Honest Brook Music Festival Inc

We have so enjoyed the performances held by The Honest Brook Musical
Festival... in the "barn" during the summer and in private homes over winter. Such lovely surroundings and memorable programs.
They continue their high standard of having such professional and
wonderful artists and we consider ourselves so fortunate to have
them available in our area.

One of the best experiences in the Catskill Mountains. I have brought friends and relatives to the concerts and they are amazed at the quality of production in such a rural area. The setting is fantastic. We in the Catskills are most fortunate to have The Honest Brook Festival. Not to be missed and important to be supported.

This is my first season of winter concerts and have enjoyed it very much. Looking forward to attending the summer concerts as well. It is nice to have culture close by so that one does not have to travel several hours to hear great music. Michael keep up the good work and the great selection of artists.

Have attended several performances in each of the past few years, and have found their musical choices of performing artists to be consistently of the highest quality. This organization is an artistic gem to be cherished.

Have been going to the Honest Brook concerts for the past 16 years...The artists presented are some of the finest young artists performing today.We are so lucky to have these concerts performed in a fabulous barn in the summer and in people's homes in the winter...Honest Brook Music Festival enriches the lives of our community.

Michael Cannon finds extraordinary musicians for the Honest Brook Concerts. I have heard wonderful music going far beyond the classical top 40 performed by expert if not widely known artists. The winter concerts held in people's home provides an opportunity to meet and get to know others who appreciate fine music. It is a privilege to be involved in even a very small way with this organization.

I have been attending the Honest Brook Music Festival for many years. The muscians are consistantly first rate and the settings, both the barn during the summer and at area homes in the winter are charning and intimate. The ability to be up close to these very talented musicians gives you a fresh appreciation of their musical ability. Coupled with tasty refreshments and a pleasant appreciative audience, this is a venue that is hard to beat.

I split my time between NYC and Delhi and although I attend many concerts in NYC, I find the performances I attend with Honest Brook Music Festival, both in the barn in the summer and peoples' homes in winter to provide an intimacy with both the music and the musicians that the others in larger concert halls do not. Also, it is clear from the consistently high quality of the performers that Michael Cannon puts a lot of thought and care into his selections. I have been attending these concerts for the past 10 years and I have always felt them to be extremely satisfying. It feels that this is the way solo and chamber music was meant to be heard. I am truly grateful for their presence in the Catskills!!

I am an amateur pianist and cellist and I love nothing more than hearing chamber music in a intimate and pleasant setting. Honest Brook blows it out of the water. Both the summer barn and the winter private home venues are just great. They have a good variety of wonderful musicians with a great mix of old favorites and unusual programming. There have been some priceless moments over the years like hearing a Brahms trio with the smell and sound of rain in the background with accents of thunder and lightning. It doesn't get any better.

When we moved from NYC to the Catskills our friends all wondered how we could give up the city's great cultural resources. But thanks to HBMF we haven't had to. The Honest Brook concerts bring us the same quality of music we enjoyed at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln center-- at affordable prices and in beautiful venues. We especially enjoy the winter concerts which are presented in people's homes--chamber music as it was truly meant to be heard. Each concert ends with a reception where the musicians and music lovers can meet.

An oasis of classical music in the Catskills. I look forward every year to the winter and summer seasons' concerts. "Chamber music" is played in the type of space it was written for - intimate rooms bringing the artists close to the hearers.

As a Juilliard graduate (1963) and long time resident of New York City, I was reluctant to relocate to this rural area in the northwestern edge of the Catskill Mountains. I loved the area and wanted to retire here, but feaqred that I would miss the access to world class classical music and the cultural community to which I was accustomed. When friends mentioned the Honest Brook Music Festival, I was skeptical. What a wonderful surprise! I now regularly attend concerts and have never been disappointed. In addition to superlative performances, I greatly enjoy the setting (that barn!). The hosts are very congenial and promote an atmopsphere that is relaxed and unpretentious. Wonderful.

I was 18 years old when I attended my first HBMF concert. 20 years later, it is still such a pleasure to attend these inspiring concerts. I now bring my wife and have begun to bring my oldest son. HBMF has turned a barn, originally used to feed and milk cows, into a concert hall with a 9 foot Chickering concert grand piano, a stage and fantastic acoustics. They recruit accomplished international artists both seasoned and those making debuts. The surrounding area has awe-inspiring gardens and grass paths that lead to a brook. You have not experienced a "concert" until you have attended an HBMF concert!

After relocating from New York City to the rural, sparsely-populated Catskills, we had thought our days of hearing live classical performances by world-class musicians was over. We are so fortunate that the Honest Brook Music Festival brings incredibly talented professionals to play for us in beautiful and intimate settings. Experiencing these concerts in such conditions truly enriches our lives in a way that one cannot imagine when used to the cavernous venues of a large metropolis. Kudos and heartfelt thanks to Michael Cannon, Christopher Desler and the Board of HBMF for enriching the cultural life of our community!

