The Port City comes alive again this June with seven afternoons and evenings of free chamber music concerts, spread out across greater Wilmington at seven locations including Kenan Chapel at Landfall, Beckwith Hall on the campus of UNCW, and Church of the Good Shepherd Episcopal.
Port City Music Festival concerts will include works by Rachmaninoff, Beethoven, Brahms, Schubert, Mozart, J.S. Bach, Rebecca Clarke, and Faure, among others.
All but two venues are free to the public with open seating. Kenan Chapel requires a free ticket, while Cameron Art Museum requires preregistration and the free seating is limited.
“Free” and “quality” are not often synonymous, but festival executive director Dr. Stephen Framil assures that is not the case here.
“Great music should be available to everyone. We want no barriers to going,” says Framil. “This is a key factor to why we are still in existence after 16 years.”
Framil co-founded the summer concert series with Wilmington cellist Christine Farley after meeting Farley at a workshop and receiving an invitation for a performance at Kenan Chapel.
He describes the Wilmington community’s response to classical chamber music as “audience embrace.”
“What struck me was the reception from the Wilmington audience. Reception from the audience is what feeds the soul,” he says.
Farley and Framil carved out a time slot in the Wilmington music scene for early June, and in 2009 held a pilot of three concerts in three venues. That led to a second and a third-year pilot. They advanced to eight days with seven concerts.
“It clicked year five,” he says.
An American cellist and conductor, Framil will direct the musical ensemble that includes mezzo-soprano Kyle Engler, violinists Sarah Sutton and Luigi Mazzocchi, cellist Kathy Meyer, and Daniel Lau, pianist.
“Great music should be available to everyone. We want no barriers to going,” says Dr. Stephen Framil, Music and Executive Director of the Port City Music Festival.
Framil, an advocate for inner-city music education, is the conductor of the Philadelphia Youth Ensemble and director of the Philadelphia Community Conservatory.
He joined the artist faculty at the Killington Music Festival in Vermont in 2008 and is the director of orchestra and strings at Philadelphia’s Eastern University.
For those wishing to volunteer, ushers and stage hands are needed.
The Port City Music Festival is supported by private and corporate donations.
The festival is a program of Camerata Philadelphia, Inc: a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting performance, educational, and community service endeavors.
Port City Music Festival
June 2024 Schedule
Free admission for all events. Donations are most appreciated and gratefully received.
*Some events require preregistration and have limited seating.
June 2nd • 5 p.m.
- Kenan Chapel at Landfall
- Rachmaninoff: Prelude & Danse Oriental, Op. 2
- Mozart: Piano Quartet No. 2 in E-flat, K. 493
- *Free tickets are required for this concert (limited availability). Available beginning on May 28 at 10:00 a.m. at the New Hanover County Library – Northeast Branch.
June 3rd • 7:30 p.m.
- Windermere Presbyterian
- Edward Grieg: Sonata No. 3 in C minor for Violin & Piano, Op. 45
- Beethoven: Piano Quartet in E-flat, Op. 16
- Free admission and open seating.
June 4th • 7:30 p.m.
- Beckwith Hall at UNCW
- Sergei Prokofiev: Sonata in C for Cello & Piano, Op. 119
- Mozart: Vado ma dove, K. 583
- Mozart: Chio mi scordi di te, K. 505
- Schumann: Piano Quartet in E-flat, Op. 47
- Free admission and open seating.
June 5th • 7:30 p.m.
- B’nai Israel
- J.S. Bach: Suite No. 1 in G for Solo Cello, BWV 1007
- Benjamin Britten: Phantasy Quartet
- Rebecca Clarke: Two Pieces for Viola & Cello
- Mozart: Oboe Quartet in F, K. 370
- Free admission and open seating.
June 6th • 4:30 p.m.
- Cameron Art Museum
- Community Masterclass
- In partnership with the Wilmington Symphony Youth Orchestra programs.
June 6th • 7:00 p.m
- Cameron Art Museum
- Mozart: Duo No. 1 in G for Violin & Viola, K. 423
- Gaspar Cassadó: Suite for Solo Cello
- Schubert: String Trio in B-flat, D. 581
- *Free limited seating: pre-registration required for both events.
June 7th • 7:30 p.m.
- Church of the Good Shepherd Episcopal
- Darius Milhaud: Sonata No. 1 for Viola & Piano, Op. 240
- Fauré: Piano Quartet No. 1 in C minor, Op. 15
- Free admission and open seating.
June 9th • 5 p.m.
- First Presbyterian
- Anton Arensky: Piano Trio No. 1 in D minor, Op. 32
- Brahms: Piano Quartet No. 3 in C minor, Op. 60
- Free admission and open seating.