PORT TOWNSEND — Superstar violinist Sarah Chang will star in the Olympic Music Festival’s special summer gala kicking off the summer season July 9.
Tickets are on sale now for the gala and the rest of the performances throughout the season.
The music festival, in concert with Centrum, will present 13 concerts over seven weekends ending Sept. 10, in addition to a special concert for children and their families at 10:30 a.m. Aug. 27.
All concerts will take place at the Joseph F. Wheeler Theater at Fort Worden except for the July 9 summer gala, which will be in Fort Worden’s chapel.
The festival has received nationwide recognition for its mission of presenting many of the biggest names in classical music.
The 34th season of the festival is created by pianist Julio Elizalde, who took over as artistic director in 2014.
“Last season, the OMF underwent a profound transformation after the festival moved to Port Townsend to partner with Centrum at Fort Worden,” Elizalde said.
“I was completely blown away by the unyielding support I saw from our patrons and artists alike and am truly humbled by their continued commitment to this organization.”
Chang will perform Vivaldi’s Four Seasons at the gala at 2 p.m. July 9.
General admission tickets are $100 and include a post-concert champagne reception with the artists. Proceeds from the event benefit the OMF’s educational programs and summer concert series.
Also performed will be Mozart’s Serenade in G major, K. 525 “Eine kleine Nachtmusik.”
Performing with Chang will be Dami Kim and Kristin Lee, violin; Vicki Powell, viola; Jennifer Culp, cello; Travis Gore, double bass; and Elizalde, harpsichord.
Chang is returning for her third season with the festival. Since her debut with the New York Philharmonic at the age of 8, she has performed internationally in a career spanning two decades.
Among her many honors is a Hollywood Bowl Hall of Fame Award, the Avery Fisher Prize, Gramophone’s “Young Artist of the Year” award, Germany’s “Echo” Schallplattenpreis, “Newcomer of the Year” honors at the International Classical Music Awards in London, and Korea’s “Nan Pa” award.
General admission tickets for other performances range from $33 to $40 except for the Aug. 27 Music for Children and Families, which is free, although reservations are required.
The Great Piano Trios will perform at 2 p.m. July 15-16.
Andrew Wan on the violin, Culp on the cello and Elizalde on the piano will perform Beethoven, Brahms, and Mendelssohn.
At 2 p.m. Aug. 12 will be a concert of music from Mozart’s final 10 years in Vienna, performed by young musicians from around the world.
The concert is part of the Olympic Chamber Music Fellowship’s two-week residency.
At 2 p.m. Aug. 13 will be “Hungarian Fantasies,” in which Johannes Brahms’s work, drawn upon the folk music of Hungarian gypsies, is paired with the original music of two Hungarian composers.
At 2 p.m., Aug. 19 will be “From Beethoven,” which will include Schoenberg’s Verklärte Nacht (Transfigured Night), “which is considered to be one of the most awe-inspiring works of the entire chamber music literature,” Elizalde said.
The final performance of the Olympic Chamber Music Fellowship will be “Twilight in Paris” at 2 p.m. Aug. 20.
The concert will focus on the music of Parisian composers and the transformation from the late romantic era into musical impressionism.
Musicians from GardenMusic will return to the festival for a third season at 2 p.m. Aug. 26-27.
Led by festival veteran artist and Louisville Orchestra Music Director Teddy Abrams, the musicians combine traditional classical music with jazz, Latin and bluegrass among other styles.
The program will feature George Gershwin’s “An American in Paris.”
Music for Children and Their Families, at 10:30 a.m. Aug. 27, will be an hour-long interactive educational performance for children.
Music by Beethoven and Shubert will be brought to life in “Between Worlds” at 2 p.m. Sept. 2, followed by “Beyond Virtuosity” at 2 p.m. Sept. 3, which will feature Bach, Brahms and Ravel.
In the season finale Sept. 9-10, the Ariel Quartet will perform Beethoven at 2 p.m. each day.
The weekend includes two pre-concert lectures presented by longtime festival artist and Beethoven scholar Paul Hersh at noon each day.
For more information, and to purchase tickets or make reservations, see http://www.olympicmusicfestival.org/.
Ariel Quartet — Alexandra Kazovsky and Gershon Gerchikov on violins, Jan Grüning on viola and Amit-Even Tov on cello — will be the season finale of the Olympic Music Festival’s summer season. They will play music composed by Beethoven on Sept. 9-10.
