Letter from the Artistic & Executive Director
2026 RITES OF SPRING MUSIC FESTIVAL
Sea, Soil & Soul: Music follows Nature
2026 RITES OF SPRING MUSIC FESTIVAL
A NEW SEASON OF LIVE CONCERTS IN UNCONVENTIONAL AND EXTRAORDINARY LOCATIONS.
A magical encounter of MUSIC, NATURE, AND CULTURE ON THE NORTH FORK of Long Island.
Sea, Soil & Soul: Music follows Nature
I'm thrilled to present the new 2026 edition of the Rites of Spring festival on the North Fork and East End of Long Island! The spring/summer music program will run for six months, from April to September, with more than twenty events bringing music and art to unconventional spaces that engage artists, community and local businesses.
Continuing the theme of last year's successful festival, which celebrated the rich maritime and agricultural traditions with their multiple cultures and practices, we've chosen to title the 2026 program Sea, Soil & Soul: Music Follows Nature.
This program traces the deep bond between music and the natural world. From the rhythms of the sea to the fertility of the soil, from the breath of wind to the resonance of the human soul, music arises as a reflection of nature’s living forces. Music, like nature, is born of cycles — of growth, transformation, and renewal. Through this journey, music reminds us that human creativity is inseparable from the elements that sustain life. The program invites audiences to hear the sea, soil, and soul not as metaphors alone, but as vital presences within the soundscape—reminders that music is not apart from nature but follows its pathways, amplifies its voices, and keeps us attuned to its rhythms.
For these reasons, this year we wanted to focus special attention on two composers, Franz Schubert and John Sebastian Bach, who better than any other spoke to the soul and expressed the inner strength of the human being. We will dedicate three solo violin concerts to the complete sonatas and partitas by J.S. Bach in the magical and rustic setting of Naugles Barn at Hallockville Museum Farm. With Schubert, we will present the Trout Quintet and Trio, Op. 100, and a song cycle to express his sensitivity to nature and his sense of respect for natural forces.
The Rites of Spring Music Festival, in collaboration with Stony Brook University Opera, has launched a new initiative Opera Talents for Change: Music, Management, and Community, to provide professional development and financial support to young artists and managers at the beginning of their careers. Opera Talents for Change offers opportunities such as concerts, community events, roles in theatrical productions, workshops, coaching, and international networking. Young talents have the chance to develop their skills, exercise leadership and management abilities, improve performance endurance, and expand their repertoire.
We will also have some exciting news: the launch of the Talents for Change initiative in collaboration with the Stony Brook University Opera. This new Initiative will provide professional development and financial support to young artists and managers at the beginning of their careers offering them opportunities such as concerts, community events, roles in theatrical productions, workshops, coaching, and international networking.
As part of this new Initiative, we will present Opera Days in the Hamptons in May, three days dedicated to arts songs recitals at the Bridgehampton Museum and an opera by Joseph Haydn's La Canterina at the splendid Avram Theatre on the Stony Brook campus in Southampton.
Another exciting long-term collaboration is announced with Sylvester Manor on Shelter Island, presenting All That Remains, a new artistic creation in the form of a multidisciplinary work based on Steve Wick's publication, which commemorates the historic presence of the African American community on Long Island.
For our piano lovers, we will renew the incredible success of PianoRites with three events in August at the extraordinary barn at McCall Preserve. Three extraordinary pianists will lead us on a transformative journey that combines music, nature, and the experience of place.
Finally, in September 2026, we will present a new edition of Energia Internacional in collaboration with the Greenport and Southold municipalities for a rich array of events to express the many cultural, artistic, and linguistic voices that make up our local communities.
Rites of Spring Music Festival continues to successfully invest in community-based activities that bring together residents and local partners to create connections, stories, and foster shared values. Our program is a music - and arts-based initiative that aims to create a fertile cultural ecosystem for the promotion of the arts, shared place, and a sense of belonging.
Enjoy the music!
Paolo Bartolani
Founder, Artistic & Executive Director
A NEW SEASON OF LIVE CONCERTS IN UNCONVENTIONAL AND EXTRAORDINARY LOCATIONS.
A magical encounter of MUSIC, NATURE, AND CULTURE ON THE NORTH FORK of Long Island.
Sea, Soil & Soul: Music follows Nature
I'm thrilled to present the new 2026 edition of the Rites of Spring festival on the North Fork and East End of Long Island! The spring/summer music program will run for six months, from April to September, with more than twenty events bringing music and art to unconventional spaces that engage artists, community and local businesses.
Continuing the theme of last year's successful festival, which celebrated the rich maritime and agricultural traditions with their multiple cultures and practices, we've chosen to title the 2026 program Sea, Soil & Soul: Music Follows Nature.
This program traces the deep bond between music and the natural world. From the rhythms of the sea to the fertility of the soil, from the breath of wind to the resonance of the human soul, music arises as a reflection of nature’s living forces. Music, like nature, is born of cycles — of growth, transformation, and renewal. Through this journey, music reminds us that human creativity is inseparable from the elements that sustain life. The program invites audiences to hear the sea, soil, and soul not as metaphors alone, but as vital presences within the soundscape—reminders that music is not apart from nature but follows its pathways, amplifies its voices, and keeps us attuned to its rhythms.
For these reasons, this year we wanted to focus special attention on two composers, Franz Schubert and John Sebastian Bach, who better than any other spoke to the soul and expressed the inner strength of the human being. We will dedicate three solo violin concerts to the complete sonatas and partitas by J.S. Bach in the magical and rustic setting of Naugles Barn at Hallockville Museum Farm. With Schubert, we will present the Trout Quintet and Trio, Op. 100, and a song cycle to express his sensitivity to nature and his sense of respect for natural forces.
