The 2023 Halcyon Music Festival returns to Portsmouth for its ninth season on June 15-24 with six unique chamber music programs. Halcyon Music Festival brings 21 world-class musicians together to live, rehearse and perform over the span of just 10 days. The performances are held at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Portsmouth, NH and all performances begin at 7:00pm. Individual tickets and multi-concert packages are now on sale.

“This year, we have a great lineup of programs and performers. We’re particularly excited to be opening the festival with two large ensemble pieces: Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 in G Major and George Walker’s Lyric for Strings,” said Heng-Jin Park, pianist and the festival’s artistic director. “Also of particular note for this season—baritone Thomas Meglioranza will be the first vocalist to perform as part of the festival. This means audiences will be treated to an expanded selection of works written for chamber ensembles and voice.”

The 2023 Halcyon Music Festival schedule includes:

Opening Night, Thursday, June 15: “Lyric” featuring Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 in G Major,” George Walker’s Lyric for Strings (large string ensemble version), and works by Mozart, and Brahms. There will be a special Q&A with the festival musicians following the opening night performance.

Friday, June 16: “Summer Sounds” featuring works by Dvořák, Britten, and Mendelssohn

Saturday, June 17: “Youthful Genius” featuring works by Rachmaninoff, Schubert, and Schönberg

Thursday, June 22: “For the People” featuring works by Beethoven, Webern, Bolcom, and Brahms

Friday, June 23: “Longing and Lullabies” featuring works by Brahms, Schumann, and Ravel

Closing Night, Saturday, June 24: “Land of Dreams” featuring works by Barber, Shostakovich, Beethoven, and Brahms

Performing this year will be violinists Gabriela Diaz, Emma Frucht, Julia Glenn, Solomiya Ivakhiv, Monica Pegis, Grace Park, and Ben Sayevich; violists Jordan Bak, Tim Deighton, Danny Kim, Katherine Murdock, and Marcus Thompson; cellists Jonah Ellsworth, Alexei Gonzales, David Hardy, Loewi Lin, and Peter Stumpf; bassist Charles Clements; and pianists Heng-Jin Park and Lolita Lisovskaya-Sayevich. Special to this year’s festival is baritone Thomas Meglioranza.

Since 2014 the Halcyon Music Festival’s mission has been to create a community where chamber music will be explored and presented at the highest artistic level; and to make chamber music accessible to everyone, in particular those who might not otherwise experience it in a concert hall.

St. John’s Episcopal Church is located at 101 Chapel Street in Portsmouth, NH.

In addition to the evening performances, Halcyon Music Festival will present a free Children’s Concert at the Portsmouth Public Library on Wednesday, June 14 at 3:30pm.