GROOVIN’ ON THE GREEN HIGHLANDS OUTDOOR CONCERT SERIES
Concerts kick off at 6 p.m., rain or shine — bring your lawn chairs, a blanket, a picnic, and your leashed dog, and you’re all set. Local food and beverage vendors are on-site if you’d rather travel light. For groups looking to make a proper evening of it, tent rentals are available and serve the added purpose of helping keep this community tradition funded and free. It’s the kind of event that feels effortless to attend and surprisingly hard to leave.
Concerts are free and kick off at 6 p.m. on The Village Green Commons Lawn. To learn more about Groovin’ on The Green, visit villagegreencashiersnc.com.
COREY STEVENSON BAND
May 22
DYLAN ARMOUR
May 29
THE DEEP SHALLOW BAND
June 12
THE WOBBLERS
June 26
GOTCHA GROOVE
July 24
THE WANDERING HOURS
August 14
MCINTOSH AND THE LIONHEARTS
September 4
Friday Night Live and Saturdays on Pine Highlands takes its summer nights seriously. From May through September, free live music fills downtown on both Friday and Saturday evenings — two distinct series, two distinct sounds, and not a cover charge in sight.
Friday Night Live brings traditional mountain music to Highlands’ Town Square, and there’s an informal, participatory spirit to it that’s hard to manufacture: the bands feed off the crowd, and the crowd — clapping, singing, and dancing if the mood strikes — feeds right back. It’s audience participation at its best.
Saturdays on Pine moves the party a block over to Kelsey-Hutchinson Founders Park on Pine Street, where the programming includes rock, blues, beach music, and beyond. Pack a picnic from one of Highlands’ restaurants, pull up a lawn chair, and settle in. By the end of the evening, you’ll have a good sense of what the remarkable small-town life on the Plateau actually feels like.
Concerts on both nights are free and start at 6 p.m. Friday Night Live concerts are held in Highlands’ Town Square. Saturdays on Pine concerts are held at KelseyHutchinson Founders Park. To learn more about the Highlands Outdoor Concert Series, visit highlandschamber.org.
FRIDAY NIGHT LIVE
Main Street’s Town Square
FOXFIRE BOYS
May 15
SILLY RIDGE
May 22
ANDREW WAKEFIELD & FRIENDS
May 29
JOHN WEBB
June 5
YOUNG MOUNTAIN MAGIC
June 12
SHORTOFF MOUNTAIN BOYS
June 19
DOUG RAMSAY
June 26
SPARE PARTS BLUEGRASS BAND
July 3
BLACKWELL TRADITION II
July 10
FOXFIRE BOYS
July 17
BYRDS AND CROWS
July 24
NITROGRASS
July 31
JOHN WEBB
August 7
MCLAIN FAMILY BAND
August 14
SHAWN LANE TRIO
August 21
SPARE PARTS BLUEGRASS BAND
August 28
SILLY RIDGE
September 4
BYRDS AND CROWS
September 11
BLACKWELL TRADITION II
September 18
SHORTOFF MOUNTAIN BOYS
September 25
SATURDAYS
ON PINE
Kelsey-Hutchinson Founders Park
LAZRLUVR
May 16
THE PARKS BROTHERS
May 23
SNAP
May 30
THE AMERICAN FLYERS
June 6
U-NEEK FLAVUR
June 13
GROOVE MACHINE
June 20
SOUTHSIDE STATION
July 4
BLAZE THE CITY
July 11
MOON DANCE
July 18
BOURBON SONS
July 25
YACHT RANDO
August 1
BLAKE ELLEGE & THE RESONATORS
August 8
WILL THOMPSON BAND
August 22
DIVERSE GROOVE
September 5
HIGH 5
September 12
BOOGITHERAPI
September 19
DARREN NICHOLSON BAND
September 26
THE HIGHLANDSCASHIERS CHAMBER MUSIC FESTIVAL CONCERT SERIES
When Lucas Drew organized a small series of concerts in Highlands in the summer of 1976, he was testing an idea: that this mountain community had both the appetite and the setting for serious chamber music. He was right. The Highlands-Cashiers Chamber Music Festival was formally founded in 1982, and it has been building on that original conviction ever since.
Now in its 45th season and among the oldest and longest-running summer chamber music festivals in the country, the festival brings together an
extraordinary roster of musicians for six weeks of performances spanning late June through early August. The Regular Concert Series runs on Saturdays and Mondays at the Highlands Performing Arts Center and on Sundays and Tuesdays at The Village Green Commons in Cashiers, presenting world-class chamber music in intimate, accessible settings.
Artistic Director William Ransom, who has helmed the festival since 2000, programs a range of special performances throughout the season, from informal salon-style evenings to family concerts and outreach events. For anyone who loves chamber music — or is simply curious about it — this is one of the better reasons to be on the Plateau in July.
Regular Concert Series events are ticketed. To learn more about the Highlands-Cashiers Chamber Music Festival, visit h-cmusicfestival.org.
