SARANAC LAKE — Historic Saranac Lake recently announced a series of programs in celebration of Béla Bartók.

The great Hungarian composer spent the last three summers of his life in Saranac Lake. The program series includes five recorded or live events, to be shared online free of charge. One program will be shared per month, June through October, highlighting the great composer and his time in Saranac Lake.

Presenters include musicians and scholars who have personal connections to Saranac Lake, Bartók and his music. In June, HSL is releasing a recording of a performance by pianist Pete Malinverni.

July will feature a recorded performance by violist Catherine Beeson. In August, pianist Lucian Ban will present a live Zoom presentation titled, “Retracing Bartok — From Transylvania to Saranac Lake, Béla Bartók’s Lifelong Affair with Folk Music.”

September’s program is a live Zoom discussion titled, “From the Wellspring to the Ocean — Bartók’s Life Journey” with scholar, Peter Laki, Ph. D.

The series closes in October with an online presentation by Historic Saranac Lake staff, including a virtual tour of the Bartók Cabin and an inside peek into HSL’s new collection of Bartók artifacts.

The Bartók program series is inspired by a major donation to Historic Saranac Lake’s museum collection of the personal effects of Béla Bartók.

The donation was made from the estate of Peter Bartók, the son of Béla Bartók. HSL maintains the cabin where Béla Bartók stayed the year of his death, in 1945, and shows it to the public by appointment.

To learn more about each of the programs and to register for the live events, visit www.historicsaranaclake.org/celebrating-bartok.

This series is supported by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.