Music for Montauk's 2021 summer series happens this weekend, with concerts for aficionados and casual enjoyers alike. Friday at 6 p.m., an ensemble headed by the Grammy Award-winning bassist Pedro Giraudo will get people dancing with Cuban music at the Montauk Lighthouse, and on Saturday, there's a more intimate "Summer Serenade" concert planned for Fort Pond House.
The events are organized to ensure "people can have adequate space to distance, but still can listen to live music, which I think in their heart they needed," Milos Repicky, vice president of Music for Montauk, said.
"It's really clear that people are longing for live performances," he added later.
Mr. Giraudo, an Argentinian bass player of tango and Afro-Cuban jazz, is "on the front end of what's going on in the music scene," Mr. Repicky said. He will be joined tomorrow by a pianist, bassist, trombonist, and percussionist to create "something kind of festive . . . It's a very rich group and they . . . feed the energy" of the event.
Saturday's 6 p.m. "Summer Serenade" brings back favorite musicians from past summer series. Among them are Jessica Meyer, a violist and composer who has featured in prior years' piano and string quartets and whom the organization has commissioned previously, as well as Kristi Shade, "a real innovator in the world of harp music," according to Mr. Repicky. Music for Montauk's president, Lilah Gosman, a singer, will also perform.
As an organization presenting solely classical music, Music for Montauk's events aim to "get rid of people's preconceptions and let them enjoy the music we provide," Mr. Repicky said, noting the organization's usage of nontraditional venues. "We definitely want to remember that music brings us together, and gives us hope, and feeds the best parts of ourselves."
Last year the organization presented only virtual offerings, such as the presentation of a string quartet performing on a Manhattan rooftop. This year the event is in-person but pared down from the usual five or six concerts to four: two this weekend and two in the fall.
"We have the ability . . . to reconnect and energize everybody in this way," Mr. Repicky said. "The communal experience of music -- you don't get that online, you don't get that in a recording. It's just irreplaceable."
While the organizers encourage mask wearing, they are not mandating it, and both events are outdoors with adequate space for social distancing.
Tickets to Music for Montauk's Cuban Music with Pedro Giraudo and Friends are available on its website and are $20 or free for those under 18. Admission to the Saturday concert is free and registration is not required.
