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ABOUT

AMERICAN MUSIC FESTIVAL

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Our Mission

The American Music Festival presents live musical events featuring nationally and internationally renowned musicians to inspire, educate, and entertain diverse audiences while also providing special educational opportunities for school populations in our Carteret coastal community.

The American Music Festival Board is enthusiastic about our 2024-25 season of music. We celebrated the opening of our 35th Season by adding a new venture to our repertoire -- Hot Jazz on the Crystal Coast -- a series of four nights of jazz, and a free jazz band camp which allowed students to work directly with our visiting artists. Hot Jazz on the Crystal Coast was an exciting and successful endeavor for us, one which we hope to build on.


We are incredibly excited to present this season’s line-up of astounding artists, who bring a wide variety of music to our chamber music concerts, spanning from the classics to works by contemporary composers and representing a wide variety of cultures and styles. 2024-25 is a season not to be missed!


AMF is an ardent supporter of music education in our local schools and the broader community. Each season, our concert artists present educational outreach events, fun and exciting musical experiences to the hundreds of elementary and middle school students who attend each year.


With your unwavering support, the diligent work of past, present, and future Board members, our Artistic Director, and volunteers, we can continue to be a source of inspiration and culture in the Crystal Coast region. Our hope is that the concerts, educational events, and our other musical endeavors will entertain our community and inspire budding musicians and music-lovers, not only in our daily lives, but for years to come.

Inspiring Students

In coordination with Carteret County School personnel, our professional artists have performed music outreach programs for hundreds of area school students each year.


AMF has made concert admission free for students 18 and under, including a free ticket for a chaperone. For students over 18, enrolled in an institution of higher learning in Carteret County, tickets are also free, on presentation of a student ID.

OUR ARTISTIC DIRECTOR AND FOUNDER

Oskar Espina Ruiz
Oskar Espina Ruiz

Artistic Director

A world-class clarinetist and faculty member of the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, Oskar Espina Ruiz assumed the role of Artistic Director in January, 2022. He also serves as Artistic Director at Chamber Music Wilmington (from May, 2020), the Treetops Chamber Music Society (Stamford, CT) and America’s oldest continuing summer chamber music festival: Music Mountain Festival (Falls Village, CT).

Read more about Oskar

Barbara McKenzie
Barbara McKenzie

AMF Founder

Barbara McKenzie’s performance career has taken her into the concert halls and music festivals of over 40 countries where she has been featured as solo recitalist, chamber music partner and collaborative pianist. She co-founded the American Music Festival in 1990, and served as Artistic Director for more than 30 seasons.


Read more about Barbara

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Officers

Dena Gooding

President

William Prentice

Secretary

Wouter Ketel

Treasurer

Douglas Vaughan

Historian

Members

Charles Boss

Pat Rapaport

Shelley V. Ching

Katharyn Thayer

Michael McGinn

Sarah Claire Williams

Cynthia Meyer

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