In 30 years, the Skaneateles Festival has grown from a handful of musicians performing at the Skaneateles Library to a month-long concert series at multiple venues attended by thousands of people.

And the 2009 festival, which runs from Aug. 12 through Sept. 5, will be bigger and better than ever.

Weekly themes will include a celebration of Felix Mendelssohn's 200th birthday, a week dedicated to New York and a musical retrospect of the festival's 30-year history.

Last week pianist Elinor Freer, who along with husband and cellist David Ying serves as Skaneateles Festival artistic co-director, talked about how and why the couple chose each theme.

“Week One is ‘Musical Memories.' Since this is the 30th anniversary we wanted to do something really special to honor the festival's history and all the wonderful musicians who've played here,” Freer said.

The week's concerts feature works by Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven and Prokofiev, and will include performances by cellist Steven Doan, violinist Mark Kaplan and oboe player Peggy Pearson, all of whom Freer said have “become festival fixtures through the years.”

Week One's Saturday concert at Brook Farm will include a tribute to SkanFest co-founder the late David Robinson. Robinson's granddaughter Joanna Manring will sing Bach's “Cantata No. 51 for Soprano and Trumpet.”

Week Two, “Happy Birthday, Felix!,” will commemorate composer Felix Mendelssohn's birth in 1809. One highlight is the annual Villas, Vittles and Fiddles concert, which will take place on Wednesday, Aug. 19, at the East Lake Road home of Henry and Helga Beck.

That concert will feature a performance by the Parker Quartet, a Boston-based chamber ensemble, plus food and drink provided by festival staffers and area restaurants.

“(The Parker Quartet) is a very hot quartet right now in the chamber music world,” Freer explained. “They've recently won a whole slew of awards. ... Most of the awards that young quartets can possibly win, they've won.”

Other Week Two concerts will include pieces by Mendelssohn and his contemporaries, such as Bach, Handel and Mozart.

On Saturday, 15-year-old pianist Conrad Tao returns to the festival to perform Mendelssohn's “Piano Concerto No. 1 in G minor” at Brook Farm.

Freer called Week Three, “I Love New York!,” the highlight of SkanFest 2009.

The full week begins on Tuesday, Aug. 25, with a behind the scenes open rehearsal with composer Carter Pann.

“We commissioned Carter to write a piece just for the festival, so the open rehearsal will be him working on that with festival musicians,” she explained.

Pann's work, “Summer Songs,” is about life in central New York, and will see its premier the following day.

“That Wednesday we go on the road,” Freer said. The Aug. 26 concert will be at Everson Museum of Art, and will feature music from “West Side Story,” spirituals by R. Nathaniel Dett and the performance of “Summer Songs” with narration by Skaneateles resident and television personality Thom Filicia.

“We had a poetry contest a couple of years ago, and we got over 100 submissions from people of all ages,” Freer explained. Filicia will read five of the winning poems over Pann's music. The poems focus on summer life in Skaneateles and central New York.

“Broadway Comes to Brook Farm” will be Saturday, Aug. 29, and will include selections from Cole Porter, Stephen Sondheim and Leonard Bernstein.

Week Four, “Viva Latina!” explores the ways Latin music has influenced classical music in general, Freer said.

One featured musician for this week's concerts will be Eliot Fisk, whom Freer said is one of the top classical guitarists in the world.

“Eliot's from this area, and he's been loyal to the Skaneateles Festival since the very beginning,” she said. “He's very well-loved.”

Fisk will perform a solo recital on Wednesday, Sept. 2, with several string players - including artistic co-director Ying - for the concert Thursday, Sept. 3, and with the full festival orchestra at the Festival Finale Saturday, Sept. 5, at Brook Farm.