The Greenwich Music Festival is a nationally award-winning company committed to the performance of both classic and new works. Each year in June the festival produces a series of public performances centered around one major work and accompanied by lectures, open rehearsals, and educational outreach events. The festival aims to foster and encourage the future of classical music by supporting artistic process, emerging artists and new collaborations.
The festival began as the dream of two young musicians, conductor Robert Ainsley and baritone Ted Huffman, whose credits already included companies such as the Metropolitan Opera, Carnegie Hall, New York City Opera, Broadway, and the Aldeburgh, Aspen, Caramoor and Tanglewood festivals. The first festival, given in the spring of 2004, consisted of three chamber music concerts performed to sold-out audiences. In subsequent years the festival has grown to encompass opera, song, dance, visual art, electronic music, performance art and nearly everything in between.
The festival has produced two world premieres and numerous American debuts. In repertoire ranging from the early baroque to the very contemporary, the festival has consistently sought to stretch the boundaries of "classical" programming.
In 2008 the festival was awarded Chamber Music America’s prestigious ASCAP Award for its pioneering work in the field of chamber music. The festival is the the first and only organization in the State of Connecticut to receive this national honor.
“Last year, word had gotten around: here were the finest young
artists from the classical scene, coming to Greenwich at the invitation
of the Festival’s founders, Robert Ainsley and Greenwich resident
Ted Huffman, to display their scorching talents, and to play
music that challenged and extended our definitions of ‘classical’”
from Review, Greenwich Citizen
“While at first a lute concert in 2006 seems like a novelty, it was a
truly remarkable evening that transcended time and evoked the
hopes, dreams and joys of people long past to a soul-parched people
in the present day.”
from Review, Greenwich Time
“For the three years they’ve put on the Greenwich Music Festival,
Mr. Huffman and collaborator Rob Ainsley have tried to breathe new
life into the sounds they love, mixing a strong reverence for the past
with new works and plenty of student outreach.”
from Feature Article, Greenwich Post