Thursday, October 1, 2026
The Oyster Bay Music Festival will celebrate its 15th anniversary this summer with a theme that organizers say reflects both the festival’s history and the community that has helped sustain it.
The annual classical music festival will present 11 concerts at venues across Oyster Bay and neighboring communities, bringing together returning performers, emerging artists and longtime audience members under the theme “Family.”
“It’s our 15th year, which is awesome,” said festival co-director Pippa Borisy. “The festival’s been like a family; the performers, with the audiences that we’ve gotten to actually know.”
The theme will be reflected in both the music and the performers featured throughout the festival. Among the highlights will be performances by the Zandieh brothers of Syosset, who have appeared at the festival for years and will reunite as a trio for multiple concerts.
The festival has long served as a launching point for young musicians, many of whom have returned year after year as their careers developed. Borisy said that continuity has become one of the event’s defining characteristics.
“A lot of the performers grew up with the festival,” she said. “Now a number of them have embarked on their own big careers in music, but they came to the festival before their career started, when they were young, and chose to come back year after year.”
Violinist Cameron Zandieh, 26, is among those returning performers. He and his brothers, cellist Charlie and pianist Christopher, first became involved with the festival roughly a decade ago while studying at the Juilliard School.
The brothers have individually become a regular feature of the festival, performing classical and Romantic-era repertoire. This year, as a trio, they will present works by composers including Tchaikovsky and Brahms, while also performing solo pieces throughout the festival’s run.
“I think it’s way more fun and rewarding playing with my brothers,” Zandieh said, “for that to all be on display for everyone to see.”
In addition to traditional chamber music performances, this year’s festival will feature several interactive and experimental programs. A “Name the Tune” concert will challenge audiences to identify familiar melodies presented in unexpected ways, while a program titled “A Complete Unknown” will allow audiences to give the musicians a theme to improvise on.
Festival concerts will be held at a variety of venues, including Christ Church in Oyster Bay, St. John’s Episcopal Church in Cold Spring Harbor, the Seminary of the Immaculate Conception in Huntington and Oakcliff Sailing Center in Oyster Bay.
Borisy said each location contributes its own atmosphere to the performances.
“Every place has a different feel,” she explained, “and a different magic that happens during the concert.”
For Zandieh, the festival’s greatest value lies in the sense of connection it creates among performers and audiences alike.
“I think it gives a lot of people a sense of community,” he said. “I think it gives a lot of people a sense of togetherness, and we could all use a little bit of that right now.”
For more information on the festival and to get tickets, visit OysterBayMusicFestival.org.
