APPALACHIAN CHAMBER MUSIC FESTIVAL
History, Nature, Culture
2024 ACMP Grant Awarded
March 23, 2024 Harpers Ferry, W.Va. - Our 2024 Educational Programming was made possible, in part, through the support of Associated Chamber Music Players (www.acmp.net). The mission of ACMP is to stimulate and expand the playing of chamber music for pleasure among musicians worldwide, of all backgrounds, ages and skill levels, by connecting people and supporting chamber music activities for individuals, groups and institutions.
Commissioned Composer Announced
March 5, 2024 Harpers Ferry, W.Va. – We are excited to share our first big announcement with you today: ACMF’s 2024 Commissioned Composer is Rufus Reid! Audiences may remember his work “WIND & SAIL” premiered at ACMF 2023 at the Frank Center at Shepherd University, and reprised at our Festival Finale on the grounds of historic Storer College in Harpers Ferry. We are thrilled to have the opportunity and honor to work with Rufus again, and thank him for agreeing to join us on this journey!
New Chamber Music Course
David Rampy joins festival musicians on stage for a special performance at the 2023 Festival Finale
February 15, 2024 Harpers Ferry, W.Va. – The Appalachian Chamber Music Festival announces a new educational opportunity hosted by Lifelong Learning at Shepherd University in Shepherdstown, W.Va. Join instructor and ACMF board member David Rampy to explore the idea of “Small Room - Big Music” through works including sonata trios of Corelli, Bach, Handel, and Vivaldi to the development of the classical string quartets of Haydn and Mozart, the romantic music of Beethoven and Schubert to the newer sounds of Bartok, Shostakovich, Smetana, Philip Glass, and others. This course will include lectures and demonstrations by Katie Tertell, the founding artistic director of ACMF, as well as some Festival musicians from around the country who will be joining us on Zoom.
Course Title: Chamber Music with the Appalachian Chamber Music Festival
For general audiences, no music experience required
Spring 2024, 6 weeks beginning March 11
Save The Date
ACMF 2024
Harpers Ferry, W.Va. – The Appalachian Chamber Music Festival will be held August 3 - 18, 2024. Concerts will be held in Jefferson County, West Virginia and Loudoun, Clarke, and Frederick Counties in Virginia.
Educational Programming will include the Strings Chamber Music Camp, August 5-9 for ages 12-18 and the Adult Intensive Chamber Music Seminar for strings and winds, August 3-4.
Save The Date
2023 Winter Residency
Harpers Ferry, W.Va. – The Appalachian Chamber Music Festival will return to the stage in December 2023 for a limited winter residency chamber music concert series. Save the date for December 29, 30, and 31. Concert venues and times will be announced this fall.
ACMF Announces New Partnership
April 12, 2023
Harpers Ferry, W.Va. – The Appalachian Chamber Music Festival is excited to announce a new partnership for their 2023 season. ACMF will come together with the National Park Service’s Harpers Ferry National Historical Park to produce an outdoor concert event on Sunday, August 27 from 3 to 5 pm on the grounds of the former Storer College in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia.
This concert will be free and open to the public, and will feature a special performance by old-time fiddler Earl White and the Earl White String Band, guest speaker Nancy Cook who will speak on the importance of Harpers Ferry as a “Place That Inspires”, and a chamber music performance with ACMF musicians. This concert will close out ACMF’s 2023 festival, with events running August 14 - 27. More information about this event is available at www.AppalachianChamber.org.
Save the Date
January 2023: Save the date for ACMF's 2023 season! August 14 - 27
2022 Staff Announcement
May 1, 2022: Please join ACMF in welcoming our 2022 Festival Manager, Mayme Kugler!
Mayme is an administrative professional with degrees in music and business, and has experience working in both the non-profit arts and higher education sectors. She brings this experience with her as she assists behind the scenes, helping bring our 2022 season to life. She looks forward to meeting all of you at our events and concerts this summer!
ACMF Partnerships: Shepherd University, Dr. Rosi Song
Mar 16, 2022: ACMF is delighted to be partnering with Shepherd University on a number of concerts in the 2022 Summer Season. In conjunction with an IMPACT grant awarded by Durham University (England), we are delighted to have Dr. Rosi Song joining us for a recital and discussion on the 20th century and life and music of Gaspar Cassado. This will be one of several a free events the festival will be presenting this year.
More details about the other great programs we have planned at Shepherd University to come this Spring
ACMF Winter Residency Postponed
It is with a heavy heart we inform you that the board of directors has made the difficult decision to postpone all performances and events for the 2021 Winter Residency. All ticket holders will be fully-refunded.
Because of the surge in cases with the new Omicron variant, we are not able to safely provide the small, intimate experience that the musicians and the audience expect. Musicians have also had to drop out, both because of Covid infection and because of restrictive travel and quarantine requirements.
Our disappointment only increases our efforts to make next year's festival events even more spectacular!
If you would like to support the festival and the future of live music in this region, you can make a tax-deductible donation to ACMF to ensure the future success of our events. We already have many exciting plans in store for 2022 and cannot wait to share them with you over the next months.
Wishing you and your family all the best this holiday season. We hope you are able to celebrate with loved ones and cherish the gift of music in other ways!
Support us on Giving Tuesday
We rely on your donations so we can continue to bring you high quality programs and artists. Please considering contributing! If you donate on Facebook, starting on Tuesday, November 30 at 8 am ET, Meta (Facebook's parent company) will match qualifying donations!
Click here to donate via Facebook (look for blue donate button!)
Click here to donate via PayPal (you can also opt for a recurring donation)
Thank you for your support. We appreciate every donation, however big or small!
(ACMF is a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organization).
Support us on Amazon Smile
You can do your online shopping and support ACMF at no extra cost to you via the Amazon Smiles program. Just click below!
Check out our latest videos
Videos from the 2021 ACMF Festival are now being released on our YouTube page. Check out this story from WDVM from the run-up to this year's festival:
Berryville Graphics Sponsors New Work
We are so grateful to Berryville Graphics for sponsoring the ACMF commission of Ailbhe McDonagh's string quartet inspired by the life of abolitionist John Brown. World premiere Aug 21, 7pm.
“The magic in our ‘black art’ is not putting ink on paper but rather in turning ideas of creative people into physical reality”- Berryville Graphics.
Berryville Graphics has locations in Martinsburg WV, Fairfield PA and Berryville VA.
ACMF receives grant for
one-day workshop
Mark your calendars for August 18th! We are so grateful to Associated Chamber Music Players for supporting our vision for our 2021 festival which will include an intensive one-day chamber music workshop for kids aged 12-18 and amateur adults. Details and how to apply for the workshop will be released in early June.
COVID-19 NEWS
ACMF believes we need music and cultural experiences now more than ever, which is why it is so important to us to bring live in-person performances to our audience this Summer 2021.
We are closely monitoring Covid-19 safety protocols and guidelines in the area, and have plans in place to make the festival a success! This includes a thorough social-distancing safety protocol, and excitingly, most of our events will be available live-streamed and in digital format via our Facebook page, YouTube and other platforms as well as in-person.
As of Mar, 2021, 30% capacity for indoor events is allowed in most of our venues. We will be keeping a careful eye on updated guidelines as we move forward to ensure the safety of our audience, artists and volunteers.
For more information about this season's events, check out our events page. Stay up-to-date with the latest news, as well as ticket release dates by signing up for our mailing list.