For Immediate Release
Monday, June 22, 2026
Contact: Meredith Amado, Executive Director, Kneisel Hall, 302.562.3789
KNEISEL HALL ANNOUNCES 2026 SEASON
Blue Hill, Maine—Kneisel Hall’s annual Music School and Festival returns to the Blue Hill Peninsula, building on a 124-year legacy of chamber music education and performance. The season includes festival concerts, masterclasses, public dress rehearsals, young artist concerts, and outreach events, including children’s concerts at Blue Hill Public Library and Kneisel Hall On Tour at various locations.
“In the span of nine weeks, we offer more than 50 opportunities to enjoy chamber music on our campus and at local venues in the community,” shares Meredith Amado, Executive Director.
In addition to its Festival Concerts, Kneisel Hall’s 2026 season includes the award-winning composer, Augusta Read Thomas; world-renowned soprano, Kristina Bachrach; and four Kneisel Hall alumni with their string quartets: Lucy Wang, Hao Zhou, Jeanel Liang, Jérôme Chiasson, violins.
Wang and Zhou will be performing with the Viano Quartet, prize-winners of the 2025 Avery Fisher Career Grant and First Prize at the 13th Banff International String Quartet Competition, on August 21 & 23. Liang and Chiasson will be performing with the Katarina Quartet, Grand Prize winners of the 2025 Fischoff Chamber Music Competition, on August 28 & 30.
In addition to public concerts, Kneisel Hall hosts student musicians for two chamber music programs during June, July, and August.
Kneisel Hall’s core program, The Young Artist Chamber Music Program, is a seven-week residential program that serves as the season’s anchor for the music school. Through an intensive audition process, 51 exceptional music students are chosen from top college music schools and conservatories to work with faculty comprised of professional musicians from across the United States and abroad. This unique program allows the Young Artists to immerse themselves in a curriculum focusing exclusively on chamber music.
One week prior to the arrival of the Young Artists, the Program for Maine Students welcomes more than three dozen school-aged musicians from across the state with its day program on the Kneisel Hall campus on Pleasant Street.
Amado explains, “Both programs give young musicians the invaluable gift of time—time to deepen their artistry, take creative risks, and engage closely with outstanding colleagues and mentors. Blue Hill’s serene setting fosters the concentration, community, and inspiration that make an immersive chamber music experience possible.”
Ticketing for all performances is available to the public at kneisel.org.
Kneisel Hall is a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization with a mission to foster the art of chamber music through teaching and performance in an intimate environment steeped in tradition and artistic excellence.
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