Artistic Director Manuel Bagorro of Bay Chamber Concerts in Rockport is shaking things up at the venerable organization with a robust summer concert series that is attracting attention from residents and visitors in the Midcoast Maine area and farther afield. Bay Chamber Concert’s 2013 Summer Concert Series and Summer Festival feature 95 artists, in 35 performances over 56 days.

The summer series of concerts on Thursday and Friday nights begins on Thursday July 11^th and concludes August 30th with A Late Summer Soirée, a 60-minute program with The Declassified at the newly renovated Union Hall in Rockport. From August 14 to 18, a new Bay Chamber Concerts Festival will take place, transforming venues and streets in Rockport and Camden into a bustling arena of family-friendly, hands-on music and live performance.

“One of the things that is striking about this summer’s concert program is that it includes more new music than ever before, played by groups that are forging reputations for championing contemporary repertoire and establishing chamber music as a dynamic and unapologetic 21^st century art form” said Bagorro.

A highly respected international innovator in the area of concert programming, with personal relationships with many of the country’s most acclaimed chamber musicians and ensembles, Bagorro has re-imagined the style, content and structure of the summer program without losing the core tenet of excellence in musicianship and performance ability. The 2013 program juxtaposes the musical innovation of NOW with revered works of standard repertoire and gives Midcoast Maine audiences a unique opportunity to hear classical music’s hottest names.

Opening the summer season is a concert with “Brooklyn Rider” on Thursday, July 11 which includes quartets by Mozart and Bartok as well as new works by the group’s violinist Colin Jacobsen. The virtuosic Bridget Kibbey, a close friend of Bagorro’s and intrepid collaborator, performs the following day, first, in her solo Music Box program of all newly commissioned works, followed later the same evening by an eclectic program with Brooklyn Rider.

Bagorro clearly believes that Chamber Music is not only about classical music in concert halls and his summer program includes jazz saxophonist Bill McHenry’s quartet performing at Rockport Marine Park as well as the GRAMMY award winning Afro-Latin outfit, Arturo O’Farrills’ Orchestra performing at the Camden Opera House on the first night of the Festival, August 14th.

Masterworks by composing giants featured  

Two programs of baroque repertoire include works by JS Bach, including his esteemed Brandenburg Concerto No. 3; two of Mozart’s best known string quartets, his Kegelstatt Trio and E-Flat Major Quintet for Piano and Winds are included in the season along with two of Beethoven’s Opus 59 “Rasumovsky” Quartets, and his luminous Septet Opus 20; works by Schubert include his Piano Trio in E-Flat Major, Trout Quintet, Quartettsatz in C Minor, and String Quartet No. 14 “Death and the Maiden." Works by Brahms also infuse the luscious summer program with performances of his Clarinet Quintet in B Minor, Violin Sonata in D Minor, Clarinet Sonata in F Minor, and Cello Sonata in E Minor. Bay Chamber Concerts is marking the 50^th anniversary of Francis Poulenc’s death with performances of his Trio for Oboe Bassoon and Piano, Sonata for Clarinet and Bassoon, Sextet for Piano and Wind Quintet and a full performance of his emotionally charged opera for soprano and orchestra, La Voix Humaine.

Other familiar gems dot Bagorro’s highly engaging program, including performances of Mendelssohn’s Octet, Barber’s Adagio for Strings and Elgar’s Piano Quintet in A Minor, in which Bagorro, an noted pianist, will make his performance debut at Bay Chamber Concerts.

“I wanted my first summer program to be a multi-course banquet with the refinement and reassurance of classic dishes placed alongside the sensory stimulation of newly created delights–my feeling is that the experience of both familiar repertoire and new music is improved by placing them alongside each other in a summer program that truly offers a range of diverse musical experiences," Bagarro said.

Bay Chamber Concerts 2013 Summer Concert Series and Festival: 95 artists, 35 performances over 56 days; a joyous celebration of great artistry and great music. Full information about the Bay Chamber Summer Concert Series and Festival as well as the Bay Chamber Music School at www.baychamberconcerts.org.