Charleston, S.C.: Chamber Fest @ Spoleto USA

This year’s Gilmore offers 84 musical events with more than 100 musicians participating. The festival draws an audience of thousands to the arts-friendly university city from around the globe. Though no new Gilmore Artist is the focus for this year’s festival, Yefim Bronfman is highlighted in a recital of works by Prokofiev on April 29. He will share the spotlight with three past Gilmore Artists — Gerstein (with the Grand Rapids Symphony Orchestra), Fliter (solo and with Gerstein), and Blechacz (with the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra). Also taking a prominent role in the 2016 Gilmore is the versatile French composer Michel Legrand, who is to perform his own piano concerto in a world premiere with the Kalamazoo Symphony. Mezzo-soprano Susan Graham is to present a recital of Schumann songs. And two Gilmore Young Artists for 2016 will have essential parts to play: San Francisco native Daniel Hsu, 18, is scheduled to perform in Lansing with the Lansing Symphony Orchestra, and Charleston, S.C., nativeMicah McLaurin, 21,  is to join the Battle Creek Symphony for a concerto performance. Both are veteran prize winners and students of the Curtis Institute. Solo recitals happen all day, each day, at the festival. Among prominently featured pianists this year are Dick Hyman, Bruce Hornsby, Jeremy Denk, Imogen Cooper, Lori Sims, Llŷr Williams, Nelson Freire, Richard Goode, Till Fellner, and Dejan Lazic. Chamber music events will feature the Morgenstern Trio, Mantra (using electronic music), Gilmore Festival Chamber Orchestra, Siskind-Rathbun Duo, and Anderson & Roe Piano Duo.Go here for the full schedule. Jazz and pop music are well represented in the 2016 program, and Tony Bennett will find a huge audience awaiting his songs. More options? Twelve of the performers are to lead free morning master classes, always popular. Lectures are offered by experts on such topics as Stockhausen and German song cycles. Five films addressing musicians and musical subjects are scattered throughout the festival. And ten performances of Murder For Two, a 90-minute musical comedy for two actors who both play the piano, will be staged in conjunction with Farmers Alley Theatre. An ancillary dimension of the Gilmore has been its Rising Stars series. Gifted newcomers under 30 are invited to Kalamazoo each year for solo recitals that are spread throughout the fall and winter season, outside the festival calendar. Although the names of the young artists are not yet well known (this year’s roster included newcomers from China, France, Israel, Russia, Germany and the U.S.), the list of previous rising stars includes many who went on to important solo careers, among them Lang Lang, Jonathan Biss, Yuja Wang, Orion Weiss, Adam Neiman, Natasha Paremski, and Christopher Taylor. A bonus delight for those who attend these Rising Stars programs is watching the pianists gain increasing international prominence as time goes by. For more information about the Gilmore and the 2016 festival, go here.

June 3-July 2: Full details

Housed in the oceanside town of Rockport, an hour outside of Boston, the Rockport Chamber Music Festival will open its summer season June 3 with the young award-winning Parker String Quartet (recently installed on the faculty of Harvard University) in performance with the venerable pianist Menahem Pressler, founder of the Beaux Arts Trio. Visiting artists include theNEXUS percussion ensemble, Trio Solisti, and pianists Lise de la Salle, George Li, Jeremy Denk, andKiril Gerstein. One unusual highlight, on June 12, is the Dünya Collective’s coffeehouse opera Othello in the Seraglio: The Tragedy of Sümbül the Black Eunuch, a mashup of three Othello sources including Shakespeare and Turkish writer Reşad Ekrem Koçu’s 1933 Kızlarağası’nın Piçi (The Bastard of the Chief Black Eunuch). The libretto is by New England Conservatory music historian Robert Labaree with music by composer-performer Mehmet Ali Sanlikol, performed on traditional Turkish instruments.

June 18-Aug. 21: Full details

Overlooking the mighty St. Lawrence River, Domaine Forget (pronounced “For-zhay”) is located on a 150-acre park in St-Irenée, a two-hour drive northeast of Quebec City. Here, the International Music Festival offers about three dozen concerts, mostly on weekends, spread out over the summer months. This summer’s featured artists include the Quebec Symphony Orchestra (July 23), the chamber orchestras I Musici de Montréal (August 6) and Les Violons du Roy(August 21), guitarist Pepe Romero (July 9) and pianistsMarc-André Hamelin (August 13) and Jan Lisiecki (July 16) – all performing in the 600-seat Françoys-Bernier Hall. There’s also a Sunday brunch concert series on the terrace of Joseph-Rouleau Pavillion, as well as masterclasses and a sculpture garden. On-site accommodation is available at Les Studios du Domaine. And in the vicinity, there are plenty of hotels, inns, B&Bs, and restaurants. Domaine Forget is located in the Charlevoix region of Quebec, rich in French-Canadian history and culture. But don’t worry if your French is a little rusty: people in Quebec’s hospitality industry usually speak some English.

