Summer in Maine is magical in many ways, from our natural beauty to our world-class eateries, our amazing coastline and many lakes and mountains. We are also known for our music, particularly our world-class offering of chamber music festivals throughout the summer.

This summer we face many challenges, as seen in our local and national news, in our institutions and on our streets. In these times, we often need a place to collect ourselves, to find respite and the energy to reengage. Music offers a way to achieve this, and chamber music offers us the ability to transform day- to-day concerns to a sense of connection and joy.

When the world grows noisy with conflict, fear and division, it’s tempting to think that louder voices, larger platforms and more spectacles are the answers. But history tells us otherwise. In moments of chaos, it is often the quiet, close, deeply human acts that restore us. One of the most profound among them is chamber music. Chamber music is, by nature, small. It does not fill stadiums. It was never meant to overwhelm. It is music designed for connection. In an age of megaphones and mass media, that may seem insignificant. But in troubled times, the intimacy of chamber music becomes its greatest strength.

In a string quartet, each voice matters. It is a living model of cooperation: distinct voices engaged in constant dialogue, balancing independence and unity. Chamber music is often referred to as the “music of friends” because of its intimate nature, like people having a friendly conversation. Chamber music asks us to lean in. To be still. To feel the breath between notes. To be present with a few people in a shared moment of honesty. What better answer is there for what we so desperately need right now?

During the darkest days of history — wartime, exile, censorship — chamber music endured. It was smuggled, whispered and played in bomb shelters and private homes. It was resistance not through force, but through refinement, beauty and truth.

Composers like Shostakovich, Bartók and Messiaen created chamber works that documented the agony and resilience of the human spirit without a single word. Franz Joseph Haydn is often called the father of chamber music. He wrote his most famous piece, the Mass in Troubled Times, during a time of great political and social turmoil in Europe.

Today, as we face rising tides of division, disinformation and disconnection, chamber music invites us back to our better selves. It teaches us to listen closely — to nuance, to difference, to silence. Disagreements aren’t eliminated; they’re resolved through attentive collaboration. Imagine a society that functioned with such grace. But like many quiet things, chamber music is in danger of being drowned out — by screens, by noise, by shrinking arts funding. Supporting it is not just a matter of cultural taste; it’s a commitment to a kind of communication that is deeply democratic, deeply human and deeply needed.

We are proud volunteers on the board of directors of the Portland Chamber Music Festival, one of the best-kept secrets in the state. This wonderful organization has been bringing extraordinary professional chamber musicians to Portland for more than 30 years, to inspire, entertain and model how to communicate both raw emotion and transcendent grace.

Let’s bring chamber music forward, as a model, a balm and a mirror. Because in times like these, we don’t need more shouting. We need more listening. And chamber music, in all its quiet complexity, shows us how.