SKANEATELES – Celebrating its 42nd season, the Skaneateles Festival is proud to come together and offer an exhilarating program of concerts.

What started as a local adoration of music has grown into a thriving festival attracting world-class musicians and music lovers from all over the world.

Each member of the family will find something to love; from sipping wine while listening to jazz in the vineyards, to listening to an exclusive lecture series by Professor Julliard, Aaron Wunsch.

The Dover Quartet will kick off the festival’s concert season on Thursday August 12 at the West End Theater in Auburn.

In demand everywhere, the Dover Quartet is “the young American string quartet of the moment” (New Yorker). The Dover Quartet catapulted to international stardom in 2013, following an impressive string of Banff Competition awards, and has since grown into one of the world’s most in-demand ensembles. This first Skaneateles festival is sold out in seats A and the number of tickets remaining in seats B for the Dover Quartet is limited. All live concerts start at 8 p.m. and last 90 minutes with no intermission. For performances at the West End Theater, doors will open at 7:30 p.m.

Week one of the festival will also feature the Bill Charlap Trio, which will perform on Friday and Saturday August 13th and 14th outdoors at the Robinson Pavilion located at Anyela’s Vineyards.

Grammy Award-winning pianist Bill Charlap has performed and recorded with many prominent artists of our time, ranging from jazz master Wynton Marsalis to vocalists Tony Bennett and Barbra Streisand.

Since 1997 he has directed the Bill Charlap Trio with bassist Peter Washington and drummer Kenny Washington, having been recognized as one of the flagship groups in jazz. “As a unit it has to be one of the best piano trios of all time, and certainly as instantly recognizable as any of its great predecessors” (The Guardian).

The public is invited to arrive as early as 6 p.m. and bring picnics to enjoy on the lawn overlooking the incredible view of the lake. Wine and beer will be available for purchase at Anyela’s Vineyards; outside alcohol is not allowed.

In the event of inclement weather, the Friday and Saturday concerts will be moved to the West End Theater. Venue changes will be notified in advance to all affected ticket holders.

This year’s virtual educational course, SkanFest U, has started. The series is hosted on Zoom and the first session took place on Tuesday August 3.

The remaining sessions include August 10, 17 and 24. The series costs $ 40 per ticket and is free for season pass holders.

Each session is saved for later viewing if you still wish to register or if you cannot attend a session. Artistic Director Aaron Wunsch will offer knowledge and insight into the history, listening and development of musical skills.

The theme of the lecture series this year is “Voices Unheard: Music at the Margins”.

Discover under-represented musicians and composers, listen to exclusive performances, and engage in conversations with festival artists as you immerse yourself in the music that will be performed this season.

The festival recently updated its COVID-19 protocols in response to the spread of the Delta variant and recommendations provided by the CDC.

The festival requires that all participants be fully immunized.

For outdoor concerts, masks must be worn in-line and can be removed while seated. For indoor concerts, the festival requires that a mask be worn at all times, regardless of vaccination status.

Children under 18 are requested to wear a mask at all times throughout the festival. The festival runs all concerts at around 50% capacity to make room for social distancing between the parties.

Tickets are on sale now and available for purchase on the Skaneateles festival website skanfest.org or by calling the box office at 315-685-7418.