Orcas Island Chamber Music Festival brings Carnegie Mellon University music professor Monique Mead to Orcas Island as Musician-in-Residence May 15 through 19. She will work with string players of all ages in the public school music program and at an Advanced Master Class for community members. Mead and her graduate assistant, Abbey Roemer, have been virtual instructors in the Orcas Island public school music classes this winter and spring, coaching Pamela Wright’s strings classes every month via Skype.

The week of intensive instruction culminates in the school music program’s Spring Concert on May 18 at 7 p.m. in the high school gym. The theme of the concert is “Waltzing Through the Ages,” and the students will play waltzes and courtly dances along with other dance forms. Community musicians have an opportunity to work with Monique Mead at an Advanced Strings Masterclass on Tuesday, May 16th, from 5:00-7:00 p.m. in the high school band room. The class is for advanced string players and string ensembles who would like coaching on pieces they are working on. Members of the community are also invited to come and observe the masterclass. This is a great opportunity to watch and learn from a very engaging master instructor.

For more information about the masterclass and to sign up, contact Laura Gibbons at the Orcas Island Chamber Music office, 360-376-6636 or laura@oicmf.org.