Brahms G minor Piano Quartet with music of Marilyn Shrude and Richard Strauss

The 2011 Walla Walla Chamber Music Festival concludes with what can be described as the ultimate festival piece, the Brahms G minor Piano Quartet. For the occasion, WWCMF welcomes pianist of the Los Angeles Piano Quartet and Professor of Piano at Cornell University, Xak Bjerken. Brahms’ work is known for its searing gypsy rondo Finale, and will leave you marking your calendars for the 2012 Festival.

Also on the program are two works by non-Italians who have chosen Italian titles for their works. Memorie diLuoghi (Memories of Places) is a sonata for violin and piano by composer, Marilyn Shrude. It is dedicated to the violinist Maria Sampen, her daughter, and fittingly, it is Maria who performs the work this evening. Richard Strauss’ final opera, Capriccio, opens with a string sextet of phenomenal beauty. It is presented here without the rest of the opera… and affords us the rare opportunity to perform chamber music from a composer known for his immense orchestrations.

Artists: Xak Bjerken, Timothy Christie, Kevin Krentz, Norbert Lewandowski, Christina McGann, Stephen Miahky, Philip Payton, Julia Salerno and Maria Sampen.