The Newport Music Festival is not just the icing on the cake, it’s the entire, too-many-courses-to-count meal of classical music in the US, and certainly the East Coast’s most elegant and anxiously awaited annual event.

It brings together some of the most talented, cherished and sought after classical musicians from all over the globe in a 17-day orgy of fine music, fine food, fine drink and fine company. The timing of this release is perfect, and the best part is, if you hurry you can still catch most of this year’s orgy, because it’s going on right now! It’s an enchanting event which takes place in an enchanted environment.

This year’s Yamaha- and Toyota-sponsored festival will present 60+ concerts in a venue of a number of the famous Newport Mansions, that consistently makes the “Best of …” lists featured in magazines such as Leisure Group Travel, for the “America’s Elite 1000 – the Ultimate List,” and in the book 1,000 Places to See Before You Die. Just one day spent at Newport will convince you that the selections are valid.

The festival was founded in 1969 as a pseudo-clone of the Tanglewood Series, but Mother Nature had her say. After a very shaky start, the festival has evolved into a match for Tanglewood, and perhaps has become the more successful of the two, thanks to the foresightedness of the people who decided to move the series into the grand mansions of Newport, having the music performed in rooms befitting and designed for the music, the musicians and the composers featured.

The setting of the Mansions brings a special flavor to the music. The festival has premiered many new and young world-class musicians and singers, many of whom were gold medalists at a variety of the world’s classical music showcases. The music generally fits into the Romantic Era, 1825-1900, although occasional pieces are from outside those parameters.

Simply listing the names of the performers and selections will do a far better job of impressing you than anything I could possibly write, so let’s move on that list. Oh, and pack your tux, not your tee shirts.