A World of Romance - Photo Credit: Portland Chamber of Music Festival

A World of Romance

Celebrate opening night of one of Portland’s most beloved summer traditions, bringing internationally acclaimed chamber musicians to Maine! Showcasing the enchanting romance of this powerfully intimate art form, this heartfelt program opens with a pair of reflective works by female composers written a century apart, and a masterfully crafted trio by Brahms. Topping off the evening is Dvořák’s sunny, spontaneous String Sextet.

Events > A World of Romance
Stevens Square Theater
631 Stevens Avenue
Portland, Maine 04103 United States
About the Event
Presented by
Portland Chamber Music Festival
(800) 320-0257
August 14, 2025

7:30 PM

A world of Romanticism awaits in this glorious program, opening with a pair of reflective works written a century apart. Amy Beach’s Romance was composed for the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair, which devoted a portion of its show to women composers. Jamaican-born Eleanor Alberga describes her Lullaby as “a kind of acknowledgement of my European heritage and a realisation that two World Wars are part of my history also.” Despite the small ensemble size, Brahms‘s trio is a supremely musical epic, masterfully crafted in an exquisite setting with viola taking the traditional clarinet role. The program concludes with Dvořák’s sunny, spontaneous String Sextet, about which one of his contemporaries wrote, “God himself must have been walking the Czech Lands when his humble servant bequeathed to us a work of such excellence and sanctity.”

PROGRAM Amy Beach Romance, Op. 23 Eleanor Alberga No-Man’s-Land Lullaby​ Johannes Brahms Clarinet (Viola) Trio, Op. 114 Antonin Dvořák String Sextet, Op. 48 ARTISTS David Bowlin, Amy Schwartz Moretti, Tai Murray, violins; Marcus Thompson, Melissa Reardon, violas; Brant Taylor, Raman Ramakrishnan, cellos; Henry Kramer, piano

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