Community Calendar

Since ancient times, music has been heard to reflect the resonances of the natural world. Over time, composers of many cultures have taken inspiration from Nature and found ways of expressing it through sound. Get inside the music, including several Nature-inspired works to be heard on Festival programs this season by Vivaldi, Mendelssohn, Schubert, Dvořák, Vaughan-Williams, Gabriela Lena Frank, and Chickasaw composer Jerod Impichchaachaaha’ Tate; and learn how your appreciation of Nature might aid your musical understanding. Hear exclusive live performances by Festival artists and mingle with your fellow music enthusiasts and Nature lovers afterward over a glass of wine.
Four weekly sessions are led by Artistic Director, Aaron Wunsch, who teaches at The Juilliard School.

Four Tuesdays, 7/29 – 8/19, 4:00-5:00 PM

After the lecture there will be a small wine reception.

This event is free and no ticket is required.

In order to get an accurate head count we ask that you please RSVP on the form below. An RSVP is not required but is appreciated.

RSVP: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/5WHZ7H7

This is your chance to hear Ruckus “the world’s only period instrument rock band” (San Francisco Classical Voice) as they join forces with up-and-coming violinist, Keir GoGwilt. Together they offer a folk-Baroque feast of dance music: classic trio sonatas by Corelli and Geminiani paired with 18th – century fiddle tunes by Scottish folk master Neil Gow, known as “the Scottish Corelli.” Vocalist Fiona Gillespie joins with a selection of Gaelic songs. Hear the energy and emotion of Baroque music come to life with “a fizzing, daring display of personality and imagination” (New York Times).

Program:
CORELLI Trio Sonatas, Op. 5, No. 1 and No. 6
GEMINIANI Four Scottish Airs
NEIL GOW Fiddle Tunes from Books of Strathspey Reels
TRADITIONAL Selection of Gaelic folk songs

The big orchestra event of the season features music inspired by Nature: A selection from Vivaldi’s famous The Four Seasons; American Christopher Theofanidis’s The Wind and Petit Jean, inspired by a mountain in Arkansas; Mendelssohn’s “Scottish” Symphony, inspired by a trip to the Scottish Highlands; and Chopin’s heart-melting Piano Concerto No. 2, featuring “stunning” Korean American pianist, Soyeon Kate Lee (Washington Post).

Program:
VIVALDI Selection from The Seasons
THEOFANIDIS The Wind and Petit Jean
CHOPIN Piano Concerto No. 2
MENDELSSOHN Symphony No. 3 (“Scottish”)

Since ancient times, music has been heard to reflect the resonances of the natural world. Over time, composers of many cultures have taken inspiration from Nature and found ways of expressing it through sound. Get inside the music, including several Nature-inspired works to be heard on Festival programs this season by Vivaldi, Mendelssohn, Schubert, Dvořák, Vaughan-Williams, Gabriela Lena Frank, and Chickasaw composer Jerod Impichchaachaaha’ Tate; and learn how your appreciation of Nature might aid your musical understanding. Hear exclusive live performances by Festival artists and mingle with your fellow music enthusiasts and Nature lovers afterward over a glass of wine.
Four weekly sessions are led by Artistic Director, Aaron Wunsch, who teaches at The Juilliard School.

Four Tuesdays, 7/29 – 8/19, 4:00-5:00 PM

After the lecture there will be a small wine reception.

This event is free and no ticket is required.

In order to get an accurate head count we ask that you please RSVP on the form below. An RSVP is not required but is appreciated.

RSVP: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/5WHZ7H7

The charismatic Calidore String Quartet thrills audiences on the world’s major stages, including frequently at the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. “Four more individual musicians are unimaginable,” writes the Washington Post, “yet these speak, breathe, think and feel as one.” They perform Beethoven, John Williams, and Korngold.

