Maverick reopens for 2021

Following more than a year of handwringing over the fates of the many wonderful performing arts venues in Hudson Valley One’s readership area — not to mention the many wonderful artists who rely on them for their livelihood — it’s a tremendous relief to be able to report that theaters, concert halls and clubs are bouncing back from the closures inflicted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Effective July 18, we can add the Maverick to the tally of listening spaces that have reopened, launching what board chair Stephen McGrath calls a very exciting comeback season” with a concert by the Horszowski Trio. “It’s a return to the Maverick you know and love,” says music director Alexander Platt. “Every program is a beautiful feast.”

The storm that passed through the performing arts world in 2020 was no easier to ride out for Maverick Concerts than for any of its peers. “Last summer we did what everyone else did: We hunkered down, canceled all live performances and focused on video,” Platt relates.

According to Platt, the Maverick considered trying what some major orchestras had been doing during the pandemic: “performing for an empty hall” for livestreaming, but concluded that there was “no point.” A televised performance by the Berlin Philharmonic of one of his own best-known works, “my reconstruction of the chamber version of the Mahler Fourth Symphony,” sounded “so utterly dead without an audience that we felt like unwanted guests at a funeral. It was a nihilistic enterprise. So, we decided to husband our resources and come back roaring in 2021.”

A look back at the stellar lineup originally scheduled for last summer and then canceled can make one feel wistful for what might have been. But the Maverick was able to reschedule several of the canceled guests for this summer, including the Horszowski Trio, the Tesla, Amernet and Borromeo String Quartets and the Christian Sands Trio. Platt praises the 2021 lineup as “one of the richest, most impressive, truly diverse seasons of classical music we’ve ever had.” That’s saying a lot, for a venue that has been presenting the cream-of-the-crop of chamber ensembles for more than a century.

The schedule for the rest of the summer of 2021 will be a little lighter than in seasons past, but the offerings — nine Sunday afternoons of chamber music and two Saturday evenings of Jazz at the Maverick — are as tantalizing as ever. The Miró Quartet arrives on July 25; the Manhattan Chamber Players make their Maverick Debut on August 1; there’s another debut, from the Tesla String Quartet with Adam Tendler on piano, on August 8; pianist Awadagin Pratt on August 15; the Amernet String Quartet on August 22; the Catalyst Quartet with Daniel Gortler on piano on August 29; the Borromeo String Quartet on September 5; and the Cavani String Quartet with Yumi Kurosawa on koto on September 12. All the chamber music concerts begin at 4 p.m.

This year’s two jazz concerts will be the Christian Sand Trio on August 8 and the Fred Hersch Trio on September 4. Both commence at 8 p.m. Conspicuously missing from the schedule are the Maverick’s beloved morning performances for kids, though this could change depending on evolving COVID guidelines, Platt says. “We’re not sure if we can do any Young People’s Concerts on account of the vaccination situation.” Stay tuned to the website for updates.

Speaking of vaccinations, you’ll need to present proof that you’ve had yours in order to attend Maverick Concerts this summer. All tickets will be distributed by advance sale only and all seating assigned. Mask-wearing will be optional, both inside the hall and on the grounds.

Platt promises that the experience will be worth any inconveniences, however. “There really is no replacement for communal live performance,” he says. “I can’t wait to welcome everyone back on the Maverick grounds, in a hospitable, convivial environment.”

To order tickets to the Maverick Concerts 2021 season, call (800) 595-4849 or visit www.maverickconcerts.org.