Ask Wednesday: Maria Napolitano Fish on the Killington Music Festival

View of Killington Peak with the
Festival's performance place
(Ramshead Lodge) in the foreground

It's the outreach

By Morris Dean

Maria Napolitano Fish is the executive director of the Killington Music Festival. My wife and I occasionally have the pleasure of speaking with her when we go up to Vermont of a summer to attend concerts and visit our son, who has been the Festival's dean of students for a number of summers. Knowing how important the Festival is not only to the students who participate but also to the community that comes out to enjoy its concerts or is the beneficiary of student outreach, we decided to see whether we could interview the Festival's executive director. [Our questions are in italics.]

Maria Napolitano Fish, how long has the Killington Music Festival been going on, and what is its mission?
    The Killington Music Festival is now in its 31st year. Since 1982, we have successfully fulfilled the ambitious mission of providing superb concerts of classical music for audiences of all ages and of encouraging the development of young talent.

How many young musicians participate typically?
    The number varies each year. We can accommodate up to 100 students. The faculty and students come from all over the world, and they all delight in spending their summers in our beautiful Green Mountains. And we in the community benefit from their presence and their exceptional musical additions to the cultural vitality of the region.

Daniel Andai

How many participants have gone on to become fairly well known in the music world? Anyone we might have heard of?
    Several alumnae are now successful concertmasters and performers. Violinist Daniel Andai and cellist Wendy Warner (Wikipedia) come to mind.

How have the surrounding communities (Killington, Rutland, Woodstock, etc.) supported KMF over the years?
    The communities have been very generous. They are our donors, our sponsors of concerts, and our concertgoers.

What are your biggest challenges?
    For every not-for-profit in these uncertain economic times the financial challenges are the greatest.

What are your major joys? Why do you do what you do?
    Each year the Killington Music Festival performs over 20 concerts to elders and children who would not otherwise be able to see a live performance. The audiences for the Killington Music Festival student community outreach concert series are residents in nursing homes, seniors in assisted living facilities, patients both young and old in hospitals, and children in summer programs. These groups of people are often deprived of music and the benefits that it offers. Through these outreach concerts, hundreds of Vermont’s elders and children in Rutland and Windsor County have their lives enriched by a live classical music concert. To me personally this outreach program is the “jewel” of our program.

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The Festival's 2013 Music in the Mountains classical concert series schedule:

June 29-August 3
Saturdays at Ramshead Lodge*, Killington Resort, 7 p.m.
* unless otherwise noted
(Complete program information to follow)

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Copyright © 2013 by Morris Dean

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