||| FROM MARY TAYLOR for ORCAS ISLAND CHAMBER MUSIC FESTIVAL |||
The Orcas Island Chamber Music Festival kicks off this week with a 26th Season Concert Series that promises superb
talent, brilliant programming, and musical events bound to delight audiences of all ages. From August 4-19, OICMF
will offer five 7:30 p.m. concerts, each repeated the next evening at 5:30 p.m., at Orcas Center. FREE pre-concert
talks and daytime events at The Orcas Island Library and Orcas Center are also a part of this exciting Festival
season.
The season opens August 4th and 5th with Trailblazer, a program dedicated to the memory of Laila Storch, world-
renowned oboist, author, and the beloved mother of OICMF’s Founder and Artistic Director Aloysia Friedmann.
Performances will include the West Coast Premiére of Trailblazer, a women-led work honoring Laila Storch’s
legacy, composed by Alyssa Morris. Fantastic women oboists Mary Lynch VanderKolk and Alecia Lawyer and
English horn player Ann Lemke will perform alongside violinist Karolina Mikołajczyk and violist Aloysia Friedmann.
Works by Bach, Beethoven, and other renowned composers will be featured in the program as well.
Slated for the evenings of Aug. 8th and 9th is Orcas~trations: Voice of the Whale, in memory of former OICMF Board
President Sam Coleman. The concert will include beloved classics such as Samuel Barber’s famous Adagio for
Strings and Ennio Morricone’s “Gabriel’s Oboe” from The Mission, as well as George Crumb’s Vox Balaenae (“Voice
of the Whale”). The Miró Quartet, Jon Kimura Parker, Nikki Chooi, Bion Tsang, and Chad Wesselkamper will return
to the stage with new Festival artists Sandy Hughes, Jun Iwasaki, and Yura Lee. The pre-concert talk Oboe Lore is
scheduled an hour before concert time. Festival oboists will talk with Aloysia Friedmann about music for the oboe
and pioneering women composers and instrumentalists in leading orchestra positions.
Earlier on August 9th, children and their families are invited to enjoy a free, fun-filled hour of music with a delightful
array of instruments and performers. Rain or shine, bring a blanket or a lawn chair and join us on the lawn by the
whale outside of Orcas Center at 1 p.m. No ticket is required.
From Darkness to Light, the third evening concert pair on Aug. 11th and 12th , will feature John Williams’ heartrending theme for Schindler’s List, works by Dmitri Shostakovich, Johann Christian Bach, and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and the Northwest Première of Emmy-winning composer John Wineglass’ haunting quintet …And the Summer was Over, inspired by Alice Walker’s story “The Flowers.” Don’t miss the Pre-Concert Talk, where Woman in the Woods Founder Michell Marshall and Aloysia Friedmann join Wineglass an hour before the concert to discuss his creative process in composing this piece.
In a co-production between OICMF and the Orcas Island Library, John Wineglass and Michell Marshall will also
appear at Orcas Island Library at 2 p.m. on Saturday, August 12 th . This free event, sponsored by the Peach
Foundation, features Wineglass discussing his process of composition and how Walker’s story “The Flowers”
inspired his piece. Marshall will read the story and serve as moderator for the event.
On August 15th and 16th , oboist Nathan Hughes and flutist Sandy Hughes will create the atmosphere for Mystical
Winds with Benjamin Britten’s Pan for solo oboe seamlessly flowing into Claude Debussy’s Syrinx for solo flute. The
program features another Northwest Premiére, Microfictions, Vol. 1, composed for the Miró Quartet by the
boundless Caroline Shaw. A Pre-Concert Talk of Shaw in conversation with Miró Quartet violist John Largess and
Aloysia Friedmann is scheduled an hour before the concerts.
The 26th Summer Concert Series concludes with Romantarctica, featuring Norwegian composer Henning
Kraggerud’s Romanticarctica for flute, viola, and strings. A day before the performances, our respected elder patrons are invited to enjoy a rehearsal of the program at Orcas Center on Aug. 18 th at 1 p.m. The event is free, and no ticket is required.
The evening performances on Aug. 19th and 2 th will feature Norwegian composer Henning Kraggerud’s Romanticarctica for flute, viola, and strings. This program is dedicated to Series Sponsors David and Amy Fulton and includes some of Laila Storch’s favorite works by Johann Sebastian Bach, including his memorable Prelude from Partita No. 3 in E Major. The concerts finish with the Miró Quartet and pianist Jon Kimura Parker performing César Franck’s seismic Quintet in F minor, the perfect finale to a remarkable season.
Those unable to attend concerts in person can watch all 5:30 concerts via livestream at no charge. To receive a link
to view the concert, register at www.oimcf.org.
Courtesy of the late Joyce Burghardt’s family, OICMF is offering free tickets to all Main Stage Concerts for youth
ages 6-18 and their families. To secure “Friends of Joyce” tickets, please contact the OICMF office at (360) 376-
6636.
