The Ocean State will bring with it this summer its most beloved annual festival, you know, the ones that crowds of visitors from all over look forward to each year! So, don’t miss out on celebrating what our great small state has to offer, with all types of delectable foods and the best in different genres of musical entertainment.
Below are some of RI’s most popular Festivals, where you and your entire family will enjoy phenomenal entertainment, and will undoubtedly make an annual summer tradition!
55th Annual Newport Classical Music Festival
Numerous Historic Venues in Newport, RI
July 4 – 21, 2024
To choose your entertainment preferences, please visit https://newportclassical.org/music-festival/ to view the 11 historic venues, music performances, dates, times, and ticket costs.
For 55 years, Newport Classical has been a beacon for artistry, drawing in countless concertgoers to revel in exceptional performances at unique and intimate settings. Each July, in the picturesque backdrop of the City by the Sea, the Festival stands out as an unparalleled experience. Featuring 27 concerts, held in 11 historic venues, patrons can craft a Festival itinerary tailored to their preferences. Be it the discovery of a new composer, the rhythm of percussion, or revisiting a beloved work with a fresh perspective, you are invited to broaden your musical horizons.
Whether this marks your inaugural summer with them, or your 55th, you and your family and friends can anticipate a grand welcoming to the 2024 Newport Classical Music Festival.
Newport Classical is a premier performing arts organization that welcomes people of every age, culture, and background to intimate, immersive musical experiences. We present world-renowned and up-and-coming artistic talents at stunning, storied venues across Newport—an internationally sought-after cultural and recreational destination.
This iconic summer Music Festival, year-round Chamber Series, and family-friendly, free Community Concerts, represent a broad range of composers, formats, artists, and sounds from the classical genre—ensuring there’s something for everyone to enjoy.
Originally founded in 1969, as Rhode Island Arts Foundation at Newport, Inc., and previously known as Newport Music Festival (NMF), Newport Classical has a rich and adventurous musical legacy, presenting American debuts of international artists and rarely heard works.
70th Annual Newport Jazz Festival
Fort Adams State Park
Newport, RI
August 2 – August 4, 2024
On the weekend of August 2nd thru August 4th, you are invited to celebrate the Newport Jazz Festival’s 70th anniversary, at Fort Adams State Park in Newport, to take part in this spectacular annual event, featuring more than 50 outstanding jazz music entertainers.
This three-day festival features four unique stages overlooking the Newport waterways. You will experience performances by world class musicians, food galore, crafts, and a number of exhibits that will add to the fun and excitement.
Jazz is a genre of diverse music that pulls together a great number of styles. First performed in dance clubs, jazz has evolved to now being performed in symphony halls as well. Considered an “art form,” jazz was initially introduced by the African Americans in the early 20th century in New Orleans, Louisiana. With a melting pot of all backgrounds and cultures, New Orleans was the perfect city to embrace this unique combination of music style as entertainment. Dixieland jazz was inspired by this part of the country with its eclectic and lively tunes, along with soulful harmonies mixed with type of traditional and generally rural music that originally was passed down through families and other small social groups.
36th Annual Kingston Chamber Music Festival
University of Rhode Island
Edwards Auditorium
July 24 – August 4, 2024
The Kingston Chamber Music Festival (KCMF) is celebrating its 36th season in summer of 2024. The two-week festival brings renowned musicians together with young, rising artists to perform seven exciting concerts in Edwards Auditorium at the University of Rhode Island. KCMF also presents special concerts and events in varied settings throughout the year.
In their programming, Ms. Zhu matches the musicians to the music they perform, making each concert a delight for the musicians to play, and a thrill for the audience to hear. She has collaborated with other festivals to commission new works, some of which have received their world premieres at KCMF.
The first Kingston Chamber Music Festival was held in the summer of 1989 – the brainchild of violinist David Kim. The University of Rhode Island president, Edward Eddy, and Professor Richard Gelles, were instrumental in the Festival’s founding, launching a close and continuing association with URI. Pianist Natalie Zhu succeeded Kim as Artistic Director in 2009.
The Kingston Chamber Music Festival has welcomed hundreds of musicians from around the world, among them violinists Hilary Hahn, Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg and Sarah Chang, and pianists Gary Graffman, Andrew Litton and Ignat Solzhenitsyn.
KCMF is always exploring innovative ways to enhance listeners’ experience of music. Open rehearsals and pre- and post-concert discussions with the musicians are popular with the audience and mainstays of our performances.
As part of its community building approach to musical performance, KCMF annually awards scholarships to promising music students at the University of Rhode Island.
They also present master classes to aspiring music students. Their Education Program supports local string programs.
Dates for this year’s festival are July 24-August 4. The festival will include seven subscription concerts. While URI Fine Arts Center is being renovated, concerts will take place at URI’s Edwards Auditorium.
To accomplish KCMF’s mission of presenting extraordinary chamber music concerts at affordable prices, they offer several means of obtaining tickets. Tickets for individual concerts are available, as well as subscription packages for either 5 or 6 concerts. Ticket prices are $35 for single concerts; the subscription package includes a 10% discount.
People aged 25 and younger and students of all ages are eligible for free tickets for single concert admission, while supplies last. If a student is unable to attend unless accompanied by an adult older than 25, one accompanying adult is also eligible for a complimentary ticket. To redeem this and other ticket options, visit https://www.kingstonchambermusic.org/tickets/.
