Gretna Music: Cheers to 50 Years

The Renowned Summer Music Festival Thrives In Its Wooded Home

by Meagan Cassel

[Originally published in the Fall 2025 issue of Mount Gretna Magazine. View the full issue to see this story in its designed layout, complete with additional images.]

Little did Dr. Carl Ellenberger know when hastily selecting a home convenient to his first job how serendipitous a decision it would turn out to be. He had stumbled across our little community in the woods solely to be near Hershey Medical Center. And yet, the physician harbored a parallel passion for music that blossomed into five decades of acclaimed performances under the trees.

This year, Gretna Music celebrates its golden anniversary, having hosted more than 750 concerts by 2,100 musicians from six continents. But its beginnings were humble, classic “Gretna.” Carl, a flutist, was heard playing at his cottage alongside his wife, a pianist. They were invited to perform in the Community Building, now the Hall of Philosophy.

Carl recruited old and new musical friends to round out the group in exchange for hospitality in his idyllic new hometown, and the response was enthusiastic. He views that year, 1975, as a turning point for Mount Gretna, when two beloved traditions began: the first Mount Gretna Outdoor Art Show and the inspiration for Gretna Music.

“We had no idea that we were revitalizing the town,” he reflects. “We just did what we loved to do. And Gretna was the perfect place. If this took place in any old auditorium, we’d long be forgotten.”

Indeed, a new and unique auditorium — the stage that thousands of musicians would grace — was written in the stars.

During the following summer, the Mount Gretna Playhouse was found to be unexpectedly dark, yet in notable disrepair and with subpar acoustics. The Ellenbergers took a leap of faith and amassed volunteers to restore it enough to serve as their concert home.

Bruce Johnson, a friend and co-founder of the Art Show, created the iconic Music at Gretna print to begin spreading the word. The adventure became official and was later renamed Gretna Music.

Success would prove that centuries-old “classical” or “chamber” music was well received in Gretna. The open-air setting and wooded charm, however, made the music concept even more appealing, as did special programs like Artists in Residence.

Photo courtesy of Gretna Music. Members of the Audubon Quartet, who lived and played in Gretna for numerous summers, were “instrumental” in Gretna Music’s success and a beloved part of each summer’s community.

In 1977, the up-and-coming Audubon Quartet lived and worked alongside locals for six weeks — and would continue to do so for years. It was a milestone in Gretna Music’s success. WITF announced that “some of the greatest music-making anywhere in the country is going on in our backyard right now.” But, as it turns out, the musicians becoming a part of the community was just as special.

“The Audubon got to know people,” Carl remembers fondly. “Kids got to know kids of the Audubon, and they played together on the playground.

The Audubon liked to cook, and they’d invite their next-door neighbors for dinner, and then they got invited back.”

This method of “producing” music expanded into “presenting” music, when touring jazz bands also joined the lineup. And so the tradition grew. Before long, in 1980, TIME magazine heralded Music at Gretna as “one of six of the best small summer music festivals” in the United States.

Now, 45 years later, the mission to present exceptional chamber, jazz, and world music remains steadfast, despite some pressure to stretch genre borders over the years. Musicians have included GRAMMY winners, MacArthur Fellows, major orchestras, jazz legends, Metropolitan Opera stars, prodigies, and featured artists from major orchestras worldwide.

“I’m most proud of the people who took my idea and are determined to do the same thing I was determined to do,” says Carl. “I can list hundreds of people who put everything they had into making it successful.”

One such passionate person is Executive Director Suzanne Stewart, who has served in the role since 2012. She leads a rich network of staff, board members, and volunteers dedicated to uplifting, inspiring, and uniting our community.

“Chamber music and classical music have this stigma of being ‘hoity toity’ or elitist, and that’s not true,” says Suzanne.

“What we present spans from early music to contemporary compositions. Audiences appreciate that we challenge them with our programming. Our mission is to bring in incredible artists who might not otherwise be heard in Central Pennsylvania and open them up to all who wish to listen.”

This work means finding creative ways to reach new audiences, such as the First Listen Program, Gretna Music for Kids, International Music on Your Porch Day, the annual Mount Gretna Tour of Homes fundraiser, and local hosts who open their homes to visiting musicians.

“What a delightful experience,” notes resident Caroline Weaver of her weekend hosting Stergios Theodoridis of the Erinys Quartet this past summer. “Stergios was charming, friendly, and had so many stories. He spoke of his love of his home country [Greece], his love of the cello, and his passion for playing in the quartet. We were privileged to hear him practice his cello in our home.”

Another core Gretna Music value since its inception has always been to make the arts accessible to as many people as possible. Initiatives like $5 tickets for children, $5 for accompanying adults, and “pay what you will” pricing remove barriers so everyone can experience the magic of live music.

The 50th season is no exception: a celebration of the past, but also a pledge to enrich lives through music for another 50 years. The 2025 lineup has featured award-winning new musicians, the introduction of flamenco to the stage, the return of Artists in Residence, and more intimate home and porch concerts.

One of Suzanne’s favorite moments from this year was after one such concert, a testament to the role that Gretna plays in touching hearts through music.

“A guest told me: ‘I’m still thinking about that house concert every day. It’s the first time I heard chamber music in a chamber. I was 4 feet away from the artist playing, watching his fingers on the strings. I’ll never forget that for the rest of my life.’ Those are the things that remind you why we do what we do,” Suzanne says.

Meagan Cassel lives in Mount Gretna with her husband and two children. They’ve been blessed to grow up surrounded by nature and the arts — one of the best parts of living in this town we call home.