Tickets are sold out for the Saturday, June 28, 7:30pm performance of the Port Townsend Chamber Music Festival. There are a handful of seats left for the Friday, June 27, 7:30pm performance, however. If you are interested in seeing the Tokyo String Quartet, purchase your tickets now, before they disappear.
Centrum has unveiled the lineup for its popular “Free Fridays at the Fort” series, showcasing jazz, blues and fiddle tunes performers, among many others, at the lawn in front of the Fort Worden Commons.
Seating is provided, local and sustainable food is available, and all the entertainment is free. All concerts start at noon. The June 27 event is rain or shine; all others are weather-dependent.
• June 27: Participant performances from the Port Townsend Chamber Music Festival (held at Wheeler Theater).
• July 4: No presentation. Join audience members at the Festival of American Fiddle Tunes show at 1:30 pm.
• July 11: Dobro Showcase with George Rezendes and Dave Meis.
• July 18: Port Townsend Writers’ Conference reading with Brandon Schrand.
• July 27: Participant performances from Jazz Port Townsend.
• August 1: Jam Session from the Port Townsend Country Blues Festival.
• August 8: Dance/Movement Demonstration from Madrona MindBody Institute
Showcasing the Tokyo String Quartet and other outstanding artist faculty playing works by Schubert, Brahms, Mozart and Beethoven, the Festival features free public events June 25 – 27 and two weekend concert performances on June 27 and 28, which serve as the public capstone to a week of intensive music instruction for chamber music students. Tickets are $29/23, and free for youth 18 & under free with reservations.
“The Port Townsend Chamber Music Festival combines a week-long workshop for chamber music students, a full week of free evening events open to the public, and weekend performances by our internationally ranked faculty,” says Callus.
Now in her second year as Festival Artistic Director, Helen Callus is an international recording artist and the first elected female president of the American Viola Society. She is a regular performer on radio and television as a recitalist, chamber music collaborator and concerto soloist. Her debut recording, Portrait of the Viola, and her subsequent recordings have been met with wide critical acclaim. Callus currently serves as Associate Professor of Viola at the University of California, Santa Barbara.
In 2008, the Festival will showcase one of the finest chamber music ensembles in the world, the Tokyo String Quartet, which has captivated audiences and critics alike since its founding over thirty years ago. The quartet—Martin Beaver and Kikuei Ikeda (violins), Kazuhide Isomura (viola), and Clive Greensmith (cello)—have collaborated with a remarkable array of artists and composers, built a comprehensive catalogue of critically acclaimed recordings, and established a distinguished teaching record. Performing over a hundred concerts worldwide each season, the Tokyo String Quartet has a devoted international following.
Joining Callus and the Tokyo String Quartet at the 2008 Port Townsend Chamber Music Festival are cellist Desmond Hoebig, pianist Robert Koenig, violinist Andrew Dawes, and the Attacca Quartet, which was formed at the Juilliard School in 2003, and is comprised of four second year-masters degree students—violinists Amy Schroeder and Keiko Tokunaga, violist Gillian Gallagher, and cellist Andrew Yee.
A lineup of free public events precedes the weekend concerts. All take place at the Joseph F. Wheeler Theater.
Monday, June 23, 7 pm: Public Masterclasses. Helen Callus and Andrew Dawes will coach outstanding workshop participants on important repertoire. Audience members will get a first-hand look at how a master teachers help a student take a piece to the next level.
Tuesday, June 24, 7 pm: Public Masterclasses. Desmond Hoebig and Robert Koenig will coach outstanding workshop participants on important repertoire. Audience members will get a first-hand look at how master teachers help a student take a piece to the next level.
Wednesday, June 25, 7 pm: String Quartet Masterclass. Members of the Tokyo String Quartet—Martin Beaver, Kikuei Ikeda, Kazuhide Isomura, and Clive Greensmith—coach the Attacca Quartet, this year's Young Artist Quartet-in-Residence.
The Port Townsend Chamber Music Festival, which takes place the full week of June 23-28, 2008, offers concert-goers a full slate of world-class performances featuring the Tokyo String Quartet, violist Helen Callus, and others.
