- Olympic Music Festival
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Olympic Music Festival, based in Quilcene, Washington, is a casual classical music event featuring world-renowned musicians held in a barn nestled on 55 acres of farmland. The Olympic Music Festival was voted "Best Classical Music Festival" by readers of The Seattle Weekly.
Contents
History
The music festival was founded in 1984 by Alan Iglitzin, who originally intended his farm to be a summer home for the Philadelphia String Quartet. When people heard that the Philadelphia String Quartet was going to be practicing at a barn near Quilcene, people began to inquire as to whether there would be an opportunity to hear the Quartet there and Iglitzin began to consider creating a festival. Preliminary names for the festival included "Beethoven in the Barn" and "The Iglitzin Trio," but ultimately Iglitzin settled on the "Olympic Music Festival" referencing the peninsula on which it takes place.
Location
In the Pacific Northwest region of the United States, the barn is on the Olympic Peninsula at 7360 Center Road, Quilcene, WA 98376 (360). The surrounding farmland has donkeys, horses, chickens, and a garden with flowers and other plants. Alan and his wife, Leigh Hearon, live on the farm and work year round fundraising for the festival and tending to the property and extensive gardens.
Alan Iglitzin
Alan Iglitzin, the founder of the festival, studied with legendary violist William Primrose. He graduated from Long Island University and did graduate work at Hunter College and the University of Minnesota. In 1953, Alan joined the Minneapolis Symphony and was assistant solo violist there for six years. He also was founding principal violist of the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra. During that time, he was also principal violist of the Philadelphia Chamber Orchestra. Alan was a founding member of the Philadelphia String Quartet. The Quartet left the Philadelphia Orchestra in 1966 to accept a unique position as Quartet-in-Residence at the University of Washington. In addition to touring internationally and recording with the Quartet, Alan was Director of Chamber Music at the Allegheny Music Festival, and for many years was a featured artist at the Aspen Music Festival and School, where he performed with Yo-Yo Ma, Itzhak Perlman, and Pinchas Zuckerman. After founding the Olympic Music Festival, Alan was honored with the Washington State Governor's award in 1972 and 1998, the only recipient to ever receive the award twice.
Music
The music is chosen from the mainstream classical music, starting with Joseph Hayden, Mozart, Johann Sebastian Bach, Johannes Brahms, as well as more modern selections from the classical repertoire, such as Dmitri Shostakovich, Antonín Dvořák, and Claude Debussy. The music played at the festival is also played on the radio station Classical King FM 98.1, one of the music festival's sponsors.
2011 Program
The June 25 & 26 "Night Music" program (the most current program) is Debussy's Nocturne (1892), Robert Schumann's Des Abends, Op. 12, No. 1 and In Der Nacht, Op. 12, No. 5, Gabriel Fauré's Nocturne, Op. 33, no. 1, Frédéric Chopin's Nocturne in C Sharp minor, Op. 27, No. 1, Debussy's Soirée Dans Grenade, Schumann's Nachtstucke, Op. 23, Fauré's Nocturne Op 33., No. 3, and Chopin's Nocturne in E Flat Major, Op. 55, No. 2 all on piano by Paul Hersch. In addition, the July 9–10 Mozart Festival includes three of Mozart's pieces, String Quartet in B Flat Major, K. 458, String Quartet in D Major, K. 421, and the String Trio in E Flat Major, K. 563 with Charles Wetherbee and Korine Fujiwara on violin, Alan Iglitzin on viola, and Clancy Newman on cello.
Other Information
In 2011, the Olympic Music Festival will take place at 2 p.m. every Saturday and Sunday from June 24 to Sept. 4, 2011. Tickets range $30 to $18 advance for the Barn, $33 to $21 at the gate; $20 to $14 on the Lawn; all general admission.
References
Categories:- Classical music festivals in the United States
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