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CT Early Music Festival 2025 Concludes with Concert in Conn. College Today

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OLD LYME/NEW LONDON – The Connecticut Early Music Festival (CEMF) returns for its 43rd season, presenting six concerts across the first three weekends in June. The festival brings together world-class musicians to perform both familiar and rarely heard works.

The Festival opened Saturday, June 7, at Harkness Chapel, Connecticut College, featuring Handel’s Funeral Anthem for Queen Caroline. James Burton, Director of the Tanglewood Festival Chorus, led the CEMF Ensemble in Handel’s tribute to his forward-thinking Queen, patron, and friend.

The Festival continued with a concert on Sunday, June 8, at St. Ann’s Episcopal Church in Old Lyme. Acclaimed flutist Emi Ferguson returned with a program of virtuoso sonatas by J.S. and C.P.E. Bach. Ferguson was joined by Guy Fishman on cello.

“This year’s Festival brings to life remarkable compositions from the 17th and 18th centuries,” said Artistic Director Ian Watson. “These performances, honoring the composers’ intentions, promise to be fresh and revelatory. They still have the power to transport us today!” 

“Our 2025 Festival showcases the rich tapestry of early music, from the brilliance of the three sopranos in Concerto delle donne, to intimate chamber music featuring viola da gamba and theorbo, to the thrilling sound of our Festival Ensemble performing Vivaldi’s beloved Four Seasons,” said Henry Clapp, Board President.

He adds, “Whether you are a seasoned early music enthusiast or discovering these treasures for the first time, we look forward to sharing these extraordinary performances with you!” 

After the first weekend, the festival continues with a series of four additional concerts as follows:

  • Saturday, June 14:
    St. John’s Episcopal Church, Niantic – Artistic Director Ian Watson performs a special concert of Baroque organ masterworks in memory of John P. Anthony, longtime President of the Connecticut Early Music Society.
  • Sunday, June 15:
    Chester Meeting House – In a program titled Concerto delle donne, three exceptional sopranos perform a stunning program of late 16th-century music composed specifically for professional female voices.
  • Saturday, June 21:
    La Grua Center, Stonington – An intimate evening of French Baroque chamber music, featuring viola da gamba and theorbo, perfectly suited to the acoustics of La Grua’s historic setting.
  • Sunday, June 22:
    Harkness Chapel, Connecticut College – The festival concludes with a celebration of the 300th anniversary of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, performed by Susanna Ogata (violin) and the Festival Ensemble.

All concerts are at 5 pm. To encourage wider access, CEMF is offering half-price tickets for individuals under 40, along with complimentary admission for students of all ages. Special series and mini-series ticket packages are also available.

For tickets and full festival details, visit ctearlymusic.org.

Salt Marsh Opera Brings Back ‘Music at the Lighthouse’ in Stonington Tonight, 6pm

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Audience members at a previous Music at the Lighthouse performance enjoy operatic sounds from the Long Island Sound. Photo courtesy of Salt Marsh Opera.

STONINGTON–Salt Marsh Opera invites you to an evening of beloved opera arias and timeless Broadway melodies with the return of Music at the Lighthouse. 

The performance will be held at 6 p.m. on Sunday, June 22 at the Old Lighthouse Museum in Stonington Borough, 7 Water St. The lawn opens at 5 p.m. 

The Salt Marsh Opera will welcome mezzo-soprano Sarah Nordin and and bass-baritone Tyler Putnam. 

This is an open-air concert by the sea on the lawn of the lighthouse museum. Families are welcome to bring their blankets and lawn chairs. 

Tickets are $20 in advance and $25 at the concert. Tickets will be available at the Salt Marsh Opera box office at (860) 535-0753 or at Tom’s Newstand in the borough.

Phoebe’s BookCellar in Old Lyme Hosts Half Price Sale, Wednesday

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The BookCellar at the Phoebe. File photo.

OLD LYME–There’s a sale going on in the BookCellar at the Old Lyme Phoebe Griffin Noyes Library this Saturday. 

