• Midcoast Tree Festival
• Explore The Region
  • Day Trips
  • Dining Lodging
  • Fall & Winter Activities
  • Family & Kids
  • Festivals & Specials
  • History, Arts & Culture
  • Shopping
  • Spring & Summer Activities
  • Water Activities
  • Weddings & Events
• Chamber Works 2030
• Calendar
• Our Businesses
  • Directory
  • Networking Affiliations
  • Business Resources & Links
  • Member Videos
• Our Communities
  • Doing Business Here
  • Educational Institutions
  • Get Our Guide
  • Our Towns
    • Arrowsic
    • Bath
    • Bowdoin
    • Bowdoinham
    • Brunswick
    • Dresden
    • Edgecomb
    • Georgetown
    • Harpswell
    • Phippsburg
    • Richmond
    • Topsham
    • West Bath
    • Westport Island
    • Wiscasset
    • Woolwich
  • Relocate Here
  • Retire Here
• Chamber Info
  • Member Info Updates
  • Members: "Eat" Amenities List
  • Members: "Stay" Amenities List
  • Board
  • Staff
  • Committees
  • Events
    • Annual Meeting
    • Awards Nomination Form
    • B2B Networking Expo
    • Chamber After Hours
    • 12 @ 12
    • Hacker's Ball
  • Membership Application
  • Online Invoice Payments
  • Women's Networking Group
  • Midcoast Edge

Bowdoin International Music Festival Announces 2015 Season

Bowdoin International Music Festival artistic directors David Ying and Phillip Ying will usher in the Festival’s 51^st season with “Music: The Art of Friendship.” This theme was chosen by the Yings to highlight the many enduring creative connections made throughout the long history of classical music as well as at the Bowdoin Music Festival. Works have been selected for this season’s concert programs to illustrate the creative associations among composers and performers. This summer’s artist roster includes many alumni and longtime faculty members who first performed together at the Bowdoin Festival.

David Ying and Phillip Ying have programmed the 2015 season with diverse repertoire that will highlight the virtuosity of the artists, provide exceptional concert experiences for audiences, and present what David Ying calls “pleasant surprises at every concert.” Audiences can expect to hear beloved classics, rarely performed masterpieces, and exciting new works in the Festival’s seven concert series: Festival Fridays, Monday Showcase, Wednesday Upbeat!, Artists of Tomorrow, Bowdoin Festival Extra, Community Concerts, and the Gamper Festival of Contemporary Music.

Festival Fridays

The Festival’s premier series will feature Beethoven, Brahms, Elgar, Schumann, and works by this season’s guest composers, Chen Yi and Kevin Puts. Guest artists include violinist Jennifer Koh (Tchaikovsky), pianist Peter Serkin (Brahms), and clarinetist John Manasse (Beethoven). Violinists Ilya Kaler and Mikhail Kopelman and cellist Paul Katz will also be featured.

Festival Fridays concerts take place in Crooker Theater at 7:30 p.m., July 3 to August 7, $40.

Monday Showcase

The Dover, Miro, Pacifica, and Ying Quartets are showcased in this concert series, performing string quartets and collaborations with other members of the Festival’s faculty. The Dover and Miro Quartets debut as guest artists this summer; some of the members of the two quartets last performed at Bowdoin as students. The Festival’s two resident quartets, Ying and Pacifica, return to the Monday series for one full concert each; on another Monday these longtime friends and colleagues will perform octets by Shostakovich and Mendelssohn together. The Festival also welcomes the return of pianist and Festival mentor Julian Martin in concert with the Dover Quartet.

Monday Showcase concerts take place in Crooker Theater at 7:30 p.m., July 6 to August 3, $40.

Wednesday Upbeat!

The intimate and informal atmosphere of Studzinski Recital Hall is ideal for the Upbeat! series’ varied repertoire of traditional and modern works. In addition to classics, the Festival’s composition program will be fully represented with works by composer-in-residence Derek Bermel and guest composers Chen Yi and Kevin Puts. The series also features an erhu (traditional Chinese violin), a Brazilian work for eight cellos and one soprano, and music for harp, flute, and clarinet. Old friends will appear in concert together too, as former Ying Quartet first violinist Frank Huang reunites with cellist David Ying and pianist Elinor Freer to perform Dvořák’s “Dumky” trio, and violinist Sergio Schwartz and pianist Peter Basquin, who met at the Bowdoin Festival, perform a sonata by Fauré.

Wednesday Upbeat! concerts take place in Studzinski Recital Hall at 7:30 p.m., July 1 to August 5, $40. 

Gamper Festival of Contemporary Music

This series celebrates the creation of new work and real-time collaborations between composers and musicians. Works by 20th and 21st century composers are presented during the three-day festival, including premieres by visiting composers and work by the Bowdoin Festival’s 8th annual student composition competition winner. Repertoire to be announced.

Gamper Festival concerts take place in Studzinski Recital Hall at 7:30 p.m., July 30, August 1, August 2, $10 suggested donation.

Artists of Tomorrow

The Artists of Tomorrow concert series presents solo and chamber music performances by Festival students, many of whom have performed in some of the world’s most prestigious concert halls. These informal recitals are an excellent opportunity for both experienced and casual observers to experience the enthusiasm of youth and to see students discover relationships with music – and colleagues – that may last a lifetime.

Artists of Tomorrow performances take place in Studzinski Recital Hall on Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday evenings at 7:30 p.m., and at other times as announced. July 2 - August 7, $10 suggested donation.

Bowdoin Festival Extra

Festival students and faculty offer free family concerts, lectures, demonstrations, and masterclasses in a variety of venues throughout the Midcoast area. These special events, which provide a glimpse of the creative process, are always open to the public.

Community Concerts

The Bowdoin Festival provides free concerts by its extraordinary students to outlying communities, social service agencies, and senior living residences during the month of July. Programs are announced on site.

For a complete schedule of Festival concerts, ticket information, and to sign up for program updates, visit bowdoinfestival.org. Receive a free copy of The Bowdoin International Music Festival, The Art of Friendship 2015 season brochure by calling the Festival office at 207-725-3895. Tickets may be ordered online in advance. The Box office opens on June 17, 2015.

The mission of the Bowdoin International Music Festival, which was founded in 1964, is to prepare gifted young musicians from around the world for a life in music through study with world-class artists, and to present classical music in concerts performed to the highest artistic standards. The Gamper Festival of Contemporary Music, founded in 1965, has commissioned and presented the work of emerging and established composers, including Luciano Berio, George Crumb, Sebastian Currier, William Bolcom, George Rochberg, and many others. Over its 51-year history, the Bowdoin Festival has established itself as a vital force throughout the music world. Visit the Festival on the web at bowdoinfestival.org