Marlboro Music

The classical world’s most coveted retreat

October 2020

Marlboro Music was founded in 1951 by Rudolf Serkin, Adolf and Hermann Busch, and Marcel, Blanche, and Louis Moyse. Marlboro is a singular phenomenon. The great Austrian-born pianist Rudolf Serkin, Marlboro’s co-founder and long-time leader once declared that he wished to “create a community, almost utopian,” where artists could forget about commerce and escape into a purely musical realm.

For more over 65 years, Marlboro has had a profound influence on generations of leading chamber music artists and ensembles, recitalists, principals in the world’s major orchestras, singers, composers, artistic directors, and teachers.

Located on the tiny campus of Marlboro College, a former dairy farm, Marlboro brings together 60 to 80 musicians every July and August who explore chamber repertoire without the pressures and distractions that accompany daily life during the rest of the year.  The New Yorker Magazine describes as “The classical world’s most coveted retreat.”  Marlboro is a school that has no teachers or students — only participants, as they are called — from young professionals in their early 20s to veterans in their 80s. After three weeks of daily rehearsals, Marlboro artists begin sharing the results of their in-depth collaborations with audiences in public concerts. All the musicians are purposefully mixed in a workshop environment, which means that weekend concerts are a by-product, announced only a week or so in advance. Still, audiences travel from far and wide, appearing to welcome whatever is put in front of them. 

Today, Marlboro continues to thrive under the leadership of Mitsuko Uchida and Jonathan Biss, alternating the lead role from year to year. 

“I learn a lot,” Uchida said in an interview. “For example, when you play a piano quintet in the big world, I choose that superlatively good string quartet. They come prepared, I come prepared. It is me and the quartet as one. Here when we do a quintet, it’s four separate people plus me. And everyone is in a different stage of development and come from different schools and backgrounds. And there is so much more to sort out. And we have the time to sort it out.”

Marlboro Music cancelled its 2020 summer season (which would have been its 70th anniversary season) due to the COVID-19 outbreak. The festival is planning to return for the 2021 season, scheduled for July 17 to Aug. 15 of next year, as well as a 2020-21 Musicians from Marlboro tour schedule. “We will get through this period together, looking toward that time when we will once again be healed and uplifted by the incredible beauty and inspiration of live music,” organizers said.