Cape Cod Chamber Music Festival Brings World-class Trio To Chatham Church

CHATHAM – Summer in Chatham means lobster rolls, sand between your toes, and the delight of world-class chamber music filling a church on Main Street.

On Aug. 11, a musical trio will perform at the First Congregational Church of Chatham as part of the 2025 Cape Cod Chamber Music Festival. The concert features two-time Grammy Award nominee Jennifer Frautschi on violin, Festival Artistic Director Jon Manasse on clarinet, and Julliard graduate and faculty member Steven Beck on piano. Beck will replace originally scheduled performer Jon Nakamatsu, who is unable to perform due to a family emergency.

The evening is a part of a robust 2025 festival season, which runs through Aug. 22 and features concerts across the Cape from Cotuit to Wellfleet. According to Andrea Meagher, executive director of the festival, this concert is an ideal introduction for first-time attendees and a treat for longtime fans.

“This is a really friendly community,” Meagher said. “and when you come to a concert, you can sense that it’s a welcoming place and there's a little bit of something for everyone.”

The program ranges from Bach’s meditative Chorale Preludes to Debussy’s Sonata in G Minor and his whimsical Première Rhapsodie. The trio will also perform selections from Stravinsky’s L’Histoire du Soldat and wrap up with two lively rags by John Novacek, originally composed for Manasse and Nakamatsu and arranged by him for the trio.

As a part of this concert, Frautschi will perform on her Stradivarius violin, one of the roughly 650 surviving instruments made by renowned 17th and 18th-century craftsman Antonio Stradivari. 

The performance will take place at 5:30 p.m. on Monday Aug. 11, at the First Congregational Church of Chatham at 650 Main St. Tickets are available on the Cape Cod Chamber Music Festival website.