Announcing the 2025 Cape Cod Chamber Music Festival

The Cape Cod Chamber Music Festival today announced the 2025 summer concert season, running from July 29 to August 22, 2025. The Festival will present ten live performances in five venues across Cape Cod. The season begins with a free community concert by Genghis Barbie, the all-female horn experience, open to all on July 29 at 5:30 PM at the Federated Church of Hyannis, 320 Main Street, Hyannis.

The 2025 summer concerts include the return of two popular award-winning ensembles, the Claremont Trio at the Cotuit Center for the Arts and the Parker Quartet in Chatham, as well as the debut of the GRAMMY® Award-winning Catalyst Quartet in Falmouth and Wellfleet. Two-time GRAMMY® Award nominee violinist Jennifer Frautschi joins Cape Cod Chamber Music Festival Artistic Directors Jon Manasse, clarinetist, and Jon Nakamatsu, pianist, for a concert in Chatham, and the three will also perform in Wellfleet with other “New York All-Stars.”

The Festival features a night of jazz at the Cotuit Center for the Arts, led by Dan Block, faculty member of the Juilliard Jazz Studies program, performing music from Count Basie and Gerry Mulligan, among others. And several other talented artists, including Jon Manasse’s clarinetist son Alec Manasse, join Manasse and Nakamatsu for the final two concerts of the series, held in Falmouth and Wellfleet.

“It’s a joy to be a part of the Cape Cod Chamber Music Festival,” said Artistic Director Manasse, principal clarinetist of the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, the American Ballet Theater Orchestra, and the Festival Orchestra of Lincoln Center. “We’re excited about this year’s program and look forward to bringing so many talented artists to the Cape.”

Artistic Director Nakamatsu, winner of the Gold Medal at the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition and frequent guest artist with the Cape Symphony, said, “Jon and I are devoted to the Cape Cod Chamber Music Festival because we get to present amazing talent to this community. Plus, we get to spend time on the Cape and perform as well!”

On Sunday, August 10 at 5:00 PM, the Cape Cod Chamber Music Festival Benefit will take place at the Belmont Beach Club in West Harwich. This special gathering with Festival friends and musicians will include performances by Manasse and Nakamatsu.

New Executive Director Andrea Meagher said, “The Cape Cod Chamber Music Festival plays an important role in the cultural community here every summer, and we look forward to welcoming returning and new fans.” A cellist in the Cape Symphony for many years, Meagher moved over to the administrative side of the organization in 2018. As Artistic Administrator, she worked alongside Artistic Director and Conductor Jung-Ho Pak to create complex shows that featured artists from around the world. “I’m thrilled to join the organization as we continue the tradition of bringing world-class music to Cape Cod,” said Meagher. A long-time advocate for the arts, Meagher is committed to creating collaborations and partnerships for the Cape Cod Chamber Music Festival within the arts and business communities on Cape Cod.

“I’m especially excited about our free community concert on July 29,” added Meagher. “One of the keys to our mission is to provide access to musical experiences that would otherwise be out of reach for many. And I’m thrilled that we’re able to present a show in downtown Hyannis for the first time.”

All events begin at 5:30 PM. Performances are approximately 75 minutes in length with no intermission. The complete schedule is below and available at capecodchambermusic.org.

Downtown with Genghis Barbie: The All-Female Horn Experience

A Free Community Concert
Tuesday, July 29, 2025 at 5:30 PM
Federated Church of Hyannis, 320 Main Street, Hyannis

Genghis Barbie

Alana Vegter: “Freedom Barbie”

Danielle Kuhlmann: “Velvet Barbie”

Julie Thayer: “Tiger Barbie”

Rachel Drehmann: “Attila the Horn”

An evening of music by everyone from Georges Bizet to Lady Gaga! Genghis Barbie performs arrangements of pop music from all eras, contemporary commissions, and classical works. The French horn quartet is described as the most versatile and expansive group on New York City’s classical/pop/rock/jazz/indie/alternative/punk/electro-acoustic scene. And they sing, too!

Genghis Barbie was conceived in a unique moment of ingenuity when Freedom Barbie, Tiger Barbie, Velvet Barbie, and Attila the Horn converged and vowed to create distinctive, interactive, and personal performances. Balancing individual careers in symphony orchestras in addition to their busy New York City performing schedule, the ladies of Genghis Barbie have performed at multiple International Horn Society Symposiums, premiered a solo commission at Carnegie Hall, and appeared on “America's Got Talent.”                      

The Cape Cod Chamber Music Festival will present this concert free to the community. All are welcome.

Popular Demand: The Return of the Claremont Trio

Tuesday, August 5, 2025 at 5:30 PM

Cotuit Center for the Arts, 4404 Falmouth Road, Cotuit

Claremont Trio

Emily Bruskin, violin

Julia Bruskin, cello

Sophiko Simsive, piano

Returning to the Cape Cod Chamber Music Festival by popular demand, the award-winning Claremont Trio originally formed in 1999 at The Juilliard School, but twin sisters Emily and Julia Bruskin grew up playing together in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Pianist Sophiko Simsive recently joined them and the three women of the Claremont Trio, named after Claremont Avenue in New York City, continue to have remarkable success with their thrillingly virtuosic and richly communicative performances. Strad Magazine said, “The Claremont Trio can justifiably be considered one of America’s finest young chamber groups.”

