This summer’s Music on the Strait festival, back on after a yearlong hiatus, comes in many forms.
“We are just so excited to get back to live music-making,” said co-artistic director and Port Angeles-born violinist James Garlick.
With collaborator Richard O’Neill, Garlick has assembled six concerts: four at Maier Performance Hall at Peninsula College in Port Angeles and two at Trillium Woods Farm in Quilcene.
Opening night this Friday is sold out, but music lovers can watch a livestream of the performance by the famed Takacs Quartet, including violist O’Neill, at 7 p.m. via musiconthestrait.com. Viewers who want to check in or comment as the concert unfolds can do so at facebook.com/musiconthestrait.
The program includes music of Ravel and Haydn plus Schubert’s “Death and the Maiden.” Watching the live stream is free, with donations welcome.
Friday will be the first of four Music on the Strait performances to be presented live online.
At 7 p.m. Saturday, the Takacs Quartet will return to Maier Hall with New York City-based Jeremy Denk, a pianist who is “ just incomparable,” Garlick said. Together with the Takacs, Denk will play Robert Schumann’s Piano Quintet in E-flat major, Halvorsen’s Sarabande and selected solo piano works.
Only a few in-person concert tickets were left by Tuesday via www.musiconthestrait.com. So the performance will be livestreamed on the festival’s website and Facebook page.
The same goes for the “Belated Beethoven Birthday” celebration at 7 p.m. Aug. 20. That Maier Hall performance features Denk and two Beethoven works: his String Trio in G and his last composition, the Sonata in c minor.
The Aug. 21 festival finale, titled “Barn-Burning Brahms,” brings Denk to Maier Hall one last time.
With O’Neill, Garlick and cellist Ani Aznavoorian, Denk will offer Brahms’ Piano Quartet in G minor; the 7 p.m. concert also spotlights Hindemith’s Sonata for Viola and Piano and Jessie Montgomery’s Duo for Violin and Cello.
All patrons who attend the Maier Hall concerts must show proof of COVID-19 vaccination, Garlick said. Masks also are required.
Quilcene concerts
Music on the Strait’s two events in Quilcene, part of the Concerts in the Barn series, are free or pay-what-you-can at 2 p.m. this Sunday and next Sunday, Aug. 22.
While seating inside the barn — located on the farm at 7360 Center Road — is nearly sold out, there’s room on the lawn.
Tickets, which are free, can be reserved at concertsinthebarn.org.
Those who sit inside the barn must be fully vaccinated, while guests who are unvaccinated or prefer to be outdoors can set up picnic blankets and lawn chairs on the grass. The live music will be piped out via amplifiers surrounding the barn, so people can hear it well anywhere they sit.
“I love the barn; I love that setting,” Garlick said.
He and O’Neill, friends since they first studied music as youngsters in Port Angeles and Sequim, look forward to reprising two of the musical programs from Port Angeles — opening night and the festival finale — in the two barn concerts.
O’Neill has a particular connection to the Concerts in the Barn. If it weren’t for Alan Iglitzin, their founder, he might not have followed his path to music. Iglitzin was a mentor to young musicians including O’Neill, who had his professional debut at the barn at age 15.
“My concert instrument, a rare and precious old Italian viola from the 16th century, is also thanks to Alan, who used that viola for his concert career,” said O’Neill, who won a Grammy award earlier this year for his recording of Christopher Theofanidis’ Concerto for Viola and Chamber Orchestra.
Music on the Strait is a chance to feel the frisson of energy that only comes with live music, Garlick added.
Whether concert-goers are indoors, outdoors or watching the livestream at home with their families, he said: “We really want everyone to partake in the live experience with us. We want that sense of community.”
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Jefferson County senior reporter Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-417-3509 or durbanidelapaz@peninsuladailynews.com.
Music on the Strait Music on the Strait cofounders Richard O’Neill, left, and James Garlick have assembled six concerts for this month’s festival. Four will be available for free via live streaming starting this Friday.
