St. Augustine Music Festival Goes Virtual!

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  The St. Augustine Music Festival is the largest free classical music festival in the U.S. The festival normally presents two full weekends of concerts featuring musicians from the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra joined by internationally renowned artists performing live at the Cathedral Basilica. The Festival's aim is to offer St. Augustine visitors and locals an opportunity to appreciate classical music with a wide variety of selections.

  The 14th Annual St. Augustine Music Festival will continue in a new format, due to precautions in place about the COVID-19 emergency. This will be a virtual festival that will take place over two consecutive weekends in June (Thursday – Saturday, June 18 – 20 and 25 – 27, 2020). The online concerts will begin at 7:30 p.m. each night. They can be accessed by visiting the St. Augustine Music Festival's Facebook or YouTube web pages.

  Musicians from across the United States will be showcased over six nights. The program will include:

  • Selections from women composers as 2020 commemorates 100 years of women’s suffrage
  • Some of best work of Ludwig Van Beethoven, in honor of the 250th anniversary of his birth
  • Dynamic renditions of Clara Schumann’s Three Romances with Nigel Armstrong on violin and Audrey Vardanega on piano
  • An evening of “Hope, Joy, and Love” with Gabriela Peña, Jorge Peña, DJ Cheek, Betsy Federman and Jin Kim-Peña joining Nigel Armstrong to perform Schoenberg’s Transfigured Night

  The concerts can be accessed by visiting the St. Augustine Music Festival's Facebook or YouTube web pages.

  The festival is sponsored by the St. Johns Cultural Council, St. Johns County Tourist Development Council, and the Community Foundation for North East Florida.

  The St. Augustine Music Festival was founded in 2007 by Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra members Jorge A. Peña (viola) and Jin Kim-Peña (cello), with the invaluable participation and support of many other musicians and the local community. For more details regarding the St. Augustine Music Festival, please visit here.

  Admission: Free

  When: All concerts begin at 7:30 p.m. The series will be held on the two last weekends (Thursday through Saturday) in June 2020: June 18, 19, & 20 and 25, 26, & 27, 2020.

  Where: The St. Augustine Music Festival concerts normally take place at the Cathedral Basilica. For 2020 only, because of safety precautions due to the COVID-19 crisis, the "best of" concerts will appear online. The concerts can be accessed by visiting the St. Augustine Music Festival's Facebook or YouTube web pages.