June 25-Aug. 6: Full details

Set against a lush Maine summer backdrop, the Bowdoin International Music Festival returns this season with the theme of so-called (Re)Invention. Led by David and Phillip Ying, members of the Ying Quartet (based at Eastman School of Music), the six-week summer festival on the beautiful campus of Bowdoin College features a rich program of chamber music standards as well as contemporary works by composers such as John Zorn and Caroline Shaw. According to the Yings, “reinvention is always at the heart of composition, performance, and teaching – everything the festival is about. It also characterizes the growth process that keeps the festival relevant and dynamic.” Musicians from ensembles such as the Jupiter and Ying Quartets, the Houston and Detroit Symphonies, the New York Philharmonic, and major conservatories come together with gifted pre-professional musicians for more than 100 performances. The festival’s Monday Showcase series will feature five different string quartets including the JACK Quartet (July 25) in a program of works ranging from the 14th-century Machaut, 15th-century Rodericus, and 16th-century Gesualdo to contemporary works by Zorn and Shaw. Shaw’s Ritornello 2.sq.2.j, which the JACK will perform, is part of a larger ongoing multimedia project in which the JACK has repeatedly participated, including a well-received 2015 concert at Lincoln Center. Other quartets include the Shanghai, Ariel, and Jupiter. A variety of chamber configurations is featured on Wednesdays and Fridays, and the Gamper Festival for Contemporary Music runs July 28-31, with works to be announced. Advanced students will perform on “Artists of Tomorrow” concerts throughout the summer.

June 25-July 30: Full details

In the summer months at Guilford College, the dorms, buildings, and historic Dana Auditorium are filled with students and faculty of the Eastern Music Festival. Now in its 55th season of bringing world-class artists to the three cities of the Piedmont Triad and providing educational groundwork for orchestra students, the 2016 season runs from June 27 to July 30 and features two world premieres – a viola concerto by the 27-year-old American composer Julia Adolphe, performed onJuly 16 by Cynthia Phelps, principal viola of the New York Philharmonic, and a yet-to-be-named work by renowned composer, conductor, and pianist André Previn on July 23. The Festival Orchestra will collaborate with guest artists such as Awadagin Pratt performing Brahms’ First Piano Concerto July 2, William Wolfram in Rachmaninov’s Second Piano Concerto July 30, and violinist Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, who will open the season June 30with a solo recital. In addition to the Festival Orchestra, EMF faculty perform Sunday afternoon chamber music programs on the campuses of Guilford College and the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Both are within easy driving distance of downtown Greensboro, which offers quality hotel and restaurant choices.

July 4-17: Music & Beyond – Full details

July 21-Aug. 3: Ottawa Chamberfest – Full details

Ottawa isn’t just the national capital of Canada, it’s also a musical capital. With two major classical music festivals, summertime in Ottawa offers more concerts than you can shake a stick at. Music & Beyond is first out of the gate, with an eclectic mix of programming. The Vienna Piano Trio plays three programs (July 7, 8, and 9). The vocal ensembleChanticleer also makes an appearance (July 16). And the province of Quebec is well represented this summer, with the Montreal-based vocal ensemble Studio de musique ancienne (July 7), Les Violons du Roy (July 9) and I Musici de Montréal (July 12) For many years, the Ottawa International Chamber Music Festival – or “Chamberfest,” as it’s come to be called – was billed as the largest such event in the world. It’s an intense festival, with multiple concerts daily, spread over a two-week period, in churches and concert halls all over Ottawa. Full details of this summer’s Chamberfest have yet to be announced. But, as in past years, Canadians will be well represented in solo recitals and small ensembles. Highlights for the 2016 event include Haitian-born Canadian soprano Marie-Josée Lord’s festival-opening production called Femmes, embodying the spirits of Delilah, Musetta, even Piaf (July 21); the Gryphon Piano Trio with baritone Russell Braun (July 22); a Chopin recital by pianist Janina Fialkowska (July 29); and Bach’sMass in B Minor, in a small-scale performance by Arion Baroque Orchestra (August 3). In addition to all these concerts, there’s more to recommend Ottawa as a cultural destination. Museums are plentiful – including the National Gallery of Canadaand the Canadian Museum of History. Canada’s Parliament Buildings are open daily for tours – and every morning on Parliament Hill there’s a British-style “Changing of the Guard.”

July 8-Aug. 20: Full details

An Unlikely Muse, a staged biographical drama by Harry Clark about Brahms’ late-life surge of creativity upon hearing the clarinetist Richard Mühlfeld, will receive its East Coast premiere at the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival.  Pianist André Watts, clarinetist David Shifrin, actor Jack Gilpin, and assorted chamber musicians will appear. (The artists also take the work to  Chamber Music Northwest July 29 and the Ravinia Festival Aug. 30.) Brahms’ last nine works included the Clarinet Trio, Clarinet Quintet, and the two Clarinet Sonatas, which figure in the performance. Another inspiration is explored in Lalo Schifrin’s Letters from Argentina, which blends tango, folk song, and classical music in a vivid homage. Clarinetist Shifrin, violinist Cho-Liang Lin, pianist Alex Brown, double bassist Pablo Aslan, percussionist Satoshi Takeishi, andHéctor del Curto on the bandoneón.Most of them also played at the work’s 2005 world premiere at Lincoln Center. The Norfolk Chamber Music Festival ends Aug. 27 with a visit by San Francisco’s Philharmonia Baroque. The entire festival takes place on the beautiful grounds of the Battell-Stoeckel Estate, which was left in trust for Yale University to operate as a music school. Young artists perform frequently throughout the festival.