In addition to the weekend concerts, which serve as the public capstone to the week-long chamber music workshop, the Festival will feature the following special presentations:
Monday, June 23, 7 pm
Public Masterclasses. Artist faculty will coach outstanding workshop participants on important repertoire. Audience members will get a first-hand look at how a master teacher--violinist Andrew Dawes and followed by violist Helen Callus--helps a student take a piece to the next level.
Tuesday, June 24, 7 pm
Public Masterclasses. Artist faculty will coach outstanding workshop participants on important repertoire. Audience members will get a first-hand look at how a master teacher--cellist Desmond Hoebig and pianist Robert Koenig--helps a student take a piece to the next level.
Wednesday, June 25, 7 pm
String Quartet Masterclass. Members of the Tokyo String Quartet--Martin Beaver, Kikuei Ikeda, Kazuhide Isomura, and Clive Greensmith--coach the Attacca Quartet, this year's young artist quartet-in-residence.
Cellist Desmond Hoebig, who will be in residence at the 2008 Port Townsend Chamber Music Festival, first appeared as a soloist with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra at the age of eight. He went on to study, during the years of 1979-83, at the Juilliard School, while winning awards over that same time frame: the 1980 Canadian Music Competitions International Stepping Stones, the 1981 CBC Radio Talent Competition. He was a finalist in the 1982 Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow.
Hoebig is equally accomplished as a solo, chamber, and orchestral player. He has appeared with multiple orchestras as a guest soloist, toured widely, and won first prize in the 1984 Munich International Competition. He is currently principal cellist of the Cleveland Symphony.
Hoebig will perform at the Joseph F. Wheeler Theater on both Friday, June 27; and Saturday, June 28. Tickets are available here or by calling Centrum at 800-733-3608 or 360-385-3102, x117. Tickets may be purchased in person in Port Townsend at the Centrum office at Fort Worden State Park; at Quimper Sound, 230 Taylor Street; and at The Food Co-op, 414 Kearney Street. Tickets may also be purchased at individual events, but availability is not guaranteed.
THE PORT TOWNSEND SUMMER CHAMBER MUSIC FESTIVAL
Helen Callus, Artistic Director
Friday, June 27
The Joseph F. Wheeler Theater – 7:30 pm
• Quartet in A minor, D. 804. Franz Schubert. Performed by the Tokyo String Quartet
• Primera Luz (written for the Tokyo String Quartet). Lera Auerbach. Performed by the Tokyo String Quartet.
• Sextet No. 2 in G major, Op. 36. Johannes Brahms. Performed by the Attacca String Quartet with Helen Callus, viola; and Desmond Hoebig, cello.
Tickets: $29/25; youth 18 & under free with reservations
Saturday, June 28
The Joseph F. Wheeler Theater – 7:30 pm
• Quintet for Strings in Bb, K. 174. Wolfgang Mozart. Performed by the Tokyo String Quartet with Helen Callus, viola.
• Quartet in Eb for Piano and Strings, Op. 47. Robert Schumann. Performed by Martin Beaver, violin; Helen Callus, viola; Desmond Hoebig, cello; Robert Koenig, piano.
• Quartet in A minor, Op. 132. Ludwig van Beethoven. Performed by the Tokyo String Quartet.
Tickets: $29/25; youth 18 & under free with reservations
We're close...
The scholarship and audition deadlines for the Port Townsend Chamber Music Festival are this Friday, April 12.
If you've been putting off registering for the workshop, don't delay. We'd especially like to invite violinists and cellists, as our early ensemble-balance projections indicate that we may be able accommodate more instrumentalists in these two categories.
Let us know how we can help--it is going to be a great week, and we want you here with the Tokyo String Quartet, and the rest of the artist faculty!
A quick note to let you know that we've moved some dates around on our audition and financial aid calendars for the Port Townsend Chamber Music Festival.
Once you have registered online to spend a week with the Tokyo String Quartet (you have registered, haven't you?), your scholarship deadline AND audition deadline will be April 12.