The Rites of Spring Music Festival, in collaboration with Stony Brook University Opera, has launched a new initiative Opera Talents for Change: Music, Management, and Community, to provide professional development and financial support to young artists and managers at the beginning of their careers. Opera Talents for Change offers opportunities such as concerts, community events, roles in theatrical productions, workshops, coaching, and international networking. Young talents have the chance to develop their skills, exercise leadership and management abilities, improve performance endurance, and expand their repertoire.
We will also have some exciting news: the launch of the Talents for Change initiative in collaboration with the Stony Brook University Opera. This new Initiative will provide professional development and financial support to young artists and managers at the beginning of their careers offering them opportunities such as concerts, community events, roles in theatrical productions, workshops, coaching, and international networking.
As part of this new Initiative, we will present Opera Days in the Hamptons in May, three days dedicated to arts songs recitals at the Bridgehampton Museum and an opera by Joseph Haydn's La Canterina at the splendid Avram Theatre on the Stony Brook campus in Southampton.
Another exciting long-term collaboration is announced with Sylvester Manor on Shelter Island, presenting All That Remains, a new artistic creation in the form of a multidisciplinary work based on Steve Wick's publication, which commemorates the historic presence of the African American community on Long Island.
For our piano lovers, we will renew the incredible success of PianoRites with three events in August at the extraordinary barn at McCall Preserve. Three extraordinary pianists will lead us on a transformative journey that combines music, nature, and the experience of place.
Finally, in September 2026, we will present a new edition of Energia Internacional in collaboration with the Greenport and Southold municipalities for a rich array of events to express the many cultural, artistic, and linguistic voices that make up our local communities.
Rites of Spring Music Festival continues to successfully invest in community-based activities that bring together residents and local partners to create connections, stories, and foster shared values. Our program is a music - and arts-based initiative that aims to create a fertile cultural ecosystem for the promotion of the arts, shared place, and a sense of belonging.
Enjoy the music!
Paolo Bartolani
Founder, Artistic & Executive Director
Paolo Bartolani
pianist, Founder, Artistic & Executive Director
pianist, Founder, Artistic & Executive Director
Paolo Bartolani is a pianist, musicologist and music manager, working in both classical and contemporary music. He graduated in 1989 from the Santa Cecilia Music Conservatory in Rome (Italy). He studied with Eduardo Hubert, and after graduation, with Charles Rosen, György Sándor and Andor Foldes. He also studied French piano repertoire with Germaine Mounier at the Ecole Normale de Musique in Paris. In 1994, he received his Master in Musicology of the 20th century degree under the direction of Hugues Dufourt at the École des hautes études en sciences sociales in collaboration with IRCAM / Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris. Paolo performs as a soloist and also as a member of chamber ensembles in Europe and United States. In 2024, Paolo earned an MBA in Arts Innovation from the Global Leaders Institute based in Washington DC, after a year of great achievements and building a global network of professionals in the arts.
He writes articles for the musicology journals Sonus-Materials for Contemporary Music and Music/Reality. In 2006, he created a Master Degree Program in Cultural Enterprise Administration at the University of Perugia, where he also teaches.
At the Venice Biennale, from 2008 to 2012, Paolo was the General Coordinator of ENPARTS - European Network of Performing Arts, which promotes the creation of new works in dance, music and theater by young artists. From 2009 to 2014 he was the Director of the Résonnance Italy, a nonprofit organization based in Switzerland, where he was responsible for its artistic and humanitarian program, "bringing music to places where it is not heard." The members of the organization – singers, instrumentalists, conductors – have performed more than two hundred concerts in hospitals, nursing homes and prisons in order to promote musical sensibilities and share the joy of music.
He has been the General Coordinator of Music Up Close Network at Santa Cecilia National Academy in Rome. The Network includes seven European orchestras who promote new orchestral works and support a new generation of musicians to connect with young audiences.
He founded the Rites of Spring Music Fest in 2016 to promote classical and contemporary music on the North Fork of Long Island, and to combine music, history and the natural environment. The festival currently is a non-profit organization 501c3 and he is the Artistic Director and Responsible for developing the festival’s program.
He writes articles for the musicology journals Sonus-Materials for Contemporary Music and Music/Reality. In 2006, he created a Master Degree Program in Cultural Enterprise Administration at the University of Perugia, where he also teaches.
At the Venice Biennale, from 2008 to 2012, Paolo was the General Coordinator of ENPARTS - European Network of Performing Arts, which promotes the creation of new works in dance, music and theater by young artists. From 2009 to 2014 he was the Director of the Résonnance Italy, a nonprofit organization based in Switzerland, where he was responsible for its artistic and humanitarian program, "bringing music to places where it is not heard." The members of the organization – singers, instrumentalists, conductors – have performed more than two hundred concerts in hospitals, nursing homes and prisons in order to promote musical sensibilities and share the joy of music.
He has been the General Coordinator of Music Up Close Network at Santa Cecilia National Academy in Rome. The Network includes seven European orchestras who promote new orchestral works and support a new generation of musicians to connect with young audiences.
He founded the Rites of Spring Music Fest in 2016 to promote classical and contemporary music on the North Fork of Long Island, and to combine music, history and the natural environment. The festival currently is a non-profit organization 501c3 and he is the Artistic Director and Responsible for developing the festival’s program.
We invite you to join our Circle of Friends by making a fully tax-deductible donation today.
A gift of any amount will allow us to continue adding more performances and venues to our calendar, to branch out into new and adventurous projects, and to provide our audiences access to world class talents at affordable prices. In addition to the opportunity to hear young and talented artists on the rise, RoSMF offers residents, music lovers and visitors a chance to explore every corner of the beautiful North Fork. We hope you’ll join us on this exciting journey!
