CHIMACUM — The Grand Tango asks a lot of the player. You’d better be quick, said musician Pamela Roberts, and you’ll need to know how to speak jazz with tango rhythms.
Roberts, principal cellist with the Port Townsend Symphony Orchestra (PTSO), is not only up to the challenge. She embraces it with pleasure.
This weekend, Roberts and the 30-piece orchestra will offer the Grand Tango, composed by Astor Piazzolla, as a centerpiece in two public events: the open dress rehearsal at 7 p.m. Friday and the concert at 2 p.m. Sunday.
Admission is free to both, and the venue is the Chimacum School auditorium, 91 West Valley Road. Advance reservations are strongly encouraged for Sunday’s performance; to reserve seats, patrons should email Contact@PTSymphony.org and provide a name and number in the party.
At all PTSO events, audience members age 12 and older must show proof of vaccination at the door, and everyone must wear an effective mask inside the auditorium. More information can be found at PTsymphony.org.
Roberts, the featured soloist, is “an absolutely dynamic player,” said PTSO conductor Tigran Arakelyan.
“She has superb technique; she brings the [Piazzolla] to life. We are so fortunate to have her,” he said, noting Roberts had a long career in greater Seattle before coming to the North Olympic Peninsula.
The cellist, for her part, calls herself fortunate in that she’s had a chance to play all styles of music during her career.
She was principal cello in Seattle’s 5th Avenue Theatre Orchestra and Tacoma Symphony, faculty cellist at the University of Puget Sound and a soloist with the Aspen Music Festival and Seattle Symphony.
These days, she re-energizes through playing with five local pianist friends: Lisa Lanza, Helen Lauritzen, Sheila Harwood, Michael Carroll and Sung-Ling Hsu.
“I listen to all types of music daily,” Roberts said.
When it comes to works like the Grand Tango, she said, it has also helped to be married to a jazz drummer, Howard Gilbert.
Versatile like his mate, he’ll play percussion with the PTSO this weekend, starting the concert with the Divertimento by Karel Husa, a Pulitzer Prize-winning Czech composer.
The program also includes a Ralph Vaughan Williams piece for harp and string orchestra, to feature PTSO harpist Barbara McColgan Pastore, plus Carl Nielsen’s “Little Suite” for strings.
Nielsen composed that piece when he was just 22 — yet it’s a mature work, Arakelyan noted.
Like much of the music the PTSO chooses for its concerts, the suite isn’t often performed. This is a chance to hear something outside the standard classical works, Arakelyan said.
“We have a lot of fun at PTSO concerts,” added Roberts, who joined the orchestra about four years ago.
“Our conductor loves to talk to the audience and create a memorable experience for everyone,” she said.
“The atmosphere is exciting and sometimes even funny. Young people should feel especially welcome.”
Roberts, who drives in from her home in Quilcene to rehearsals and concerts, said it’s a joy to make music with the PTSO.
“We have a wonderful group of people,” she said, “who share both the love of music and 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.
