What are the best classical music festivals this summer?

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By Jacob Stockinger

Memorial Day 2024 will be celebrated his weekend.

In addition to remembering veterans, the holiday is the unofficial start of summer in the U.S. and brings picnics, barbecues, camping and travels.

It also brings music festivals of all kinds — pop, rock, jazz, folk, blues, ethnic and hip-hop.

So this weekend seems like a good time to pass along dozens of recommendations for major classical music festivals that you can attend in the U.S., the UK, Canada and Europe. Many of them are held outdoors — in tents, amphitheaters, sheds, bowls and shells at the summer residencies of major arts organizations such as symphony orchestras. (Below is the Tahoe Pavilion in Nevada.)

Curiously, I have not seen any classical music festivals listed for Asia, which has been experiencing a renaissance in performing and listening to Western classical music — especially in China, Taiwan, Japan and South Korea.

Anyway, here are links to the stories about summer festivals that were selected by critics for classical-music.com thanks to the BBCMusic Magazine.

Even if you can’t attend them it can be a lot of vicarious fun to check them out — much like reading cookbooks, recipes and travelogues. 

It can be very  informative to check out the genres (chamber music, orchestra and opera; old music and new), the programs, the composers and the performers as well as the venues — especially since the listings have many links that take you to more details and YouTube videos about those same items. (Below is a photo by Zach Mahone of the outdoor concert venue in Vail, Colorado)

In the United States and Canada:

https://www.classical-music.com/live-music/best-classical-music-festivals-in-usa-and-canada

In the UK including Great Britain, Australia and New Zealand:

https://www.classical-music.com/live-music/uks-best-classical-music-festivals

In Europe (see the YouTube trailer for the Edinburgh International Festival 2023 at the bottom):

https://www.classical-music.com/live-music/best-classical-music-festivals-europe-2024

And don’t forget the check out local festivals that don’t usually get included in national or international listings.

Do you have any festivals — local, regional, national and international — to recommend?

The Ear wants to hear.

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Posted in Classical music, Music
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