Aloysia Friedmann, Artistic Director
Jon Kimura Parker, Artistic Advisor
Artistic Director Aloysia Friedmann presented a brilliant assemblage of internationally renowned performers in the ten concerts of Orcas Island Chamber Music Festival’s 22nd season. The festival began August 2nd and 3rd with the stunning mezzo-soprano and Metropolitan Opera star Susan Graham, accompanied by the inimitable pianist Jon Kimura Parker. The final concerts on August 16th and 17th featured the world premiere of a new string quartet by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Kevin Puts, performed by the Miró Quartet. This year’s Festival also featured returning violinist Chee-Yun, playing the dazzling Chausson Concerto, and LA Philharmonic concertmaster and principal violinist Martin Chalifour, performing a Piazzolla tango and several Eastern European folk songs with the sensational Slovenian guitarist Mak Grgic.
The Festival welcomed several other performers from near and far to the Festival: violinists Robyn Bollinger, Lilit Gampel, and Charlotte Marckx, cellists Olivia Marckx and Julian Schwarz, Red Cedar Chamber Music performers Jan Boland, flute, Carey Bostian, cello, and John Dowdall, guitar with silent-film curator Michael Zahs, a surprise performance by pianist Yurie Farnsworth, and even a magician, Matthew Laslo.
A fresh development this year was a pair of engaging daytime talks with former Seattle Symphony director Gerard Schwarz and well-known Canadian radio personality Eric Friesen.
Here’s what we and our audiences enjoyed during the 2019 Festival, which took place Friday, August 2, through Saturday, August 17:
Festival Concerts
New this year: Free Pre-Concert Talks one hour before all evening concerts!
An Evening with Susan Graham
Fri. Aug. 2, 7:30pm / Sat. Aug. 3, 5:30pm Pre-Concert Talks with Gerard Schwarz
Hector Berlioz
Roman Carnival Overture for piano four-hands
Artem Kuznetsov, Yurie Farnsworth (who replaced Jon Kimura Parker, her graduate piano studies instructor, on this piece)
Hector Berlioz
Les Nuits d’été (Summer Nights)
Susan Graham, Jon Kimura Parker
Reynaldo Hahn
Piano Quintet
Lilit Gampel, Charlotte Marckx, Aloysia Friedmann, Julian Schwarz, Artem Kuznetsov
Gustav Mahler
Piano Quartet in A minor
Lilit Gampel, Aloysia Friedmann, Olivia Marckx, Artem Kuznetsov
Gustav Mahler
Rückert Lieder
Susan Graham, Jon Kimura Parker
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Violin Variations
Tue. Aug. 6, 7:30pm / Wed. Aug. 7, 5:30pm Pre-Concert Talks with Lisa Bergman
Friedrich Hermann
Burlesque in G Major for three violins
Lilit Gampel, Chee-Yun, Charlotte Marckx
Ludwig van Beethoven
String Trio in G Major, Op. 9, No. 1
Lilit Gampel, Aloysia Friedmann, Olivia Marckx
Gerard Schwarz
Duo for violin and cello
Lilit Gampel, Julian Schwarz
Camille Saint-Saëns
Danse macabre for solo piano (arr. Liszt/Horowitz)
Artem Kuznetsov
Robert Schumann
Piano Quintet in E-flat Major, Op. 44
Chee-Yun, Charlotte Marckx, Aloysia Friedmann, Julian Schwarz, Artem Kuznetsov
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Orcas~trations: Music, Magic, and Movies
Fri. Aug. 9, 7:30pm / Sat. Aug. 10, 5:30pm Pre-Concert Talks with Michael Zahs
Ástor Piazzolla
Histoire Du Tango (History of the Tango) for violin and guitar
Martin Chalifour, Mak Grgic
Special performance to live music by Magician Matthew Laslo
Robyn Bollinger, Martin Chalifour, Chee-Yun, Aloysia Friedmann, Mak Grgic, Julian Schwarz, Jon Kimura Parker
Early Films from the Brinton Silent Film Collection – Original Scores and Music Performed Live by Red Cedar Chamber Music – In collaboration with the Orcas Island Film Festival
Jan Boland, flute
Carey Bostian, cello
John Dowdall, guitar
Michael Zahs, speaker
Antonín Dvorák
Piano Quintet in A Major, Op. 81
Robyn Bollinger, Chee-Yun, Aloysia Friedmann, Julian Schwarz, Jon Kimura Parker
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Dedication for Martin Friedmann
Tue. Aug. 13, 7:30pm / Wed. Aug. 14, 5:30pm Pre-Concert Talks with Eric Friesen
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Quartet in B-flat Major, KV 458 The Hunt
Miró Quartet
Kevin Puts
Arcana for solo cello and string quintet (2008)
Julian Schwarz, Daniel Ching, William Fedkenheuer, John Largess, Aloysia Friedmann, Joshua Gindele
Franz Schubert
Andante con moto from Death and the Maiden
Miró Quartet
Clara Schumann
Scherzo No. 2 in C Minor, Op. 14, for solo piano
Jon Kimura Parker
Johannes Brahms
Piano Quintet in F Minor, Op. 34
Miró Quartet, Jon Kimura Parker
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World Premiere Finale
Fri. Aug. 16, 7:30pm / Sat. Aug. 17, 5:30pm Pre-Concert Talks with Eric Friesen
Hugo Wolf
Italian Serenade
Miró Quartet
Béla Bartók
Romanian Folk Dances for violin and guitar (arr. Grgic)
Martin Chalifour, Mak Grgic
Miroslav Tadic
Three Macedonian Pieces for solo guitar
Mak Grgic
Vittorio Monti
Csárdás for violin and guitar (arr. Grgic)
Martin Chalifour, Mak Grgic
Selected works for guitar and violin
Martin Chalifour, Mak Grgic
Kevin Puts
Home for string quartet (World Premiere 2019)
Composed for the Miró Quartet
Lead Commissioner: Orcas Island Chamber Music Festival
Miró Quartet
Kevin Puts
Air for violin and piano (2000)
Chee-Yun, Jon Kimura Parker
Ernest Chausson
Concerto in D Major for violin, piano, and string quartet
Chee-Yun, Jon Kimura Parker, Martin Chalifour, Robyn Bollinger, Aloysia Friedmann, Julian Schwarz
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Chamber Music on Lopez Island:World Premiere Finale
Thurs. August 15, 5:30pm / 4:30 Pre-Concert Talk with Eric Friesen and Kevin Puts
Lopez Center for Community and the Arts | 204 Village Rd | Lopez Island WA 98261 | 360-468-2203
Concert Repertoire and artists are the Same as Aug. 16 & 17 above
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Festival Lectures
Mon. Aug. 5, 1:00pm Behind the Baton with Gerard Schwarz
Wed. Aug. 14, 10:00am Meet the Composer with Eric Friesen
Interviewing composer Kevin Puts with the Miró Quartet
Free Festival Events
Wed. Aug. 7, 1:00pm Children’s Concert
Fri. Aug. 16, 1:00pm Open Rehearsal for Seniors
Hamlet Concerts for Orcas Island Residents (at various island community centers)