Our Story
Since 2010, Scrag Mountain Music has been connecting audiences with great music and artists in meaningful ways, and has fostered a rejuvenating environment for musicians to explore chamber music and interface with the Vermont community. Scrag was created in 2010 by founders and artistic directors Evan Premo and Mary Bonhag. Inspired by the variety and scope of chamber music festivals they had experienced throughout the country, Mary and Evan sought to create a space where artists and community directly relate and enrich one another, where the locale is equally important to the music making, and where the music is truly accessible to all. They moved to Vermont in 2010 after Mary finished her master's degree at Bard College and Evan finished a two-year fellowship at Carnegie Hall, playing chamber music and doing community engagement. Rather than move to NYC or another metro area as is typical of young professional classical musicians, they decided to move to where they wanted to live, make a musical life based in a rural place, and travel for other opportunities from there. They settled on central Vermont, partly because of the warm welcome they received upon visiting, partly because Evan enrolled in a 10-week fine furniture making intensive there, and partly because the land and mountains called to them.
They moved as an experiment, and immediately began planning their dream chamber music series. Scrag Mountain Music was born with a first concert featuring Mary, Evan, cellist Julia MacLaine and flutist Karen Kevra. From its origins, Scrag Mountain Music has set itself apart from other series and festivals with its radical payment model, "Come as you are. Pay what you can," in which baskets are passed throughout the audience during intermission and audience members are encouraged to "pay what they can," trusting that those with more means will support those with less; trusting that we take care of each other as a community. Inspired by the work Evan did with Eric Booth and other master teaching artists at Carnegie Hall, Scrag Mountain Music explores how interactive performance can be brought into the concert experience, and seeking to attract new audiences to classical music, concerts are in a variety of venues including Town Halls, libraries, art galleries, barns, radio stations, cafes, and churches.
What was once an experiment quickly turned into a reality for Mary and Evan and for Scrag Mountain Music. They have set down their roots in central Vermont, are raising their two boys, doing as much homesteading as their travel schedules allow, and are continuing to provide unique and innovative programs of chamber music to their beloved community. Scrag Mountain Music continues to grow and expand.
Visit the Performances page to explore our current season, and click on Get Involved! for ways to support our efforts. See you at our next concert!
They moved as an experiment, and immediately began planning their dream chamber music series. Scrag Mountain Music was born with a first concert featuring Mary, Evan, cellist Julia MacLaine and flutist Karen Kevra. From its origins, Scrag Mountain Music has set itself apart from other series and festivals with its radical payment model, "Come as you are. Pay what you can," in which baskets are passed throughout the audience during intermission and audience members are encouraged to "pay what they can," trusting that those with more means will support those with less; trusting that we take care of each other as a community. Inspired by the work Evan did with Eric Booth and other master teaching artists at Carnegie Hall, Scrag Mountain Music explores how interactive performance can be brought into the concert experience, and seeking to attract new audiences to classical music, concerts are in a variety of venues including Town Halls, libraries, art galleries, barns, radio stations, cafes, and churches.
What was once an experiment quickly turned into a reality for Mary and Evan and for Scrag Mountain Music. They have set down their roots in central Vermont, are raising their two boys, doing as much homesteading as their travel schedules allow, and are continuing to provide unique and innovative programs of chamber music to their beloved community. Scrag Mountain Music continues to grow and expand.
Visit the Performances page to explore our current season, and click on Get Involved! for ways to support our efforts. See you at our next concert!
Artistic Directors
Evan Premo
Photo Credit: Michael GW Stein
Double bassist and composer Evan Premo is a member of New York City based chamber music collective, DeCoda with whom we performs in residencies around the world including four he designed in Abu Dhabi, UAE. As a member of Ensemble ACJW Evan has performed many concerts at Carnegie Hall and participated in residencies in Spain and Germany.
Along with the Pittsburgh Symphony Chamber Orchestra, Evan premiered his own double concerto for violin and bass, “Simple Mysteries” inspired by the nature poetry of Mary Oliver. As a soloist, Evan also premiered “Concerto for Bass and Orchestra” by Finnish composer Jukka Linkola. His chamber opera, “The Diaries of Adam and Eve” (text by Mark Twain) was commissioned by the Pine Mountain Music and has been staged several times most recently featuring the Bergonzi String Quartet. Evan has performed at summer chamber music festivals throughout the country and has been featured as a soloist and chamber musician on National Public Radio’s Performance Today.
