Chamber Music at Centrum

Photos From Cistern Concert

If you were at the Friday, August 22 cistern concert featuring Matt Kocmieroski, Walter Gray, Tom Heasley, and Stuart Dempster, you remember the incredible feeling of lying on the grass, looking up at the sky, while a concert was amplified from below.

Curious about what it looked like down below? Here is a picture of the musicians in action, along with the music they were playing, the landmark modernist work Atlas Eclipticalis, by John Cage, composed via star charts.

Stayed tuned for information about Centrum's 2009 year-round lineup of blues, jazz, chamber, blues, fiddle, writers, residency, visual art, singing, and youth events.

But 2008's not over yet! Next up at Centrum is the October 2-6 Lap Steel Intensive featuring Cindy Cashdollar, the October 9-12 Autumn Writers' Intensive featuring fiction writer Rebecca Brown and poet Ilya Kaminsky, and the 2008 Centrum Gala on November 15! 

For more information, including registration and performance-ticket information, please call Centrum at 360.385.3102 or follow each of the above links.

We'll see you at the Fort!

Darol Anger in Bicycle Accident

We unfortunately have to report that Darol Anger injured his hand in a bicycling accident in Portland recently and will be unable to hold the workshop scheduled here November 13-16. Darol is looking forward to a full recovery and we wish him well in that process. We hope to be able to bring Darol to Centrum soon to share his remarkable musical gifts!

Duck River Song

[Darol Anger and friends present "Duck River Song"]

Darol Anger, Scott Nygaard, Tristan Clarridge, and Matt Flinner will lead a special workshop in contemporary string ensemble playing November 13-16, 2009 at Fort Worden State Park.

Anger has released many CDs. He co-founded the Turtle Island String Quartet with David Balakrishnan in 1985 and performed, composed, and arranged for the chamber jazz group. He frequently collaborates with Mike Marshall.

Using classical, folk, and jazz music as springboards, Anger currently leads Republic Of Strings, with Scott Nygaard.

He also co-founded The Duo (with Mike Marshall), Psychograss (the bluegrass group including Mike Marshall, mandolin; Todd Phillips, bass; David Grier, guitar; and Tony Trischka, banjo), and Fiddlers Four (with Michael Doucet, Bruce Molsky, violins; and Rushad Eggleston, cello).

He has performed or recorded with musicians ranging from Tony Rice, Stephane Grappelli and Mark O'Connor to Marin Alsop, Bill Evans, Nickel Creek, Chris Thile & the Tensions Mountain Boys, Yonder Mountain String Band, Béla Fleck, and Taarka.

Anger currently lives in Portland, Oregon, after moving from his long-time home in the San Francisco Bay Area.

More information, including workshop registration information is available by following this link or by calling Centrum at 360.385.3102, x114.

Seattle PI Previews Cistern Concert

R.M. Campbell, music critic for the Seattle Post Intelligencer, has posted a nice preview of tonight's performance of Atlas Eclipticalis in the Dan Harpole Cistern here at Fort Worden.

"Summer often is full of unusual happenings, but it would be hard to rival tonight's performance at Fort Worden State Park of John Cage's "Atlas eclipticalis" at the bottom of the Dan Harpole Cistern by trombonist Stuart Dempster, no stranger to various musical wonders, and assorted colleagues."

He details the impact of composer John Cage, and also profiles Stuart Dempster, one of the musicians at tonight's concert, and perhaps the most prolific of the musicians who have used the Cistern over the years.

The weather looks good for tonight, but please visit our Cistern performance page for information on what to bring to the performance tonight.

Atlas Eclipticalis in the Cistern

Mark your calendars now--August 22. 8:30pm.

Those of you who attended the Stuart Dempster cistern concert during our 2007 Chamber Music Festival remember what a special performance it was. 45 second reverb. Surround sound on the lawn above the 4 million gallon underground water tank.

Well, we're upping the ante.

On the date that you have now marked on your calendar, Matt Kocmieroski, Walter Gray and Seth Krimsky (both of the Seattle Symphony), along with Stuart Dempster, will perform the landmark modernist work Atlas Eclipticalis, by John Cage.

Composed via star charts, Atlas Eclipticalis takes listeners on a journey. Listening to it within the context of the cistern, while looking at the stars? We feel this will simply be an incredible experience.

It's a free concert, and we hope you can join us. Learn more by visiting our performance page.

Announcing the Contemporary Stringband Workshop

We've just opened registration on an exciting new workshop here at Centrum.

Somewhere beyond or behind all musical borders lies a creative terrain where bluegrass, jazz, classical, pop, and various world musics mingle, played by musicians who care more for inspiration than they do for genre.

Our Contemporary Stringband Workshop is designed to take you there, and there is no better guide than Darol Anger, along with his fellow faculty members Scott Nygaard, Tristan Clarridge, and Matt Flinner.

Visit our CSW page for complete information on this premium experience taking place November 13-16, 2008 here at Fort Worden State Park.

String Quartet That Also Whistles, Whispers and Wails

Fresh off their week in Port Townsend, the Attacca Quartet just performed in New York City and were reviewed by Steve Smith in the New York Times.

"...the concert was, in a word, sensational. [...] The first two pieces had something else in common: each called on performers to do more than just play. In a striking moment early in Huang Ruo’s “Three Tenses” (2005), Mr. Yee whistled a high, keening melody while playing a low drone. Moments later Ms. Schroeder simulated a gust of wind by blowing into her instrument."

For those of you who caught the Attacca's performances during their week here at the 2008 Festival, I'm sure you'd agree with that assessment. It's exciting to see a young ensemble begin to make its mark in the world. Best wishes to the Attacca Quartet.