YEAR IN REVIEW

SEPTEMBER 2021–AUGUST 2022 by the numbers

The opening of the 2021-22 Season was less than two months after reopening from the pandemic and included an unprecedented three weeks of the 40th Annual Rockport Chamber Music Festival (RCMF), as well as the 40th Anniversary Gala (which was highlighted in our 2021 Annual Report). When planning for the Festival during the pandemic, no one knew what month concert venues would be allowed to reopen, so we decided to mitigate the risk of cancellations by placing the Festival over three months.

In late September 2021, we returned to full-capacity concerts and had a tremendous response to live music by our patrons. That fall, we hosted such greats as mandolinist Chris Thile, vocalist Suzanne Vega, jazz vocalist Lisa Fischer and The Moody Blues' Justin Hayward on our stage. In our classical series, we had the return of the incredible male a cappella ensemble Chanticleer, as well as the jaw-dropping pianistic exploits of Charlie Albright. The holiday season brought much cheer with the beloved presentation of Messiah by the Handel+Haydn Society, performed for the first time in the Shalin Liu Performance Center instead of the Congregational Church. We were able to present all of our holiday presentations just before the Omicron variant surged, forcing us to cancel performances through early February to ensure the safety of patrons. When we reopened, we were back to a regular schedule of concerts and on-screen events, including jazz vocalist Stacey Kent, ukulele superstar Jake Shimabukuro and folk hero Judy Collins.

CONCERTS & EVENTS 2021–2022

118 CONCERTS HD BROADCASTS FESTIVALS

30 3

33,259

TOTAL TICKETS

On June 11, 2022, the 41st Rockport Chamber Music Festival opened. It felt like a true celebration after the pandemic. Opening Night featured a star-studded chamber orchestra bringing the glorious sounds of Elgar’s Serenade for Strings and an orchestral arrangement of Schubert’s Death and the Maiden. The Festival featured the Zukerman Trio, violinist Ray Chen, pianist Kirill Gerstein and many more. The Festival brought two world premieres: one by double bassist Xavier Foley and the other by Lei Liang performed by Wu Man and Hsin-Yun Huang. It also featured the New England premiere of Dido Reimagined performed by the Brentano Quartet and mezzo-soprano Dawn Upshaw. The Festival closed with a grand, celebratory performance of Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue featuring trumpeterJens Lindemann and pianist Stewart Goodyear, along with a spectacular jazz orchestra.