The Newport Classical Music Festival will spotlight the intimate genre of chamber music with four special performances for trios and quartets between July 5 and July 12, part of a festival that turns the City by the Sea into a summer destination for music lovers.
Running from July 2 to 19, the festival features 30 concerts across 11 venues, from cliffside lawns to gilded mansions, including the interiors of The Breakers, The Elms, Castle Hill Inn, Blithewold Mansion, Rosecliff Mansion and the Redwood Library and Athenæum.
The chamber series opens with the GRAMMY Award-winning Parker Quartet at The Breakers on Sunday, July 5, at 8 p.m., in a program of Beethoven, Paul Wiancko and Schubert. Internationally acclaimed for performances The Strad described as “fearless, yet probingly beautiful,” the quartet has captivated audiences for more than two decades. Its name is inspired by the Parker House, the historic Boston landmark, honoring the quartet’s New England home and the food and literary legacy of the hotel.
On Tuesday, July 7, at 11 a.m., the Cerus Saxophone Quartet, gold medal winners of the Fischoff Competition, will perform on the outdoor grounds of Blithewold Mansion. Named for the mythical wild bull tamed by Persephone, the quartet blends classical repertoire and contemporary works, with a program spanning Grieg and Piazzolla to living composers Karalyn Schubring and Joan Perez-Villegas.
Violinist Stella Chen, violist Matthew Lipman and cellist Brannon Cho join forces for an evening of trios at The Breakers on Wednesday, July 8, at 8 p.m. The three present a program pairing Classical trios by Mozart and Dohnányi with a contemporary work by Andreia Pinto-Correia inspired by the individual voices of the ensemble.
The series closes with the return of the Paris-based Trio Karénine, making its first appearance at The Breakers on Sunday, July 12, at 8 p.m., after a sold-out Newport Classical debut in 2024. Founded in 2009 and celebrated for its cohesion and precision, the trio will perform works by Rimsky-Korsakov, Saint-Saëns and Tchaikovsky.
The four concerts are part of a broader 2026 festival lineup that includes opening night with chamber orchestra Delirium Musicum; a celebration of opera’s Golden Age with Lawrence Brownlee and Erin Morley; solo piano performances by Michelle Cann and Dmitry Shishkin; a new work by Vivian Fung performed by Sandbox Percussion and violinist Kristin Lee; two evenings with Broadway star Jeremy Jordan; and closing night with the GRAMMY Award-winning Harlem Quartet. Other festival traditions include the Sunrise Concerts at 5:15 a.m., a concert at Norman Bird Sanctuary and a free Fourth of July concert at King Park.
Founded in 1969, Newport Classical is the most active year-round presenter of live performing arts on Aquidneck Island. Tickets and the full schedule are available at newportclassical.org/music-festival.
