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Norfolk Chamber Music Festival

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The Norfolk Chamber Music Festival , hosted in Norfolk, Connecticut , is a summer music festival. Set among the Litchfield Hills of the lower Berkshires , the Festival traces its roots to the Battell family, who started hosting summer concerts on the Norfolk town green in the 1880s. Now under the auspices of the Yale University School of Music .

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20-397: Robbins Battell (1819–1895) was the seventh son of a wealthy Norfolk, CT family. He was a patron of music, as well as, a skilled amateur flutist and composer. After graduating from Yale University in 1839, he returned to Norfolk to manage the family business enterprises, and used his wealth for various musical enterprises. Beginning in the 1880s he financed a week-long series of concerts on

40-675: A household in the town was $ 58,906, and the median income for a family was $ 67,500. Males had a median income of $ 41,654 versus $ 36,442 for females. The per capita income for the town was $ 34,020. About 1.8% of families and 4.1% of the population were below the poverty line , including 4.3% of those under age 18 and 6.2% of those age 65 or over. Norfolk is a member of Regional School District 7 , which also includes, Barkhamsted , Colebrook , and New Hartford . Public school students attend Botelle Elementary School for grades K–6, Northwestern Middle School for grades 7–8, and Northwestern Regional High School for grades 9–12. The main thoroughfares of

60-646: A performance hall located on the Ellen Battell Stoeckel estate to the west of the village green . Norfolk has important examples of regional architecture, notably the Village Hall (now Infinity Hall , a shingled 1880s Arts-and-Crafts confection, with an opera house upstairs and storefronts at street level); the Norfolk Library (a shingle-style structure, designed by George Keller , c.  1888 /1889); and over thirty buildings, in

80-550: A stone tower at the mountain's summit; and Campbell Falls State Park Reserve , with an approximately 100-foot (30 m) natural waterfall. According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Norfolk has a humid continental climate , abbreviated "Dfb" on climate maps. This climatic region is typified by large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and cold (sometimes severely cold) winters. On February 16, 1943,

100-599: A wide variety of styles, designed by Alfredo S. G. Taylor (of the New York firm Taylor & Levi) in the four decades before the Second World War. Norfolk incorporated as a town in 1758. Although the town was named after Norfolk in England, the name of the town may be pronounced various ways by residents. The Norfolk Historic District includes the historic center of the village of Norfolk. According to

120-809: Is a town in Litchfield County , Connecticut , United States. The population was 1,588 at the 2020 census . The town is part of the Northwest Hills Planning Region . The urban center of the town is the Norfolk census-designated place , with a population of 553 at the 2010 census. Norfolk is perhaps best known as the site of the Yale Summer School of Music— Norfolk Chamber Music Festival , which hosts an annual chamber music concert series in "the Music Shed",

140-483: Is bordered on the west by Canaan and North Canaan, Connecticut ; on the north by New Marlborough and Sandisfield, Massachusetts ; on the east by Colebrook and Winchester, Connecticut ; and on the south by Goshen, Connecticut . Norfolk is home to three state parks: Dennis Hill State Park , which includes the remnants of a lavish summer pavilion designed by Alfredo Taylor; Haystack Mountain State Park , with

160-532: Is now in the Music Library at Yale University. When Ellen Battell Stoeckel died in 1939 with no surviving children, she stipulated in her will that her estate was to be used in perpetuity for the “benefit and development of the School of Music of Yale University and for extending said University’s courses in music, art, and literature.” The Yale Summer School of Music was established in 1941. Since that time,

180-519: The Frederick W. Rockwell House , both in Norfolk, Connecticut , were documented in the U.S. Historic American Buildings Survey . Hillside (Norfolk, Connecticut) , was designed by Taylor for an heiress of the Remington Arms business fortune, and was built in 1908. It is one of his more "spectacular" houses. Taylor was the designer of over thirty buildings in Norfolk, Connecticut , in

