Musicians From Marlboro Not to Be Missed

It can be challenging to sell a chamber concert for a group that is not well-known. Ensembles like the Tokyo, Juilliard, Emerson and Orion Quartets yield instant responses. Each has a clear artistic profile and is readily identifiable. Yet, some of the most outstanding music is made by artists who may be less prominent.

Consider Musicians from Marlboro. Since 1964, the esteemed Marlboro Music program in Vermont has sent several groups of artists on east coast and national tours. Each season, the make-up of the groups changes, yet they all share certain special characteristics.

The idyllic Marlboro campus

If you have not yet been to Marlboro, it’s an advanced chamber music center, founded by Rudolf Serkin and his colleagues in 1951. For seven weeks each summer, amazing young professional musicians from around the world are joined–in the rural town of Marlboro, Vermont–by master artists, including Co-Directors Richard Goode and Mitsuko Uchida. The emphasis is to provide unlimited rehearsal time, with no deadlines. The musicians can rehearse a piece once or twice and then form another group, or they can stay with it for four, five, six or even seven weeks (with three rehearsals per week). Often, when a group of like-minded artists works in such a fashion, for this long, they discover and reveal the very heart of a great work. Invariably, the performances are infused with a degree of confidence, vitality, consensus and understanding that is quite rare and extraordinary.

Only a small number of the rehearsal groups (about 25%) end up playing on the five weekends of concerts that Marlboro presents each summer. Then, just a few of these–those that have achieved especially wonderful results–are selected for the tour concerts.

So what you will hear, on March 23 and April 26 this season, represents the joyful spirit, thorough preparation, spirit of collaboration and melding of artistic ideas that characterize this unique community. You will hear several master artists–cellists Peter Stumpf and Marcy Rosen, and pianist Cynthia Raim–and also be introduced to some really exciting new musical leaders.

We hope you will take a chance and join us. Also, for information about Marlboro, check out www.marlboromusic.org. The summer program is just a 5-6 hour drive from Philadelphia and, like the musicians who attend, it just may lead you to fall in love with music all over again.