The Kingston Chamber Music Festival (KCMF) will celebrate its 35th season this summer. The two-week festival brings renowned musicians together with young, rising artists to perform seven exciting concerts in Edwards Auditorium at the University of Rhode Island. KCMF also presents special concerts and events in varied settings throughout the year.

In our programming, Ms. Zhu matches the musicians to the music they perform making each concert a delight for the musicians to play and a thrill for the audience to hear. She has collaborated with other festivals to commission new works, some of which have received their world premieres at KCMF.

The Kingston Chamber Music Festival is an independent, non-profit corporation overseen by a volunteer board and paid Executive Director.

The first Kingston Chamber Music Festival was held in the summer of 1989 – the brainchild of violinist David Kim. Then University of Rhode Island President Edward Eddy and Professor Richard Gelles were instrumental in the Festival’s founding launching a close and continuing association with URI. Pianist Natalie Zhu succeeded Kim as Artistic Director in 2009.

The Kingston Chamber Music Festival has welcomed hundreds of musicians from around the world, among them violinists Hilary Hahn, Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg and Sarah Chang, and pianists Gary Graffman, Andrew Litton and Ignat Solzhenitsyn.

KCMF is always exploring innovative ways to enhance listeners’ experience of music. Open rehearsals and pre- and post-concert discussions with the musicians are popular with the audience and mainstays of our performances.

As part of its community building approach to musical performance, KCMF annually awards scholarships to promising music students at the University of Rhode Island. We also present master classes to aspiring music students. Our Education Program supports local string programs.

OUR 35TH YEAR

Dates for this year’s festival are July 26 – August 6. The festival will include seven subscription concerts. While URI Fine Arts Center is being renovated, concerts will take place at either URI’s Edwards Auditorium or the Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd in Kingston, RI.

Details on ticketing will be available on May 15, 2023.