The Claremont Trio commissioned Syrian composer Kinan Azmeh to create his new piece Gravitas and will premiere the work at festivals across the US this year, including ours! The program also includes works by Gabriel Fauré and Johannes Brahms.

Unity Through Music: We are the Catalyst
Thursday, August 7, 2025 at 5:30 PM
Simon Center for the Arts, Falmouth Academy, 7 Highfield Drive, Falmouth

Friday, August 8, 2025 at 5:30 PM
First Congregational Church of Wellfleet, 200 Main Street, Wellfleet

Catalyst Quartet

Abi Fayette, violin

Karla Donehew Perez, violin

Paul Laraia, viola

Karlos Rodriguez, cello

The young stars of the Grammy® Award-winning Catalyst Quartet make their debut with the Cape Cod Chamber Music Festival! Together, they believe in the unity that can be achieved through music and imagine their programs and projects with this in mind, redefining and reimagining the classical music experience. Hailed by The New York Times at its Carnegie Hall debut as “invariably energetic and finely burnished… playing with earthy vigor,” the Catalyst Quartet will perform a fascinating mix of an American standard orchestrated by a contemporary Japanese composer, Toru Takemitsu, a recent Cuban triptych by a young prize-winning composer, Jorge Amado Molina, and Ludwig van Beethoven’s emotional String Quartet in A Minor.

Revelation: The Frautschi-Manasse-Nakamatsu Trio
Monday, August 11, 2025 at 5:30 PM

First Congregational Church of Chatham, 650 Main Street, Chatham

 

Frautschi-Manasse-Nakamatsu Trio

Jennifer Frautschi, violin

Jon Manasse, clarinet

Jon Nakamatsu, piano

Two-time GRAMMY® Award nominee and Avery Fisher career grant recipient Jennifer Frautschi joins Cape Cod Chamber Music Festival Artistic Directors Jon Manasse and Jon Nakamatsu. Jennifer began the violin at age three under the Suzuki Method and performs today on a glorious Antonio Stradivarius violin. Critics have described her performances as “electrifying,” “riveting,” and “mesmerizing.” Together, this trio will present a concert of German, French, and Russian character, with works by Johann Sebastian Bach, Claude Debussy, and Igor Stravinsky, finished off by two spirited American rags originally composed by John Novacek for the Manasse/Nakamatsu Duo and arranged by him for this trio.

Jazz at the Cape Cod Chamber Music Festival: Count Basie Meets Gerry Mulligan
Tuesday, August 12, 2025 at 5:30 PM
Cotuit Center for the Arts, 4404 Falmouth Road, Cotuit

Dan Block, clarinet

Chris Flory, guitar

Lee Hudson, bass

Tom Melito, drums

With special guests Jon and Alec Manasse, clarinet

The Cape Cod Chamber Music Festival features a night of jazz with Dan Block, faculty member of the Juilliard Jazz Studies program, and friends performing music from Count Basie, Gerry Mulligan and more! Selections will be announced from the stage.

While at Juilliard, pursuing a degree in clarinet, Dan Block divided his time between jam sessions in the New York loft scene and playing in the Juilliard Orchestra under the baton of such luminaries as Leonard Bernstein and Zubin Mehta. Block has performed and recorded with outstanding vocalists including Bobby Short, Rosemary Clooney, and Tony Bennett. Special guests Jon and Alec Manasse will join Dan Block for a triple clarinet feature!

Chris Flory played in Scott Hamilton’s quartet, participating in recordings for Concord Jazz and many overseas tours, and played in Benny Goodman’s sextet. Drummer Tom Melito grew up around jazz legends Bobby Hackett, Stan Getz, and Dave McKenna, and went on to study at The Berklee School of Music and to play with some of the greats of jazz. Bassist Lee Hudson played and toured with many musicians including Junior Cook, Dizzy Gillespie, and Charles Davis, and has performed in many major New York jazz clubs including Birdland, Small’s, and The Blue Note.

Music for 6 and 7: Many Instruments, Extraordinary Sounds

Friday, August 15, 2025 at 5:30 PM

First Congregational Church of Wellfleet, 200 Main Street, Wellfleet

 

Manasse/Nakamatsu & the New York All-Stars
Jennifer Frautschi, violin                            Jon Manasse, clarinet

Danielle Farina, viola                                  Kevin Newton, horn

Inbal Segev, cello                                        Cynde Iverson, bassoon

Pawel Knapik, bass                                      Jon Nakamatsu, piano

Artistic Directors Manasse and Nakamatsu bring together several New York artists at the top of their game. Danielle Farina, principal viola of the Cape Symphony, performed at some of the world’s most prestigious venues, including Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall, and performs locally with Giocosa Chamber Music, the Chatham Chorale, and Cosmos Sessions with Cape Symphony concertmaster Jae Cosmos Lee. Israeli-American cellist Inbal Segev came to international attention at age 18 when she made her debuts with both the Berlin Philharmonic and Israel Philharmonic under the baton of Zubin Mehta. 

