Chamber Music at Centrum

Free Chamber Music Evening Presentations

In addition to the outstanding weekend concerts that take place during The Port Townsend Chamber Music Festival, the artist/faculty present fascinating evening presentations for the Festival's workshop participants. These sessions are free, and the public is welcome to attend.  All events (except the Cistern concert) are held at the Joseph F. Wheeler Theater.

MONDAY, AUGUST 6, 7PM
“More Than Notes”  How do performers turn a page full of notes into beautiful music?  Using pieces by Max Bruch, Artistic Director Helen Callus (viola) is joined by Alan Kay (clarinet) and Jon Klibonoff (piano) to talk about and demonstrate how they work together to bring the page to life.

TUESDAY, AUG 7, 7PM
“The French Perspective” Guitarist William Feasley explores the connection between music and art with a multimedia slide show and live performance.

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 8, 7PM
“Music From the Cistern Chapel”  Multi-instrumentalist and composer Stuart Dempster will create a one-of-a-kind sonic experience.  Fort Worden’s 2,000,000-gallon cistern (now empty) is famous among musicians “in the know” for its amazing 45-second, crystalline-pure reverb.

THURSDAY, AUGUST 9, 7PM
“Creating a Masterpiece”  How do composers and performers collaborate to generate new works?  Composer Paul Moravec is joined by Trio Solisti and clarinetist Alan Kay to talk about how his Pulitzer Prize-winning composition Tempest Fantasy evolved from the idea stage into a finished piece. 

As an extra treat, Trio Solisti (Maria Bachmann, violin; Alexis Pia Gerlach, cello; Jon Klibonoff, piano) will perform portions of a Beethoven trio not included on the weekend concerts.

SATURDAY, AUGUST 11, 1:30 PM
Chamber music concert by workshop participants.  Talented musicians from across the country have been working intensively all week.  Come and hear what they’ve accomplished.

William Feasley

Classical guitarist William Feasley is performing his multimedia show, "Echoes of Goya," worldwide.

Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes was a late seventeenth century Spanish court painter. He is regarded both as the last of the old masters and as the first of the moderns. The subversive and subjective element in his art, as well as his bold handling of paint, provided a model for the work of later generations of artists, including Manet and Picasso.

Feasley's multimedia show takes the form of a guitar recital with an accompanying power point slide show. The works of Goya that are featured range from his early "cartoons" through his mature portraiture, examples of the black paintings, six Caprichos and on to the Milkmaid of Bordeaux (pictured right).

The music falls into three categories; music that was around Goya as he created his art, music that his art inspired and Feasley's musical associations between Goya's art and Spanish music.

The repertoire for the concert continues to evolve. Most recently he commissioned Three Goya Portraits from the Cuban-American composer José Lezcano.

William Feasley, who will be on faculty at the Port Townsend Chamber Music Festival August 5-12, 2007, is rapidly becoming recognized as one of today's top classical guitarists.

The first guitarist to be awarded the Peabody Conservatory's coveted Artist Diploma, Feasley has since been the recipient of numerous prizes and awards.

Since making his debut in 1980 with the San Francisco Ballet, performing Rodrigo's Concierto de Aranjuez, Feasley has maintained an active international touring schedule.

Recent tours have included Spain, the Caribbean, Greece, Yugoslavia, New Zealand, Australia, the United Kingdom, and Iceland.

He has also has released four critically acclaimed discs: Simplicity, American Sketches, Echoes of Goya, and his most recent CD, Shenandoah, a collection of works with roots in popular or folk music.

Feasley, who is in currently on the faculty of Catholic University, Columbia Union College, and Shepherd University, will be leading a week of workshops August 5-9. As a public capstone to the week, he performs onstage in a free performance at the Joseph F. Wheeler Theater on Tuesday, August 7, at 7 pm.    

Choro Workshop and Performance

CHORO: THE SWEET LAMENT OF BRAZILIAN MUSIC
November 8-11, 2007
$495 includes all meals and lodging. 

Join Mike Marshall (mandolin), Carlos Oliveira (six- and seven-string cavanquinho guitar), Andy Connell (clarinet and saxophone), and Brian Rice (pandeiro and other Brazilian percussion instruments) in this new Centrum fall offering. 

The thirty-person workshop is open to all instruments. “There will be people of different backgrounds and abilities and we’ll be sure to match you up!” Marshall says.

Evening jam sessions, combined with relaxing Brazilian film and audio sessions, round out the workshop. Participants will receive free admission to the November 10 performance in the Joseph F. Wheeler Theater. On Sunday morning, November 11, participants are invited to join the faculty for an authentic Brazilian brunch, prepared by chefs who have relocated to the United States.

For Tickets to the November 10 show, call 800.733.3608 or 360.385.3102, x117. Workshop registration is full.