QUILCENE — Reservations can be made now for the Concerts in the Barn’s sixth season of free chamber music concerts, starting July 9.
The concerts, each of which begin at 2 p.m., take place in the iconic barn in accordance with current Jefferson County and state COVID-19 guidelines. All guest artists who perform in the barn and all volunteers have been fully vaccinated. Patrons will be asked to wear masks while inside the barn and milking shed but not on the outdoor grounds.
“We’re so happy to be able to open our grounds to the public again and want to make sure the farm is accessible to as many people as possible,” volunteer director Leigh Hearon said.
“The musical lineup this year is absolutely outstanding, and we hope everyone in our community has a chance to hear a concert or two.”
Though all performances are free except for the Fundraising Gala on Aug. 10, this year attendees are encouraged to make contributions of $20 for lawn seating and $30 for barn seating.
No one with a reservation will be turned away.
Tickets for the gala are $50 on the lawn and $100 in the barn.
The farm will open to audiences at noon; the barn will open at 1 p.m. Those sitting on the lawn will find dozens of picnic tables or can use their own blankets or chairs. Indoors will be pews and hay bales.Everyone seated outside will be able to hear music from the barn.
Non-alcoholic beverages, coffee, cookies and ice cream will be sold in the milking shed, but concert-goers are welcome to bring their own picnic lunches.
Concerts in the Barn will be selling wine from The Wine Seller and Finnriver cider in its wine garden in the orchard area. Bottled water is available at no charge.
The concerts will run through Sept. 4.
The season will begin with the Carpe Diem String Quartet, several members of which are familiar to audiences from performances in the barn over the past 20 years.
George Lopez, artist-in-residence at Bowdoin College, will join the quartet opening weekend to perform the Brahms piano quintet in F minor on July 9-10.
The following weekend, July 16-17, the Carpe Diem String Quartet will perform works by Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven and Emilie Mayer, the most prolific German female composer of the Romantic period whose works are an essential part of the quartet genre.
The Carpe Diem String Quartet is internationally known as a “boundary-breaking” ensemble that embraces both traditional and avantgarde repertoire. The quartet will arrive at the farm on the heels of performances at the Ávila International Music Festival in Spain, and concerts in Amsterdam with soprano Laura Bohn, who will perform for the Fundraising Gala later in the concerts’ season.
Lopez, Bowdoin College’s Robert Beckwith Artist-in-Residence, is a “dedicated and dynamic performer, educator, and lecturer,” series organizers note. Lopez performs music ranging from standard chamber music repertoire to jazz, ragtime and contemporary styles of improvisation.
On July 23-24, the Jasper String Quartet and pianist Amy Yang will perform works by Schubert, Bartók and Florence Price, the first African American female composer to have her work performed by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in 1933.
The Jasper String Quartet has been hailed as “sonically delightful and expressively compelling” (The Strad), and described by Gramophone as “flawless in ensemble and intonation, expressively assured and beautifully balanced.” The New York Times named their album, “Unbound,” as one of the 25 Best Classical Recordings in 2017.
The Hava Trio — violinist Elisa Barston, cellist Amy Barston and pianist Jessica Choe — will return to Concerts in the Barn on July 30-31 and Aug. 6-7 with programs that include works by Beethoven, Amy Beach, Nadia Boulanger, Mozart and Brahms.
Both Barstons have performed many times in the barn. Elisa is principal second violin for the Seattle Symphony. Amy has performed as a soloist and chamber musician on stages all over the world.
The Barstons will be joined by Korean American pianist Choe, who has performed in the Chamber Music Series of the Seattle Symphony, as well as at Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center, Seiji Ozawa Hall at Tanglewood and Wolf Trap.
On Wednesday, Aug. 10, soprano Laura Bohn and pianist Hadley McConnell will perform at the second Fundraising Gala.
The two internationally acclaimed artists describe their program as “an invitation to experience the perils and thrills of love through some of the most enticing and personal song repertoire ever composed — from the luscious music of Debussy and the spiritual and esoteric world of Poulenc to the real-world grittiness of Kurt Weill.”
Fine wines will be poured and finger foods created especially for the occasion. The two artists will be on hand at the party to mingle.
The following Wednesday, Aug. 17, the Aletheia Trio will perform. The trio, comprised of pianist Fei-Fei, violinist Francesca DePasquale and cellist Juliette Herlin, was formed in 2013 at the Julliard School and soon after gave debut performances at the Rose Studio and Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center and the Terrace Theater at the Kennedy Center.
No Concert in the Barn performances are set the weekends of Aug. 13-14 and Aug. 20-21.
On Aug. 27-28, the Fulton Street Players, joined by pianist Aglika Angilova, violinist Christo Kasmetski, bassist Jon Green and clarinetist Sammy Lesnick, will perform Brahms’ clarinet quintet in B minor and Schubert’s piano quintet, informally known as “the Trout.”
Fulton Street Chamber Players members include cellist Walter Gray, a founding member of the Kronos Quartet, violinist Cordula Merks, concertmaster of the San Francisco Ballet Orchestra, and violist Rachel Swerdlow, a member of the Seattle Symphony Orchestra.
Angilova performed regularly at the Olympic Music Festival from 1998-2006 until moving to Chicago. She now performs in European venues from her new home in Hamburg.
Kasmetski also performs as soloist and chamber player throughout Europe and is principal second violist for the Gärtnerplatz Theatre Orchestra.
Lesnick, who debuted at the Olympic Music Festival in 2012, was described by critic Bernard Jacobson as “a musician of phenomenal skill and artistry” who performed at a “breathtakingly high level of accomplishment.”
Green, who recently retired as bass player with the Seattle Symphony Orchestra, continues to perform concerts and videos for Music of Remembrance, and recently played in the orchestra for an Eagles concert and for a concert with Andrea Boccelli at the Climate Pledge Arena. He and his wife were kind enough to hold a soiree at their home this past winter to benefit Concerts in the Barn.
The 2022 season ends on Sept. 3-4, with a unique combination of artists: two pianists and two violinists. Aglika Angelova and Christo Kasmetski will be joined by pianist Catherine Ordronneau and violinist Kai Gleusteen.
All patrons must reserve seating for each performance through TicketStripe. Select “Reserve your Seating” on the homepage at concertsinthebarn.org or find “Concert Reservations” under the “Programs” tab.
All Concerts in the Barn performance dates, programs and artist information is available at concertsinthebarn.org.
