Mark Gresham | 28 NOV 2022
Amelia Island is the northernmost of the barrier islands along Florida’s Atlantic coast and the southernmost of the Sea Islands chain stretching up through Georgia into South Carolina.
It’s about a six-hour drive southeast of Atlanta, depending on which of several routes you take; 360 miles if you take the expressway to Savannah, turn south onto I-95, then get off in Florida at US 17 for the final leg of the trip through Becker and Yulee. Crossing over the marshlands surrounding it, you arrive on Amelia Island.
There is where you will find the Amelia Island Chamber Music Festival, which takes place each year during the winter months and spans on into spring. The Festival’s 22nd season of concerts begins on January 13, 2023, with a concert by the Dover Quartet and concludes with a free community concert by Lisa Kelly & JB Scott Jazz Sextet. A week-long educational event, the Christopher Rex Spring Institute, takes place from May 29 through June 3 to wrap up the season.
The Amelia Island Chamber Music Festival is the legacy of Christopher Rex, who founded the Festival in 2001. For over two decades, his passion and enthusiasm helped grow the Festival to the highly acclaimed status it enjoys today. He served as artistic and general director of the Festival until his passing in March 2022.
William Ransom (credit: John Roul)
William Ransom was recently named to succeed Rex as the Festival’s new artistic director. The Mary Emerson Professor of Piano at Emory University, Ransom is the founder and artistic director of the Emory Chamber Music Society of Atlanta, and the artistic director of the Highlands-Cashiers Chamber Music Festival in western North Carolina.
Upon announcing the 2023 Season earlier this month, Ransom said, “I am truly honored to follow in the footsteps of my friend and colleague, Christopher Rex, and to help launch the 22nd Season that reflects Chris’ work and passion. I look forward to personally engaging with the Amelia Island community and helping to inspire a whole new generation of Festival fans.”
The Amelia Island concerts will take place in nearly a dozen different venues around the city of Fernandina Beach. Here is the schedule:
The Amelia Island Chamber Music Festival 2023 Season
- Friday, January 13: Dover Quartet
- Tuesday, January 17: National Philharmonic Orchestra of Ukraine
- Saturday, January 28: Emerson String Quartet, Farewell Tour
- Sunday, February 19: Beethoven & Bluegrass with Mark & Maggie O’Connor and the Vega String Quartet
- Saturday, March 11: Musical Adventures with Babar, Ferdinand & Skywalker
- Friday, March 17: Dover Quartet Master Class
- Saturday, March 18: Dover Quartet & Friends with Roberto Díaz & Elissa Lee Koljonen
- Saturday, April 1: Daniil Trifonov
- Sunday, April 16: Beer & G-Strings: Oslo-e-Mio!
- Friday, April 28: Harlem String Quartet
- Saturday, May 13: Community Concert featuring the Kelly/Scott Jazz Sextet
- May 29 – June 3: Christopher Rex Spring Institute
General ticket sales for the 2023 Festival commenced early last week. Concert venues, programs, dates, and times are subject to change. ■
EXTERNAL LINKS:
- Amelia Island Chamber Music Festival: ameliachambermusic.org
Mark Gresham is publisher and principal writer of EarRelevant. he began writing as a music journalist over 30 years ago, but has been a composer of music much longer than that. He was the winner of an ASCAP/Deems Taylor Award for music journalism in 2003.
RECENT POSTS
In the wake of Hurricane Helene, the Atlanta Symphony delivers poetic Mahler and powerful Shostakovich • 03 Oct 2024
Breaking barriers: flutist Adam Sadberry honors civil rights legacy, brings his powerful music to Spivey Hall • 02 Oct 2024
.png){kind=logo}