Five times each year, Mostly Music presents stellar performances by renowned guest artists in an small, friendly setting. Before performing each work, the musicians offer musical and historical insights about the composer and his or her intentions and inspirations in creating the work. They also discuss the joys and challenges of learning and performing the pieces.

Our performers are among the most renowned musicians in New York and around the world, including such outstanding players as Ruth Laredo, Carter Brey, Misha Dichter, Cho-Liang Lin, Stanley Drucker, Ani Kavafian, Joseph Kalischstein, Ken Noda and Pamela Frank.

Carter Brey and Ani Kavafian served as Artistic Director from 1992 through 2016. Our new Artistic Director is celebrated violist Paul Neubauer.

Mostly Music began in the late 1970s with informal chamber music performances in the homes of a small group of Westfield residents. The series was named “Mostly Music” because the performances included conversation as well as music. Claire Angel, a Juilliard-trained pianist and Westfield resident, was the moving spirit. Initially included by invitation only, the audience soon grew too large to fit in living rooms. Lynn and Bernard Turiel and Cynthia Singer helped arrange the first public performances for Mostly Music at Union County College in fall 1983. The concerts subsequently moved to Temple Emanu-El in Westfield.

Eleanor and John Winslow secured a second venue for the series at the Morrow Memorial Methodist Church in Maplewood in 1984. However, starting in 2016, the Mostly Music series returned to a sole performance at Temple Emanu-El in Westfield, a fully handicap-accessible venue which seats up to 500.

Mostly Music has been critically acclaimed in the Star Ledger and New York Times.