Muzzy Ridge Concerts, the live chamber music series founded by composer Robert Sirota, returns for its sixth season of summer performances in Searsmont over three weeks in July.

Muzzy Ridge Concerts expands this year from four to six afternoon performances, offering three programs, each performed twice by world-renowned musicians, according to Muzzy Ridge, in a news release. 

The Maine chamber series will feature the return of several friends of Muzzy Ridge, new guest artists, first-time collaborations and a special appearance by the American String Quartet during its final world tour.

On Monday, July 5 and Tuesday, July 6, clarinetist Graeme Steele Johnson and pianist Min Kwon perform. On Tuesday, July 14 and Wednesday, July 15, the American String Quartet takes the stage in Searsmont. On Tuesday, July 28 and Wednesday, July 29, violist Nadia Sirota (a celebrated soloist and Robert’s daughter) and cellist Claire Bryant complete the 2026 season. 

Each of the concert programs, presented on consecutive weekday afternoons, will begin at 5 p.m. Performances will run for approximately 60 minutes with no intermission. Indoor seating is limited to 50 patrons with an additional 20 outdoor seats.

Tickets at $30 per concert, and $20 for outdoor seating, are now on sale at robertsirota.com/muzzy-ridge-concerts. This year, for the first time, you may purchase a Muzzy Ridge Season Pass. The Pass allows you to select any three Muzzy Ridge 2026 concert dates as a package for a discounted price of $75.

Concerts take place in Robert Sirota’s Searsmont, Maine studio, the creative sanctuary where he has composed a great deal of his work throughout the past 35 years, according to the news release.

“Muzzy Ridge Concerts were born in August of 2021 when my wife Vicki and I invited a few friends to our house to spend a couple of weekends performing chamber music," said Sirota. "Now we invite you to join us for this mainstay of the Maine summer concert calendar.”

The opening concerts on July 5 and July 6 will feature clarinetist Graeme Steele Johnson and pianist Min Kwon performing works from the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries. Expect to hear a lively mix of traditional and contemporary works from the 19th century to the present day, from the Sonata in E- flat for Clarinet and Piano by Johannes Brahms to “Blues” from “An American in Paris” by George Gershwin and Michele Mangani. Enjoy “Première Rhapsodie” by Claude Debussy, “Apparition” by Viet Cuong and “Selections” from Ms. Kwon’s incredible commissioning project “America/Beautiful,” dozens of versions of Paul Simon’s “America.” 

The American String Quartet’s program on July 14 and July 15 embraces the beauty of the traditional classical canon from the late 18th and 19th centuries, showcasing the group’s highly refined interconnected musicianship. Violinists Peter Winograd and Laurie Carney, violist Matthias Buchholz and cellist Wolfram Koessel perform stylistically divergent quartets by two composers who wrote music nearly a century apart. You will hear Franz Joseph Haydn’s Quartet in D Major Opus 76 No. 5 and Johannes Brahms’ Quartet in A Minor Op. 51 No. 2. Haydn’s music is “modest but deeply expressive.” Brahms’ quartet is “ unwaveringly bold, dramatic, and emotionally heavy.”

"Because this is the American String Quartet’s final season together, these concerts are some of the last opportunities to hear a live performance by a storied ensemble that has performed for more than 45 years," said Muzzy Ridge.

The series concludes its sixth season with the dynamic playing of violist Nadia Sirota and cellist Claire Bryant, as the two perform a varied program of classical music and works by living composers. Their performances will feature “Limestone & Felt” by Caroline Shaw, “Drones” by Nico Muhly, and the unusual “Duet for Two Obbligato Eyeglasses” by Ludwig van Beethoven.

"Expect an unusual concert filled with fun and contemplative artistry," said Muzzy Ridge.

“It is sure to be a memorable finale for the 2026 season of Muzzy Ridge Concerts in Searsmont,” said Sirota.

Robert Sirota composed the music and The Reverend Doctor Victoria Ressmeyer Sirota, his wife wrote the text for “A Call for the Battle to Cease,” a work for orchestra, piano soloist, and adult and children choruses. The piece received its world premiere at Carnegie Hall, putting Searsmont and the midcoast on the world music map in mid-April. Sirota’s works have been performed by orchestras across the US and Europe, by ensembles such as Alarm Will Sound and yMusic, by the American, Blair, Chiara and Telegraph String Quartets, and by the Peabody, Concord, and Webster Trios. His compositions have been heard at the Tanglewood, Aspen, Yellow Barn, Cooperstown, Bowdoin International Music and Mizzou International Composers festivals. He has been commissioned to write music by soloists, the Neave Trio, Jeffrey Kahane and the Sarasota Music Festival, Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine, Palladium Musicum, American Guild of Organists, the American String Quartet, Alarm Will Sound, the Naumburg Foundation, and yMusic. He has also prepared musical arrangements for Paul Simon. 

Sirota has received grants from the Watson and Guggenheim Foundations, National Endowment for the Arts, Meet the Composer, and the American Music Center. His recorded works are on the Capstone, Albany, New Voice, Gasparo and Crystal labels. For more information, visit https://www.robertsirota.com.

Go to www.robertsirota.com/muzzy-ridge-concerts to purchase tickets for all performances.