MARLBORO-At Marlboro Music, the artists themselves choose the music that audiences hear on the weekend concerts from among the many pieces that are being explored each week. Over the course of the summer season, audiences experience music from all eras: masterworks as well as newly composed music.
For the first three-concert weekend of Marlboro Music's 2025 summer season, from Friday, Aug. 8, through Sunday, Aug. 10, three works by 2025 Composer-in-Residence Reena Esmail are highlighted alongside 11 varied pieces for strings, piano, woodwinds, and voice.
Among the "most-performed composers of her generation," organizers wrote in a news release, "Esmail often bridges seemingly disparate musical and social landscapes in her work, and explores themes of unity and cultural identity." Her music fuses Hindustani and Western classical music traditions and techniques. So far this summer, Marlboro participants have studied and rehearsed five of her pieces for a combined total of over 60 hours.
The three Esmail works to be heard on the Aug. 8–10 programs are "Nadiya," performed by flutist Yu Yuan and violist Rebecca Albers (principal violist of the Minnesota Orchestra); "The Light is the Same," performed by flutist Hannah Tassler, oboist Donovan Bown, clarinetist Anthony McGill (principal clarinet of the New York Philharmonic), horn player José Vicente Castelló; (principal horn of the Mahler Chamber Orchestra), and bassoonist Joshua Butcher; and "Who makes a clearing," performed by soprano Lucy Fitz Gibbon, violinist Samuel Andonian, and cellist Dilshod Narzillaev.
Friday evening's performance is Marlboro Music's annual town benefit concert in Persons Auditorium; 100% of ticket sales support Marlboro town organizations.
In addition to Esmail's "Nadiya," Friday's program includes vocal works by Schubert and Schumann; Mozart's Piano Trio in E major, K. 542; with co-Artistic Director Jonathan Biss, Andonian, and cellist Joseph Staten; and Kurtág's "Officium breve," Op. 28, performed by senior violist Kim Kashkashian, Andonian, and first-year string players Masha Lakisova and Macintyre Taback.
Later in the weekend, audiences will hear more music by Mozart, Schumann, Harbison, Barber, Bartòk, and Brahms, as well as by Marlboro Music co-Founder Adolf Busch. The ensemble performing Busch's "Romanze," Op. 53d, in honor of the legendary violinist and composer's 134th birthday, includes Busch's granddaughter, cellist Judith Serkin.
All of the ensembles at Marlboro include emerging artists and senior musicians, among them violinists Joseph Lin (formerly of the Juillard Quartet) and Sara Bitlloch (Elias Quartet), violist Maiya Papach (principal violist of the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra), cellists Marcy Rosen and Peter Stumpf (formerly of the Mendelssohn and Johannes Quartets, respectively), and pianists Lydia Brown and Cynthia Raim.
Audiences are also invited to enjoy free open rehearsals throughout the week in Persons Auditorium. Rehearsal schedules are announced at the beginning of each week and include many of the works that will be performed on the following weekend's concert programs.
Admission to the rehearsals is free, and no tickets or advance signup is needed. Audience members may contact the Marlboro reception desk for more information at 802-254-2394 or [email protected].
There are some tickets remaining for Friday and Saturday's concerts. Tickets may be purchased at marlboromusic.org or by calling the Marlboro box office at 802-258-9331. Sunday's performance is sold out; a waiting list is maintained for returned tickets.
This Arts item was submitted to The Commons.