Music on the Strait is back for its sixth year of bringing internationally-celebrated chamber musicians to the Olympic Peninsula with four shows Aug. 1-10 at Field Arts & Events Hall and Maier Hall at Peninsula College.
Ticket sales open on June 3, but early access opened May 25 to those who contribute $250 or more at musiconthestrait.com.
“I think everyone, on stage and in the audience, feels this mutual magic in live performance,” said James Garlick, violinist and co-artistic Director for the annual Port Angeles festival.
“World-renowned artists travel from all over the world to make music here on the peninsula.”
Returning favorites include Stefan Jackiw, one of America’s leading concert violinists; Efe Baltacigil, principal cellist of the Seattle Symphony, and renowned clarinetist Yoonah Kim.
This year’s festival opens and closes with two of the world’s leading concert pianists. One is Joyce Yang, who won the 2005 Van Cliburn silver medal when she was only 19.
The other pianist is Jeremy Denk, returning to Music on the Strait for the fifth time. Denk will perform a rare chamber version of Beethoven’s Fourth Piano Concerto, along with Beethoven’s Ghost Trio with violinist Stefan Jackiw and cellist Efe Baltacıgil.
Photo courtesy of Paul Wiancko / Cellist and composer-in-residence and cellist Paul Wiancko joins Richard O’Neill for a Music on the Strait concert on Friday, Aug. 9, at Peninsula College’s Maier Hall.
Denk will also play American composer Charles Ives’ “Concord” Sonata, a piece inspired by American Transcendentalism. Denk wrote an essay in The New Yorker called “Flight of the Concord” about performing and recording the piece.
“He’s really one of the most exciting and creative pianists on the planet,” Garlick said. “We’re lucky to hear his musical mind at work.”
The festival will also feature Sequim native Richard O’Neill, co-artistic director and violist, performing a piece by and with Composer-in-residence and cellist Paul Wiancko called “American Haiku.”
Wiancko, a cellist of the iconic Kronos Quartet, composed the piece with inspiration from Appalachian fiddles and Japanese folk music.
This will be the only opportunity to hear O’Neill perform in Port Angeles this summer, due to a busy tour schedule as violist in the Takács Quartet.
Because of limited seating in Meier Hall, those who want the chance to see O’Neill perform should get tickets early.
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Photo courtesy of / Concert pianist Joyce Yang helps close the Music on the Strait 2024 concert slate with the Festival Finale on Aug. 10 at the Field Arts & Events Hall in Port Angeles.
As Garlick sees it, this special blend of a supportive community, creatively-energized artists, and a stunning setting is not something you find just anywhere. It’s a special thing. Garlick and O’Neill both have roots in the area, where they learned to play music in this supportive community.
As Garlick explains, “The Port Angeles Symphony will routinely fill up their 1,100-seat concert hall in a town of 20,000. That is beyond remarkable.”
Regular ticket sales open June 3.
For ticket and donation information, visit musiconthestrait.com.
Music on the Strait 2024 concert schedule
• Thursday, Aug. 1, at Field Arts & Events Hall, 201 W. Front St., Port Angeles — Jeremy Denk performs Beethoven and Charles Ives.
• Saturday, Aug. 3, at Peninsula College’s Maier Hall, 1502 E. Lauridsen Blvd., Port Angeles — Stefan Jackiw plays Dvorak’s “American”; this concert also features clarinetist Yoonah Kim in Coleridge-Taylor’s Clarinet Quintet and Efe Baltacigil in Ravel’s Duo for Violin and Cello.
• Friday, Aug. 9, at PC’s Maier Hall — Richard O’Neill performs Bach and Wiancko. Composer-in-residence and cellist Paul Wiancko joins Richard O’Neill for his duo American Haiku, as well as Dohnanyi’s Serenade.
• Saturday, Aug. 10, at Field Arts & Events Hall — Festival Finale with Joyce Yang and Friends. This rollicking finale features Dvorak’s Dumky Trio, Wiancko’s Closed Universe, Rachmaninov’s Preludes along with special guests Ayane Kozasa and Efe Baltacigil.
