Five days of music, with multiple performances each day, presented in our own Hammer Hall. Gather along one of the most scenic coastlines in the world for a truly outstanding summer music festival experience.
While you can hear remarkable performances of standard repertoire, you can also experience world premieres, one-of-a-kind creative happenings, free concerts on Camden Village Green, and a thoroughly welcoming, convivial atmosphere.
Schedule of Events:
10:00 AM - 11:00 AM: Mozart in the Morning: Part 4 - Hammer Hall
MOZART IN THE MORNING PART 4 – The Chamber Music
Performers:
BLAKE POULIOT, violin
JAMES AUSTIN SMITH, oboe
BENJAMIN ZANNONI, viola
MICHAEL NICOLAS, cello
LLEWELLYN SANCHEZ WERNER, host and piano
This session continues the exploration of Mozart’s chamber music. The Oboe Quartet in F Major, written for virtuoso oboist Friedrich Ramm, is a witty dialogue between winds and strings. Piano Trio in B-flat Major, Mozart crafts a balance between piano and instrumental interplay. Performed by a stellar ensemble of artists and guided by pianist and host Llewellyn Sanchez-Werner, this session invites us into the elegant architecture of Mozart’s inner world, where thought and feeling coexist. These are works that speak to the Enlightenment ideal: music as a space for empathy, equality, and shared expression.
Program:
WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART Oboe Quartet in F major, K. 370/368b
WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART Piano Trio in B-flat Major, K. 502
Tickets: Age 35+: $38 | 22-34: $20 | 21 & Under: Pay What You Wish. Coffee and baked items generously provided by Zoot Coffee before the concert.
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1:00 PM - 2:00 PM: Contours - Hammer Hall
Performers:
BLAKE POULIOT, violin
MICHAEL NICOLAS, cello
JAMES AUSTIN SMITH, oboe
RACHEL BREEN, piano
This concert explores expressive contour in three distinct musical languages, from Handel’s eloquence to Bacewicz’s intensity to Mendelssohn’s fire. An arrangement of Handel’s Largo from the Trio Sonata in G Minor opens the program with elegance and understated beauty, an ideal of Baroque poise and lyrical line. Bacewicz’s trio follows, offering a taut, rhythmic dialogue for oboe, violin, and cello, at once playful and probing, and bold. The program concludes with the stormy lyricism of Mendelssohn’s Piano Trio in C Minor, a harmonically rich work that channels grief and defiance into a powerful creative statement.
Violinist Blake Pouliot is known for his charismatic stage presence and spellbinding playing. Cellist Michael Nicolas is a member of Brooklyn Rider quartet and a sought-after artist with a massive discography to his name. Oboist James Austin Smith is an advocate for contemporary and historical repertoire and “proves an oboist can have an adventurous career,” says The New Yorker Pianist Rachel Breen, equally at home with Bach and modernism, has been recognized for her showstopping performances. Together, these artists traverse through centuries of chamber music with insight and imagination.
Program:
HANDEL Trio Sonata for 2 Violins and Continuo in G Minor, HWV 393 "Dresden" No. 2, III. Largo
GRAZYNA BACEWICZ Trio for Oboe, Violin and Cello
MENDELSSOHN Piano Trio in C Minor
Tickets: Age 35+: $38 | 22-34: $20 | 21 & Under: Pay What You Wish.
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5:30 PM - 6:30 PM: Palaver Strings: Dancing Home - Hammer Hall
Performers:
PALAVER STRINGS
The Portland-based, GRAMMY-nominated chamber orchestra Palaver Strings has distinguished itself with its spirit of curiosity and eagerness to collaborate across musical genres and traditions. Dancing Home explores themes of heritage, belonging, displacement, and resilience anchored by the rhythms of dance. At the core of the program is ?aww?sh by Kareem Roustom, a work that reimagines the traditional Middle Eastern dabke dance with a structure that allows any musician to lead. This choreography of trust speaks to the human need for connection and shared agency. From Sidney Boquiren’s poignant A Prayer for Immigrants to Bongani Ndodana-Breen’s Apologia at Umzimvuba, a piece rooted in reflection and justice, the music tells stories of the lives behind each rhythm. The program includes new commissioned works by composers Maya French and Jamie Oshima, alongside folk music from Syria and the Balkans. Dancing Home invites us to move, listen, and expand our definition of home.
Program:
SIDNEY BOQUIREN A Prayer for Immigrants
MAYA FRENCH)/JAMIE OSHIMA moth (commissioned by Palaver Strings)
PÉTALO SELSER Deriva
BONGANI NDODANA-BREEN Apologia at Umzimvuba (new arrangement commissioned by Palaver Strings)
TRAD. arr. LYSANDER JAFFE Three Balkan Folk Songs (commissioned by Palaver Strings)
KAREEM ROUSTOM Syrian Folk Songs
KAREEM ROUSTOM ?aww?sh (commissioned by Palaver Strings)
Tickets: Age 35+: $38 | 22-34: $20 | 21 & Under: Pay What You Wish.
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8:00 PM - 9:00 PM: The Westerlies - Hammer Hall
Performers:
THE WESTERLIES
RILEY MULHERKAR, trumpet
CHLOE ROWLANDS, trumpet
ANDY CLAUSEN, trombone
ADDISON MAYE-SAXON, trombone
“An arty quartet… mixing ideas from jazz, new classical, and Appalachian folk” The New York Times
The Westerlies’ bold sound has always defied category and expectation. With warmth, precision, and a sense of adventure, the New York based brass quartet performs original works and inventive arrangements that span genres and traditions. From Carnegie Hall to Coachella, The Westerlies navigate a vast creative landscape with the precision of a string quartet and the audacity of a rock band.. Their music evokes a space where playfulness and earnestness live side by side. Since their founding in 2011, the ensemble has released ten critically acclaimed albums and collaborated with artists across a wide musical spectrum, including Fleet Foxes, Big Red Machine, Common, and Conrad Tao. Don’t miss this genre-defying performance as The Westerlies bring our Café Nights series to a close with an improvisational blend of old and new. In a season that celebrates the power of music to awaken and enlighten, this performance strikes a resounding note.
Tickets: Age 35+: $38 | 22-34: $20 | 21 & Under: Pay What You Wish.
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