Event

Lyra Music Festival presents a free outdoor chamber music concert, live on Museum Hill. Join us to hear classical music’s next generation as pre-college musicians from the Lyra Music Young Artist Performance Program share chamber and solo repertoire. Enjoy classical music in a fresh setting, under the open sky, surrounded by nature and the art of Storm King. This outdoor concert is perfect for music lovers of all ages!

About the Musicians: 
Lyra Music young artists are outstanding middle and high school string players and pianists, many of whom are on a path to conservatory training and a career in music. These young musicians are currently in residence with the Lyra Music Young Artist Performance Program, performing as members of Lyra Music Festival 2025.

About Lyra Music: 
Lyra Music was founded in 2010, with the vision of enhancing the lives of young musicians and enriching communities through classical music training and performance. A multi-faceted, non-profit organization, Lyra Music produces a summer pre-professional performance training program for string players and pianists in tandem with a Hudson Valley based classical music festival.

The Lyra Music Young Artist Performance Program is a conservatory-style classical summer music program. Lyra students are young musicians, ages 13-18, immersed in a supportive, nurturing community where they engage in a pre-professional touring experience for string players and pianists seeking an opportunity to hone solo and chamber performance and related skills.

The Lyra Music Festival presents world-class musicians and young artists in concert. The Festival comprises traditional classical music chamber performances presented at the Howland Cultural Center in Beacon, NY and engages new audiences and classical music lovers alike through free outreach concerts bringing live classical music out of the concert hall and into the Hudson Valley community.

Lyra Music is a 501c3 non-profit organization grateful to a community of dedicated supporters whose generosity helps Lyra thrive. We are proud to inspire and nurture tomorrow’s musicians and music audiences today.

Learn More and Make a Gift at lyramusic.org!

About Akiko Sasaki: 
A founding member of Lyra Music, Artistic Director, Akiko Sasaki, has been managing and developing Lyra since its inception in 2010. Ms. Sasaki is a dedicated professional musician with a long-term commitment to educating youth and enriching the community through music.

In addition to Lyra Music, Ms. Sasaki serves on the piano faculty at the State University of New York at New Paltz and maintains the Forte>Piano Studio in the Hudson Valley. She is also the Music Director of the Howland Chamber Music Circle in Beacon, NY, where she curates and presents their Chamber Music Series and Classics for Kids Concert Series. Ms. Sasaki is a founding member of Keys to Beacon, a music education awareness project in Beacon, NY. She is an active member of Music Teachers National Association, New York State Music Teachers Association, the Hudson Valley Catskill Music Teachers Association, and Mu Phi Epsilon.

Ms. Sasaki has an extensive range of experience as a presenter and event planner, as well as managing projects and small businesses. She has previously served as co-founder and director of Musical Explorers, events manager for Performing Pianists of New York, co-founder and curator of Brooklyn’s Beverley Concert Series, and she has served on the executive board as secretary for New York’s Associated Music Teachers League, providing young artists performance opportunities in NYC.

Ms. Sasaki holds performance degrees from the University of Denver’s Lamont School of Music and the Manhattan School of Music.