Artistic Director Aloysia Friedmann, violin/viola, and Artistic Advisor Jon Kimura Parker, piano, welcome several Festival alumni and exciting new performers to this year’s 20th Festival Season, August 5-20. Highlights will be our quinquennial Concert on the Village Green and a newly-commissioned work by Jake Heggie for saw and string Quartet.
The days of the 2017 Festival concerts are slightly different from our usual pattern; our artists have very busy performance itineraries and we decided to vary our calendar just a bit so we can have exactly the right musicians to perform this 20th Season.
(Please note: all programs and artists are subject to change.)
Founding festival artist William Preucil returns to join his colleagues in the glorious Mendelssohn Octet, a work of profound genius written when the composer was only 16! Preucil also joins Artistic Advisor Jon Kimura Parker in the festival’s first ever performance of Mendelssohn’s Double Concerto for Violin, Piano, and String Orchestra. Expect musical fireworks!
Mendelssohn – Double Concerto for violin, piano and strings in D minor
A Preucil, W Preucil, Parker, Kawahara, Yamamoto, Friedmann, Benjamin, Tsang, Martindale Williams, Hoebig, Swanson
Mendelssohn – Song Without Words for cello and piano, Op. 109
Tsang, Parker
Mendelssohn – Octet in E-flat Major, Op. 20
A Preucil, W Preucil, Kawahara, Yamamoto, Friedmann, Benjamin, Martindale Williams, Hoebig
Adria Benjamin, Aloysia Friedmann, Desmond Hoebig, Karl Kawahara, Jon Kimura Parker, Alexandra Preucil, William Preucil, Stephen Swanson, Bion Tsang, Anne Martindale Williams, Sandy Yamamoto
Often called the most beloved work in the entire chamber music repertoire, Schubert’s Trout Quintet beguiles the listener with beautiful melodies and old world elegance. Artistic Director Aloysia Friedmann is joined in the Schubert by founding festival artist Desmond Hoebig, Jon Kimura Parker, Andrés Cárdenes, and Stephen Swanson. This program also features the return of flutist Lorna McGhee. Cellist Bion Tsang and pianist Andrew Staupe will captivate all in the passionate Cello Sonata of Rachmaninoff.
J. K. Parker – Pan Dreams for flute and piano (1989)
McGhee, Parker
Bruch – Three Pieces for saxophone, viola and piano, Op. 83
Friedmann, McAllister, Parker
Rachmaninoff – Cello Sonata in G minor, Op. 19
Tsang, Staupe
Schubert – Trout Quintet in A Major, D. 667
Cárdenes, Friedmann, Hoebig, Swanson, Parker
Andrés Cárdenes, Aloysia Friedmann, Desmond Hoebig, Timothy McAllister, Lorna McGhee,
Jon Kimura Parker, Andrew Staupe, Stephen Swanson, Bion Tsang
Four centuries of music are represented in this potpourri of musical expression. Grammy Award-winning saxophonist Timothy McAllister returns by popular demand, and violinists Andrés Cárdenes, Martin Chalifour, Chee-Yun, Monique Mead, and Sandy Yamamoto will thrill with everything from the purity of Bach to the impressionism of Debussy to Mike Garson’s jazzy take on Paganini. Can there ever be too much “sax and violins”?
Handel / Halvorsen – Passacaglia for violin and viola
Chee-Yun, Harding
Etezady – Recurring Dreams for saxophone and piano trio (2017) West Coast Premiere
McAllister, Yamamoto, Martindale Williams, Staupe
Schumann – Märchenerzählungen (Fairy Tales) for clarinet, viola and piano, Op. 132
Collins, Friedmann, Parker
Gershwin – Scenes from Porgy and Bess for saxophone and string quartet
McAllister, Cárdenes, Mead, Harding, Hoebig, Swanson
J.C. Bach – Quintet in F Major for oboe, violin, viola, cello and piano, Op. 22 no. 2
Lawyer, Yamamoto, Friedmann, Martindale Williams, Parker
Debussy – Syrinx for solo flute
McGhee
Debussy – Violin Sonata in G minor (1917)
Chalifour, Staupe
Mike Garson – Jazz Variations on a Theme of Paganini
Cárdenes, Parker, Chee-Yun, Mead, Friedmann, Martindale Williams, Swanson, Lawyer, McGhee, Collins, McAllister, Alboucq, Folsom
Steve Alboucq, Andrés Cárdenes, Martin Chalifour, Chee-Yun, Michael Collins, Gunnar Folsom, Aloysia Friedmann, David Harding, Desmond Hoebig, Alecia Lawyer, Timothy McAllister, Lorna McGhee, Monique Mead, Jon Kimura Parker, Andrew Staupe, Stephen Swanson, Anne Martindale Williams, Sandy Yamamoto
The Robert Henigson Concert on the Village Green is the Orcas Island Chamber Music Festival’s musical gift to the island! Part 1 contrasts the brilliance of Vivaldi’s concerto writing, featuring festival favorite Anne Martindale Williams and Orcas Island’s own Oliver Aldort, and Gershwin’s unique take on the piano concerto with Jon Kimura Parker as soloist in Rhapsody in Blue. In Part 2, Jackie Parker is joined by iconic Police drummer Stewart Copeland and three brilliant colleagues in Off The Score, a unique take on everything from classical and blues to jazz and rock!
