Lake George Music Festival presents its first winter concert series

The Lake George Music Festival, Lake George’s premier classical music festival, is entering its fifth year with the addition of two winter concerts. The free winter series will be held Feb. 7 and 8 at the Caldwell Presbyterian Church, 71 Montcalm Street in the Village of Lake George. “People will see world-class musicians at the top of their fields playing in a really intimate setting,” says Festival founder and President Alex Lombard. “You’ll be right up close and personal to these musicians.” The Saturday, Feb. 7 concert begins at 7 p.m.; the Sunday, Feb. 8 matinee begins at 3 p.m.

Lombard notes that much of the festival’s audience isn’t made up of people that move in the realm of classical music. Their patrons may be more at ease with the rock concerts held in Shepard Park each summer. “People have that connotation that classical music can be a little stuffy …our concerts are not like that. You’re going to see there’s lights, and the hall is dark. It’s like going to a movie — really exciting. You feel free to clap in between movements, and cough, you know, pull out your phone and send a text message. It’s not that stuffy museum-like artifact that people view classical music as. You can feel comfortable here.”

“We want to keep this accessible for people; we want to enlighten people and awaken people to classical music, it’s such great music.” — Alexander Lombard, Lake George Music Festival

When putting together the program, Lombard says they like to find music that is “undiscovered,” great music that is not often performed. The winter series includes standards by Beethoven and Schubert, but also includes works most have not heard. “We like to discover pieces that are by great composers that, for some reason, are really never performed. There’s a piece by Ligeti — he’s a Hungarian composer — it’s really a breathtaking piece, super exciting, very modern, but it is never performed, it is so difficult.

Programs for the Lake George Music Festival Winter Series:

Saturday, Feb. 7, 7 p.m.

• Strauss – Andante for Piano and Horn
• Brendan Faegre – Lys Slatt for solo violin
• Daniel Schnyder – Le monde minuscule for solo horn
• Mozart – Sonata for Violin and Piano, K.547
• Bartok – Suite, Op.14 for Solo Piano
• Gyorgi Ligeti – Trio for Horn, Violin, and Piano

Sunday, Feb. 8, 3 p.m.

• Beethoven – Piano Trio, Op.70, No.2
• Saint Saens – Piano Trio No. 2, Op.92
• Schubert – Piano Trio No.1 in B Flat Major, D898

The Lake George Music Festival began in 2011 as a three-day event and has grown each summer offering live chamber music, open rehearsals, and children’s concerts over several days at multiple venues in August. Each summer, the festival is capped off with a spectacular symphony orchestra concert.  The summer festival draws thousands from all along the East Coast and, according to Lombard, they have always wanted to add winter concerts. They now have the funding and resources to do this.

The winter series, Lombard believes, enhances the winter activities currently offered in the region such as skiing at Gore Mountain and shopping at the Lake George outlets. “People can go skiing during the day, have dinner, then attend a concert or go shopping Sunday morning at the outlets, then attend the matinee.” The winter series is being held during the Lake George Winter Carnival’s 2015 opening weekend, so the Village will be humming with people.

Lombard envisions the winter series growing annually, and, as in the summer, could eventually draw people to Lake George specifically for the festival, filling hotel rooms, restaurants and shops. “It’s a pilot project,” Lombard says of the winter series. “We will see how it goes.” If the winter series take off, “…maybe in the future we can do three, four or more weekends.”

While the concerts are free, the Lake George Music Festival depends on donations. Attendees are asked to donate what they can afford whether it is $4 or $10. Last summer, many of the concert venues were filled 30 minutes before performance time, leaving many shut out. To address this, the Festival now offers patrons who donate $10 the option to reserve seats through the Lake George Music Festival website. The Caldwell Presbyterian Church seats 150. It is suggested patrons arrive 15 minutes early to secure a seat. Parking is free and plentiful on the street and in the Ottawa Street parking lot behind the church. For those coming from out of town, Dunham’s Bay Resort offers Festival patrons a 25- percent discount for the weekend.