Winter isn’t the stereotypical season for classical music fans in the U.S. to be thinking about festivals. It’s historically been seen a somewhat of an off-season musicians and conductors alike. Contrarily, Europe is loaded with them: From Sweden’s VinterFest to Austria’s Schubertiade, classical music reigns supreme across the pond this time of year. Our South American neighbors have no shortage of them either, most notably the Cartegena International Music Festival. It’s with this in mind that we set out to find the three best classical winter music festivals in the United States.Take a look below to see if any of these strike your fancy!
1. Chamber Music Northwest’s Winter Festival
Featured concert dates:
Tuesday, January 27
Horn player David Jolley, pianist Gilles Vonsattel and more.
Program:
•Beethoven: Sonata in F Major for Horn and Piano, Op. 17
•Beethoven: Quartet in E-flat Major for Piano, Violin, Viola, and Cello, Op. 16
•Beethoven: String Quartet No. 12 in E-Flat Major, Op. 127
Thursday, January 29
Pianists Anne-Marie McDermott and Gilles Vonsattel
Program:
•Barber: Souvenirs for Piano
•Debussy: Petite Suite for Piano
•Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring for Piano
Friday, January 30
Violinist Sarah Kwak, violaist Steven Tenenbom and cellist Peter Wiley
Program:
•Schubert: Rondo for Violin and Strings in A Major, D. 438
•Mozart: String Quintet in D Major, K. 593
•Schubert: Quintet in C Major for Strings, Op. 163, D. 956
2. Aspen Music Festival’s Winter Music Series
Thursday, February 12
Cellist Alisa Weilerstein
Program:
•Golijov: Omaramor
•Bach: Suite No. 3 for Unaccompanied Cello in C major, BWV 1009
•Bach: Suite No. 1 for Unaccompanied Cello in G major, BWV 1007
•Kodály: Sonata in B minor for Unaccompanied Cello, op. 8
Thursday, February 19
Pianist Orli Shaham
Program:
•Bach: Partita No. 1 for Keyboard in B-flat major, BWV 825
•Schoenberg: Sechs kleine Klavierstücke, op. 19
•Brahms: Klavierstücke, op. 118
•Adolphe: Intermezzo, My Inner Brahms
•Dorman: New Work
•Brahms/Dean: Four Piano Pieces , op. 119 interspersed with an Homage to Brahms
Saturday, March 14
Pianist Vladimir Feltsman
Program:
•Schumann: Kinderscenen (Scenes from Childhood), op. 15
•Schumann: Faschingsschwank aus Wien, op. 26
•Schumann: Fantasy in C major, op. 17
3. Tucson Winter Chamber Music Festival
Sunday, March 15
Program:
•Mozart: String Quartet in D Major (“Hoffmeister”), K. 499
•Bodorová: Mysterium Druidum
•Dupont: Piano Quintet
Tuesday, March 17
Program:
•Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 12 in A Major, K. 414
•Dahl: Concerto-a-Tre
•Saint-Saëns: Fantasy for Violin and Harp, Op. 124
•Mendelssohn: String Quintet No. 2 in B-flat Major, Op. 87
Wednesday, March 18
Program:
•Martinů : Musique de Chambre No. 1
•Gemrot: String Quartet No. 2 (World Premiere)
•Dale: Romance for Viola and Piano
•Dvořák: Piano Quintet