Eastern Shore

Chamber Music Festival

Summer Festival: May 31- June 16, 2024

Fairhope, AL | Point Clear, AL | Gulf Shores, AL

Eastern Shore Chamber Music Festival

Fairhope, Alabama

ESCMF provides live, mesmerizing classical chamber concerts all along the Eastern Shore of Mobile Bay free of charge to our audiences. Our potent blend of contemporary and classic repertoire has got folks sayin’ that we’re hitting all the right notes.

ESCMF Artistic Directors

  • Sahada Buckley is a violinist and cross-disciplinary artist from Fairhope, Alabama. She is a graduate of the University of Georgia with degrees in Music Theory and Violin Performance and is currently earning her Master's degree at the University of Wisconsin-Madison studying with Pro Arte Quartet first-violinist, David Perry. At UW-Madison, Sahada is a member of the graduate string quartet, the Marvin Rabin String Quartet. In 2018, she performed as a soloist with the University of Georgia Symphony Orchestra after winning the 2018 UGASO Concerto Competition and, in 2019, she through-hiked the entire Appalachian Trail with a violin on her backpack. Sahada has attended festivals such as Meadowmount School of Music, Tanglewood BUTI, Montecito Music Festival, and Green Mountain Music Festival. In Madison, Sahada plays with multiple small ensembles exploring the possibilities of experimental improvisation. Two of her albums have been featured on Bandcamp Daily’s ‘Best Experimental Albums’ List. Sahada spends her free time walking her dog, painting and attending concerts.

  • Trace Johnson is a cellist known for his effortless musicality and fierce commitment to music-making of all styles and genres. Originally from Madison, Wisconsin, Trace has appeared as a chamber musician, soloist, and orchestral musician in a wide variety of settings in the United States and around the world. Equally at home teaching in the studio or performing on stage, Trace is a devoted and thoughtful communicator who enjoys a varied career as a cellist, teacher, and musician. Trace holds cello positions with the Sarasota Orchestra, Madison Symphony Orchestra, and the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra. Trace has recently appeared on Masterworks programs with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra and the Artosphere Festival Orchestra in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Trace is currently dissertating as a Collins Fellowship Recipient at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Mead Witter School of Music.