Education Foundation Announces In-Person Chamber Music Events

BERLIN – Maryland’s Eastern Shore will resonate with the vibrant sounds of live chamber music once again this summer. The pandemic necessitated virtual festivals for the past two years but in its seventh season, Chamber Music by the Sea will welcome back an international roster of acclaimed musicians to captivate and inspire local audiences for a week of exciting events.

The festival’s founder and artistic director, violinist Elena Urioste, describes this year’s concerts as a combination of beloved favorites with equally extraordinary works that are less familiar but guaranteed to please.

“This summer’s programs celebrate composers who influenced and drew inspiration from one another, just as we do as musicians from one another and from this wonderful Worcester County community,” Urioste said. “From Mozart, Brahms, and Dvorak to Samuel Coleridge-Taylor and Erich Wolfgang Korngold, there is a rich tradition of gorgeous melodies and lush harmonies. And of course, no festival is complete without a surprise or two from pianist and arranger extraordinaire Tom Poster.”

In addition to Urioste and Poster, the festival roster includes several returning favorites — violinist Grace Park and violist Rosalind Ventris, alumnae of last summer’s virtual festival, along with violist Caitlin Lynch and cellist Brook Speltz, whom audiences will remember from past live festivals. This extraordinary group of artists includes first prize laureates of the international Naumberg and Sphinx Competitions; BBC New Generation Artists; and recipients of prestigious awards from the Royal Philharmonic Society, Gramophone and BBC Music Magazine.

This 2022 festival runs from Aug. 9-13 and includes a salon concert in a private Snow Hill home, three public concerts followed by interactive question and answer sessions with the musicians from the stage, a free family concert suitable for children of all ages, and a workshop for young musicians. Under the sponsorship of the Worcester County Education Foundation, generously funded by the Paul M. Angell Family Foundation, and with continuing support from the Ocean City Lioness Club and Worcester County Arts Council, Chamber Music by the Sea sponsors year-round arts initiatives in Worcester County public schools through its festival ticket sales, including live in-school programs and its Virtual Visiting Artists program, which allows students to interact directly with acclaimed musicians in real-time virtual classroom sessions.

The 2022 festival schedule includes Tuesday, Aug. 9, 7 p.m., ticketed salon concert at a private Snow Hill home; Wednesday, Aug. 10, 7 p.m., ticketed concert and reception at Temple Bat Yam, Berlin; Thursday, Aug. 11, 10:30 a.m., free family concert at the Berlin Public Library; Thursday, Aug. 11, 1 p.m., workshop for young musicians at the Berlin Public Library, free and open to the public (students who wish to participate should contact Elena Urioste at [email protected]); Friday, Aug. 12, 7 p.m., ticketed concert at Buckingham Presbyterian Church, Berlin; and Saturday, Aug. 13, 7 p.m., ticketed concert at All Hallows Church, Snow Hill.

Ticket information can be found at www.chambermusicbythesea.