OLD LYME–Decoda, Musical Masterworks’ ensemble-in-residence, has announced two free concerts in Old Lyme as part of its mission to create a more compassionate and connected world through chamber music.
Musical Masterworks invites the public to an interactive family concert on Saturday, Nov. 22 and a “Celebration of Joy and Gratitude” concert on Sunday, Nov. 23.
Across a weeklong residency at Musical Masterworks, Decoda brings together students, families, and music lovers for programs that blend classical mastery with contemporary imagination.
The residency features Decoda artists Clara Lyon, violin; George Meyer, violin; Sæunn Thorsteinsdöttir, cello; and Catherine Gregory, flute.
Interactive Family Concert
Saturday, Nov. 22
2:30 to 3:30 p.m.
Old Lyme Phoebe Griffin Noyes Library, 2 Library Lane
Attendees are invited to explore tempo, dynamics, and tone through hands-on music-making as they create a new anthem of thanks. They’ll leave with creative prompts to continue the musical celebration at home during the holiday week.
A Celebration of Joy and Gratitude
Sunday, Nov. 23
2 to 3:30 p.m.
Saint Ann’s Episcopal Church, 82 Shore Road
The program will explore music for flute and strings, spanning Mozart to contemporary reimaginings that include a fiddle-inspired duo by Decoda’s George Meyer and flutist-composer Valerie Coleman. The concert will be followed by a light reception to meet the musicians.
Tessa Lark will help open Musical Masterworks’ 35th season in Old Lyme on Oct. 5 and 6. File photo by Richard Bowditch.
OLD LYME–Musical Masterworks will begin its 35th season at the First Congregational Church of Old Lyme in a concert weekend featuring Artistic Director and violinist Tessa Lark.
Performances will be held on Saturday, Oct. 4 at 5 p.m. and Sunday, Oct. 5, at 3 p.m.
Musical Masterworks in a press release said the weekend’s ensemble features Lark, pianist Inon Barnatan, violist Hsin-Yun Huang, cellist Efe Baltacigil and double bassist Tim Cobb. The program pairs Schubert pieces including the Trout Quintet and the Arpeggione Sonata with Lark’s Appalachian Fantasy, blending the timeless and contemporary.
“This season, I’m drawn to music that feels deeply personal, exploring the sublime worlds of specific composers and sharing the places I love most,” Lark said. “I hope these programs invite our concertgoers to linger, discover, and experience something new and meaningful along the way.”
The season runs from October to April at the church, 4 Lyme Street.
Pianist Mihae Lee, left, has stepped down after 15 years as director of the Essex Winter Series. She will be succeeded by accomplished flutist Tara Helen O’Connor. Photo courtesy of the Essex Winter Series.
ESSEX–Tara Helen O’Connor has joined Essex Winter Series as its newest artistic director for the 2026 season following Mihae Lee’s retirement from the role.
The organization in a recent press release said Lee held the leadership position for 15 years.
The group described Lee’s successor as an “exceptional musician who wishes to maintain the reputation, quality, and community commitment that her predecessor achieved.”
O’Connor, a flutist, is a charismatic performer noted for her “artistic depth, brilliant technique and colorful tone spanning every musical era,” according to the group.
A recipient of Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Career Grant and two-time Grammy nominee, she was the first wind player invited to participate in the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center’s Bowers Program. She is a recurring featured artist with the Chamber Music Society.
O’Connor is a regular participant in numerous chamber music festivals across the country. Along with her husband Daniel Phillips, she is the newly appointed co-artistic director of the Music From Angel Fire Festival in New Mexico.
She has premiered hundreds of new works and has collaborated with the Orion String Quartet, St. Lawrence Quartet, Emerson String Quartet, Jaime Laredo, Dawn Upshaw, Eliot Fisk, Jeremy Denk, Ida Kavafian, Peter Serkin and David Shifrin. Tara is a member of the woodwind quintet Windscape, the legendary Bach Aria Group and is a founding member of the Naumburg Award-winning New Millennium Ensemble. An advocate of new music, she is a member of the Talea and Cygnus Ensembles.
O’Connor has appeared on A&E’s Breakfast with the Arts and PBS’ Live from Lincoln Center. She has recorded for Deutsche Grammophon, EMI Classics, Koch International, CMS Studio Recordings with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and Bridge Records. She has just released a solo CD of American flute works entitled The Way Things Go on Bridge Records with pianist Margaret Kampmeier.
She holds a doctor of musical arts degree from Stony Brook University in New York. At the Purchase College School of the Arts Conservatory of Music, she is an associate professor of flute, head of the woodwinds department and the coordinator of classical music studies. She also serves on the faculty of Bard College Conservatory of Music, the Contemporary Performance Program at Manhattan School of Music and is a visiting artist, teacher and coach at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto.
Mihae Lee Legacy Concert
Lee, who became Artistic Director of Essex Winter Series in 2011 when president Fenton Brown stepped down, has been recognized by the Essex Winter Series Board of Trustees through the creation of the annual Mihae Lee Legacy Concert starting in the upcoming season.
The group credited Lee with bringing in accomplished musicians and expanding community outreach to schools, senior communities and libraries.
“With at least four concerts each winter and five days of outreach every year in Middlesex and New London Counties, reaching thousands, her success is clear,” the group said.
Chamber music pioneer Charles Wadsworth. Photos courtesy of Musical Masterworks.
OLD LYME–The Musical Masterworks community and beyond is mourning the loss of founding artistic director and pioneering chamber musician Charles Wadsworth.
The pianist died on May 29 in Manhattan, NY, at the age of 96.
A tribute from the Musical Masterworks board of directors recalled his arrival on the Old Lyme scene in 1990 when the group was still a fledgling concert series. Wadsworth brought with him a worldwide reputation as the founding director of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and the Spoleto Festival Midday Concerts in Italy and Charleston, S.C.
Musical Masterworks President Alden Murphy, who was a founding director of the series with her husband Jamie Murphy, told LymeLine in an email that it was a “joyful surprise” when Wadsworth agreed to become the group’s first artistic director.
Jamie and Alden Murphy, Musical Masterworks founding directors, stand either side of the late Charles Wadsworth.
“Thanks to Charles, three generations of musicians and audiences have found a home at Musical Masterworks,” she continued, adding, “We’re forever grateful for the magic he brought to our community.”
She said his quirky, napkin-scribbled program notes back when the couple first met him at the Spoleto Festival made chamber music feel alive and spontaneous.
“He brought that same warmth and humor to Old Lyme, transforming our young concert series into something extraordinary,” she noted.
The group counted Paula Robison, Richard Goode, Chee-Yun, Carter Brey among the many stars he introduced to the Masterworks stage. He passed on a welcoming spirit that still defines the concerts to artistic director Edward Arron in 2009 and Tessa Lark, who took the role in 2022.
“With every performance, we carry forward his joy, his generosity, and his belief in the transformative power of chamber music,” the tribute concluded.
