The COVID-19 pandemic has silenced the music that it healthier times filled concert venues throughout Lake George, but live music will return to the Festival Commons Sept. 19-20 with the Lake George Music Festival Drive-In Concert series. The concerts will feature classical music performed by accomplished musicians, graduates of prestigious schools of music and members of world-renowned symphony orchestras.
Performances will be projected onto a large screen for better viewing, and the audience may listen to the amplified performances or tune-in to an FM radio feed through their vehicle’s sound system. Cars will be spaced a minimum of 10-feet apart, with a maximum of 100 vehicles allowed each night on the Festival grounds.
Lake George Music Festival Drive-In Concert Series program:
Saturday, Sept. 19, 2020
Fantasy No.2 (1940), Florence Price
Quintet in E Flat Major, Op.16 (1796), Ludwig van Beethoven
Piano Quintet in A Major, D 667 (1819), “The Trout”, Franz Schubert
Sunday, Sept. 20, 2020
Quatuor (1933), Jean Francaix
Duo for Violin and Cello (2018), Jessie Montgomery
Octet, Op.9 (1848 – 1859), Anton Rubinstein
Passes are $25 per vehicle; $50 for a full-weekend pass. Organizers recommend that people purchase tickets on-line at the Lake George Music Festival website. The performances begin at 7:30 p.m. each night; gates open for parking at 6 p.m. Organizers suggest that audience members use restrooms before arriving, however the public restrooms at the Commons will be sanitized and open. Anyone leaving their vehicle to use the restrooms must wear a face covering.
The Lake George Music Festival launched in 2011 as a three-day event to bring classical musicians from around the world to the Lake George shore. The event has grown each summer offering live chamber music, open rehearsals, a children’s concerts and a full orchestra finale over several days at multiple venues each summer. This spring, as much of the nation stayed home to “flatten the curve,” the Festival hosted free weekly on-line performances. Sept. 13-18, 2020, the Festival will again be on-line with a series of six virtual performances by musicians that would have performed in Lake George this summer.