Evan is artistic director and founder of “Beethoven and Banjos”, a Decoda residency that brings together folk and classical musicians for cross-genre concerts in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Evan lives in Marshfield, Vermont with his wife, soprano Mary Bonhag. Together they are the founders and artistic directors of Scrag Mountain Music, dedicated to presenting innovative, interactive, and affordable performances of chamber music. When he’s not performing and composing, Evan enjoys woodworking, hiking, skiing, fishing, and simply being in Nature. www.evanpremo.com
Along with the Pittsburgh Symphony Chamber Orchestra, Evan premiered his own double concerto for violin and bass, “Simple Mysteries” inspired by the nature poetry of Mary Oliver. As a soloist, Evan also premiered “Concerto for Bass and Orchestra” by Finnish composer Jukka Linkola. His chamber opera, “The Diaries of Adam and Eve” (text by Mark Twain) was commissioned by the Pine Mountain Music and has been staged several times most recently featuring the Bergonzi String Quartet. Evan has performed at summer chamber music festivals throughout the country and has been featured as a soloist and chamber musician on National Public Radio’s Performance Today.
Evan is artistic director and founder of “Beethoven and Banjos”, a Decoda residency that brings together folk and classical musicians for cross-genre concerts in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Evan lives in Marshfield, Vermont with his wife, soprano Mary Bonhag. Together they are the founders and artistic directors of Scrag Mountain Music, dedicated to presenting innovative, interactive, and affordable performances of chamber music. When he’s not performing and composing, Evan enjoys woodworking, hiking, skiing, fishing, and simply being in Nature. www.evanpremo.com
Mary Bonhag
The “extraordinary” (Classical Voice N. America) soprano Mary Bonhag is captivating audiences around the country with her “marvelous versatility” and “supple, expressive” voice (San Antonio News). Since making her Carnegie Hall solo debut and orchestral debut with the American Symphony Orchestra in 2009, she has sung in large and intimate venues from Herbst Hall in San Francisco to cozy barns in Vermont, where she is co-artistic director of Scrag Mountain Music with her husband, composer/double bassist Evan Premo. Together they organize chamber music residencies and innovative and affordable concerts around VT. A consummate collaborator, Mary has performed as part of numerous chamber music festivals including Cactus Pear, San Francisco Contemporary Players, Strings, 21st Century Consort, and Yellow Barn. As a recitalist, she has been presented at Dartmouth, Smith, Goucher, and University of Vermont. She was a SongFest Stearns Fellow and a Tanglewood fellow in 2017 and 2018. Mary especially enjoys working closely with composers, and has premiered works by C. Curtis-Smith, Lembit Beecher, David Little, Evan Premo, Shawn Jaeger, and Evan Chambers. She has been featured on the NPR shows Performance Today and From the Top and appears on Albany Records.
After studying at the University of Michigan, she worked closely with Dawn Upshaw while earning her master’s degree at Bard College, winning concerto competitions at both institutions.
Locally, Mary lends her “warm and brilliant” voice (Times Argus—VT) to Scrag Mountain Music concerts, as well as frequently soloing with the Burlington Choral Society and Oriana Singers. She has appeared in recital at Dartmouth College and UVM, and has sung numerous times on the Capital City Concerts series. In 2015, she starred as Grace in Erik Nielsen’s opera A Fleeting Animal to great critical acclaim, and has premiered works by Vermont composers Nielsen, Premo, Don Jamison, and Kathy Eddy.
She and her husband Evan make music and homestead in Marshfield where they tend to their two young boys, animals, and gardens. www.marybonhagsoprano.com
After studying at the University of Michigan, she worked closely with Dawn Upshaw while earning her master’s degree at Bard College, winning concerto competitions at both institutions.
Locally, Mary lends her “warm and brilliant” voice (Times Argus—VT) to Scrag Mountain Music concerts, as well as frequently soloing with the Burlington Choral Society and Oriana Singers. She has appeared in recital at Dartmouth College and UVM, and has sung numerous times on the Capital City Concerts series. In 2015, she starred as Grace in Erik Nielsen’s opera A Fleeting Animal to great critical acclaim, and has premiered works by Vermont composers Nielsen, Premo, Don Jamison, and Kathy Eddy.
She and her husband Evan make music and homestead in Marshfield where they tend to their two young boys, animals, and gardens. www.marybonhagsoprano.com
Board of Directors
Thank you so much to our wonderful board of directors:
John Donaldson
Laura Arnesen
Virginia Roth
Richard Riley
John Donaldson
Laura Arnesen
Virginia Roth
Richard Riley