15 years of soul – Chamber Music Festival celebrates a big anniversary
Published 6:00 pm Wednesday, July 18, 2012
The chamber music festival is honoring its 15 years in style with more artists, more concerts and two premiere works.
“This year includes both highlights from previous festivals and new elements,” said Artistic Director Aloysia Friedmann. “It is truly a celebration.”
The Orcas Island Chamber Music Festival will run from Aug. 9 to 25. Each concert includes a 7:30 p.m. performance, followed the next day by a 5 p.m. concert. Receptions featuring hors d’oeuvres and Thurston Wolfe wines follow each show.
Patrons will hear two world premiere works by renowned pianist and composer Jake Heggie. Mezzo-soprano Frederica von Stade will present two concerts. The Miró Quartet, as “Quartet-in-Residence,” will perform concerts on Orcas and a first-ever concert on Lopez Island.
Also new this year are “Hamlet” concerts featuring the Miró Quartet on a classical bus tour, performing in community centers throughout Orcas.
Other festival artists include Rod Gilfry, opera baritone; violinists Andrés Cárdenes, Chee-Yun, Ida Levin, Monique Mead and Sandy Yamamoto; cellists Desmond Hoebig and Anne Martindale Williams; pianists Orli Shaham and Laurana Mitchelmore; pianist and conductor Adam Stern; flutist Lorna McGhee; Friedman on violin/viola; and festival artistic advisor Jon Kimura Parker on piano.
Festival highlights
The festival kicks off on Aug. 9 with Miró Quartet concerts at the Olga Community Club at 10:30 a.m., the West Sound Community Club at 2 p.m. and finishing at the Deer Harbor club at 5 p.m.
On Aug. 10, the Miró Quartet will perform with Friedmann at Grace Church on Lopez, starting at 5 p.m.
One of Heggie’s never-before-heard works will be presented on Aug. 11 and 12 during “A Flurry of Violins!” with a group of artists, including Friedmann and her husband and Parker. Heggie, who wrote such operas as “Dead Man Walking” and “Moby Dick,” is a long-time friend of Friedmann and Parker. He wrote this piece specifically for the festival.
“We commissioned it and found a group of underwriters,” Friedmann said. “It is a suite for the violin and viola. It’s really going to be quite something.”
Heggie’s second work will be performed on Aug. 14 and 15 in “Beloved Music.” The piece was commissioned by the “Seattle Commissionary Club,” a group of five classic music-loving couples. When they heard Heggie was coming to Orcas, they asked the work to be premiered during the festival.
“It’s remarkable we’re having all of this occur on the 15th anniversary,” Friedmann said.
A free outdoor concert in the Village Green takes place on Sunday, August 19. This event drew a large crowd when the festival celebrated its 10th Anniversary, and fans have been requesting another ever since. This year’s concert will include a selection of Broadway songs, works from Mozart and Brahms, and the classical favorite Saint-Saens’ “Carnival of the Animals,” narrated by celebrated children’s author Jack Prelutsky and featuring two grand pianos.
The Orcas Library is holding a summer reading events for kids, including story times that center around the “Carnival of the Animals.” The program will conclude with the free concert.
Frederica von Stade will perform with long-time musical partner – and part-time Orcas resident – Laurana Mitchelmore on Aug. 20 and 22. The program will feature everything from classical arias and art songs to Sondheim’s “Send in the Clowns.”
The above is just a sampling of what the festival offers. For a full schedule, visit www.oicmf.org or call 1-866-492-0003. Tickets already on the move.
“Many people tell me, ‘Oh, this year was the best ever.’ But when I go into the next season, I never try to trump the season before,” Friedmann said. “I struggle with key components … making the combinations work, joining the old with the new … but I have trust in myself.”
