America’s longest running summer chamber music festival, Music Mountain, continues its 90th season with the Penderecki String Quartet presenting a stellar program of works by Haydn, Mendelssohn and Brahms on Sunday, July 14 (3pm). The weekend kicks off on Saturday, July 13 (5pm) with the dynamic Peter & Will Anderson Quartet offering an evening honoring the virtuoso Benny Goodman! Concerts are scheduled through September 22.

Sunday afternoon welcomes the vibrant and intense Penderecki String Quartet presenting a unique program including Haydn: String Quartet in D Major, Op. 76 #5; Mendelssohn: String Quartet in E Flat Major, Op. 12; and Brahms: Piano Quintet in F Minor, Op. 34—a staple of the Music Mountain repertoire, being performed for the 48th time since 1930. Stewart Goodyear, on piano, joins as guest artist.

Celebrating their 31st anniversary, the Penderecki String Quartet began their career as winners of the Penderecki Prize at the National Chamber Music Competition in Łódz, Poland in 1986. Now based in Waterloo, Ontario, the Penderecki String Quartet has become one of the most celebrated chamber ensembles of their generation. The four Penderecki musicians bring their varied yet collective experience to create performances that demonstrate their “remarkable range of technical excellence and emotional sweep” (Toronto, Globe and Mail). The Penderecki String Quartet’s international performing schedule has included appearances in New York (Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall), Amsterdam (Concertgebouw), Hong Kong (Academy for the Arts), and throughout Europe; the Quartet has also toured extensively in Mexico, Australia, Venezuela and Brazil and from coast to coast in Canada. They have been Quartet-in-Residence at Wilfrid Laurier University in Ontario since 1991 and continue to be active members of the Faculty of Music at Laurier University where they have built the string program to be one of the top programs in Canada, attracting an international body of students. 

Proclaimed "a phenomenon" by The Los Angeles Times and "one of the best pianists of his generation" by the Philadelphia Inquirer, Stewart Goodyear is an accomplished young pianist as a concerto soloist, chamber musician, recitalist and composer. Mr. Goodyear has performed with major orchestras of the world , including the Philadelphia Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony, Pittsburgh Symphony, San Francisco Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Cleveland Orchestra, and many others. Mr. Goodyear's discography includes Beethoven's Complete Piano Sonatas (which received a Juno nomination for Best Classical Solo Recording in 2014) and Diabelli Variations for the Marquis Classics label, Tchaikovsky First Piano Concerto and Grieg's Piano Concerto, and Rachmaninov's Piano Concertos No. 2 and 3, both recorded with the Czech National Symphony under Stanislav Bogunia and Hans Matthias Forster respectively, and released to critical acclaim on the Steinway and Sons label.

The legendary music of Benny Goodman will envelop Music Mountain on Saturday evening! Originally introduced to Music Mountain audiences by Vince Giordano’s Nighthawks, the Peter and Will Anderson Quartet returns with The Magic of Benny Goodman, honoring the legacy of the American clarinet virtuoso. Masters of clarinet and saxophone, Peter and Will Anderson are one of the most extraordinary set of brothers performing music today. Known for their unique renditions of classic jazz songs and innovative original music, they hail from Washington, DC, moving to New York City to attend Juilliard. The Andersons have headlined at The Blue Note, Jazz at Lincoln Center, The Kennedy Center, New Orleans Jazz Festival, Sarasota Florida Jazz Festival, and South Carolina’s Jazz Corner, among others. Their ensemble has performed in over 40 U.S. States and toured Japan. Peter and Will most recently received the 2018 Bistro Award for Instrumentalists.

Music Mountain is located in Falls Village, Connecticut on Music Mountain Road, where a short scenic drive will bring you to Gordon Hall atop Music Mountain. Free parking and picnic facilities are available. Music Mountain is supported, in part, by the National Endowment for the Arts, Connecticut State Department of Economic and Community Development Office of the Arts, the Peter N. Krysa Designated Fund of Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation, and the Khurshed Bhumgara Fund, a fund of the Northwest Connecticut Community Foundation, Inc.

Chamber music concerts continue with Ariel Quartet with Victoria Schwartzman, piano (July 21); Harlem String Quartet with Francine Kay, piano (July 28); Emerson String Quartet (August 4); and St. Petersburg String Quartet (August 11).

The Saturday Evening Twilight Series continues with New Black Eagle Jazz Band (July 20); Swingtime Big Band (July 27); Michael Berkeley & No Tune Like a Show Tune (August 3); and Wolverine Jazz Band (August 10).

Specially Priced Concerts include: Labor Day Benefit Concert & Reception on Sunday, September 1. All tickets $75. Special Concert to Celebrate the Completion of the 90th Anniversary Season on Sunday, September 22. All tickets: $60.

Regularly scheduled Chamber Music Concerts are $39. Twilight Series Concerts are $34. Children ages 5-18 are admitted FREE to ALL CONCERTS when accompanied by a ticket holder. 

Saturday evening Twilight Concerts are at 5pm. Sunday afternoon Chamber Music concerts are at 3 pm. Discounts apply through participating organizations. For a complete summer schedule, special ticket prices and promotions, visit musicmountain.org or call (860) 824-7126.