A Summer of Concerts

As we stroll into summer our options for the best in musical performances only increase as summer festivals and season kick off with outdoor concerts, refreshments, and the right music to match. Thankfully we have an abundance of music in our area to look forward to this summer, here are just a few.  

Summer has traditionally been a time for blockbuster movie releases, and you can experience some of your favorite films on the big screen with a big orchestra playing the soundtrack live. On June 22-23 at the Kennedy Center, you can see and hear Disney favorites come to life, from Moana, Alladin, to Frozen, in a live-to-film concert with the National Symphony Orchestra. 

The National Symphony Orchestra will also have several of these movie performances at Wolf Trap’s gorgeous outdoor amphitheater, starting with Star Wars: A New Hope on July 13. 

Also at Wolf Trap, our nation’s national park dedicated to the performing arts, there are opera performances too! That kicks off on June 21 with Mozart’s Cosi fan Tutte, and other performances include Puccini’s La Boheme, and Silent Night by Kevin Puts. 

You can hear the Baltimore Symphony throughout Maryland this summer with their Music for Maryland series, and on July 6 at the Meyerhoff in Baltimore they’ll have an American Salute concert that features a wide variety of music. 

If you find yourself a little further out of the area, like in Nellysford, Virginia, there is the Wintergreen Music Festival from July 4-28. The season appears to have something for everyone, finishing with a big performance of Stravinsky’s Firebird Suite and Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2. 

Also out in Virginia, in the Allegheny mountains, is the Garth Newel Music Center and their chamber music focused summer season in July and August. It is filled with great artists like the Parker Quartet, Yvonne Lam, and more. Each program is paired with a chef-curated menu by their culinary program. 

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In the month of August, there is the Appalachian Chamber Music Festival, which takes place in several different venues in northern Virginia and West Virginia. There is a Bach for Breakfast performance, a concert featuring vocal chamber music (which also includes songs by local composer, Lori Laitman, and even opportunities for you to play as well in their Adult Intensive Chamber Music Workshop that kicks the festival off on August 3rd.  

These are just some of the highlights of what is going on in our area, and we are fortunate to have so many options in such picturesque venues from the Chesapeake Bay, our Nation’s capital, the low-lying mountains to the west, and everywhere in between. I hope you get a chance to experience some of these performances this summer and find new musical discoveries!