For its 51st season, the Manchester Music Festival brings big talent and bold stories to the Arkell Pavilion at Southern Vermont Arts Center, for “Music and Storytelling,” July 10-August 7, 2025.

Under the leadership of Artistic Director Philip Setzer, famously of the Emerson String Quartet, this year’s Festival presents a range of celebrated artists, including Emmy Award Winner David Strathairn; GRAMMY Award-winning soprano Christine Goerke of The Metropolitan Opera; Anthony McGill, Principal Clarinet, New York Philharmonic; Emi Ferguson, Principal Flute, Handel & Haydn Society; Michael Stephen Brown, Piano and Avery Fisher Career Grant Recipient; Paul Neubauer, Viola, Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center; Sherezade Panthaki, Soprano, Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra; Paul Watkins, Cello, Emerson String Quartet; Gregg August, Bass, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra; and the MMF Young Artists.

Audiences will experience iconic works: Mozart’s Clarinet Quintet, Beethoven’s Kreutzer Sonata, Mendelssohn’s Octet, Schubert’s Trout Quintet, Stravinsky’s The Soldier’s Tale, and so much more, including free family concerts. Fifty-one years on, the Festival continues to be a cultural cornerstone and one of Vermont’s must-visit summer music events. Discover more at mmfvt.org.