CHARLEMONT — For 53 years, summer in Charlemont has been synonymous with chamber music.

With summer’s arrival, Mohawk Trail Concerts is preparing to start its season with a performance on Saturday, June 24, at 5 p.m. at the Charlemont Federated Church. The series will feature seven concerts throughout June and July.

“Our concerts are informal enough that people don’t have to be intimidated by classical music,” said Mark Fraser, executive artistic director of Mohawk Trail Concerts.

The June 24 Baroque concert will feature Emlyn Ngai on violin and Greg Hayes on harpsichord. Hayes is from Ashfield and Ngai, who recently returned to the country from performing in Germany, will be coming to the show from Hartford, Connecticut.

Mohawk Trail Concerts often features duets of musicians from near and far. Much like the season kick-off concert, William Hite, a tenor singer who teaches at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, will perform with Boston-based pianist Kayo Iwama on Saturday, July 22, at 5 p.m.

“The music is just divine,” Fraser said about the July 22 vocal concert.

Every year, the series features a Baroque concert, a string quartet, a vocal performance and a jazz show in an effort to showcase the wide spectrum of chamber music that is available.

The jazz concert this season, set for Tuesday, July 4, at 5 p.m., will feature John Clark on the French horn, Cummington-based bass player Avery Sharpe and Jerry Noble on piano. This concert is dedicated to Mary Kay Hoffman, a music and arts advocate who died earlier this year at the age of 78. Hoffman is best known for starting the Pioneer Valley Symphony Youth Orchestra and bringing music programs into local public schools. She was also a longtime board member for Mohawk Trail Concerts.

The July 4 concert isn’t the only one to be held as a tribute to a late music lover. The concert featuring Masako Yanagita, Mark Fraser and Estela Olevsky on Saturday, July 15, at 5 p.m. will be dedicated to Lewis Spratlan, who also died this year. Along with serving on the board for Mohawk Trail Concerts, Spratlan taught at Amherst College and was a Pulitzer Prize-winning composer.

While most of the concerts will be held at the Charlemont Federated Church, the idea of holding outdoor concerts that gained popularity during the pandemic will continue with one concert at the Buckland-Shelburne Elementary School bandshell in Shelburne Falls. This concert, on Sunday, June 25, at 5 p.m., will feature the International String Trio.

“People can bring a chair, blanket and a sandwich, and listen to gypsy jazz,” Fraser said.

He said he hopes people will attend the Mohawk Trail Concerts to explore the intimate relationships between musician and composer, musicians with each other, and musician to listener.

“It is intimate, beautiful chamber music for everyone,” Fraser said.

For more information and the complete schedule, visit mohawktrailconcerts.org.

Bella Levavi can be reached at 413-930-4579 or blevavi@recorder.com.

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