Amelia Island 2011 Music Festivals and Concerts

For music lovers there’s an additional reason to adore Amelia Island. Amelia Island’s Chamber Music Festival each year (in 2011 May 20 to June 19) is a fantastic time for music appreciation here in northeast Florida. One of the largest musical events in the southeastern U.S., the 2011 Chamber Music Festival will feature more than 50 internationally acclaimed artists and 20 performances in beautiful, intimate settings around Amelia Island.

Celebrating the Chamber Music Festival’s 10th season, a special 50% discount on concert tickets is being offered this year to those with a confirmed reservation number at one of Amelia Island’s hotels or bed and breakfasts, an added incentive to visit and enjoy this barrier island’s beaches, history, nature and golf.

Hear the acoustics of St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in Fernandina Beach as well as many other historic venues while listening to some of the world’s finest musicians who sojourn to this barrier island to entertain and educate. One of Fernandina’s most beautiful and historic churches, St. Peter’s was built between 1881 and 1884, tragically burned in 1892, then rebuilt in 1893, is a Gothic revival design admired by many architects. The“From Russia With Love” concert and champagne reception will be held at St. Peter’s church on the evening of May 25, 2011, featuring Zuill Bailey, “considered one of the premiere cellists in the world,” as well as the internationally reputed pianist, Orli Shaham.Other featured musicians are Amy Schwartz Moretti, violin; Sabina Thatcher, viola; Christopher Rex, cello; Kurt Muroki, bass; and the Linden String Quartet. (See the Chamber Music Festival website for full concert schedule and to buy tickets online before they sell out, $50 per person.)

Another historic venue on Amelia Island are two candlelight concerts at Fort Clinch considered one of America’s most well-preserved 19th century forts.   The fortress concerts feature “classical music, opera arias, Appalachian tunes and poignant spirituals, in addition to piano solos of works by Louis Moreau Gottschalk, the legendary African-American pianist and composer from the Civil War era.” The Fort Clinch concerts are June 14 and 15, 2011 at 7:30 pm, featuring Alison Buchanan, soprano; Philip Pan, violin; Terrance Patterson, clarinet; Elizabeth Pridgen, piano, tickets are $25 per person. A simply amazing historic setting to experience a concert. Go to the Chamber Music Festival website to browse all the concert performances.

“SOUNDS ON CENTRE” FREE STREET CONCERTS IN HISTORIC DISTRICT

Plus, every first Friday evening of the month through September (two dates in September, see schedule below) are the Sounds on Centre free street music concerts in Fernandina’s historic district with lives bands near the riverfront from 6 to 8 pm. This concert series is sponsored by the Historic Fernandina Business Association. Sounds on Centre 2011 dates and band schedule:

May 6, 2011 – Enjoy a Sock Hip with Big Vic and the Screaming Deacons
June 3, 2011 – Instant Groover
July 1, 2011 – Jimmy Parrish & The Ocean Waves
August 5, 2011 – Touch of Gray
Sept. 2,2011 – Beech Street Blues Band
Sept. 30, 2011 – Les DeMerle Jazz All Stars

Coming in the fall 2011 is a new music festival, Amelia Island Blues Festival (debuting September 16-17, 2011). Then in October, the annual Amelia Island Jazz Festival returns, this year October 2 – 9, 2011.

So mark your calenders and plan to be on Amelia Island to enjoy the wonderful musical agenda of the 2011 season.