Let the Bridgehanpton Chamber Music Begin

   The 29th season of concerts by the Bridgehampton Chamber Music Festival begins next Thursday and will showcase a mix of well-known and up-and-coming musicians performing both classical and new music.

    Marya Martin, a flutist and the founder and artistic director of the festival, has programmed 11 concerts, beginning with a free outdoor concert next Thursday at the Bridgehampton Historical Society by Brooklyn Rider, a string quartet, and continuing with programs that have 6 to 14 musicians playing music ranging from Bach and Vivaldi to Schnittke and Ligeti, as well as the world premiere of a work by Paul Brantley.

    Ms. Martin also had good news at the beginning of the summer: The festival’s very first recording on its own label, BCMF Records, was released in June. It was called “A disc of American contemporary repertoire” in a release.

    Two artists who performed with Ms. Martin at the beginning are returning this summer: Ani Kavafian on violin and Fred Sherry on cello. A mix of 40 musicians includes Stefan Jackiw, Joseph Lin, and Arnaud Sussman on violin, Cynthia Phelps and Hsin-Yun Huang on viola, Carter Brey and Edward Arron on cello, and Alessio Bax, Gilles Vonsattel, and Orion Weiss on piano. David Pittsinger, a bass-baritone, will perform as well.

    On July 28 the festival’s benefit concert will be held at the Atlantic Golf Club in Bridgehampton. After that, except for the Aug. 10 William Brian Little concert at the Channing Sculpture Garden, the rest of the concerts will be performed at the Bridgehampton Presbyterian Church.

    With the exception of the William Brian Little concert and the benefit concert, tickets range from $30 to $50. All tickets can be obtained at 537-6368 or at the festival’s Web site, bcmf.org.