Newport Music Festival

Newport Music Festival

Two weeks in mid-July

In 1969 the Metropolitan Opera in New York City decided to establish its summer home in Newport, Rhode Island. The fog and humidity, however, played havoc with the artists' delicate instruments, and it quickly became apparent that Newport wasn't the place for outdoor opera. But the grand rooms of its famed waterfront mansions provided an ideal setting for chamber music. Using members of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, the festival in its infancy paved the way for the "Romantic revival," which soon spread worldwide.
The Newport Music Festival still offers music of the Romantic era (1825-1900) but in recent years it has expanded its offerings and now presents a wide spectrum of composers and performers. Dozens of world premieres of forgotten or lost minor masterpieces by well-known composers, such as the four-handed Andante Cantabile by Claude Debussy (1862-1918), have taken place here, as have the North American debuts of many now-famous international and American artists, such as the young Dimitris Sgouros. More than 60 concerts are presented during the two-week festival, which has developed a reputation for programs so rare and varied that they draw music-lovers from thousands of miles away.

CONTACTS:
Newport Music Festival
P.O. Box 3300
Newport, RI 02840
401-846-1133; fax: 401-849-1857
www.newportmusic.org

SOURCES:
GdUSFest-1984, p. 167
MusFestAmer-1990, p. 134