QUILCENE — A rising classical music star is arriving here for “Fireworks for Violin & Piano,” the second set of concerts on the Olympic Music Festival farm Saturday and Sunday afternoon.
Ray Chen, who last year became the youngest soloist ever to perform in the televised Nobel Prize concert for Nobel laureates, will be the festival’s guest artist.
The 24-year-old will join Olympic Music Festival co-artistic director Julio Elizalde for performances at 2 p.m. both days.
Violinist Chen and pianist Elizalde will offer these musical “fireworks:”
■ Mozart’s Sonata for Piano and Violin in A Major;
■ Prokofiev’s Violin Sonata in D Major;
■ Bach’s Partita for Violin in E Major;
■ Pablo Sarasate’s “Habañera,” “Playera” and “Zigeunerweisen.”
The setting is the barn and surrounding lawn on the festival farm, 7360 Center Road, 18 miles south of Port Townsend.
The farm gates open at 11 a.m. Saturday and Sunday so patrons can roam the 55 acres, picnic and shop in the Milking Shed store full of snacks, CDs and souvenirs.
Tickets to Olympic Music Festival concerts, which bring musicians from across the continent to the farm each weekend through Sept. 1, range from $18 to $33.
Seating choices include inside the barn on church pews or hay bales or outside on the lawn, where the music is broadcast.
This weekend’s concerts are two of only three Chen is giving on the West Coast this summer.
The Taiwan-born artist was raised in Australia and, at age 15, was accepted to the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia.
Stradivarius violin
He plays the 1702 “Lord Newlands” Stradivarius violin on loan from the Nippon Music Foundation.
Elizalde, praised by a New York Times critic for his “catlike ease” at the piano, has been a frequent performer at the Olympic Music Festival. He shares the role of artistic director with festival founder Alan Iglitzin.
For more information about festival music, tickets and performers, visit www.OlympicMusicFestival.org or phone 360-732-4800.