July 16-Aug. 19: Full details

Located on the Canadian side of the Niagara River, Music Niagara is an easy destination for anyone in the Niagara Falls area. This festival is located in the picture-postcard town of Niagara-on-the-Lake, well known to theater-lovers as the home of the Shaw Festival, where George Bernard Shaw’s plays are staged. Programming isn’t exclusively classical (there’s also some jazz, country, and world music) – but there’s a handful of classical artists, most of them Canadian. Look for thePenderecki String Quartet (July 18), the piano duo ofAnagnoson & Kinton (July 24), pianist Janina Fialkowska (August 2), and a recital by the rising soprano Ambur Braid (August 6). And in between concerts and plays, why not take a tour of the region’s wineries? Yes, Canada produces wine – and even wins international awards for it.

August 2-12: Full details

Every summer, the city of Vancouver is host to an international gathering of historically informed performers. This year’s event focuses on the music of J.S. Bach – and just about every concert features works by the Leipzig Kapellmeister. The festival opens with French-American jazz pianist and composer Dan Tepfer playing his own unique version of the Goldberg Variations (August 2). Other artists include harpsichordist Davitt Moroney (August 3), Arion Baroque Orchestra (August 5), cellist Beiliang Zhu (August 11), and the Pacific Baroque Orchestra (August 12). All concerts take place either in Vancouver’s Gothic Revival Christ Church Anglican (Episcopal) Cathedral or at the modern Chan Centre for the Performing Arts at the University of British Columbia. Vancouver is a vibrant city, flanked on one side by mountains and on the other by the ocean. Its many attractions include the Vancouver Art Gallery and UBC’s Museum of Anthropology, with its stunning collection of West Coast Native totem poles. If you’d care to step outdoors, Stanley Park offers a wilderness experience right in the city – a vast rainforest circled by the Seawall Trail.

Aug. 20-27: Dans les jardins de William Christie – Full details (available June 2)

If you’re very lucky – perhaps while visiting the châteaux de la Loire, or if you’re willing to drive a bit – in the out-of-the-way hamlet of Thiré, midway between the Loire valley and the Atlantic coast, you can join guests enjoying music and la vie douce “In the Gardens of William Christie.” The American-born harpsichordist and conductor, who spearheaded the revival of French Baroque repertoire, has been creating a dream landscape on the grounds of a 16th-century chateau he acquired some 30 years ago. In 2012 he opened his property for performances by the musicians of Les Arts Florissants, along with ensemble interns and students from the Juilliard School as well as the art of of the garden. Informal open-air concerts take place afternoons throughout the property (no chairs, the audience stands or sits on the grass), along with guided tours of the gardens. Evenings there are candlelight concerts by the reflecting pool, followed by a short walk to the Thiré village church for a 30-minute musical meditation to end the evening in peaceful contemplation. For the second year, winners of a competition for young landscape designers will construct a temporary performance space on the grounds. Unlike the intense and glitzy festival scenes at Salzburg or Bayreuth, Christie’s week invokes more Le Déjeuner sur l’herbe, an experience of nature enhanced by the gardener’s art, by exquisite music, and by their enjoyment in good company. It’s akin to the original delights of Versailles, smaller in scale but more relaxed and inclusive. And isn’t that the most restorative kind of vacation?

Aug. 29 – Sept. 5: Full details

For outdoor scenery, Banff, Alberta, can’t be beat. Located within a large national park, the town is surrounded by the spectacular Canadian Rockies. Not surprisingly, it’s a popular destination for outdoor sports, year round. The town is also home to the triennial Banff International String Quartet Competition. Strictly speaking, the BISQC isn’t a music festival; like most music competitions, its core purpose is to compare, judge, and reward upcoming musicians through prizes awarded by a jury of experts. But the competition doesn’t just attract some of the best young quartets in the world. It has also become a destination for chamber-music enthusiasts. Indeed, the audience is an intrinsic aspect of the BISQC. There aren’t many string quartet competitions in the world, and the BISQC is one of the most prominent, with a good track record of picking young ensembles that go on to impressive careers. Since 1983, winners have included the Miró Quartet, the St. Lawrence Quartet, and the Jupiter Quartet. At the last BISQC, in 2013, the Dover Quartet became the first ensemble to make a clean sweep of the prizes. This year’s competing quartettistes come from the USA, the UK, Japan, Israel, Russia, South Korea, Taiwan, and Canada. The 2016 competition takes place from August 29 to September 5, and attendees can purchase a “passport” for the full week or just for the final weekend. Packages include tickets to all events – lectures, concerts, and competition rounds – along with meals and accommodation at the Banff Centre (in a respectable on-campus hotel facility, atop Tunnel Mountain). There’s also a final weekend accommodation package and tickets for individual events.