Newport Classical Music Festival: French Quintets – Revivals

Emmanuel Church’s English Gothic Revival interior provides an atmospheric backdrop for an afternoon devoted to French chamber music. The resident Festival Artists—violinists Risa Hokamura and Nathan Meltzer, violist Mira Williams, cellist Alexander Hersh, and pianist Wynona Wang—illuminate the nation’s rich quintet tradition with Louis Gouvy’s Piano Quintet in A Major Op. 24, the fiery opening movement of Reynaldo Hahn’s Piano Quintet in F-sharp minor, and Jean Cras’s expansive Piano Quintet in C Major. Paired with the sanctuary’s warm acoustics, the program promises a fresh perspective on 19th- and 20th-century French masters, celebrating both the music’s elegance and the venue’s historic charm.