Bridgehampton - Pre-eminent in Long Island and one of the leading summer music festivals in the nation, the adventurous Bridgehampton Chamber Music Festival once again draws a brilliant line-up of musicians to participate in its 28th season, slated to take place from Thursday, July 28 through Sunday, August 21, 2011. Festival founder and Artistic Director flutist Marya Martin, violinist Ani Kavafian, violist Misha Amory, cellist Fred Sherry, clarinetist Anthony McGill; jazz-fusion guitarist Stephane Wrembel, and string quartet Brooklyn Rider are among the stellar roster of artists performing this year. Others include the current and former members of the Borromeo, Mendelssohn, and Parker quartets, the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and the International Contemporary Ensemble; as well as principal players of the New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, and other major orchestras.

A highlight of this year's Festival is the recent release on Albany Records of "Marya Martin Plays Ewazen" featuring Eric Ewazen's new Sonata No. 1 for Flute and Piano and other works performed by Martin and Festival musicians. A notable American composer who studied under Milton Babbitt, Gunther Schuller, Joseph Schwantner, Ewazen has had his works widely played internationally, including by such ensembles as the Cleveland Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic Principal Chairs ensembles, and the Czech Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra. On August 14, Martin will perform the world premiere of Ewazen's Sonata No. 1 for Flute and Piano.

Tickets go on sale June 1 and may be purchased by calling 212-741-9403 or starting July 21 at 631-537-6368 and on the Festival's updated website.

Described as "recreating the 300-year-old form of string quartet as a vital and creative 21st-century ensemble" by NPR, the daring quartet Brooklyn Rider performs August 11th for the BCMF:offbeat program of Don Byron, Philip Glass and the group's own Colin Jacobsen.



Another feature of the 2011 Festival is the introduction of a new series entitled Saturday Soirees comprised of two one-hour programs featuring intimate repertoire of duos and other works on August 6 and August 20. Two crossover classics written by the renowned French jazz pianist Claude Bolling will be heard at the Free Outdoor Concert at the Bridgehampton Historical Society on Thursday, July 28 at 6:30 p.m.; a Benefit Concert with a genre-mixing program of Vivaldi's Four Seasons and Astor Piazzolla's The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires takes place at the Atlantic Golf Club on Saturday, July 30 at 6:30 p.m.; and there will be a performance interweaving the classical and ethnic tradition of gypsy music featuring French guitarist Stephane Wrembel as part of the annual Wm. Brian Little Concert at the Channing Sculpture Garden on August 12 at 6 p.m. The program will begin with Festival musicians performing traditional composers' take on gypsy music, who will then be joined by Wrembel and his band to perform his own gypsy-inspired works along with those of French jazz legend Django Reinhardt. Wrembel, whose music is steeped in the gypsy tradition, is best known for his theme track to Woody Allen's "Vicky Cristina Barcelona" and is heard on the soundtrack to Allen's recently released film "Midnight in Paris."

Each summer The Bridgehampton Chamber Music Festival has presented world-class musicians in inventive programs that offer an engaging mix of classical masterworks, lesser-known works, and commissions.

Founded by flutist Marya Martin in 1984 as a two-concert series, the Festival now spans four weeks and presents twelve concerts. Each year musicians and audiences return to the intimate sanctuary of the Bridgehampton Presbyterian Church to experience the exhilarating music-making that is created by friends collaborating amidst the beautiful surroundings of Long Island's East End. In addition to its programs in the Church, the Festival includes a a Benefit Concert at The Atlantic Golf Club, the Wm. Brian Little Concert at the Channing Sculpture Garden, and a free outdoor concert at the Bridgehampton Historical Society. In 2006, the Festival introduced a new music series called BCMF: offbeat which has become a regular feature of the Festival. All Church performances at the Bridgehampton Chamber Music Festival are recorded for later broadcast on American Public Radio's Performance Today.

