PORT TOWNSEND — Tickets are on sale for the 2023 summer season of the Olympic Music Festival, with eight performances scheduled on four weekends from August to early September.
Most tickets are $40 except for the season finale Sept. 9-10, when the cost is $60. To purchase, go to olympicmusicfestival.org or phone 360-385-9699.
All shows are at 2 p.m. at the Wheeler Theater on the Fort Worden campus in Port Townsend.
Artistic Director Julio Elizalde has announced the lineup for this summer season, which celebrates the festival’s 40 years on the Olympic Peninsula featuring classical music artists.
Performers include superstar violinist Ray Chen; principal players of the Seattle Symphony, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, and St. Paul Chamber Orchestra; and other prominent musicians from around the globe, according to a press release.
“For our fortieth anniversary season, we have curated a truly special series of concerts,” Elizalde said.
“With performances focusing on Mozart’s final years to a special event highlighting powerful women composers of the past, I am certain the public will not want to miss a single performance.”
New program
This year, the OMF launches a new Junior Fellows Program, which pairs talented local high school musicians with the Olympic Chamber Music fellows.
The Junior Fellows will attend OMF rehearsals, receive free tickets to weekend concerts, and perform in a free public masterclass taught by OMF fellows, with additional input from mentoring festival artists.
This event will take place on Thursday, Aug. 10, at 7 p.m. at Fort Worden’s Wheeler Theater.
The Olympic Chamber Music Fellowship, founded in 2015, is the OMF’s internationally recognized educational program, which offers a critical link for young artists making the transition from student to professional, according to the release.
The five fellows, selected through a highly competitive audition, spend two weeks at the OMF, collaborating with mentoring artists and learning about the intricacies of building a successful career.
The fellows take part in group discussion on critical — and rarely covered — practical topics, such as taxes, artist management, and how to succeed as an educator.
This year’s fellows include students from prestigious conservatories, such as Juilliard School in New York City, and hail from as far as Berlin.
The Olympic Chamber Music Fellowship is a full scholarship program made possible by numerous donors.