Program:
Beethoven – String Quartet No. 12 in E-flat Major, Op. 127
John Williams – With Malice Toward None from the film “Lincoln”
Korngold – String Quartet No. 3 in D Major, Op. 34

Australian guitar duo Ziggy and Miles (“Transfixingly beautiful,” Limelight) joins Artistic Directors Julia Bruskin and Aaron Wunsch for a program of duets that explore the nature of musical dialogue and intrapersonal exchange. Brothers Ziggy and Miles are the Festival’s 2025 Emerging Artist in Residence and will astonish you with their uncanny communication and unique sensitivity in a program of music by Bach, Brahms, Debussy, and tango master Astór Piazzolla.

Program:
J.S. BACH Gottes Zeit, ist die allerbeste Zeit, BWV 106
BRAHMS Cello Sonata No. 2, Op. 99
DEBUSSY Suite bergamasque
NIGEL WESTLAKE Mosstrooper Peak
RADAMÉS GNATTALI Suite Retratos
PIAZZOLLA Tangos

Since ancient times, music has been heard to reflect the resonances of the natural world. Over time, composers of many cultures have taken inspiration from Nature and found ways of expressing it through sound. Get inside the music, including several Nature-inspired works to be heard on Festival programs this season by Vivaldi, Mendelssohn, Schubert, Dvořák, Vaughan-Williams, Gabriela Lena Frank, and Chickasaw composer Jerod Impichchaachaaha’ Tate; and learn how your appreciation of Nature might aid your musical understanding. Hear exclusive live performances by Festival artists and mingle with your fellow music enthusiasts and Nature lovers afterward over a glass of wine.
Four weekly sessions are led by Artistic Director, Aaron Wunsch, who teaches at The Juilliard School.

Four Tuesdays, 7/29 – 8/19, 4:00-5:00 PM

After the lecture there will be a small wine reception.

This event is free and no ticket is required.

In order to get an accurate head count we ask that you please RSVP on the form below. An RSVP is not required but is appreciated.

RSVP: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/5WHZ7H7

Across the centuries, composers have found resonance in Nature. This playful and delightful program features leading English violinist Anthony Marwood in Schubert’s beloved “Trout” Quintet; Xhosa composer Bongani Ndodana-Breen’s Intlanzi Yase Mzantsi (The Fish from South Africa, based on Schubert’s “Trout”); and music by Nino Rota, composer of the famous film score to The Godfather. Festival Artistic Directors Aaron Wunsch and Julia Bruskin join, along with Brandon Ridenour, who “heralds the trumpet of the future” (Chicago Sun Times).

Program:
NINO ROTA Trio for Clarinet, Cello, and Piano
BARTÓK Romanian Folk Dances (Trumpet and Piano)
BONGANI NDODANA-BREEN Intlanzi Yase Mzantsi (The Fish from South Africa)
SCHUBERT Quintet in A Major, D. 667 (“Trout”)

Don’t miss this special enchanted evening of music and theater, featuring a dramatic interpretation of Stravinsky’s timeless drama, The Soldier’s Tale. Violinist Anthony Marwood (“brilliant,“ The Washington Post) also performs English master Thomas Adès’s magical, folk-inspired Dances from Fairy Tales. Robert Schumann’s Fairy Tales round out a colorful program that includes clarinet, bassoon, trumpet, trombone, bass and percussion.

Program:
ADÈS Märchentänze (Dances from Fairly Tales)
SCHUMANN Märchenerzählungen (Fairy Tales)
STRAVINSKY The Soldier’s Tale

Mark O’Connor is one of the most celebrated fiddlers of all time. His musical path has taken him from bluegrass to folk to classical, including his GRAMMY-winning collaboration with cellist Yo-Yo Ma. He performs his own music with the Skaneateles Festival Orchestra and his musical and life partner, Maggie O’Connor; the program also includes Mozart’s timeless music and new Nature- inspired music by Chickasaw composer Jerod Impichchaachaaha’ Tate.

Program:
MOZART Eine Kleine Nachtmusik
MARK O’CONNOR Selection from American Seasons
JEROD IMPICHCHAACHAAHA’ TATE Woodland Songs World premiere arrangement
MARK AND MAGGIE O’CONNOR Strings and Threads Suite