feature 11 concerts at eight venues throughout Oyster Bay, Roslyn, Cold Spring Harbor, Old Westbury and Huntington.
Pippa Borisy, the festival’s co-director, said the performances will explore different emotions throughout each of the concerts, exploring different perspectives through the music.
“We have a theme of emotion,” she said. “We want to really highlight throughout the 11 concerts that we have, the emotional power of live music.”
She said performers will explore different perspectives of emotions, examining how the “emotional state” of the composer, musician and performer impacts the performance itself.
Emotion and connection aren’t new to the festival, however.
Borisy said something special about the festival is the bonds created between performers and audiences. She said many of the audience members come back “year after year” and have forged a connection with the musicians.
“They start to connect with the performers,” she said.
But audience members aren’t the only ones who create a bond through performance, she said. Borisy said many of the performers are returnees from previous years.
“People really love playing here because they connect with the audiences, which is actually kind of an unusual situation,” she said.
This year, 22 musicians will perform across the 11 concerts. While some are local to the area, like pianist Maxim Lando of Great Neck and cellist Charles Zandieh of Oyster Bay, many travel from all over the world, like Ukrainian flutist Denis Savelyev.
Something unique about the festival is its emphasis on the whole ensemble, Borisy said. While many other concert series focus on individual performers, the annual festival takes a different approach.
Although there are solos featured in the program, Borisy said each Oyster Bay Music Festival concert includes a variety of different performers and musicians.
“At each concert, the audience is seeing the same musicians, playing different pieces, playing in different pieces,” she said.
One of Borisy’s favorite venues is Waterfront Lot J in Oyster Bay. The boat facility was not designed as a performance space, but Borisy said the acoustics at Lot J are great for concerts, and the unusual space allows performers to feel completely immersed in their craft.
“There’s something about having music in unexpected spaces that is exciting,” she said.
During the Lot J performance, she said audiences can hear the train pull through the Oyster Bay station, adding a flair to the performance. She said she looks forward to hearing it each year, excited to see if it arrives at a quiet part of a song.
“I love that. It’s just become part of the concert,” Borisy said.
Another interesting venue is the Seminary of the Immaculate Conception in Huntington, she said. There are three chapels on the campus, and the festival will be performing in each one, offering a “musical tour” of the grounds, Borisy said. It will be the festival’s first time hosting a concert there, she said.
A calendar listing each concert is below. For more information, visit oysterbaymusicfestival.org.
- Musical Sails will be on Friday, June 27, at 7 p.m. at the Oakcliff Sailing Center in Oyster Bay. The concert is dedicated to Betsy Lawrence, who has supported the festival throughout the years.
- Flute Masterclass with Matthew Ross will be on Saturday, June 28, at 10 a.m. at the St. John’s Episcopal Church in Cold Spring Harbor.
- Sound Emotion will be on Saturday, June 28, at 7 p.m. in the St. John’s Episcopal Church in Cold Spring Harbor.
- Musical Poetry will be on Sunday, June 29, at 2 p.m. at Cedarmere in Roslyn. It is a ticketed event.
- Harmony in the Ballroom will be on Sunday, June 29 at 7 p.m. at the Old Westbury Gardens’ Red Ballroom in Old Westbury. It is a ticketed event.
- Symphonic Tea will be on Monday, June 30, at 4 p.m. at the Seminary of the Immaculate Conception in Huntington. It is a ticketed event, and there will be tea and scones prior to the concert.
- Piano Mania will be on Monday, June 30 at 8 p.m. at the Christ Church in Oyster Bay.
- Mid-Day at the Opera will be on Tuesday, July 1, at 1 p.m. at the St. John’s Episcopal Church in Cold Spring Harbor.
- The Sounds of Music will be on Tuesday, July 1, at 7 p.m. at the Congregation L’Dor V’Dor in Oyster Bay.
- Mid-Day Concert will be on Wednesday, July 2, at 1 p.m. at the Christ Church in Oyster Bay.
- Ocean Notes will be on Wednesday, July 2, at 7 p.m. at the Western Waterfront – Building J in Oyster Bay.
- Coda Finale will be on Thursday, July 3, at 7 p.m. at the Christ Church in Oyster Bay.