Pawel Knapik is a Polish-American bassist who performs regularly with preeminent New York City orchestras and has also worked with Paul McCartney, Bono and the Edge, Jennifer Hudson, and Harry Connick, Jr. Kevin Newton is a GRAMMY®-winning horn player, a member of Imani Winds, and a performer in Broadway orchestras, and was a featured artist at the 2024 International Horn Symposium. Cynde Iverson is recognized as one of the finest bassoonists working today; she is principal bassoonist with the Stamford Symphony and New Haven Symphony and a member of the American Ballet Theater Orchestra.

This all-star group performs two Festival favorites, one for six players by Ludwig van Beethoven and the other by Ernst von Dohnányi for seven, which we will highlight for the first time in many years.

Agile Virtuosity: Parker Quartet

Tuesday, August 19, 2025 at 5:30 PM

First Congregational Church of Chatham, 650 Main Street, Chatham

 

Parker Quartet

Daniel Chong, violin

Ken Hamao, violin

Jessica Bodner, viola

Kee-Hyun Kim, cello

The “fearless” GRAMMY® Award-winning Parker Quartet returns to the Cape Cod Chamber Music Festival! The group are protegees of the Festival-favorite Borromeo Quartet. Founded and currently based in Boston (with their name inspired by the Parker House, a Boston historic landmark), the members of the Parker Quartet serve as Professors of the Practice and Blodgett Artists-in-Residence at Harvard University’s Department of Music. They are renowned for their fresh and unique approach to the great classics while being passionate ambassadors for music of our time. Gramophone Magazine called them “a string quartet defined by virtuosity so agile that it’s indistinguishable from the process of emotional expression.” The Parker Quartet will perform works by contemporary composer John Adams, Franz Schubert, and Maurice Ravel.

Phenomenon: Two Manasses, One Nakamatsu & More

Thursday, August 21, 2025 at 5:30 PM 
Simon Center for the Arts, Falmouth Academy, 7 Highfield Drive, Falmouth

 

Friday, August 22, 2025 at 5:30 PM 

First Congregational Church of Wellfleet, 200 Main Street, Wellfleet

Kobi Malkin, violin                                      Pawel Knapik, bass

Grace Park, violin                                        Jon Manasse, clarinet

Danielle Farina, viola                                  Alec Manasse, clarinet

Brook Speltz, cello                                      Jon Nakamatsu, piano

Talented artists join Manasse and Nakamatsu – including Jon’s son Alec Manasse. Clarinetists Jon and Alec will join the string players to perform Bach’s Concerto for Two Violins in D Minor – even though the modern clarinet had not been invented in Bach’s time! The other piece is a worldwide chamber music favorite, Schubert’s Quintet in A Major, known as the “Trout,” for Violin, Viola, Cello, Bass, and Piano.

The New York Times praised award-winning Israeli violinist Kobi Malkin for his "aptly traversed palette of emotions, from languid introspection to fevered intensity with gorgeous tone and an edge-of-seat intensity." Grace Park is an internationally acclaimed violinist who recently gave her debut recital at Carnegie Hall; the San Francisco Chronicle called her “fresh, different, and exhilarating.”

Brook Speltz is the award-winning cellist of the internationally renowned Escher String Quartet and an artist of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center who also performs on extensive tours with the cello rock band Break of Reality. Since completing his master’s degree at The Juilliard School, clarinetist Alec Manasse has enjoyed a lively and varied professional life. Alec plays regularly with many of New York City’s top ensembles, including the Metropolitan Opera, the American Ballet Theater Orchestra, and the American Symphony Orchestra. He also frequently played in the Orchestra of Sweeney Todd on Broadway.

Ticketing Information

All tickets are general admission. Price: $40. Students: $20. Children 14 and under: Free. To purchase tickets, visit capecodchambermusic.org or call 508.247.9400.

The Cape Cod Chamber Music Festival is supported in part by grants from the Chatham, Eastham, Falmouth, Dennis, Orleans, and Wellfleet Cultural Councils, local agencies which are supported by the Mass Cultural Council, a state agency. The Festival is also supported by Cape Cod 5 and South Shore Playhouse Associates/Cape Cod Melody Tent, and by generous individuals and businesses.

For more information on the Cape Cod Chamber Music Festival, please visit capecodchambermusic.org, call 508.247.9400, or email info@capecodchambermusic.org. Follow the Cape Cod Chamber Music Festival on Facebook and Instagram. 

About Cape Cod Chamber Music Festival
Every summer, the Cape Cod Chamber Music Festival presents the finest classical and contemporary chamber music performed by both world-class ensembles and exceptional young emerging artists to Cape Cod audiences. Hailed by the New York Times as “a triumph of quality,” the Festival was founded in 1979 by late pianist Samuel Sanders, a longtime collaborator with Itzhak Perlman. Among today’s most well-known classical musicians, Artistic Directors Jon Manasse and Jon Nakamatsu are dedicated to bringing extraordinary talent and first-rate entertainment to the Cape Cod community.

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