Celebrating 40 Seasons

The 2023 Olympic Chamber Music Fellows are fortunate to attend this highly unique program tuition free thanks to the vibrant community of donors who believe in the Olympic Music Festival’s educational mission.

Schedule:

Olympic Chamber Music Fellowship Week I

Saturday, August 12, 2023    

2:00PM: MAGNIFICENT MOZART

Artists

Alexander Fiterstein  clarinet
Jennifer Frautschi  violin
Jason Moon  violin
Clara Neubauer  violin
Laura Liu  viola
Vicki Powell  viola
Carlo Lay  cello
Matthew Zalkind  cello
Robert Carlson  piano
Julio Elizalde  piano

Program

MOZART  Andante & Variations in G major for Piano, Four Hands, K. 501
MOZART  Piano Quartet No. 1 in G minor, K. 478
WEBER  Duo Concertante for Clarinet & Piano, Op. 48
MOZART  Clarinet Quintet in A major, K. 581

The Olympic Music Festival’s fortieth season kicks off a selection of Mozart’s most beloved compositions including his whimsical Andante & Variations for two pianists at same keyboard and the sublime Clarinet Quintet written at the end of his life. Carl Maria von Weber was a composer of the new generation after Mozart and his Duo Concertante pushes the virtuosic limits of the clarinet and piano.

Sunday, August 13, 2023

2:00PM: FIREWORKS IN PARIS

Artists

Alexander Fiterstein  clarinet
Jennifer Frautschi  violin
Jason Moon  violin
Clara Neubauer  violin
Laura Liu  viola
Vicki Powell  viola
Carlo Lay  cello
Matthew Zalkind  cello
Robert Carlson  piano
Julio Elizalde  piano

Program

FAURÉ  Clarinet Trio in D minor, Op. 120
DEBUSSY  String Quartet in G minor, Op. 10
CHAUSSON  Concert for Violin, Piano, and String Quartet, Op. 21

Experience three of the jewels of French chamber music in one afternoon! Gabriel Fauré wrote his trio at the end of his life as he was facing an uncertain world where music was progressing faster than he and other guardians of the French national style were comfortable with. Debussy’s only string quartet showcases his explorations of harmonies that led to the rise of the impressionist style in France. Ernest Chausson’s monumental Concert (French for concerto) brings the drama of instrumental soloists with orchestra into the intimate world of chamber music.

Olympic Chamber Music Fellowship Week II

Saturday, August 19, 2023

2:00PM: ROMANTIC FRONTIERS

Artists

Alexi Kenney  violin
Jason Moon  violin
Clara Neubauer  violin
Laura Liu  viola
Vicki Powell  viola  
Jennifer Culp  cello
Carlo Lay  cello
Robert Carlson  piano
Julio Elizalde  piano

Program

BRAHMS  Trio for Horn (Viola), Violin, and Piano in E-flat major, Op. 40
SCHOENBERG  Verklärte Nacht, Op. 4 (Transfigured Night for String Sextet)
SCHUMANN  Piano Quartet in E-flat major, Op. 47

The beginning, rise, and final transformation of the romantic period in classical music can easily be attributed to the three composers featured on this program. Robert Schumann’s glorious Piano Quartet from 1842 features a musical love letter to his wife Clara, which has become one of classical music’s most cherished melodies. Arnold Schoenberg is best known for opening the door to a world of music after harmonic tonality. However, his Verklärte Nacht or Transfigured Night for string sextet is one of the final gasps of romantic music as it began to rupture as the influence of the expressionist movement began to take hold in Austria. Violinist Alexi Kenney makes his Olympic Music Festival debut.

Sunday, August 20, 2023

2:00PM: VISIONARY WOMEN

Artists

Alexi Kenney  violin
Jason Moon  violin
Clara Neubauer  violin
Laura Liu  viola
Vicki Powell  viola  
Jennifer Culp  cello
Carlo Lay  cello
Robert Carlson  piano
Julio Elizalde  piano

Program

Clara SCHUMANN Three Romances for Violin & Piano, Op. 22
Fanny MENDELSSOHN-HENSEL String Quartet in E-flat major (1834)
Amy BEACH Piano Quintet in F-sharp minor, Op. 67 (1907)

Unjustly overlooked by history, women composers have produced many masterpieces of chamber music, including the three works featured on this concert. Although Clara Schumann is known for her affiliation with her husband Robert and Johannes Brahms, she was one of the greatest pianists of all time. Her Three Romances for violin and piano showcase her gift for melody and a formidable command of harmony. Felix Mendelssohn’s sister Fanny was seen as equally prodigious a talent as her brother when they were children. However, she was oppressed by the expectations of women in high society and prioritized her family over her career. Her String Quartet is an astonishing work full of intricacy and inspiration. The New York Philharmonic recently discovered that the first piece they ever performed by a woman was by the American composer Amy Beach. Her gorgeous Piano Quintet is full of lush harmonies and sweeping melodies that have earned it a place as a mainstay in chamber music.

