Musicians revive NH Music Festival, with performances starting July 10

PLYMOUTH — Were Mark Twain a member of the New Hampshire Music Festival, he might have said the rumors of the organization’s death have been greatly exaggerated.

The festival, which has a 71-year history of bringing professional classical musicians together for performances in the Lakes Region, lives on despite reports earlier this year there would be no festival in 2023.

Since those reports, which were sent to festival supporters in an email Jan. 27, a new management structure has been created, and tickets are now on sale for the 16 performances packed into a three-week period starting Monday, July 10. This year’s festival, which includes six free performances, will see a broader geographic footprint than in recent years, which is reflective of the goals of a new management structure.

“One of our goals, from early on, was to branch out more and reach more communities in New Hampshire. The last few years we’ve been primarily in Plymouth,” said Joe Higgins, part of the executive team of the group known as The Musicians of the New Hampshire Music Festival. He said the motivation behind branching out was “to bring more people in, to cast a wider net, to get good classical music out to the wider community.”

The calendar of performances this year reflects Plymouth as the home base for the festival, but also includes dates in Lebanon, Gilford and Waterville Valley, as well as free shows at the Taylor Community in Laconia and at West Rattlesnake Mountain in Holderness.

The 2023 calendar, put together on a shortened timeline, focuses on orchestral and chamber music. There aren’t any chorus performances this year, but Higgins and Tido Janssen, also on the executive team, said intentions are for chorus to return in subsequent years.

Mid-winter drama

The Musicians stepped up in January, after there were reports the festival wouldn’t only take a hiatus, but was dissolving. The festival’s prior executive director, Lucinda Williams, had stepped down in September, and the organization had gone for months without someone in the leadership position. At the time, adverse financial circumstances were cited as the reason why a festival couldn’t be held in 2023.

As Janssen described, the musicians presented a proposal to the board of directors that included a flexible plan for this year.

“The proposal not only included plans for performances of a three-week festival, but also required changes to the organizational structure of the festival, inviting more community members and musicians with leadership skills onto the board and accepting musicians as management of the festival,” Janssen said. “The majority of the board was cautiously optimistic about the plans and then supported the musicians more and more enthusiastically the longer we worked together on implementing these plans.”

The festival is currently managed by a structure that calls for nine teams of musicians and community members, steering various aspects of the festival, with two executive co-directors providing oversight and coordination.

“This is a significant structural change with more musicians on the board and in leadership positions. We have two musician volunteer co-executive directors,” Janssen said. “Musicians and community volunteers have taken over the responsibilities of fundraising, programming, hiring, publicity, concert operations, housing, music library, and other duties. We have retained our general manager on a part-time basis and have recently been able to hire an assistant manager for additional help.”

The next movement

The developments over the past several months add up to something significant: optimism for the festival's future, according to Higgins.

“Currently, everyone involved in the organization of the festival for this summer and hundreds of our energized supporters are expecting that the festival will have a future,” Higgins said. “The musicians and the community volunteers who have created this season have a vested interest in seeing the festival continue with a long and bright future ahead. We are branching out to other parts of the state in order to bring high-quality classical music to more regions.”

Once this season has concluded, Higgins anticipates the festival being in a better position than it has been in decades. He said the season’s fundraising and ticket sales should put the festival in a strong financial position, and the management team will use this season as a starting point, with adjustments made to become more effective for seasons to come.

Had the festival fizzled, Higgins said it would have been an economic and cultural loss for the region, as well as an emotional wound for the musicians.

“The New Hampshire Music Festival is a community, a family of musicians and supporters who value live orchestral and chamber music. We have a long history together with a deep, very unique sense of community,” Higgins said.

For a full schedule of performances, visit nhmf.org.

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