Violinist Ani Kavafian, cellist Fred Sherry, and pianist André-Michel Schub joined Marya Martin, flutist and Artistic Director for the Festival's first season. Now in its 28th year, the Festival welcomes back many artists from years past along with emerging chamber musicians to create, in founder Marya Martin's words, "the electricity of good friends making music together." Other artists have included violinists Pamela Frank, Mark O'Connor, Adela Pena, Martin Beaver, Todd Phillips, and Soovin Kim; the violists Cynthia Phelps, Michael Tree, Lawrence Dutton, and Misha Amory; cellists Edward Arron, Carter Brey, Timothy Eddy, Clive Greensmith, and Peter Wiley; bassist Edgar Meyer; pianists Jeremy Denk, Claude Frank, Joyce Yang, Ursula Oppens, and Pablo Ziegler; harpsichordist Kenneth Cooper; the late flutist, Jean-Pierre Rampal; oboist John Snow; clarinetists Anthony McGill and Stephen Williamson; and Tony-award winning singers Audra McDonald and Victoria Clark.

Committed to presenting a wide variety of music with emphasis on American composers, the Bridgehampton Chamber Music Festival blends masterworks of the chamber repertoire with less familiar works by composers of all periods. Commissions have included works by Bruce Adolphe, Kenji Bunch, Bruce MacCombie, Mark O'Connor, Ned Rorem, and 2004 Pulitzer Prize-winner Paul Moravec. American composers whose music has been featured by Bridgehampton Chamber Music include Amy Beach, Robert Beaser, Derek Bermel, Leonard Bernstein, William Bolcom, George Crumb, John Corigliano, Henry Cowell, David Del Tredici, David Diamond, Eric Ewazen, Arthur Foote, Lukas Foss, Philip Glass, Lou Harrison, Phil Kline, Jonathan Kramer, Marc Mellits, Edgar Meyer, Quincy Porter, Kevin Puts, Steve Reich, George Rochberg, Peter Schickele, Roberto Sierra, Paul Schoenfield, William Schuman, Frederic Rzewski, Evan Ziporyn and Ellen Taaffe Zwilich.

In 1991, Bridgehampton Chamber Music released its debut recording, featuring one of the Rorem commissions, on the New World Records label. The Festival documented their landmark 20th Anniversary with a recording released in the summer of 2003 to much critical acclaim. A recording celebrating the Festival's 25th Anniversary and featuring commissions by Paul Moravec was released to critical acclaim on the Naxos label in September 2008.

Marya Martin, is the Artistic Director and Flutist. The breadth of flutist Martin's musical career is remarkable. She gracefully balances the roles of chamber musician, festival director, soloist, teacher, and supporter of musical institutions. In 1984, Martin founded the Bridgehampton Chamber Music Festival, to offer distinctive programs in the intimate settings most appropriate for chamber music. Martin studied with Jean-Pierre Rampal and James Galway and has appeared as soloist with the St. Louis, Seattle, and New Zealand Symphony Orchestras, the Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra, and the Brandenburg Ensemble, among others. In 1983 she toured her homeland of New Zealand performing duo concertos with Galway. Martin has performed worldwide in major venues in cities such as London, Paris and Sydney, and in her homeland of New Zealand. A prominent figure in the field of chamber music, Martin has appeared with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Chamber Music at the 92nd Street Y and Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, as well as Music at Angel Fire and the New World, Bravo! Vail, and Caramoor Music Festivals.

Martin was a top prize winner in the Walter W. Naumburg Competition, the Munich Competition, the Jean-Pierre Rampal International Competition, the Concert Artists Guild Competition and the Young Concert Artists International Auditions. She has recorded for Albany Records, Arabesque, Kiwi-Pacific Records, Musical Heritage Society, Naxos, New World Records, Orion Master Recordings and Well-Tempered Productions.

Dedicated to the new generation of musicians, Martin is on the faculty of the Manhattan School of Music and has given master classes at leading universities throughout the United States and New Zealand. In 2005, she traveled to New Zealand to perform and give master classes, as well as receive the Distinguished Alumni Award from the University of Auckland. Martin has most recently collaborated with Meet the Composer on a project where she commissioned, performed and recorded eight works for flute and piano. These works were published by Theodore Presser Company in a single volume entitled "Eight Visions," and released worldwide on the Naxos label. A new release - "Marya Martin Plays Eric Ewazen" - is available worldwide on May 1 on Albany Records.