Honest Brook runs one of the most FANTASTIC programs I have ever seen. The talent is the tops and programs are highly creative! They rank among the best Festivals in the USA. I love the intimate performances and the beautiful setting as well as the wonderful Artistic Directors who are always so helpful and friendly to everyone.

My sincere thanks to Honest Brook Music Festival for bringing very enjoyable and VERY GOOD classical music to our area. I used to think I was lucky to live in and near New York City because I could hear good classical music whenever I wanted. Much to my surprise and delight I have found such music in the presentations of Honest Brook here in rural Delaware County where I now live. I joke that I have actually attended more good musical events since I moved here. And, a bonus is the lovely setting in which to hear this music - a beautifully renovated barn in the summer and equally lovely homes in the winter. A real treat indeed!

The Honest Brook Music Festival concerts are a perfect delight. They bring amazing artists into a serene & beautiful setting in which all of one's senses become involved. In the summer, the setting is an old dairy barn set in the rollng hills of Delaware County. Surrounding the barn are magnificient garden that delight both sight & smell with the music inspiring both hearing & feeling. Winter brings the concerts into private homes where the intimacy of the music combines with the closeness of the audience to enhance the artistry of the musicians & bring warmth to the long, cold winter nights in the Catskill Mountains.

As neighbors and friends of the founders, we have supported HBMF from the outset and have watched it grow and prosper, both in the quality of music that is performed and in its broad outreach to the people in the area. There is nothing else like it in Delaware County. It is a source of pride and great satisfaction for all of us.

I always look forward to an Honest Brook concert, whether in The Barn during the summer or in someone's home during the winter. The performers are consistently excellent, their selections both challenging and rewarding, often a mix of the familiar and the new. Having this outstanding, professional quality of chamber music up here in the Catskills, so removed from the city, is truly a wonderful gift for music lovers. And the bonus is getting to meet and talk with the artists after each performance. Ticket prices are affordable.

HBMF provides high quality classical entertainment in a rural area. More than an hour of driving would be required to find similar music. The venue is warm, quaint and LOCAL ! My mother, who is 90, is able to attend concerts because staff ensures accessibility. They even come out to the car with the umbrella and save us seats in the front row so that she can see and hear. I come home inspired by the music and happy in the warmth that was offered by all. Winters are SO long here. The winter series offers a break to the cold, snow and darkness. I'm so happy we have Honest Brook!

I feel, as did my late husband, we are privileged and so pleased to be able to attend the summer and winter superb performances and gatherings with interesting and friendly people presented by HBMF. They are inspiring. It's so good to once again have this type of involvement and experience in a rural area, as we had in the City. HBMF was a delightful discovery and for the last 18 years we/I have been enjoying the performances. The hosts could not be more friendly, accommodating, and inviting. They work so hard and give us so much.

Excellent programming, the best enviornment in a barn-converted-to-music-hall setting, the best staff and there can only be good things said about the entire running of the organizataion. Refreshments at intermission lend it a very quaint and friendly touch.

I have attended their recitals and concerts for over 20 years and have enjoyed them immensely. I particularly was impressed with the trios, quartets, and piano soloists that the festival attracts, such as the Kalichstein/Laredo/Robinson trio playing Beethoven.

I am retired NYCPD living in the Catskill Mtns. and never in my life thought I would become a classical music affectionado sp? Well I am now thanks to the Honest Brook Festival and those dedicated folks who run it. I have actually raced down from a vacation in the Adirondacks to catch a very special Franz Liszt piano concert that included readings about the life of Liszt.I returned to the Adirondacks in the middle of the night enraptured. Well well worth it.

I consider the Honest Brook Music Festival as one of the best community assets in Delaware County. It is a very important part of my summer's classical music entertainment.The caliber of the performers are of the highest quality. We are indeed lucky to have this festival within our county borders. It needs whatever support is necessary to keep it going.

We "found" this festival by chance about 16 years ago and have gone to every concert since. The summer concerts are in a superb converted dairy barn with excellent accoustics. That, coupled with the high quality concert artists that the festival attracts make for a much anticipated season. The winter concerts are in people's homes which creates an intimate setting reminiscent of the way concerts were given in the 19th and 18th centuries. The Honest Brook Music Festival is worth the trip.

The Honest Brook Music Festival concerts are among the most enjoyable events I attend up here in the Catskill Mountains of New York State. As an inherently musical individual, and one who enjoys the arts in general, I must say that I am not only delighted by the existence of this organization in our area, but amazed by the high-caliber artists it attracts and presents. In the twelve years or so that I have attended their concerts, not once have I been other than thrilled and uplifted by them.

Imagine sitting in the charming barn of a former dairy farm in the Catskills reveling in the sheer magic of a wonderful repertoire of classical music. Attending a concert hosted by Honest Brook Music Festival is every bit as halcyon as you might dare to imagine. My memories of an exquisite all Chopin concert some years ago are as vivid as they were for that captivating first concert experience. Naturally we've been back time and time again, and introduced Honest Brook Music Festival to many friends, all of whom have loved the concert they've attended as much as we have.