Vivaldi – Concerto in B minor for four violins and string orchestra, Op. 3, No. 10, RV 580
Beilman, Chalifour, Chee-Yun, Cárdenes, Orcas Island Chamber Music Festival Orchestra
Vivaldi – Concerto for Two Cellos in G minor, RV 531
Martindale Williams, Aldort, Orcas Island Chamber Music Festival Orchestra
Gershwin – Rhapsody in Blue
Parker, Stern, Orcas Island Chamber Music Festival Jazz Band
Off The Score with Stewart Copeland and Jon Kimura Parker
Copeland, Parker, Kwon, Martinez, Miller
Oliver Aldort, Benjamin Beilman, Andrés Cárdenes, Martin Chalifour, Chee-Yun, Aloysia Friedmann, Anne Martindale Williams, Miró Quartet, Jon Kimura Parker, OICMF Jazz Band and Orchestra, Adam Stern, Off The Score
Now OICMF’s Quartet-in-Residence, the Miró Quartet is joined by two illustrious colleagues, clarinetist Michael Collins and cellist Desmond Hoebig, in two stunning masterworks from the Romantic era, the Brahms Clarinet Quintet and the Schubert Cello Quintet. Each of these works is filled with endless beauty and a lifetime of experience.
Brahms – Clarinet Quintet in B minor, Op. 115
Collins, Miró Quartet
Schubert – Cello Quintet in C Major, D. 956
Hoebig, Miró Quartet
Michael Collins, Desmond Hoebig, Miró Quartet
How often does the Executive Director of a festival have a chance to perform onstage? And how often is that work commissioned by one of the world’s leading composers? Anita Orne joins the Miró Quartet in Earthrise for saw and string quartet, written by Jake Heggie in honor of William Anders in reflection of his iconic photograph taken from Apollo 8, framed by a stunning textile piece by fibre artist Geoffrey Shilling. Also in a festival first, new guest violinist Benjamin Beilman joins Jon Kimura Parker in the stunning Schubert Fantasie. The festival concludes in grand fashion with Tchaikovsky’s triumphant Souvenir of Florence!
Brahms – Hungarian Dance #6 for piano four-hands
Kahane, Parker
Bartók – Contrasts for violin, clarinet and piano
Beilman, Franch-Ballester, Kahane
Schubert – Fantasie for violin and piano in C Major, D. 934
Beilman, Parker
Jake Heggie – Earthrise for saw and string quartet (2017) World Premiere (in honor of William Anders)
Orne, Miró Quartet
Tchaikovsky – Souvenir of Florence for string sextet in D minor, Op. 70
Chalifour, Chee-Yun, Friedmann, Harding, Hoebig, Aldort
Oliver Aldort, Benjamin Beilman, Martin Chalifour, Chee-Yun, Jose Franch-Ballester, Aloysia Friedmann, David Harding, Desmond Hoebig, Jeffrey Kahane, Miró Quartet, Anita Orne, Jon Kimura Parker, Geoffrey Shilling
This program of delightful musical stories includes the children’s book Owl and the Moon, featuring Rachel Buchman as narrator. She also leads children dancing to Schumann’s beautiful Kinderszenen (Scenes from Childhood) performed by pianist Jeffrey Kahane. Other artists participating are clarinetist Michael Collins, violinist Martin Chalifour, and cellist Oliver Aldort.
Owl and the Moon by Arnold Lobel
Schumann – Kinderszenen
Rachel Buchman, narrator
Jeffrey Kahane, piano
Martin Chalifour, violin
Michael Collins, clarinet
Oliver Aldort, cello
Wednesday, August 9 Svend Rønning
Friday, August 11 Jonathan Pasternack
Monday, August 14 Jeffrey Kahane (concert is on Tuesday, Aug. 15)
Saturday, August 19 Melinda Bargreen
Know the Score Lecture at 10:30 am with Melinda Bargreen