Julio Elizalde artistic director JULIO ELIZALDE ANNOUNCES THE 2015 OLYMPIC MUSIC FESTIVAL SUMMER SEASON PRESS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Tuesday, February 17, 2015 Quilcene, WA - The Olympic Music Festival (OMF) announces the first summer season led by newly appointed artistic director and pianist, Julio Elizalde. Continuing to build upon the vision realized by festival founder and executive director Alan Iglitzin, Elizalde has assembled the most star-studded artist roster in its history. This is a very important year for the festival, said Elizalde. I m confident that this will be an unforgettable season for our passionately supportive community. The 2015 summer season takes place over twelve weekends from June 27 to September 13 and includes twenty-four concerts and one educational children s concert. Concerts are held every Saturday and Sunday at 2:00PM in a renovated early-1900s dairy barn. Season Highlights Summer Gala featuring Sarah Chang and Julio Elizalde in Recital The OMF celebrates its 32nd anniversary season with a special summer gala event on August 1 & 2, featuring superstar violinist Sarah Chang. Since her debut with the New York Philharmonic at age 8, Chang has performed with the world s greatest orchestras and conductors internationally in a career spanning two decades. She joins forces with her regular duo partner and OMF artistic director Julio Elizalde in an exclusive recital featuring works by Vitali, Prokofiev, Franck, and Ravel. Chang performs on a 1717 Guarneri Del Gesù violin.
All-Brahms Opening Celebration in Honor of Festival Founder Alan Iglitzin The 2015 summer season opens on June 27 & 28 with a celebratory weekend of performances that honor festival founder Alan Iglitzin following three decades of extraordinary leadership and music making. Iglitzin will collaborate with long-time festival artists Jennifer Culp (cello), Korine Fujiwara (viola), Walter Gray (cello), Charles Wetherbee (violin), and will be joined by violinist Harumi Rhodes following her exceptional debut at the OMF last season. The program will feature the two lyrical and passionate string sextets by Johannes Brahms. Breaking Barriers: Musicians from GardenMusic Festival veteran Teddy Abrams (clarinet & piano), now conductor and Music Director of the Louisville Orchestra, makes a highly-anticipated return to the OMF with Musicians from GardenMusic. GardenMusic, a festival held each spring at the Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden in Miami, goes beyond conventional concert programming by combining classical standards with thrilling new compositions, jazz improvisations, and world music. The highly gifted and versatile musicians include violinists Johannes Dickbauer and Lily Francis, clarinetist Johnny Teyssier, double bassist Nathan Farrington, percussionist Gabriel Globus-Hoenich, and composer-pianist Sebastian Chang. They join together at the OMF Barn for two unique concerts taking place on July 18 & 19. The musicians will present a special educational concert for children and their families on Sunday, July 19 at 10:30AM. Ray Chen Returns to the OMF Following two barn-burning recitals over the past two seasons, violinist Ray Chen returns to the OMF to collaborate with OMF artistic director Julio Elizalde on September 5 & 6 for a recital featuring works by Beethoven, Saint-Saëns, Falla, and Monti. Chen, the winner of the 2009 Queen Elisabeth Music Competition in Brussels, Belgium, performs on the 1715 Joachim Stradivarius violin. Heroic Beethoven Violinist Caroline Goulding makes her debut at the OMF on August 8 & 9 performing an all-beethoven program with returning cellist Karen Ouzounian and OMF artistic director Julio Elizalde on the piano. Goulding is a Grammy-nominated violinist and recipient of the Avery Fisher Career Grant. She has appeared as soloist with the orchestras of Cleveland, Dallas, Detroit, Houston, and Toronto. Goulding performs on the 1720 General Kyd Stradivarius. The program will include Beethoven s popular Ghost Piano Trio. Independence Day Pops Violinist Kristin Lee and cellist Dmitri Atapine made memorable debuts at the OMF last season. This season they join Julio Elizalde on July 4 & 5 for a weekend American classics that includes music by Sousa, Bolcom, Schoenfield, and Gershwin.
