When flutist Judith Pearce and a few of her friends set out in rural New York to play a concert just for fun one summer weekend in 1994, they planted a seed that would eventually become a successful non-profit music organization, the Weekend of Chamber Music. After that first performance at the Meat Market in Lake Huntington, the ensemble of professional musicians with world-class performing and teaching careers found themselves traveling throughout Sullivan County every summer, performing more concerts to growing audiences at many unusual venues. 23 years later the Weekend of Chamber Music continues to advance the programming ideals Judith set forth back at that first Meat Market performance: variety; integrity; intimacy; and love for the unique connection between performer and audience that chamber music makes possible. With an annual composer-in-residence; our chamber music immersion program for pre-professional performers and composers; and an expanded range of concerts in partner venues across the Catskills and into the Poconos, WCM’s evolution is an ongoing weaving of the threads first spun by Judith back in 1994.

Judith Pearce is recognized on both sides of the Atlantic as one of the distinctive flutists and chamber musicians of her generation. A long career spanning Europe and America encompasses collaborations with some of this era’s most notable and colorful musicians, from Simon Rattle and Peter Maxwell Davies to Kathleen Battle and Eartha Kitt. Judith Pearce has played in many of the world’s great concert halls including the Lincoln and Kennedy Centers, London’s Festival Hall, La Scala Milan, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, the Philharmonie in Berlin, Bonn’s Beethovenhalle and all three theatres of the Sydney Opera House.

Educated in London and Paris, Pearce was invited to join the Nash Ensemble of London while still a student and on returning from studies in Paris she joined the Pierrot Players (later known as Fires of London) London Sinfonietta and Music Theatre Ensemble. In New York she was a member of the New Music Consort for several years and appeared as guest with the Monticello Trio (as in Jefferson, not Jeffersonville), Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and the 21st Century Consort to name a few. The dedicatee of several major works for the flute, Ms. Pearce has recorded copiously both as a recitalist for the BBC and as a chamber musician. Her discography lists the RCA, Deutsche Grammophon, EMI and ASV labels, including a recording of the late British composer Nicholas Maw’s Flute Quartet, nominated for a Gramophone Award.

Since retiring as WCM Artistic Director in 2013 Judith has continued to play a vital role in the organization’s continued growth and vitality. She and her husband, Ekkehart Trenkner, and their dog Lula divide their time between Brooklyn and Lake Huntington, NY.