PODCAST:

The 2026 Charlottesville Chamber Music Festival is running from September 8-19th in Old Cabell Hall at UVA.

TRANSCRIPT:

Alissa Emond:
You’re listening to WTJU Charlottesville for Arts this week. We spoke with Nathalie Hokinson to learn more about the final shows of the 2026 Chamber Music Festival, running until September 19th.

Natalie Hokansen:
My name is Natalie Hokanson. My official title is Executive Director of the Virginia Chamber Music Foundation, which is the proud presenter of the annual Charlottesville Chamber Music Festival. The festival was founded in 2000 by two Charlottesville natives, violinist Tim Summers and cellist Raphael Bell, who are now professional musicians in their own right. They return home for about two weeks each September, along with their acclaimed colleagues, to perform high-caliber chamber music concerts in and around Charlottesville. We had our first concert on the eighth, and have had several events thus far. And you know, we’re just really looking forward to finishing things out here at the end of this week.

Alissa Emond:
Can you tell us more about these last few performances?

Natalie Hokansen:
Yes, absolutely. So the concert tonight at Eastwood is nearly sold out. If it hasn’t sold out already, I haven’t checked this morning. But we’ll finish the festival at the Paramount with three concerts there, and there are still tickets available for September 17 and 19th. And the concert on the 18th is our free lunchtime community concert at 12:30. That’s a great chance for anybody who is not familiar with chamber music or classical music in general that just wants to come and check it out. The 17th has some works that might be a little bit more unfamiliar to folks. It’s not the Beethoven Schubert. There’s a foray on the program, which is wonderful, but the program also starts out with a piece by Amy Beach, and the festival has co-commissioned Kian Ravaei to write a piece that sort of honors the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, and it includes the text. And Charlottesville’s own Doug Schneider is going to be the narrator, for those of you who know who he is. And it is for narrator and for string quartet. So it’s a way to hear that founding document in a brand new way. So that I’m really looking forward to, that’s on the 17th and the 19th. We’re doing Barber’s Adagio for Strings, so that’s a well-known piece. And then we’re also doing Steve Reich’s Different Trains, which is another very different piece than say a Beethoven or or a Mozart, but really interesting in its own way. That too has text and pre-recorded sound, but what makes it special is that these are not established quartets for the most part. These are folks that are doing either solo performances with orchestras, or are in their own quartets, or doing other things with music in different ensembles, and they come here and they play a piece together for the first time together. So in a matter of two days of rehearsal, they’ve got to get this thing performance ready. So that is really exciting. It’s not just like a touring quartet that stops here on their way across the country. It’s different than that, and you can feel it from the audience about how much these musicians love playing together, and it’s exciting for them, and it makes it exciting for the audience. And research has also found that listening to classical music, especially live, can reduce stress, improve your brain function and memory, and boost overall mental well-being. I mean, these are things that we need in our in our lives today. So, those are some pretty good benefits to go along with just listening to some really incredible music, and you get to hear some some music you may have heard before, but hear it live. But then also get to experience some of these new pieces.

Alissa Emond:
Finally, where can people go to learn more?

Natalie Hokansen:
There is more information about the festival, including an essay about this year’s theme by Tim Summers. The theme this year focuses on how revolutionary thought and chamber music intersect. Those things can be found on our website, cvillechambermusic.org. You can purchase tickets through our website or by calling our box office Monday through Friday between noon and four. And the tickets for our concert at the Paramount can also be purchased through their website and box office as well. I do want to mention that we also have $6 tickets for students in advance for the concerts on the 17th and 19th, those are at the Paramount. So if you want to get your tickets early and you’re a student, you just got to pay $6, or we have free student tickets at the venue beginning one hour prior to those concerts. So you just show up with your valid student ID. At the box office there, and you can get in for free.

Alissa Emond:
Perfect! Thank you so much for being here.

Natalie Hokansen:
Oh, it’s my pleasure.

Alissa Emond:
Once again, more information about concert times, locations, and tickets can be found at CvilleChambermusic.org. Arts This Week is supported by the UVA Arts Council and Piedmont Virginia Community College, PVCC Arts presents a rich array of dance, music, theater, and visual arts programming. Learn more at pvcc.edu. For WTJU, I’m Alissa Emond.