The National Music Festival is gearing up for Season 8, June 3-16. But even before the music starts, there is an event offered to tempt your musical appetite.
At 6:30pm on Wednesday, May 30 at Sumner Hall, NMF Artistic Director Richard Rosenberg will give a Pre-Festival Talk. The talk is free and open to all. Maestro Rosenberg will discuss some of the music to be performed at the 2018 Festival, especially the orchestral repertoire, giving the history of the composers and their compositions and describing why he loves this music and why he has programmed it at the Festival.
NMF musicians arrive on June 1 and 2, and begin rehearsing on June 2. Concerts begin June 3; the Festival opens this year with a free performance by the Festival Concert Band and students participating in NMF’s Fiddlesticks! Youth Strings Program. This concert will begin at 3pm in Fountain Park. Bring a chair or blanket to sit on; NMF will also be selling chairs with the Festival logo.
Tickets and information are available at nationalmusic.us or at Festival Headquarters at the Visitor Center in Chestertown (Monday-Saturday 10am-5pm; noon-5pm Sunday). Single tickets range from $10-$20. It’s not too late to purchase a Festival Pass – for $250 the Pass provides preferred seating at all ticketed concerts guaranteed until ten minutes prior to every performances, plus a souvenir Festival Guide and invitation to a Pass-holders reception on June 3.