ChamberFest Brown County
August 17-23, 2025
~ submitted by Jan Holloway
Welcome to ChamberFest 2025, August 17 through 23 in downtown Nashville. The menu is rich in variety. You’ ll journey from the 1600s to American fiddle and dance. Our ports of call: 17 th-century England, Russia, Italy, Germany, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, France, the British Isles, and America.
New stars shine this year. From Rome comes award-winning principal oboe Gianfranco Bortolato of the Teatro dell’ Opera. Soprano Anne Azéma, Artistic Director of the Boston Camerata, joins world-renown lutenist Nigel North. From the Eastman School of Music comes top-flight bassoonist George Sakakeeny, who’ s performed under the baton of Seiji Ozawa. Brittany Haas, performing on Bows, Fiddle, and Feet, is one of the foremost fiddlers of her generation. She’ ll perform with American singer-songwriter and old-time musician and educator Kristin Andreassen.
Returning are Chicago Symphony Orchestra violinists Larry Neuman, Lei Hou, and Qing Hou. Pianist Andreas Ioannides. Star clarinetist James Campbell appears in three performances. And from the IU Jacobs School of Music comes one of our inaugural artists, the Grammy-winning Pacifica Quartet.
The venues are: Nashville United Methodist Church( August 17, 21, 22), St. Agnes Catholic Church( August 18, 19), the Brown County Playhouse( August 20), and New Life Community Church( August 23).
You can attend concerts at no cost( except the Playhouse performance) but suggested donations of $ 20 are welcome. To reserve seats visit chamberfestbrowncounty. com. Purchase your tickets for Bows, Fingers, and Feet through the Brown County Playhouse browncountyplayhouse. org or 812-988-6555.. All concerts start at 7 p. m. Sunday, August 17: Love, Dance and Sing! Love songs of Brahms for vocal soloists and ChamberFest favorite, Pianist Andreas Ioannides.
Monday, August 18: Delicious Ayres Early 17 thcentury music inspired by Robert Dowland’ s a Musical Banquet( c 1610). Lutenist Nigel North and soprano Anne Azéma perform songs and dances from England, France, and Italy.
Tuesday, August 19: Phantasy Music from England, Russia, and Germany. Classics from the wind and string repertoire. Works include Quartet by the 18-year-old Benjamin Britten, Prokofiev’ s balletinspired Quintet, and the much-loved Beethoven Septet.
70 Our Brown County • July / August 2025