Sounds of an Island summer are on the way: Perlman Program announces 2022 season

One of the most welcome signs of summer — the arrival of the Perlman Music Program (PMP) at its Shelter Island campus — is in the works.

Gifted students practicing with their instruments in cottages at the water’s edge bring an air of magic to Crescent Beach in the summer months. Under the direction of world-renowned violinist Itzhak Perlman and his wife Toby, the PMP Summer Program offers young people the opportunity to pursue musical excellence while enjoying the Island and the camaraderie of fellow students and alumni in a supportive community that grows each year.

Canceled in the first year of the pandemic, the program returned last summer under COVID-19 restrictions, keeping in touch with supporters and music lovers through outdoor and online events.

The familiar blue awnings of the campus will be flying again come Memorial Day, PMP has announced, with a full schedule to share with Islanders for its 28th Summer Season.

On Friday and Saturday evenings, Memorial Day through Labor Day, performances will welcome Islanders to the performance tent on Shore Road, beginning with the Chamber Music Workshop from May 27 to June 19. The Workshop invites young artists to explore musicianship at the highest level. Led by esteemed cellist and educator Merry Peckham, 42 musicians ages 18 and up take part in masterclasses, sharing their performances at weekend recitals under the tent.

From June 25 to August 15, the Summer Music School will be underway, bringing 40 students from around the world to The “Littles” Program, which welcomes gifted violin, viola, and cello students ages 12-18 into a richly supportive musical community for a seven-week residency.

Admissions are based solely on talent. No student will ever be turned away due to an inability to pay, the program states. Once admitted, students are welcomed into the lifelong PMP family: “Littles” are invited back to camp every summer through age 18.

A typical day for a “Little” at camp looks like this:

7 a.m. Rise/ Morning exercise and stretching.

8 a.m. Breakfast with the PMP Community.

8:30 Four 50-minute hours of rehearsal in the student’s own personal practice room, with 10-minute breaks in between.

12:30 p.m. Lunch with the PMP Community.

Afternoon Curriculum includes: private lessons, studio classes, chamber music coachings.

Recreation includes: frisbee (the official sport of PMP), ping pong, billiards, swimming, trip into town, and more.

5 p.m. Chorus Rehearsal.

6 p.m. Dinner with the PMP Community.

7 p.m. Orchestra Rehearsal.

PMP’s enormously popular Summer Gala fundraising event will return in person on Friday, July 29 for an evening of orchestra and chorus on the Shelter Island campus. Guests will join students and faculty for dinner, and an evening that promises “the summertime works: sangria, doowop, and boatloads of joy,” according to PMP organizers.

For invitations, email [email protected].

On August weekends, the Stires-Stark Alumni Recitals will return. The program has made a special effort to keep the recitals available to the community throughout the pandemic, offering access to these performances online through their PMP At Home program (perlmanmusicprogram.org/pmp-from-home).

Once again this August, guests will be able to enjoy these artists’ musical gifts in the beautiful Island setting, cooled by the breezes off Peconic Bay.