200-751: The United States Census Bureau , the town has a total area of 46.4 square miles (120.2 km ), of which 45.3 square miles (117.4 km ) are land and 1.1 square miles (2.9 km ), or 2.38%, are water. The town is located in the Litchfield Hills portion of the Appalachian mountain range. Norfolk's elevation is 1,230 feet (370 m) above sea level, and the town is sometimes called "the Icebox of Connecticut" for its severe winters and particularly cool summers. The town

220-573: The Norfolk Chamber Music Festival has played host to thousands of emerging young professional musicians. Today the Festival offers intensive tuition-free programs each summer to approximately eighty students in chamber music, new music and choral repertoire. Designed by New York architect E.K. Rossiter , the Music Shed existed first as a separate prototype structure modelled after Steinway Hall in New York. A test concert

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240-633: The entire expense of the concerts which took place on their estate. These concerts rapidly became extravagant affairs with parties and picnics and were among the most popular summer social events in New England. They recruited a 70-piece orchestra of musicians from the New York Philharmonic and Metropolitan Opera , and paid for a special train to transport the instrumentalists to the Litchfield Hills. In 1906, to accommodate

260-546: The ever-growing crowds at the festival, the couple built a concert hall known as the Music Shed. They commissioned new works from many of the leading composers of their time and invited them to conduct their own premieres. Sibelius, for example, composed his tone poem The Oceanides for the Stoeckels and conducted it in the Music Shed during his only trip to the United States on June 4, 1915. The autographed manuscript

280-647: The green. This concert series became what is now known as the Norfolk Festival. Robbins’ daughter, Ellen (1851–1939), continued her father's legacy of bringing music to Norfolk; she and her husband started the Litchfield County Choral Union which continues to perform at the Norfolk Festival to this day. Under Carl and Ellen, Norfolk soon became the first internationally known classical music festival in America. The Stoeckels assumed

300-466: The temperature fell to −37 °F (−38 °C), the lowest temperature ever recorded in Connecticut . As of the census of 2000, there were 1,660 people, 676 households, and 461 families residing in the town. The population density was 36.6 inhabitants per square mile (14.1/km ). There were 871 housing units at an average density of 19.2 per square mile (7.4/km ). The racial makeup of the town

320-476: The town are U.S. Route 44 (going east–west, also known as Greenwoods Road) and Connecticut Route 272 (going north–south, with 272N also known as North Street and 272S also known as Litchfield Road). US 44 leads west 7 miles (11 km) to North Canaan and southeast 10 miles (16 km) to Winsted , while CT 272 leads south 15 miles (24 km) to Torrington . Notable residents have included: Alfredo S. G. Taylor Alfredo S. G. Taylor (1872–1947)

340-449: Was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.44 and the average family size was 2.92. In the town, the population was spread out, with 23.7% under the age of 18, 4.3% from 18 to 24, 29.2% from 25 to 44, 29.0% from 45 to 64, and 13.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41 years. For every 100 females, there were 96.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 97.0 males. The median income for

360-531: Was 97.11% White , 0.48% African American , 0.24% Native American , 0.54% Asian , 0.60% from other races , and 1.02% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.96% of the population. There were 676 households, out of which 28.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.3% were married couples living together, 6.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.7% were non-families. 24.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.4% had someone living alone who

380-461: Was an architect, of the New York firm Taylor & Levi, which he co-founded with Julian Clarence Levi . He was educated at Harvard College , class of 1894, and received his B.S. from Columbia Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation in 1897. Many of his works are listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places . At least two, the Starling W. Childs House and

400-491: Was given in 1904. The success of the experimental hall led to the construction of the Music Shed which was built for the Litchfield County Choral Union and opened in 1906. The Shed had to be enlarged due to the number of Choir and audience members, and after an expansion in 1910, it could accommodate a Choir of 425 and an audience of 1,500. The Shed is built of cedar and lined with redwood . Norfolk, Connecticut Norfolk ( / ˈ n ɔːr f ʌ k / NOR -fuhk )

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