Surrounded by music while growing up in Belmont, 74-year-old Peggy Skemer and her sisters enjoyed listening to – and later playing in – their parents’ weekly living room concerts.
“We were very lucky to grow up in that house,” said Skemer, who recalled the numerous musicians who would visit, perform and socialize during the gatherings.
Although her parents, Joseph and Lise Stein, weren’t professional musicians, their “contagious enthusiasm for chamber music continues to inspire [the Belmont] community,” according to the town’s Powers Music School. To honor that legacy, Skemer and many other players (and fans) will gather on Jan. 25 for the 50th anniversary of the school’s free Stein Chamber Music Festival, named for her parents.
“I’m amazed … that it’s been 50 years,” said Skemer, who has played cello since age 12. “My father was a very modest person … and yet I think he would be quietly pleased.”
According to Powers, “The festival includes music of all genres performed by musicians of all ages, ranging in abilities from beginning students to amateurs and professionals.”
50 Years and Going Strong
Although the festival was created to honor her parents’ dedication to chamber music, Skemer credits another family for keeping the annual event vital for half a century.
Mildred Freiberg and Margaret Duesenberry, two of Powers’ “founding mothers,” created the Stein Chamber Music Festival in 1975. Freiberg, who often played piano during the Steins’ weekly concerts, handed over responsibility for coordinating the festival to her daughter Sarah Freiberg Ellison in 1998.
“I’m immensely proud to be continuing something that my mother started,” said Ellison, a Powers cello teacher and board member who lives in Belmont.
Like Ellison and her mother, “there are a lot of families that play together” at the festival each year, some returning over several generations. “These families just keep it going. … It’s really sweet.”
Ellison’s son will join her on the cello at the Jan. 25 event.
This year, there will be performances at 5:40 p.m. and 7 p.m., featuring a range of genres, including classical, jazz, and even Disney tunes. Ellison said the earlier show would feature younger performers. Last year, about 40 musicians performed at the festival.
Asked why she thinks the event has had such longevity and multiple generations of dedicated participants, Ellison said, “It’s a very nice community-building event [that] gives people an outlet to enjoy playing music” in a welcoming, inclusive atmosphere.
The free Stein Chamber Music Festival will take place on Jan. 25, 2025, with concerts at 5:30 and 7 p.m. in the Tracy Powers Concert Hall at Powers Music School, 160 Lexington St., Belmont. There will be a reception between the two concerts with a potluck from the performers. This festival is open to the public to attend. The school also will be livestreaming it on its YouTube page.
