PORT TOWNSEND — An opera prelude from Italy, a Russian Romantic symphony, a soloist returning from Hong Kong: All of these, and then some, will come together as the Port Townsend Community Orchestra begins a new season Saturday night.
Joining maestro Dewey Ehling and the orchestra is guest soloist Anson Ka Lik Sin, a musician who finished his Associate of Arts at Peninsula College in June.
Now a university student in his native Hong Kong, Sin is making a special return trip to the United States to play on the North Olympic Peninsula.
The orchestra will return to its traditional venue, the Chimacum High School auditorium, 91 West Valley Road, at 7:30 p.m. Saturday.
Also a tradition is Ehling’s mini-lecture on the night’s music at 6:45 p.m. — and free admission.
While a 19-year-old student at Peninsula College’s main Port Angeles campus, Sin, both a violinist and a pianist, wowed music professor David Jones.
“He took all of my available courses, even Jazz Ensemble and the improvisation seminar,” Jones noted.
‘Phenomenal’ piano
Sin’s piano playing, said Jones, also a pianist, is “phenomenal.”
On Saturday night, though, Sin will take up his violin, since Ehling has assembled a program of classics for string orchestra.
These include Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto in E minor and two pieces by the Russian composer Alexander Borodin: his String Quartet No. 2 and his Symphony No. 2 in B minor.
To begin the evening, though, Ehling has chosen something from Italy.
“This is the bicentennial year of Giuseppe Verdi’s birth, and I wanted to remember him,” said the maestro.
“So we’re starting off the season with the prelude to the first act of ‘La Traviata,’ Verdi’s masterful and unforgettable opera.”
Ehling also is looking forward to introducing Sin to the Jefferson County audience.
The teenager performed in the Port Angeles Symphony’s first violin section while studying at Peninsula College and won an honorable mention in the orchestra’s Young Artist Competition earlier this year.
In Hong Kong, Sin is working toward his Bachelor of Arts in music while studying the piano with Cui Shi-Guang, one of China’s most admired composers and teachers.
The Port Townsend Community Orchestra season will continue with free concerts at Chimacum High in December, February and April — and as a nonprofit, the organization always needs volunteers.
Interested patrons can find out more at the refreshment table Saturday night or by visiting www.PortTownsendOrchestra.org.
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Features Editor Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5062, or at diane.urbani@peninsuladailynews.com.
