Tonight’s performance has been made possible by the generosity of Linda Tam.

Closing night of the 2015 Walla Walla Chamber Music Festival bids au revoir with a pair of virtuoso works for harp and strings.

The Debussy Danse Sacrée et Danse Profane for Harp and Strings has been the measure of many a harpist since its composition in 1904. Fellow Frenchman Camille Saint-Saëns composed his Fantaisie for Harp and Violin in 1907. Though close in age, these works inhabit very different sound worlds. Bringing everything to a close is the virtuosic Sextet for Piano and Strings by Felix Mendelssohn. Pound for pound, Mendelssohn delivered more show-stoppers than any other composer by the age of 18. The D Major Sextet is just that, composed when Mendelssohn was but 15 years old. It is a fitting way to usher in the 2016 Festival season over which Mendelssohn will preside as subject of the year’s poster.

Camille Saint-Saëns (1835-1921)

FANTAISIE FOR VIOLIN AND HARP

Claude Debussy (1862-1918)

DANSE SACRÉ ET DANSE PROFANE FOR HARP AND STRINGS

Intermission

Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847)

PIANO SEXTET IN D MAJOR, OP. 110

I. Allegro vivace
II. Adagio
III. Minuetto: Agitato
IV. Allegro vivace — Agitato — Allegro con fuoco

Artists: Winston Choi, piano; Timothy Christie, viola; Norbert Lewandowski, cello; Amy Ley, harp; Christina McGann, violin; Stephen Miahky, violin; Philip Payton, violin; Maria Sampen, violin; Stephen Schermer, bass; Sally Singer Tuttle, cello; and MingHuan Xu, violin.