NEW ORLEANS — The Crescent City Chamber Music Festival (CCCMF) will commemorate its eighth anniversary with seven free public concerts throughout New Orleans from October 12 – 22, 2023.
The theme of this year’s festival is entitled “Songs of the Earth,” and will feature some of classical music’s most evocative and moving works of chamber music, the most inherently intimate and collaborative form of music making. It is headlined by Ensembles-in-Residence, the Manhattan Chamber Players and the Gryphon Trio.
The renowned Manhattan Chamber Players, a collective of New York-based musicians who have delivered compelling performances of the greatest chamber masterworks year-after-year at CCCMF, will be joined by Canada’s premier chamber ensemble, the Juno Award-winning Gryphon Trio.
Festival Director and native New Orleanian Luke Fleming is on the faculty of the University of New Orleans School of the Arts. Fleming says: “We are excited to present our eighth season of extraordinary chamber music-making in some of New Orleans’ most acoustically and aesthetically stellar venues, all free and open to the public.”
Community outreach is an integral part of the festival’s mission. In addition to CCCMF 2023’s seven free Public Concerts, Festival Artists will give over thirty outreach performances at schools, elderly care/retirement communities, missions, and helping organizations throughout the Greater New Orleans area. Artists will also mentor and coach local student chamber music groups.
CCCMF 2023 FREE PUBLIC CONCERTS
Please note – doors open 1 hour prior to the start of each performance. An informal pre-concert talk and Q&A will begin thirty minutes before each concert. (No pre-concert talk at the Urban South Brewery concert.)
Opening night with “The Four Seasons” – Thursday, October 12, 2023, 7:30 PM
Trinity Episcopal Church – 1329 Jackson Avenue, NOLA 70130
CCCMF 2023’s Opening Night Gala in the gorgeous sanctuary of Trinity Episcopal Church features four brilliant violin soloists from Ensemble-in-Residence the Manhattan Chamber Players sharing the stage with local New Orleans musicians in exciting performances of Antonio Vivaldi’s celebrated Four Seasons and Astor Piazzolla’s masterful Four Seasons of Buenos Aires! Doors open at 6:30 for the 7:30 concert.
#2 Friday, October 13, 2023, 7:30 PM
Dixon Concert Hall, Tulane University
Manhattan Chamber Players and Faylotte Crayton
“Music Without End”
The seldom-heard music of Ernest Chausson is featured on this program, with a rendition of his heartbreaking Chanson Perpétuelle (“Endless Song”) and his sprawling, ecstatic masterpiece, the Concerto for Violin, Piano, and String Quartet. The majestic acoustics of Dixon Concert Hall at Tulane University will be home to an evening of glorious music-making!
#3 Sunday, October 15, 2023, 5:30 PM
Felicity Church – 1220 Felicity Street, 70130
“The Sunset”
Ensemble-in-Residence Manhattan Chamber Players is joined by acclaimed soprano Faylotte Crayton for a concert of contemplative, transcendent music by Richard Strauss and Chris Rogerson, closing with Ottorino Respighi’s “Il Tramonto” (“The Sunset”). Enjoy this beautiful program against the backdrop of the sunset in the historic Felicity Church!
#4 Monday, October 16, 2023, 7:30 PM
Saint Charles Avenue Presbyterian Church – corner of State St. and St. Charles Ave., 70118
“Quelled Longing”
CCCMF Ensemble-in-Residence the Manhattan Chamber Players headlines this mid-festival program centered around some of the most unabashedly Romantic music of Johannes Brahms – two sumptuous songs with soprano Faylotte Crayton as well as his darkly dramatic Clarinet Quintet, all performed in the beautiful sanctuary of Saint Charles Avenue Presbyterian Church.
#5 Wednesday, October 18, 2023, 6 PM
Urban South Brewery, 1645 Tchoupitoulas St, NOLA 70130
This informal, fan-favorite concert has been on CCCMF’s lineup since our very first season. Special, one-evening-only beer flights (available for purchase) from one of New Orleans’ finest breweries are paired with great Classical music in the festive atmosphere of Urban South Brewery‘s tasting room while CCCMF Festival Artists perform selections you won’t hear on any of our other programs! Stick around for some tasty brews with the Artists after the concert. A portion of the proceeds will be donated to the Crescent City Chamber Music Festival.
#6 Friday, October 20, 2023, 7:30 PM
UNO Performing Arts Center, Recital Hall
One of New Orleans’ best-kept secrets and acoustical wonders is the UNO Performing Arts Center, and its intimate setting and perfect chamber acoustic will frame a program by 2023 Ensemble-in-Residence the Gryphon Trio. This award-winning, world-renowned Canadian ensemble will be making their first New Orleans appearance, so be sure not to miss it!
#7 Sunday, October 22, 2023, 4 PM
Rayne Memorial United Methodist Church – 3900 St Charles Ave, NOLA 70115
“The Trout”
In CCCMF 2023’s Season Finale Concert, Ensemble-in-Residence the Gryphon Trio is joined by CCCMF Founding Artistic Director Luke Fleming and LPO double bassist Paul Macres for two of Franz Schubert’s most celebrated works: his “Arpeggione” Sonata and the celebrated “Trout” Quintet. Join us in the historic sanctuary of Rayne Memorial United Methodist Church, and meet the Artists at the reception that follows!
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