The Bowdoin International Music Festival returns this June for its 59th season presenting world-renowned classical musicians.
The festival will produce nearly 100 performances over six weeks, June 26 to Aug. 4, including daily free concerts. The festival’s summer institute runs alongside public performances, bringing to Maine 275 young musicians selected through an increasingly competitive admissions process. This year, the festival received 1,305 applications and awarded $550,000 in scholarships, both all-time records.
Many scholarships are funded by local Brunswick and Midcoast residents who partner with the festival to address financial need. Students join nearly 100 artists and more than 10,000 resident and tourist concertgoers in Brunswick, establishing the town and the festival as one of the country’s largest and most coveted annual chamber music destinations.
The 2023 season begins at 7:30 p.m. Monday, June 26, with the New York City-based Imani Winds presenting a program of Latin-inspired music ranging from Villa Lobos to Piazzola to Paquito D’Rivera. Later in the season, five string quartets, including the Ying, Jupiter, Calder, Aizuri, and the JACK, present music from the classical period to the present. Concerto soloists include Frank Huang, concertmaster of the New York Philharmonic; Phillip Ying, artistic director of the festival; and Joyce Yang, virtuoso pianist and Bowdoin Festival alumna, who won the silver medal at the Van Cliburn when she was just 19. In total, 20 concerts round out the subscription series, including 18 evening events and two Sunday matinees.
The festival also offers free public events; these include 22 Young Artists Series performances, two Gamper Festival of Contemporary Music concerts, eight Masterclasses, six Meet-the-Composer lectures, and 22 Community Concerts. The festival also invites community residents to view select studio classes and other behind-the-scenes opportunities to meet musicians and further engage with the festival community.
To purchase tickets or to request a free printed calendar and brochure, contact the festival at bowdoinfestival.org, info@bowdoinfestival.org, or (207) 373-1400.
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