The 2023 Connecticut Sea Music Festival will take place in Essex, CT on June 9-12th. We’re a traditional maritime folk festival, partnering with the town as well as with individual venues to bring you the music. The daytime events are free, with donations accepted. Evening Concerts are ticketed.

Tickets for the Evening Concerts will available online through eventbrite.

Concert tickets will also be available at the gate to our mainstage tent, directly before and during the concerts.

Concert Price: $15.0 - $50.00

Weekend Schedule

The weekend starts with our famous Symposium on the Music of the Sea, on Friday at the Essex Town Hall.

The festival continues with the Evening Concerts and music throughout the town!

Check back soon for more details.

Our 2023 Festival Will Feature:

- 40 Degrees South from Australia

- The Ancient Mariners Chanteymen

- Bob “Bobaloo” Basey and Tracey Wright-Basey

- Bob & Jeanne Zentz

- Dan Milner

- David Iler

- David Jones

- Jeff Davis

- The Johnson Girls

- Ken Sweeney

- Nick Apollonio

- Rick & Donna Nestler

- Skylark

- Stout

The Dirty Blue Shirts: sailor arts, crafts, and chanteys

And in a special showcase appearance: Pressgang Mutiny from Canada

Buy Tickets for concert - Connecticut Sea Music Festival

For over 40 years, international academics, independent scholars, and performer researchers have gathered in Mystic and Essex to share their passion for and original research into the music of the sea. Presenters will join us via Zoom as well as in person; all presentations will be streamed and archived online.

Sea Music was the first true world music: the Symposium links university scholars and practitioners with enthusiastic audiences, providing scholarship that is entertaining and enlightening. Q&A will follow each presentation. This year, we are honored to present two original documentaries with commentary by the films’ creators.

The 2023 Symposium on the Music of the Sea, directed for the second year in a row by Faye Ringel, will be held at the Essex Town Hall at 29 West Ave, Essex, CT from 9AM-5PM on Friday, June 9th, with a break for lunch. The Symposium is free to attend, and will be streamed to our YouTube channel for those who are unable to attend in-person.

Schedule

9 a.m. via zoom video only

The TikTok Shanty Trend of 2021:

Exploring the Intersection of Social Media, Music, and Maritime Culture

Adrian R. Salgado

10 a.m.

It’s My Own Damn Fault! – Or Is It?

The Complexity and Futility of Blame in ‘Off to Sea Once More’

Stephen Sanfilippo

11 a.m.

‘What Shall We Do? With a Drunken Sailor’:

Attending to Archival Chantey Texts

Dr. Jessica Marie Floyd

12 p.m. lunch break

1 p.m.

A Song Without Words: Rachel, Her Measureless Sorrow, and

The Shekinah of ‘The Symphony’ (Moby-Dick, chapter 132)

David Peloquin

2 p.m.

“Songs of the Windlass: Singing Chanties on GAZELA” Premiere

Documentary by Dr. Gibb Schreffler

Videography by Jesse Edwards

3 p.m.

‘A Long Time, a Hell of a Time’:

Contrasting Perspectives on the Barrouallie Whalers’ Musical Heritage

Dan Lanier and Vincent Reid

4 p.m.

“Bear Away, Yankee, Bear Away” Premiere

Documentary by Pressgang Mutiny

Come celebrate the second Connecticut Sea Music Festival by joining us for our Outward Bound Benefit Concert & Art Auction on Saturday, April 15th from 1:00-5:00pm at the beautiful Powder Mill Barn in Enfield, CT.

Suggested donation at the door is $20.

Featuring:

Cate Clifford 

The Vox Hunters 

Amanda Witman

Different Tack

Our live auction this year will include some wonderful pieces of art and beloved instruments. Click on the arrows to view images of each item.
Instruments from Don Sineti:

- Avalon Banjo-uke – Minimum Bid $150

- Carstanjen Banjola – Minimum Bid $1000

- Bones, engraved with Tim Reilly’s monogram  – Minimum Bid $35

- Bones, engraved with compass roses, DAS, moose – Minimum Bid $40

Graphite drawings by Don Sineti:

Four Whales, framed 21.5×18 (2 sperm, right, goosebeaked)  $225

Minke Whale, framed 16.25×15.25  $150

Narwhal, framed 24.25×14.25  $175

This year’s framed festival print will be up for auction, as well as the beautiful embroidered canvas ditty bag handmade during last year’s festival by the Dirty Blue Shirts as part of their historical maritime demonstrations.

Ditty Bag – Dirty Blue Shirts 2022

Additionally, there will be a silent auction with books, recordings, and more available for those present.

This concert is an in-person benefit for the second Connecticut Sea Music Festival , which will be held in Essex CT on June 9-12th, 2023.

The official event for the second annual Connecticut Sea Music Festival! The daytime events of the Festival are free (with donations accepted), and evening concerts on Friday, June 9th and Saturday, June 10th are ticketed at the provided link.

The Connecticut Sea Music Festival is an event put on by the Maritime Music & Tradition Society to enact its mission of preserving and encouraging maritime and traditional music through education, research, performance, and community.

Through the festival we aim to share and teach stories, roots, and culture behind the wonderful and expansive world of maritime music, from deepwater sailing to inland waterways.

The festival will start with a Symposium on the Music of the Sea on Friday, June 9th, and run through our final concert on Sunday, June 11th.

For the hearty souls that have made it through the whole weekend, we invite you to Survivor's Night at the Griswold Inn on Monday, the 12th.

We're so excited to share this year's line-up of traditional musicians, songwriters, storytellers, and educators

Schedule

Friday, June 9, 2023

9:00 AM - Symposium on the Music of the Sea

7:00 PM - 10:00 PM - Friday Evening Concert - Ticketed

Saturday, June 10, 2023

10:00 AM - 5:00 PM - Saturday Free Daytime Events Throughout Town

7:00 PM - 10:00 PM - Saturday Evening Concert (Ticketed)

Sunday, June 11, 2023

10:00 AM - 3:00 PM - Sunday Free Daytime Events Throughout Town

3:00 PM - Free Final Concert

Date: June 9, 2023 - June 12, 2023

Location: Essex Town Green Essex Street Essex, CT 06426

Click Here to View More Information about Connecticut Sea Music Festival