Chesapeake Music Celebrates its 40th Year Anniversary—A Time for Reflection and Celebration

By Maria Grant

Chesapeake Music, a treasured gem for Eastern Shore music lovers, celebrates its 40th anniversary this year with one of the best series of concerts to date—many of which are still to come.

Marcy Rosen, who co-founded Chesapeake Music along with J. Lawrie Bloom and is the current co-Artistic Director, explained that the theme of Reflection and Celebration was inspired by the connection created on the Eastern Shore over the last four decades among the music, artists, and audiences.

When Lawrie’s parents retired to St. Michaels in the late 1980’s, they found the area lacking in classical and chamber music. So, in 1986, Lawrie’s father, Ralph, along with Don Buxton, who would serve as the organization’s founding Executive Director, laid the groundwork for the first festival concert. Marcy had met Lawrie at summer camp and accompanied him at his college graduation recital. After that, Lawrie asked Marcy to join him at the opening Eastern Shore concert. They brought musicians from New York for that concert and almost every year since.

Over the years, the Festival gained notoriety and popularity. The number of artists invited each year has tripled, and the Festival has grown from one to six concerts over two weeks.

Reminiscing over the many wonderful memories Marcy has with Chesapeake Music, she said one of her favorite memories was when she returned to Easton after the pandemic. “Our first rehearsal was a life changing event. The love and respect we all feel for each other, and having not played together for all that time, it made so much sense to be together in Easton, where we have spent so many summers making music together.”

“Thanks to the Prager Family’s generosity, The Ebenezer Theater in the Prager Family Center for the Arts became Chesapeake Music’s performance home in 2021. This fantastic auditorium has focused even more attention on the Festival and has drawn new audience members and given the musicians a sense of belonging and cemented our place in the community,” Marcy proudly stated.

“Every Festival is different,” Marcy noted, “but the musicians’ host families play an enormous role in making our musicians feel comfortable and at home! I have had only three hosts in the 40 years I have been coming to the area, and I am incredibly grateful for the friendships that have formed.”

Chesapeake Music’s educational programming is thriving again under the guidance of Catherine Cho, the other co-Artistic Director of Chesapeake Music. In addition to the Festival, Chesapeake Music now offers a series of Interlude Concerts throughout the year, further enhancing its presence in the community.

Marcy and Catherine both have the opportunity to work with “Rising Stars” in the music world. Catherine explained that “Rising Stars” are young artists who embody a unique voice, a centered and grounded sense of integrity and character, a strong connection to the truth in music, and an urge to communicate.”

When asked what’s in store for the future of the Chesapeake Chamber Music Festival, Catherine explained that she would “like to broaden the reach of the Festival and draw in audiences from across the entire Eastern Shore and beyond, including an international audience via an online streaming platform.”

When developing the Festival program, Marcy and Catherine strive for a diverse repertoire that reflects many aspects of the human experience and an array of perspectives. “The programs are created with input from our artists,” Marcy explains. “For instance, the Opening Night program began with Robert McDonald, Catherine Cho and me deciding on which Trio we would like to play this summer. It is a long tradition. We chose Brahms Trio No. 2 in C Major—one of the true masterpieces of the repertoire. We also wanted to feature both our new young violist Zhanbo Zheng and festival founder Lawrie Bloom. It was my decision to ask them to play Schumann’s Märchenerzählungen (“Fairy Tales”) for clarinet, viola and piano which also includes our new pianist, Albert Cano Smith.”

This year’s Festival program includes the works of Boccherini, Schumann, Beach, Brahms, Beethoven, Chaminade, Dvorak, Haydn, Mozart, Mendelssohn, Farrenc, Smetana, Mozart, Widmann, Bonis, Schoenberg, and Fauré.

Week One artists June 6, 7, and 8, include Catherine Cho, violin and viola; Todd Phillips, violin; Carmit Zori, violin; Zhanbo Zheng, viola; Marcy Rosen, cello; Sterling Elliott, cello; Peggy Pearson, oboe; J. Lawrie Bloom, clarinet; Robert McDonald, piano; and Albert Cano Smit, piano.

Week Two artists June 12, 13, and 14, include Catherine Cho, violin and viola; Daniel Phillips, violin and viola; Marcy Rosen, cello; Tara Helen O’Connor, flute; Evren Ozel, piano.

Plus, a particularly exciting addition to this year’s program is The Juilliard Quartet, perhaps the most renowned quartet in the world. Its current members are Areta Zhulla, violin; Ronald Copes, violin; Molly Carr, viola; and Astrid Schween, cello.

“I find that The Juilliard Quartet reflects an incredible sense of creative energy in all their endeavors, and I am thrilled that they will share their musicianship with our Eastern Shore audiences,” Catherine explained.

In addition to being co-Artistic Directors of Chesapeake Music, Marcy Rosen is a professor of cello at the Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College and Catherine Cho is on the faculty of The Juilliard School and serves as Artistic Director of the Starling-DeLay Symposium.

Tickets for the Festival concerts at The Ebenezer Theater in Easton are $70. Chesapeake Music also offers a limited number of free tickets for students, music educators, and Talbot County First Responders, as well as a “buy-one-get-one” option for first-time patrons of Chesapeake Music. Visit ChesapeakeMusic.org for tickets and more information.