Coming up in Philly music: A summer classic at Laurel Hill

The Concerts by Candlelight series is a rare chance to hear chamber music in its natural setting — the living room of an 18th-century mansion. The Women for Greater Philadelphia started the series more than 40 years ago, during the 1976 bicentennial celebrations, and it’s become a major summertime tradition for many of the devotees who trek to the Laurel Hill mansion in Fairmount Park. The window behind the musicians frames the trees that look down on the Schuylkill, and you can join the performers and their guests in a post-concert reception on the rear porch.

The second concert of the 2018 series features an unusual instrumental pairing. Harpist Cheryl Dungan Cunningham and pianist Kathleen Scheide will perform chamber music and salon music from the late 18th and early 19th centuries, with Scheide playing the type of piano actually used during the period. It’s exactly the kind of home musicale you would have encountered in a time when private musical events employed the musicians and instruments that happened to be available.

Concerts by Candlelight will present Kathleen Scheide and Cheryl Dungan Cunningham at 6:30pm on July 8 at Laurel Hill Mansion (Randolph Drive in East Fairmount Park). Tickets are $25 and they’re available online, by calling 215-643-7923, and at the door.