CHIMACUM — Violinist Kristin Smith, cellist Diane Vaux and harpist Janeen Kelm will take the spotlight during a special performance Saturday evening by the Port Townsend Community Orchestra.

The orchestra will explore Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s “Swan Lake Suite” during the intimate performance, which begins at 7:30 p.m. at the Chimacum High School Auditorium, 91 West Valley Road, in Chimacum.

A pre-concert talk will be presented at 6:45 p.m. by Holly Kaufman, PTCO conductor and artistic director.

The concert is free and open to the public, although donations will be accepted.

“’Swan Lake’ was Tchaikovsky’s first ballet and it was not received well,” said Jay Bakst of the Port Townsend Community Orchestra.

“In order to save this music from oblivion, he planned to extract music from the ballet into a concert suite.

“Over the next few decades, the ballet was revived and became more and more popular.

“The Suite was not published until after his death.”

There are eight movements in the Suite including “Dance of the little swans,” “Dance of the swans,” “Hungarian dance,” “Neapolitan dance,” “Valse” and “Mazurka.”

Smith, Vaux and Kelm will perform as soloists during the suite.

Musical fixture

Smith has been a fixture of music in Jefferson County for more than 35 years, according to a news release.

A former member of the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, she is a music teacher at the Swan school and is involved in the Pi music program in Chimacum and the OCEAN program.

Vaux has lived in Jefferson County for 15 years, and began playing cello at age 11, according to the release.

She plays chamber as well as orchestral music and also dabbles on piano and viola da gamba.

Kelm is a Seattle native who began playing harp at age 10, according to the release.

She moved to the Olympic Peninsula and played with the Port Angeles Symphony for many years.

She joined the Port Townsend Community Orchestra four years ago.

The orchestra will round out the concert with an arrangement of Dmitri Shostakovich’s “United Nations March” by the orchestra’s Karl Bach.

The orchestra also will perform the “Festive Sounds of Chanukah,” arranged by Bill Holcome, a traditional Christmas Carol singalong and “White Christmas.”

The Port Townsend Community Orchestra’s 2016-2017 season is dedicated to the memory of Dewey Ehling, beloved conductor and artistic director for more than two decades.

Ehling was an icon of the North Olympic Peninsula music community who passed away this past summer after an extended illness.

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Features Editor Chris McDaniel can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 56650, or at cmcdaniel@ peninsuladailynews.com.