Chamber Music Masters

Saturday, September 2, 2023

2:00PM: ECHOES OF BEETHOVEN

Artists

David Bowlin  violin
Dimitri Murrath  viola
Efe Baltac?gil  cello
Julio Elizalde  piano
Robert McDonald  piano

Program

BRAHMS Viola Sonata in E-flat major, Op. 120 No. 2
BEETHOVEN Piano Sonata No. 31 in A-flat major, Op. 110
SCHUBERT Piano Trio No. 2 in E-flat major, D. 929

Beethoven’s monumental influence on the future of classical music can be best heard in his late piano music. His iconic Piano Sonata in A-flat major, Op. 110 takes the listener through a journey from the spiritual hymns to comical uses of German folk tunes and finally a transcendent use of imitative writing in the style of Bach. Johannes Brahms grappled with the notion that he would be judged by history as a successor to the tradition established by Bach and Beethoven. His sonata for viola and piano, Op. 120 is one of his three final compositions and shows a composer at the height of their power with nothing left to prove. Franz Schubert died only one year after Beethoven but opened a portal from the classical era to the romantic period of music. His second piano trio in E-flat major is arguably the greatest piano trio ever written with a staggering range of emotions that lifts the deepest sorrow to overwhelming victory.

Sunday, September 3, 2023

2:00PM: RAVISHING RHAPSODIES

Artists

David Bowlin  violin
Steven Copes  violin
Dimitri Murrath  viola
Efe Baltac?gil  cello
Julio Elizalde  piano
Robert McDonald  piano

Program

DVO?ÁK Terzetto for Two Violins and Viola, Op. 74
FAURÉ Piano Quintet No. 2 in C minor, Op. 115
SCHUMANN Piano Trio No. 1 in D minor, Op. 63

Near the end of his life, the French composer Gabriel Fauré experienced the same fate as Beethoven when he began to lose his hearing. In his final years, he wrote some of his most probing and introspective works including his gorgeous second piano quintet in C minor. Antonín Dvo?ák completed his Terzetto in one week in hopes of playing it with two violinist friends and it captures the folk music charm that his music is best known for. Robert Schumann’s first piano trio in D minor explores a completely new world of romantic music that was more personal than what had come before.

Season Finale

Saturday, September 9 & Sunday September 10, 2023

2:00PM: RAY CHEN & JULIO ELIZALDE IN RECITAL

Artists

Ray Chen violin
Julio Elizalde piano

Program

STRAVINSKY Suite Italienne from Pulcinella (arr. Dushkin) (1933)
POULENC Violin Sonata (1943)
VITALI Chaconne in G minor
BRAHMS Hungarian Dance No. 7 in A major (arr. Joachim)
DVO?ÁK Slavonic Dance in E minor, Op. 72 No. 2
MONTI Czardas

Superstar violinist Ray Chen returns to the OMF to join forces with Artistic Director Julio Elizalde at the piano in a tour de force recital including Francis Poulenc’s cabaret inspired Violin Sonata. Viatli’s Chaconne is one of the most legendary works of the violin repertoire and the program concludes with a dazzling set of showpieces that are sure to highlight the power of the 1714 “Dolphin” Stradivarius previously owned by Jascha Heifetz that Ray Chen performs on. Don’t miss the chance to hear this amazing duo right here in Port Townsend before they embark on a tour of North America that will take them to Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles and Davies Symphony Hall in San Francisco.

This weekend features the same program on both days.

Date: Saturday, August 12, 2023 - Sunday, September 10, 2023

Location: Fort Worden Wheeler Theater - 200 Battery Way, Port Townsend, WA 98368

Tickets:

August 12, 13, 19, 20 | Sept 2, 3
$40 Prior To Day Of Concert
$45 Day Of At The Box Office
$15 Youth/Student

Season Finale Tickets | Sept 9, 10
$60 Adult
$15 Youth/Student

Click here For More Information