All items will be sold at half price from 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on June 21. Can’t make it? The sale continues from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Wednesday, June 25. 

Every dollar earned at the BookCellar directly supports the library.

The BookCellar, on the library’s lower level, is managed by the volunteer Friends of the Library. The inventory includes thousands of fiction and nonfiction books as well as DVDs, CDs and audiobooks. 

The BookCellar accepts gently used books, but respectfully requests no damaged, mildewed, moldy or musty books. 

TOP STORY: Lyme Academy Gains National College Accreditation

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Artistic Director and Director of Painting, Jordan Sokol and Painting -Drawing Instructor, Hollis Dunlap working in the Southwick-Keller Studio at Lyme Academy of Fine Arts. File photo courtesy of Lyme Academy of Fine Arts.

OLD LYME–Students at Lyme Academy of Fine Arts can once again earn college credit for their coursework. 

The Academy last week announced it has been accredited by the National Association of Schools of Art and Design (NASAD), the only accrediting agency for higher education programs in art and design that is recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.

Academy Artistic Director Jordan Sokol in an email said the development marks a significant milestone for the school. 

“It validates the strength of our curriculum, faculty, and facilities, and further establishes the Academy as the premier destination for figurative art education in the United States,” he said. 

The Academy was first accredited when it became a college in 1996. It lost its accreditation after the University of New Haven, which took over the program in 2014, withdrew five years later. 

The Academy opened its doors again in 2021, promoting comparisons to its early years when sculptor Elisabeth Gordon Chandler in 1976 founded the academy to teach the fundamentals of drawing, painting and sculpture rather than to grant academic degrees. 

Now, Sokol said accreditation affirms “the integrity and excellence of the Academy’s program on a national level.”

Credits are transferable to more than 300 NASAD-accredited institutions for students pursuing undergraduate or graduate studies elsewhere.

Renovation Project Spurs Summer-Long Closures at Several Old Lyme Schools

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While the Lyme-Old Lyme school district’s elementary and middle school properties will be closed this summer, the playground, tennis courts and playing field at Lyme Consolidated School will remain available. File photo.

LYME-OLD LYME—Region 18 Superintendent of Schools Ian Neviaser today announced the renovation project affecting four of the district’s five schools will result in widespread closures for two months this summer. 

In a letter to parents, Neviaser said Center School, Mile Creek School and Lyme-Old Lyme Middle School will be closed and inaccessible from June 23 to August 22, 2025, including the playgrounds and fields. Staff from those schools will be moved to the high school. 

At Lyme Consolidated School, the playground, tennis courts, and playing field will remain open. Staff will be relocated within the building. 

Neviaser in a Tuesday email said the decision was made to ensure the district remains on schedule to finish heating and ventilation projects by Dec. 25. 

He said officials anticipated some sort of closure during the summer, but decided within the last two months exactly how it would be structured. 

He said alternatives, including remaining in the buildings while working around construction, were considered but were “far more costly, complicated, and time consuming.”

Administrators, office staff, and custodial and maintenance employees will continue working this summer, according to Neviaser. They will be available at the high school and all phone numbers and emails will remain the same.

“Although this is highly inconvenient, it is essential to keep the PK-8 projects on schedule and ensure a safe and enhanced learning environment for the upcoming school year,” Neviaser told parents. 

Parks and Recreation Department Director Don Bugbee said the town’s day camp program will operate out of the high school as it has for the past several years.

The program’s 280 campers will continue to use the gym and fields, according to Bugbee. He said the auditorium might not be available to them.

“It’s going to be crowded in the building with everything being there,” he said.

He said basketball and volleyball camps typically held in the middle school gym were put on pause this summer.

The renovation project involves HVAC and security upgrades in the four buildings, plus the addition of new classrooms at Mile Creek School. Voters in late 2022 authorized spending up to $57.5 million on the project, though the district will save about $17 million due to grant funding and lower than expected interest rates.

Editor’s Note: This article was updated with information from Bugbee.