A piece in the key of B minor can still be major.

Be a part of Opening Night of the 2012 Walla Walla Chamber Music Festival Series at the acoustically magnificent Power House Theatre. The program will begin with the World Premiere of New Zealand composer Christopher Gendall’s Reckless Abandon for Piano, Soprano Saxophone, and Violin. This work was specially commissioned for the 2012 Walla Walla Chamber Music Festival.

The Power House Theatre was conceived as copy of Shakespeare’s own theater in London. It seems appropriate that we honor that legacy by including some work inspired by the Bard. Gordon Jacob’s Six Shakespearean Sketches consists of six movements for string trio inspired by passages from Shakespeare. WWCMF is delighted to collaborate with Shakespeare Walla Walla on this performance. The six brief movements draw on The Merchant of Venice, The Tempest, Twelfth Night, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream among others. Jacob’s miniature masterpieces are the perfect intersection between Shakespeare and chamber music.

The program concludes with the autumnal Quintet in B minor for Clarinet and Strings, Op. 115 by Johannes Brahms. When Brahms decided to retire from composition, he composed his Op. 111 String Quintet in 1890 and intended it to be his final composition. Roughly a century in advance of Michael Corleone, however, Brahms was heard to utter, “Just when I think I’m out, they pull me back in!” In this case, they referred to clarinetist Richard Mühlfeld. Brahms heard Mühlfeld perform, and the experience stirred Brahms’ creative impulses. The result? This Quintet, plus a Trio and two Sonatas for Clarinet and Piano. Together, these pieces represent Brahms’ final works in the medium of chamber music. The Quintet gives us a view into Brahms at the height of his musical powers at the end of his life.

Artists: Timothy Christie, Andrew Jennings, Norbert Lewandowski, Stephen Miahky, John Sampen, Maria Sampen, Kevin Schempf, and Cristina Valdes.