The St. Augustine Music Festival is getting ready to kick off in the Oldest City! The annual celebration spans two weekends and features a series of classical music concerts to celebrate the cultural artistry of the First Coast.

Concerts are free and no tickets are required, however, seating is on a first-come-first-serve basis. All performances will be at the historic Cathedral Basilica of St. Augustine, making for the perfect backdrop and offering impeccable acoustics.

The St. Augustine Music Festival was founded in 2007 by violist Jorge Peña and cellist Jin Kim-Peña, both Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra members.

Here is a list of festival performances:

Simple Beauty – June 20 (7:30 – 9:00 p.m.)

This performance by violinist Nigel Armstrong will feature the music of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and the melodies and harmonies of Franz Schubert.

Percussion Fest – June 21 (7:30 – 9:00 p.m.)

This will be a collaboration between percussionists Kevin Ritenauer and Joseph Becker, and will include the music of Bach, John Cage, Steve Reich, Tōru Takemitsu, Andy Akiho and Gene Koshinski.

Hope, Joy, and Love – June 22 (7:30 – 9:00 p.m.)

Come listen to Mozart’s String Quintet No.3 in C major, K.515 and later Arnold Schoenberg’s Verklärte Nacht (Transfigured Night), Op.4. The festival website says the latter piece is, “based on a poem by Richard Dehmel about a woman who changes from despair to hope, from grief to joy, through an act of love.”

A Musical Party With Friends – June 27 (7:30 – 9:00 p.m.)

This concert will feature Mozart’s Quintet for piano, oboe, clarinet, horn and bassoon in E flat major, K.452 as well as Mahler’s piano Quartet in A minor, and Beethoven’s Septet in E flat major, Op.20 for an ensemble of clarinet, horn, bassoon, violin, viola, cello and bass.

Piano Extravaganza – June 28 (7:30 – 9:00 p.m.)

The festival presents a performance by piano soloist Scott Watkins and will include music by Schubert, Hanson, and Liszt’s “St. Francis Walking on the Waves” and “Transcendental Etude No.9.”

Around The World – June 29 (7:30 – 9:00 p.m.)

For the closing concert, come see a performance of “An English Suite” by Sir Charles Hubert Parry, Barber’s “Adagio for Strings” in memory of Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra violist Colin Kiely, and music by Shostakovich and Carl Nielsen.

Cathedral Basilica is located at 38 Cathedral Place in the historic district of St. Augustine. For more information, visit http://www.staugustinemusicfestival.org/.