2025-26
Concerts

Enjoy an evening of band repertoire favorites with our Beer City Winds, directed by Dr. Shannon Shaker.The group features local musicians and area Band Directors who come together to create great music in a beautiful space. Concert will include a complementary post concert reception featuring beer from our sponsor, Saugatuck Brewing.

Founded in 2011, The Milk Carton Kids — Joey Ryan and Kenneth Pattengale — swiftly emerged as a major force in the American folk tradition, blending ethereal harmonies and intricate musicianship with a uniquely powerful brand of contemporary songcraft.

Acoustic guitarist Leo Kottke was born in Athens, Georgia, but left town after a year and a half. Raised in 12 different states, he absorbed a variety of musical influences as a child, flirting with both violin and trombone, before abandoning Stravinsky for the guitar at age 11.

Sierra Hull is widely regarded to be a master of her instrument; A two-time Grammy Nominated artist and songwriter, recognized for both her most recent projects, 25 Trips (2020) and Weighted Mind (2016), she is also the 6x recipient of International Bluegrass Music Association’s Mandolin Player of the Year, the first woman to ever receive this distinction.

Grammy Award winning vocalist Catherine Russell is a native New Yorker, born into musical royalty. Her father, the late Luis Russell, was a legendary pianist/composer/bandleader, and Louis Armstrong's long-time musical director. Her mother, Carline Ray, was a pioneering vocalist/guitarist/bassist who performed with International Sweethearts of Rhythm, Mary Lou Williams, and Sy Oliver.

Chris Thile is a multifaceted musical talent and acclaimed Grammy Award-winning mandolinist, singer, songwriter, composer, and MacArthur Fellow recipient of the prestigious “Genius Grant".

Hey Everyone!!! I have a new song, "YouWon’t Dig My Grave", out now. It's the opening track on my pcoming album, I Believe in You, My Honeydew, which is out 9/12. I'm really, really excited about this record.As you can imagine, the Royal City Band and I are really looking forward to hitting the road this November, playing a bunch of these new songs, and a load of other things as well. When a bunch of people partake in music together, the bonds of the material world fray and we can sometimes hear other voices more clearly. Certainly, that’s why I play at all. It is a magical experience and that door stands open to all of us. Come and be a part.- Josh Ritter

Praised for their “virtuosity, visceral expression, and rare unity of intention” (Boston Globe), the Viano Quartet are one of the most sought-after young ensembles today and current members of CMS’s Bowers Program. Since soaring to international acclaim as winners of the 13th Banff International String Quartet Competition, they have performed at major venues across the globe

Yonder Mountain String Band, a driving force in roots music for nearly three decades and a key player in the progressive jamgrass movement, kicks off a new chapter with Nowhere Next. Featuring original songs inspired by lived experiences, people, and places that have shaped them, the album is a mix of bluegrass, indie rock, and country with soulful, funky grooves that call for a good time. Their 11th studio album follows the Grammy-nominated Get Yourself Outside (2022), adding depth and momentum to Yonder’s rich musical legacy.

World-renowned guitarist and vocalist John Pizzarelli has dedicated many of his albums to the great songwriters and performers who have helped to establish the Great American Songbook and the pop music canon: Nat King Cole, Frank Sinatra, Paul McCartney, Richard Rodgers, and Duke Ellington, to name a few. With his new album, Pizzarelli and his remarkable new trio cast a wider net to explore other sources for the most immortal songs of the past century: the Broadway stage and the silver screen.

In celebration of the centennial of John Coltrane and Miles Davis, pianist Emmet Cohen brings together an all-star quintet to explore the fundamental questions that shaped their artistry: Why are we here? What are we reaching for? Where does the music take us? Guided by the spirit of the infinite, Cohen continues the journey set forth by the architects of jazz — seeking deeper truths through sound. A dedicated champion of musical community, Cohen believes in jazz as a living, evolving conversation — one that unites people across time and place. Join Cohen and his ensemble for a bold, reimagined experience of the music that forever changed the course of jazz.

Saxophonist Branford Marsalis is one of the most influential and revered figures in contemporary music. The NEA Jazz Master, Grammy Award winner and Tony Award nominee is equally at home performing concertos with symphony orchestras and sitting in with members of the Grateful Dead, but the core of his musical universe remains the Branford Marsalis Quartet.

There was only one prize-winning teenager carrying stones big enough to say thanks, but no thanks to Roy Acuff. Only one son of Kentucky finding a light of inspiration from Bill Monroe and his Blue Grass Boys and catching a fire from Bob Marley and The Wailers. Only one progressive hippie allying with like-minded conspirators, rolling out the New Grass revolution,and then leaving the genre's torch-bearing band behind as it reached its commercial peak.There is only one consensus pick of peers and predecessors, of the traditionalists, the rebels,and the next gen devotees. Music's ultimate inside outsider. Or is it outside insider? There is only one Sam Bush.

The piano quintet is a powerhouse chamber ensemble, combining the sonic richness of a string quartet with the symphonic aura of grand piano. Inspired by Robert Schumann’s early example, composers from the early Romantic age all the way through the 21st century have contributed significantly to the genre. Russian master Anton Arensky, a teacher of Rachmaninoff, penned his sole quintet in his mature years, and the ever-popular champion of French music Camille Saint-Saëns began his prolific chamber music career with this quintet of surprising skill and maturity. Bracing violin duos by virtuosos of the Baroque and Classical eras serve as effervescent quintet preludes.

The “Schubertiade” was a concert invented during Franz Schubert’s lifetime by his friends, who would gather for long evenings to enjoy their favorite composer’s music. Join us for our season-closing Schubertiade exploring Schubert in three settings: his inimitable four-hand piano music, his virtuosic vein with a violin-and-piano showpiece, and his profound statements in the epic Trio in E-flat major, which took the genre to unparalleled levels of complexity and emotional intensity.