The Seven Hills Chamber Music Festival (SHCMF) is returning to Lynchburg, Virginia, from August 12–23, 2026, with "The Season of Song," an ambitious lineup celebrating vocal works and song-inspired chamber music, connecting global masterworks with local cultural identity.

The four-date schedule begins with "Strum and Swing" on August 12th, featuring Jessie Montgomery’s Strum and a Louis Armstrong tribute. The August 16th program, "A Study in Scale," focuses on the human voice with selections like Joiner’s Dickinson Songs and music from the opera Infinitesimal by Nicole Brancato and Jeremy Weiss.

"From Hungary to Brahms, and Beyond" on August 19th will showcase works including Béla Bartók’s Piano Quintet and Brahms’s Zwei Gesänge. The festival culminates on August 23rd with the anchor production: the World Premiere (concert version) of the opera La Trout Lily by composer Paul Scherer, which serves as the centerpiece of the festival.