Iglitzin Chamber Music Fellowship Program Following a competitive audition process, several rising young artists on the verge of professional careers will be invited to participate in the OMF s Iglitzin Chamber Music Fellowship Program, August 10-24. Iglitzin Fellows will collaborate with resident festival artists in programs that feature many familiar chamber music works including Dvořák s Piano Quintet, Mendelssohn s Octet for strings, and Tchaikovsky s Souvenir de Florence. Concerts take place on August 15 & 16 and 22 & 23 with different musical works programmed for each concert. Resident festival artists for the Fellowship Program include Jessica Lee (violin), Andrea Segar (violin) Tien-Hsin Cindy Wu (violin & viola), Matthew Zalkind (cello), and two notable violinists making their OMF debuts. Tessa Lark is a Naumburg Award winner and recently won a top prize at the International Violin Competition of Indianapolis. She performs on the 1683 ex-gingold Stradivarius. Itamar Zorman is the winner of the International Tchaikovsky Competition in St. Petersburg, Russia and has performed with the Mariinsky Orchestra under the direction of famed Russian conductor Valery Gergiev. He performs on a 1745 Pietro Guarneri violin. Jeremy Kittel Band Brings Celtic and Folk Music Traditions to the OMF Barn Grammy-nominated violinist and fiddler Jeremy Kittel makes his debut during the closing weekend of OMF summer season (September 12 & 13) with three of his regular partners in music. The Jeremy Kittel Band performs a wide range of musical styles including Celtic, Bluegrass, Folk, Americana, and Jazz. Kittel is joined by Joshua Pinkham (mandolin), Nathaniel Smith (cello), and Simon Chrisman (hammered dulcimer). Additional New and Returning Artists at the OMF Barn The Anderson & Roe Piano Duo makes its debut at the OMF barn on July 25 & 26. Pianists Greg Anderson and Elizabeth Joy Roe have performed together for over a decade and have become YouTube sensations with many video performances exceeding one million hits. They are well-known for a creative approach to concert programming that mixes standard works of the piano duo repertoire with new arrangements of works ranging from original medleys on classical operas to pop music transcriptions of Coldplay. Flutist Sooyun Kim, an artist member of the Lincoln Center Chamber Music Society, makes her debut on July 11 & 12, performing rare masterworks including an extraordinary transcription of Mozart s Piano Concerto No. 20 in D minor, K. 466 by Johann Nepomuk Hummel. Returning Naumburg Award-winning cellist David Requiro joins debuting cellist Meta Weiss, Artist in Residence at the University of Puget Sound, for performances of Schubert s String Quintet on August 29 & 30. Artists and programs are subject to change or cancellation.
About the Olympic Music Festival Founded in 1984, the Olympic Music Festival is located on an idyllic 55-acre farm on Washington's spectacular Olympic Peninsula just 18 miles south of Port Townsend. The festival was originally the summer retreat of the Philadelphia String Quartet, of which Alan Iglitzin was a founding member. Soon after, it became a widely noted arts organization in the Pacific Northwest. Performances take place in an early-1900s dairy barn which has been converted into a performance hall with exceptional natural acoustics. Concerts are held throughout the summer on Saturday and Sunday afternoons beginning at 2PM. The festival grounds open at 11AM for early birds to enjoy a leisurely picnic before the barn doors open for general seating at 1PM. Patrons can choose to sit inside the barn or outside on the lawn where the concert is broadcast. The attire is pointedly casual for patrons and musicians alike, encouraging a relaxed atmosphere that is refreshingly different for those accustomed to more formal classical music venues. Prior to the concerts, patrons are encouraged to visit our Milking Shed, where souvenirs, recordings, festival gear, beverages, and snacks are sold. For more information, please contact Susan Miller, General Manager of the OMF. She can be reached by phone at 360.732.4800 or e-mail at info@olympicmusicfestival.org.
2015 Summer Schedule June 27 & 28 Opening Celebration: Honoring Festival Founder Alan Iglitzin July 4 & 5 Independence Day Pops July 11 & 12 Rare Masterworks: Mozart and More July 18 & 19 Breaking Barriers: Musicians from GardenMusic July 25 & 26 Anderson & Roe Piano Duo August 1 & 2 Summer Gala: Sarah Chang & Julio Elizalde in Recital August 8 & 9 Heroic Beethoven August 15 & 16 Iglitzin Fellows Week I August 22 & 23 Iglitzin Fellows Week II August 29 & 30 Schubert s Transcendent String Quintet September 5 & 6 Ray Chen & Julio Elizalde perform Violin and Piano Masterworks September 12 & 13 Jeremy Kittel Band: Celtic, Folk and Bluegrass Traditions
2015 Artist Roster Violin Sarah Chang Ray Chen Johannes Dickbauer Lily Francis Caroline Goulding Tessa Lark Jessica Lee Kristin Lee Harumi Rhodes Andrea Segar Charles Wetherbee Tien-Hsin Cindy Wu Itamar Zorman Viola Korine Fujiwara Alan Iglitzin Tien-Hsin Cindy Wu Cello Dmitri Atapine Jennifer Culp Walter Gray Karen Ouzounian David Requiro Meta Weiss Matthew Zalkind Double Bass Nathan Farrington Piano Teddy Abrams Sebastian Chang Julio Elizalde Flute Sooyun Kim Clarinet Johnny Teyssier Percussion Gabriel Globus-Hoenich Ensembles Anderson & Roe Piano Duo Greg Anderson Elizabeth Joy Roe Jeremy Kittel Band Jeremy Kittel violin Joshua Pinkham mandolin Nathaniel Smith cello Simon Chrisman hammered dulcimer