A True Classic

It’s a spring series, a summer festival, and a recording label. The Bridgehampton Chamber Music Festival is saying goodbye to its old name by dropping the word “festival.” The shortened version was chosen to be inclusive of all the organization offers.

Bridgehampton Chamber Music Festival kicks off its sixth spring season with three Saturday concerts, all beginning at 5 PM, across three consecutive months — March, April, and May — all at the Bridgehampton Presbyterian Church. Inside the 1842 church, guests listen from the cushioned pews, as the music reverberates throughout the building, with soulful melodies lifting hearts.

Beginning the series on March 21 is actor and return BCM participant Alan Alda in “Mozart Portrait with Alan Alda.” First performed in 2002, and then a return event in 2016, Alda will explore Mozart’s life, reading letters aloud, as the sounds of flute, piano, and string play in the background, performed by Marya Martin, Joseph Lin, Tien Hsin-Cindy Wu, Brook Speltz, and Orion Weiss.

“I just love being in Mozart’s presence. The best surprise was not just reading his words, but sitting among the musicians while they make music. To be among them while they do it is an extraordinary thing. It hits you right in the chest,” Alda said.

Artistic director Marya Martin joins with woodwind colleagues, James Austin Smith, Bixby Kennedy, Peter Kolkay, Stewart Rose, and Michael Brown, playing the sounds of Frenchman Albert Roussel, Austrian Ludwig Thuille, Italian Giacomo Puccini, and German Ludwig van Beethoven on April 18 in “Colorful Winds.”

Martin said, “We knew that there were music lovers looking for more opportunities to hear excellent chamber music year-round, and we have been thrilled by the overwhelming response from the community.” Martin has performed all across the globe since 1984, at venues such as the Sydney Opera House in Australia, Casals Hall in Tokyo, and London’s Royal Albert Hall.

The Verona Quartet, making its Bridgehampton debut, will perform the final concert on May 16, with members Jonathan Ong, Dorothy Ro, Abigail Rojansky, and the 2020 recipient of Chamber Music America’s prestigious Cleveland Quartet Award, Jonathan Dormand.

Visit www.bcmf.org or call 212-741-9403 for tickets.

nicole@indyeastend.com