 Music From Salem brings accomplished musicians of international reputation together each summer to prepare and perform chamber music in the peace and beauty of rural Washington County, New York. From concert halls in the United States and Europe, the musicians of Music From Salem join to offer programs of an exciting diversity and scope usually found only in major cities. Musicians living and working together at the Brown farm in Salem, New York take time to explore both the intimate and highly dramatic aspects of chamber music performance. Exploring newly written works with commitment and masterpieces of the past with an air of discovery, Music From Salem presents concerts that inspire and challenge. Open rehearsals offer a rare opportunity to observe the process of shaping a performance. Essential to the spirit of Music From Salem is the belief that artist and audience complement one another, thereby enriching and enhancing the life of the entire community. Early Beginnings. In 1985, violist Lila Brown together with violinist Judith Eissenberg launched Music From Salem, a festival that has become a fixture in the cultural life of Washington County. From a single concert in 1986, the festival has expanded to a five-week summer schedule, as well as three winter concerts. Concerts take place each weekend at Hubbard Hall, in the town of Cambridge, ten miles south of Salem. During the week, anyone may attend free open rehearsals at the farm, where the musicians work on the program for the weekend and then throw the floor open to questions about how chamber players signal through eye contact or how they resolve differences over tempi and dynamics. The farm is also the scene of regular free workshops for children, who see and hear the instruments at close range and learn how music is composed and performed. 
Hubbard Hall. If those stumbling on the Brown farm are surprised to hear the sounds of chamber music and song echoing across the landscape, they are likely to be even more astonished to discover, on the second floor of this Victorian building in Cambridge, a small opera house. Here is where MFS gives its weekend concerts, before a turn-of-the-century curtain and beneath an ornate chandelier, a setting largely unchanged since the structure was built in 1878. The hall's fine acoustics make the sound of chamber music soar and all seats in this enveloping space, with its stenciled walls and chestnut woodwork, are close enough to the players so that everyone has a chance to catch the nuances of the performance.
To Learn MoreFor Hubbard Hall concert or ticket information, write or call: E-Mail Music From Salem here, or reach them later at: (cmfs@sover.net) |
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