Centrum Information Center

[Sachal Vasandani onstage]

Jazz singer Sachal Vasandani will perform as part of Jazz Port Townsend this year, joining singer Kim Nazarian in an evening "Jazz in the Clubs" performance Friday, July 25, at the Key City Playhouse in uptown Port Townsend.

On Saturday, July 26, at 7:30 pm he will give a widely anticipated mainstage performance at McCurdy Pavilion, between Paquito d'Rivera and the Matt Wilson Quartet. Reserved seating for the mainstage show is $26/$22; youth 18 and under are free with advance reservations. Tickets are available by following this link, as well as by calling the Centrum ticket office at 360.385.3102, x117.

Free Public Chamber Music Events

The Port Townsend Chamber Music Festival, which takes place the full week of June 23-28, 2008, offers concert-goers a full slate of world-class performances featuring the Tokyo String Quartet, violist Helen Callus, and others.

In addition to the weekend concerts, which serve as the public capstone to the week-long chamber music workshop, the Festival will feature the following special presentations:

Monday, June 23, 7 pm
Public Masterclasses. Artist faculty will coach outstanding workshop participants on important repertoire. Audience members will get a first-hand look at how a master teacher--violinist Andrew Dawes and followed by violist Helen Callus--helps a student take a piece to the next level.

Tuesday, June 24, 7 pm
Public Masterclasses. Artist faculty will coach outstanding workshop participants on important repertoire. Audience members will get a first-hand look at how a master teacher--cellist Desmond Hoebig and pianist Robert Koenig--helps a student take a piece to the next level.

Wednesday, June 25, 7 pm
String Quartet Masterclass. Members of the Tokyo String Quartet--Martin Beaver, Kikuei Ikeda, Kazuhide Isomura, and Clive Greensmith--coach the Attacca Quartet, this year's young artist quartet-in-residence.

Exhibits, Readings, Music, and More

Each year the Centrum Creative Residency Program is host to dozens of artists and creative thinkers from around the country and around the world. The list from 2008 includes a composer from Denmark, art educators from Seattle, an Illinois poet, visual artists from Pittsburgh, a theater actor from New York, and many more. They come here to immerse themselves in the beauty and inspiration of this place.

Some of them would like to share their work, read their poems, and play their music for the public. Facilitating these small events means helping in many different ways, from preparing receptions to hosting readings or assisting in the set up and removal of an exhibit. If you have some experience with exhibits or readings and are interested in working with visiting artists, I'd love to hear from you. Please drop a line to lisa@centrum.org or call 385-3102 x128.

Beautify Centrum's Front Door

Summer is coming to Port Townsend, bringing hundreds of people to Centrum's front porch. Let's paint! And plant some flowers, and clean the chairs, and hang a new bulletin board, and... well you get the idea.

Please join us by signing up to be part of the "Spruce up the Porch" party, tentatively scheduled for the weekend of May 31st-June 1st, weather permitting. You can email your rsvp to lisa@centrum.org, or call it in at 385-3102 x128.

Cellist Desmond Hoebig to Appear at the Port Townsend Chamber Music Festival

Cellist Desmond Hoebig, who will be in residence at the 2008 Port Townsend Chamber Music Festival, first appeared as a soloist with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra at the age of eight. He went on to study, during the years of 1979-83, at the Juilliard School, while winning awards over that same time frame: the 1980 Canadian Music Competitions International Stepping Stones, the 1981 CBC Radio Talent Competition. He was a finalist in the 1982 Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow.

Hoebig is equally accomplished as a solo, chamber, and orchestral player. He has appeared with multiple orchestras as a guest soloist, toured widely, and won first prize in the 1984 Munich International Competition. He is currently principal cellist of the Cleveland Symphony.

Hoebig will perform at the Joseph F. Wheeler Theater on both Friday, June 27; and Saturday, June 28. Tickets are available here or by calling Centrum at 800-733-3608 or 360-385-3102, x117. Tickets may be purchased in person in Port Townsend at the Centrum office at Fort Worden State Park; at Quimper Sound, 230 Taylor Street; and at The Food Co-op, 414 Kearney Street. Tickets may also be purchased at individual events, but availability is not guaranteed.

THE PORT TOWNSEND SUMMER CHAMBER MUSIC FESTIVAL
Helen Callus, Artistic Director

Friday, June 27
The Joseph F. Wheeler Theater – 7:30 pm
• Quartet in A minor, D. 804. Franz Schubert. Performed by the Tokyo String Quartet
• Primera Luz (written for the Tokyo String Quartet). Lera Auerbach. Performed by the Tokyo String Quartet.
• Sextet No. 2 in G major, Op. 36. Johannes Brahms. Performed by the Attacca String Quartet with Helen Callus, viola; and Desmond Hoebig, cello.
Tickets: $29/25; youth 18 & under free with reservations

Saturday, June 28
The Joseph F. Wheeler Theater – 7:30 pm
• Quintet for Strings in Bb, K. 174. Wolfgang Mozart. Performed by the Tokyo String Quartet with Helen Callus, viola.
• Quartet in Eb for Piano and Strings, Op. 47. Robert Schumann. Performed by Martin Beaver, violin; Helen Callus, viola; Desmond Hoebig, cello; Robert Koenig, piano.
• Quartet in A minor, Op. 132. Ludwig van Beethoven. Performed by the Tokyo String Quartet.
Tickets: $29/25; youth 18 & under free with reservations