PORT TOWNSEND — When he was in fifth grade, John MacElwee was shown a selection of string instruments and offered a choice: Did he want to learn to play the violin, viola or cello?
There was also a bass violin, but the teacher dismissed it, saying, “Nobody wants to play that.'”
But MacElwee did, amazed to discover that the bass violin used to play classical music was the same instrument he saw cartoon characters on television using to thump out jazz and jug band music.
“The reason I chose the bass was because it can be used to play a variety of music,” MacElwee said.
MacElwee, 50, was talking about how music has long been a part of his life as he walked from his rental house overlooking the Chinese Gardens lagoon to Fort Worden State Park, where he took over Wednesday as the new executive director of Centrum, which provides workshops, performances and residencies for artists.
MacElwee, pronounced Mac-ELL-wee, is the fifth executive director in the 37-year history of Centrum.
He was selected from 45 applicants to replace Thatcher Bailey, who is now working with the newly established Fort Worden Collaborative.
MacElwee arrived in Port Townsend Monday night after driving up from California.
He had visited Port Townsend before applying for the job. He came here with his brother-in-law while visiting his sister, Elizabeth Jones, and her family on Bainbridge Island.
His brother-in-law, Bill Jones, whom he has known since eighth grade, has his own musical connections.
“His uncle is Jack Jones,” MacElwee said.
Another musical string to the story: It was from a bass violin maker, Robert Stoltenberg, that MacElwee learned about Port Townsend.
Stoltenberg lived here in the 1980s, MacElwee said.
“He kept talking about Port Townsend,” MacElwee said. “It was the first time I had even heard of it.”
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Port Townsend/Jefferson County reporter-columnist Jennifer Jackson can be reached at jjackson@olypen.com.
