New Town Tunes
This popular outdoor series in Sullivan Square behind Legacy Hall will feature Hangar 09 (classic rock) and The Connection (blues, rock folk) on Sept. 10; Cody Christian (classic rock) and Cawson’s Coup (rock, blues, country folk) on Sept. 17; and One Irish Rover Band — Van Morrison Tribute Band — on Sept. 24.
All shows are Wednesdays from 5 to 8 p.m. and free and open to the public. Bring lawn chairs and blankets and even doggies. Food trucks and craft beer available for purchase.
Chamber Music Society of Williamsburg
The Chamber Music Society of Williamsburg opens its new season in a new location. The Sept. 16 performance by the Isidore String Quartet will take place in the Hennage Auditorium, located in the Art Museums of Colonial Williamsburg.
The program starts at 7:30 p.m., as always. The seating is different and there are only two aisles, but the views are all good.
As of this Arts Notes, the program for this event has not yet been released. But, a program in Charlottesville on Oct. 7 finds works by Haydn, Brahms and Dvořák. The ensemble is also reported to be a fan of Billy Childs, considered one of today’s top American composers, jazz pianists and arrangers.
The Isidore formed in 2019 and quickly began to win awards and grants, allowing them to “revisit, rediscover and reinvigorate the repertory.” The group is also involved in “Project: Music Heals Us,” which provides music to such communities as the disabled, elderly and homeless.
The 2025-26 season also features the highly esteemed Weiss Kaplan Stumpf Trio (Oct. 21); the Ying Quartet that performs in diverse settings to reach newer audiences (Nov. 18); the WindSync, a wind quintet that prides itself in playing from memory (Feb. 10); the well-established Borromeo String Quartet (March 17); and the all-female quintet Seraph Brass (April 7).
For information, visit chambermusicwilliamsburg.org.
Tidewater Classic Guitar
Tidewater Classis Guitar has been serving this area since 1987 and features many of the top guitarists in the world. Its 2025-26 season begins Sept. 18 in the Williamsburg Regional Library Theatre, featuring Leonela Alejandro. The show starts at 7:30 p.m.
Alejandro was the 2024 winner of the Guitar Foundation of America International Concert Artist Competition and offers acclaimed artistry, energy and stage presence. Having earned significant top prizes in international competitions, she is called “one of the most exciting young guitarists of her generation.”
For tickets, visit tidewaterclassicalguitar.org/tickets.
William & Mary Presents!
This series presents the JazzReach/Metta Quintet at 7:30 p.m. on Sept. 19 and a master class the following day at 10 a.m. Both performances are free, in the Concert Hall at William & Mary’s Music Arts Center.
The Metta Quintet, with more than 25 years of performances, showcases top jazz artists who are dedicated to innovation, education and community. The program, “Ellington,” is called “a highly engaging, interactive live multi-media program that aims to illuminate the rich, vital legacy of the great American composer, pianist and bandleader, Duke Ellington.”
On Sept. 24, the world-acclaimed 19-time Grammy winner Béla Fleck teams up with harpist Edmar Castañeda and drummer Antonio Sanchez for a program that, according to media reports, “is rich with strong melodies, gorgeous harmony and grooves that twist and turn while feeling fantastic.”
The series takes place in Phi Beta Kappa Hall’s Glenn Close Theatre. Tickets are available at wm.universitytickets.com/w/event.aspx?id=1728.
Williamsburg Symphony Orchestra
The WSO and Michael Butterman open the music season with a powerful and passionate program at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 23 in the Williamsburg Community Chapel.
Titled “Prokofiev: Passion & Power,” the program is all Prokofiev, a brilliant composer who painted vivid tonal pictures. The evening’s music allows a sweeping look at that compelling quality.
The fare opens with the whimsical “Suite from ‘Lieutenant Kijé’” originally written as a film score. The Suite pulls together elements of the film score and provides a witty, thoughtful and melodious listening tale that makes it one of his most popular works.
His Piano Concerto No. 3 is a dynamite, thrilling composition. Opening with a brief haunting theme, it quickly jumps into an electric display of piano virtuoso magnificence. It leads into an expressive theme and variations that, like the first movement, explodes into pyrotechnic playing, tempered with moments of meditative pause. It closes with more wild playing and some of Prokofiev’s remarkably sweeping, emotional moments. The final segment is hair raising.
The challenge for any pianist is to do justice to this piece. Handling that challenge will be Natasha Paremski. Known for her technical skills, interpretative capabilities, power and wide-ranging sense of musicianship, Paremski has performed throughout the world with major orchestras and conductors. She’s a significant force and should provide multidimensional listening pleasure.
The program closes with one of the most sumptuous ballet scores, his “Suite from ‘Romeo and Juliet.’” It’s exquisite, poignant, romantic and oozes with emotion. You’ll find yourself mentally choreographing the ballet or experiencing the play, such is the pin-point accuracy of Prokofiev’s rendering. This is a work that never, ever fails to capture the ear and imagination.
A pre-concert talk with Butterman and quite likely Paremski takes place from 6:30 to 7 p.m. For tickets, visit williamsburgsymphony.org.
William & Mary Arts Quarter
This W&M series opens the season with the Galan Trio at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 27 in the Concert Hall. Galan is a trio of piano, violin and cello, focusing on contemporary music. The group’s program, “Kinesis,” is best described by press material that states: “The project draws from a collaboration between Galan Trio and professors of composition from selected U.S. universities, and from the notion of Kinesis … an undirected movement of a cell, organism, or part, in response to an external stimulus. In Greek, Kinesis means movement, motion … and is what all musicians worldwide have desired during the last couple of years.”
The show is free but seats can be reserved by visiting wm.universitytickets.com/w/event.aspx?id=1734.
Have information about the arts in the Historic Triangle? Contact John Shulson at johnshulson@gmail.com.
