SANDY BOTTOM — National Music Festival flute mentor Jennifer Parker-Harley returns to Kent County with a program of global music for flute at 3 p.m. on Sunday, March 15 at St. Paul’s Church near Chestertown.
The cost is $25 for adults and $5 for students with ID and children under 14.
Parker-Harley, who has been a mentor at the Chestertown-based National Music Festival since its inception, is a professor of flute at the University of South Carolina in Columbia.
She brings to the Resonance concert series a multicultural program of music by composers from Telemann to Reena Esmail, Fang Man, Alarizi Mashayekhi and more.
The program is a “tribute to the idea of international friendship through music,” according to Parker-Harley.
“The Folk Tale of the Four Dragons,” by Fang Man, will be narrated by Sue Matthews, who is not only well known as a jazz artist, but wowed NMF audiences in Kurt Weill’s “Seven Deadly Sins” with the Festival Symphony Orchestra several years ago.
Although two Resonance concerts for the season already have passed, three performances remain.
Resonance passes and combo passes are on sale; the Resonance pass is discounted to $65, which is a $10 savings compared to the single ticket price for all three remaining concerts.
The 2025-2026 National Music Festival combo pass — on sale now for $325 — includes all three remaining Resonance concerts as well as admission to the many ticketed performances during the 2026 festival, May 31-June 13.
The Resonance concert series will continue with Manuel Barrueco, guitar, on April 12 and Matchstick Percussion on May 3 [rescheduled from Feb. 22 due to weather].
All Resonance performances are on Sundays at 3 p.m. at St. Paul’s Church, which is located at 7579 Sandy Bottom Road near Chestertown.
“The National Music Festival is grateful to St. Paul’s for providing a beautiful venue for Resonance concerts. In the colder months, a fire in the fireplace makes for a cozy atmosphere to enjoy great music,” a news release states.
Tickets and passes can be purchased online at nationalmusic.us, or by check mailed to National Music Festival, P.O. Box 284, Chestertown, MD 21620. Include your email address with your check as tickets will be sent electronically. If you do not have an email address, call 443-480-0221 to purchase tickets.
Tickets also will be available at the door for each concert.
Thanks to support from Kent Cultural Alliance and the Hedgelawn Foundation, Resonance artists, during their time in Kent County, visit local schools to perform for and speak with students.
The National Music Festival is supported in part by the Maryland State Arts Council, Kent Cultural Alliance, Mid-Shore Community Foundation, The Peoples Bank [now operating as Peoples Powered by Hanscom Federal Credit Union] and by tax-deductible contributions.
For more information about the National Music Festival, visit nationalmusic.us, email info@nationalmusic.us or call 443-480-0221.