REGULAR
CONCERT SERIES
Highlands concerts are held on Saturdays and Mondays at the Highlands Performing Arts Center. Cashiers concerts are held on Sundays and Tuesdays at The Village Green Commons. Regular Concert Series events are ticketed.
OPENING CONCERTS
45TH ANNIVERSARY OPENING
GALA CONCERT
Sunday, June 28 at 5 p.m. in Highlands
Featuring The Zukerman Trio
AMERICAN SALUTE
Sunday, July 5 at 5 p.m. in Cashiers
Featuring The American String Quartet; Vijay Venkatesh and Jasmin Arakawa, piano; Yinzi Kong, viola; William Ransom, piano
FOUNDER’S CELEBRATION
Monday, July 6 at 5 p.m. in Highlands | Tuesday, July 7 at 5 p.m. in Cashiers
Featuring The American String Quartet; Nina Bernat, double bass
WEEK TWO
KATHY AND MARK WHITEHEAD YOUNG PIANIST CONCERT
Saturday, July 11 at 5 p.m. in Highlands | Sunday, July 12 at 5 p.m. in Cashiers
Featuring Chelsea Guo, piano
NEAVE TRIO — DEBUT
Monday, July 13 at 5 p.m. in Highlands | Tuesday, July 14 at 5 p.m. in Cashiers
Featuring the Neave Trio
WEEK THREE
BEETHOVEN, BRAHMS, AND BRUCE
Saturday, July 18 at 5 p.m. in Highlands | Sunday, July 19 at 5 p.m. in Cashiers
Featuring Chee-Yun, violin; Bruce Heim, French horn; William Ransom, piano
BATTLE OF THE BANDS
Monday, July 20 at 5 p.m. in Highlands | Tuesday, July 21 at 5 p.m. in Cashiers
Featuring The Formosa String Quartet; Erinys String Quartet
WEEK FOUR
SOLO STARS
Saturday, July 25 at 5 p.m. in Highlands | Sunday, July 26 at 5 p.m. in Cashiers
Featuring Zuill Bailey, cello; Amy Schwartz Moretti, violin; Yinzi Kong, viola
SIZZLING SEXTETS
Monday, July 27 at 5 p.m. in Highlands | Tuesday, July 28 at 5 p.m. in Cashiers
Featuring Amy Schwartz Moretti and Kate Ransom, violin; Paul Neubauer and Yinzi Kong, viola; Zuill Bailey and James Kim, cello
WEEK FIVE
ATLANTA CHAMBER PLAYERS — 50TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION
Saturday, August 1 at 5 p.m. in Highlands | Sunday, August 2 at 5 p.m. in Cashiers
Featuring Elizabeth Pridgen, piano; Helen Hwaya Kim, violin; Charae Krueger, cello; Cathy Lynn, viola; Jesse McCandless, clarinet
THE BORROMEO STRING QUARTET — DEBUT
Monday, August 3 at 5 p.m. in Highlands | Tuesday, August 4 at 5 p.m. in Cashiers
Featuring The Borromeo String Quartet
GERSHON/COHN FINAL GALA CONCERT & DINNER
CONCERTO NIGHT
Sunday, August 9 at 5 p.m. at the Highlands Performing Arts Center
Featuring Anton Nel, piano; Abigel Kralik, violin; The Chamber Music Orchestra: Emily Daggett Smith, Jessica Wu, Helen Kim, Kenn Wagner, Juan Ramírez, Alice Hong, violin; Joseph Skerik, Yinzi Kong, Joli Wu, viola; Guang Wang, Charae Krueger, cello; Jonathan Colbert, bass
SPECIAL PERFORMANCES
In addition to the Regular Concert Series, the Highlands-Cashiers Chamber Music Festival organizes numerous other special performances in venues throughout the Plateau.
RESIDENCY PROGRAM
Saturday, May 2 at 5 p.m.
The Church of the Incarnation, Highlands | Free Concert
Featuring the Terra String Quartet
MOUNTAIN MUSIC SOIREE
Sunday, June 21 at 6 p.m.
Home of Mary Thompson Ticketed Concert — $200 per person
Featuring William Ransom, piano; David Coucheron, violin
INTERLUDE CONCERT
Wednesday, July 8 at 2 p.m.
First Presbyterian Church of Highlands | Free Concert
Featuring Nina Bernat, bass; William Ransom, piano
FAMILY CONCERTS
Wednesday, July 15 at 3 p.m.
Albert Carlton Cashiers Library Free Concert
Thursday, July 16 at 3 p.m.
First Presbyterian Church of Highlands | Free Concert
Featuring Sasha Prior, oboe and English horn; Kevin Lyons, trumpet; William Ransom, piano; Alice Hong, violin; Choo Choo Hu, piano
MARTINIS, MOZART & MORE!
Thursday, July 23 at 5 p.m.
The Pavilion at The Farm at Old Edwards Farm — Highlands Ticketed Concert — $125 per person
Featuring The Formosa and Erinys String Quartets
* SCHEDULES SUBJECT TO CHANGE
