QUILCENE — The Concerts in the Barn summer series continues with two performances this weekend — both free to the public.
“We have 50 barn seats left for Saturday’s concert, and 75 barn seats left on Sunday,” said Concerts in the Barn (CITB) volunteer executive director Leigh Hearon on Thursday, adding all concert-goers need to sign up for free tickets via concertsinthebarn.org.
There’s also plenty of space on the lawn, where patrons can hear the music from amplifiers surrounding the barn, which is on the farm at 7360 Center Road.
The Carpe Diem String Quartet is the featured ensemble both days; farm gates open at 11 a.m., barn doors open at 1 p.m. and show time is 2 p.m.
For this concert series running each weekend through Aug. 29, barn seating is open to patrons who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, Hearon noted. People who aren’t yet fully immunized or who prefer to be outdoors are invited to sit at the picnic tables, bring lawn chairs, blankets and picnics, while wine, Finnriver cider and bottled water are available.
“Families are warmly welcomed. This is a great opportunity to introduce children to chamber music while they explore the farm,” Hearon added.
Patrons with mobility issues are encouraged to call the festival office at 206-240-8324 ahead of time to make sure their needs will be accommodated.
This weekend’s musical program highlights “a short but very powerful piece,” Hearon noted.
Dmitri Shostakovich composed it in 1960 when he was in Dresden and saw the extent of the city’s destruction during World War II. He dedicated his piece, the Quartet No. 8 in C minor, to “victims of fascism and the war.”
The Carpe Diem String Quartet, considered a boundary-breaking chamber ensemble, will play the Shostakovich plus Shelley Washington’s “Middleground” and Brahms’ Quartet in C minor in Saturday’s concert.
On Sunday, the Shostakovich piece, “Middleground” and Antonín Dvorák’s Quartet in E-flat major are on the program.
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Jefferson County senior reporter Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-417-3509 or durbanidelapaz@peninsula dailynews.com.
