On a drizzly Friday afternoon in April, almost a hundred people gathered at The Andrew to celebrate the launch of the 2025 iteration of  Prince Edward County’s Chamber Music Festival. Organizer Maureen Dunn and a team of volunteers hosted a lavish party anchored by a special performance.

A quartet representing the history of the Festival, and featuring current Artistic Director and cellist Paul Marleyn and former directors Stéphane Lemelin (piano) and Andrew Wan (violin), gathered on stage, to be joined by their colleague violist Neal Gripp. Their performance of the popular Brahms quartet in G minor, with its shifting, Romantic brooding and its energetic Hungarian “gypsy” conclusion, brought the audience to its feet and inspired an encore.

Asked how the four musicians, from different corners of Quebec and Ontario, had managed to find time to rehearse, Mr. Lemelin smiled and said, “oh, we ran through it on Wednesday, but, you know, we’ve all played it many times before.” This casual testimony to the professional musicianship that stands behind the festival should give us pause. We are extremely lucky. To be able to sit in such close proximity to music making, to watch the musicians’ cues by eye contact (and the occasional dramatic inhalation), is a great privilege.

This year’s performances promise many such occasions. After the popular opening outdoor concert featuring the True North Brass on August 24, watch for the second and third weekends of September at the Church of St. Mary Magdalene in Picton.

Opening night features a visit from CBC personality Tom Allen, who will narrate a performance of Czech composer Bohuslav Martinů’s “The Kitchen Revue,” a lively and charming story of the love lives of kitchen utensils, musically illustrated in modernist rhythms and harmonies.

It’s kind of “Peter and the Wolf” meets “Fantasia” in miniature, so bring the kids. The Festival has a “25 years and under admitted free” policy. Come for the Kitchen, and stay for the Mozart!

As is its tradition, the Festival will host a composer-in-residence, Dinuk Wijeratne. His compositions range from string quartets to full orchestral concertos and encompass influences from world music and improvised jazz. “He’s an amazing person,” said Mr. Marleyn, “I think it’s fair to say he’s one of Canada’s leading composers — a magnificent composer.” Also a pianist, Mr. Wijeratne’s trio will be performing improvisations deriving from the traditions of his middle-eastern childhood. He will also host a Creative Workshop, open to all, not just musicians. Watch for an interview with Dinuk Wijeratne in a future issue of the Gazette.

Other visiting artists will include the Swiss Piano Trio from Zurich, and the Arion Baroque Ensemble of Montreal. The Young Artists program integrates up-and-coming musicians into the variety of ensembles on offer, including a four cello concert.

A fascinating program concludes the festival by tracing a tradition of adaptation spanning more than a century and criss-crossing most of Europe. It will feature Beethoven’s “Kreutzer Sonata” for violin, followed by Tom Allen’s reading from Tolstoy’s story of the same name, and then the Penderecki Quartet’s performance of Janáček’s interpretation of that story in his “Kreutzer Sonata” String Quartet. A piece by Mr. Wijeratne and the Brahms G major Sextet will round out what should be a splendid show.

There is something for everyone at this year’s festival. As board member Fred Robinson put it, “I am delighted and excited by our new Artistic Director’s choices for the 2025 season. I feel that they reflect an artist who both loves the tradition but who is not afraid to experiment with newer aspects of performing Chamber Music. I think he will open our hearts and minds to a new appreciation of the genre.” 

For tickets and festival passes, visit the Chamber Music Festival.