The 2015 Orcas Island Chamber Music Festival – A Stage Filled with Grandeur!
Amazing artists filled the stage …
From August 6th through 23rd , more than 25 renowned musicians brought audiences to their feet! The “Façade” concert featured a wonderful mix of artists: Adam Stern, reciter; James Paul, conductor; Lorna McGhee, flute/piccolo; Owen Kotler, clarinet/bass clarinet; Timothy McAllister, alto saxophone; Charlie Porter, trumpet; Paul Hansen, percussion; and cellists Lachezar Kostov and Oliver Aldort in William Walton’s famous “Façade – An Entertainment.”
Grand pianos filled the stage …
Opening the Festival in grand fashion were pianists Jon Kimura Parker and Viktor Valkov performing Rachmaninoff’s Fantasie-Tableaux, Suite No. 1 for two pianos. Closing night Parker and pianist Orli Shaham performed John Adams’ incredible Hallelujah Junction and Rachmaninoff’s powerful Suite No. 2 for two pianos.
Cellos filled the stage …
Cellos were very prominent during the Festival, and popular with patrons, including David Popper’s Requiem for three cellos and piano in F-sharp minor, Mozart’s Overture to The Marriage of Figaro for four cellos, Rossini’s Overture to The Barber of Seville for four cellos, and Villa-Lobos’ Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5 for eight cellos and voice, with Orcas Island soprano Sharon Abreu.
And beautiful artwork filled the stage …
Fiber Artist Geoffrey Shilling created the perfect backdrop to transport audiences deep “Into the Woods” for the “Orcas~trations” concert, as violinists Daniel Ching and William Fedkenheuer, violists John Largess and Aloysia Friedmann, and cellists Joshua Gindele and Desmond Hoebig performed Schonberg’s moving Verklarte Nacht (Transfigured Night) for String Sextet.
The two week Festival was filled with magnificent music and musicians, and we’d like to thank OICMF Artistic Director Aloysia Friedmann for making it all possible!