After a dramatic struggle, death, and rebirth, the Eastern Festival of Music will return this summer—this time with a powerful partner behind it.
The beloved classical music camp and accompanying music festival have been constants in Greensboro for more than six decades. In June, they will return in a new form to Guilford College’s campus with the help of the Steven Tanger Center for the Performing Arts.
“I think it’s very exciting that it’s all falling into place,” said Barbara Morgenstern, EFM’s board president and acting executive director.
For decades, a dedicated group of musicians has held the annual festival in Greensboro with a mission of teaching the next generation of classical musicians and holding world-class concerts locally. Then, last year, negotiations between the staff musicians and the board of directors of the Eastern Music Festival—the former name of the organization—fell apart. In the following months, the former musicians and the late founder’s ex-wife, Barbara, charted a path forward, forming a new organization: The Eastern Festival of Music.
One of the main obstacles for the newly created nonprofit was ticket sales.
“Ticketing is one of the greatest challenges,” said Scott Johnson, general manager of the Tanger Center.
In the past, the festival partnered with the now-defunct Triad Stage. When they began preparations for this year, Morgenstern said they reached out to the Tanger.
“We contacted them, and thank God we did,” she said. “They have been absolutely wonderful.”
Not only is Tanger acting as their ticketing platform, but the venue is also helping the Eastern Festival of Music with marketing, including putting up posters at the Tanger Center.
As one of the largest performance venues in the area, Johnson said, it made sense to partner with EFM.
“We really want to foster the arts in the community as a whole,” he said. “The Tanger Center serves everybody.”
Since opening in 2021, the venue has hosted more than 1.4 million guests, including those who attend the popular Broadway series every year. While the venue is known for those performances, Johnson said they usually end around the summer. So do the Greensboro Symphony performances. The Eastern Festival of Music fills a need during the summer months.
“To me, EFM is our summer symphony,” Johnson said.
While the festival will be held exclusively at Guilford College this year, the organization’s new partnership with the Tanger opens up possibilities for future performances at the downtown venue.
“We’ve talked multiple times about some kind of gala fundraiser,” Johnson said. “Maybe it’s their opening concert of the season or closing concert of the season. But we could try to get several thousand attendees rather than the 1,000 that fit in Dana Auditorium.”
To celebrate the kick-off of this year’s festival, EFM is hosting a free chamber music concert at Guilford College’s Dana Auditorium this Sunday at 4 p.m. The event will feature a raffle of season tickets, free parking passes, and a free stay at the O. Henry Hotel.
Since forming the new organization last year, Morgenstern said EFM has been able to hire back previous staff members and raise more than $1.6 million. The festival received more than 1,000 applications, she said, and will welcome 225 students from all over the world.
“Everything is pretty much in place,” Morgenstern said.
This year’s festival runs from June 27-August 1. Tickets for EFM performances go live on Monday, May 4, and can be purchased through the Tanger Center’s website, app, or by visiting the box office.