Barber and Wagner

WWCMF presents a program of stunning variety for our third Festival Series performance of the June 2019 season. The cast includes piano, violin, viola, cello, double bass, flute, clarinet, oboe, bassoon, horn, trumpet and trombone. These amazing artists perform with such outstanding ensembles as the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra (NY), Cleveland Orchestra (OH), Boston Modern Orchestra Project (MA) and the Seattle Symphony during the year. In June, we have them all to ourselves in Walla Walla.

With all these virtuoso musicians, there’s something for everyone. The Webern Concerto for Nine Instruments will challenge your sense of sonic order, Barber’s Summer Music for woodwind quintet will breeze through the Power House Theater like the summer wind and Wagner’s Siegfried Idyll will evoke an ancient forest replete with woodland critters. Spanning influences from serial music to American post-tonal harmony to jazz to unabashed romanticism, this program has it all. Join us for a concert sure to change your perception of what chamber music can be.

Samuel Barber (1910-1981)

Summer Music, Op. 31 (1955) For Woodwind Quintet

Anton Webern (1883-1945)

Concerto For Nine Instruments, Op. 24 (1934)

I. Etwas lebhaft

II. Sehr langsam

III. Sehr rasch

Dobrinka Tabakova (b. 1980)

Suite In Jazz Style (2009) For Piano And Viola

I.

II.

III.

INTERMISSION

Pierre Gabaye (1930-2000)

Récréation (1958) For Trumpet, Trombone, Horn And Piano

I. Allegretto

II. Largo

III. Presto

Richard Wagner (1813-1883)

Siegfried Idyll (1869)

Artists: Sarah Brady, flute; Rodger Burnett, horn; Timothy Christie, viola; Billy Ray Hunter, trumpet; Martin King, horn; Norbert Lewandowski, cello; Christina McGann, violin; Angelique Poteat, clarinet; Paul Rafanelli, bassoon; Maria Sampen, violin; Kevin Schempf, clarinet; Stephen Schermer, double bass; Weston Sprott, trombone; Anna Stoytcheva, piano; and Dan Williams, oboe.

Wagner Siegfried Idyll (1869)

Richard Wagner and chamber music: the two almost never go hand in hand. But the word almost is the key, here. Known primarily as a composer of sprawling music dramas, Wagner did turn his attention to smaller forms from time to time.

He composed Siegfried Idyll as a birthday present for his wife, Cosima, and presented the world premiere in his home on Christmas morning, 1870. The work includes themes from his epic four-opera cycle, Der Ring des Nibelungen, and in particular makes use of forest sounds associated with the hero, Siegfried.

Happily, we get a full story arc in about 20 minutes as opposed to the 5 hours it takes to enjoy a complete performance of Siegfried, the third music drama in the Ring Cycle. We’ll even supply an idyllic setting, the vineyards of TERO Estates in Milton-Freewater.

Artists: Sarah Brady, flute; Rodger Burnett, horn; Timothy Christie, viola; Billy Ray Hunter, trumpet; Martin King, horn; Norbert Lewandowski, cello; Christina McGann, violin; Angelique Poteat, clarinet; Paul Rafanelli, bassoon; Maria Sampen, violin; Kevin Schempf, clarinet; Stephen Schermer, double bass; and Dan Williams, oboe.

Tonight’s performance has been made possible by the generosity of Albert Marshall.

It was June, 2008. A future Festival Board member was digging in his backyard. He heard a sound that caught his attention. A violin. A good violin. A darn good violin! What piece is that? Who could be playing this amazing music?

It was the first season of the Walla Walla Chamber Music Festival, and violinist Christina McGann was practicing in her room at the Festival rental house on Catherine Street. The music was the demanding Tempo di ciaccona from Bartok’s Sonata for Solo Violin.

The future Board Member was none other than jazz trombonist, composer, and Whitman College Professor, Dave Glenn. Dave understands what happens when Christina plays. Come find out for yourself as the Festival visits Forgeron Cellars for the first time. You will forge an instant friendship with Christina, just as Dave did seven years ago.

ANNOUNCED FROM THE STAGE

Passacaglia, Biber

Sonata for 2 violins in A minor, Ysaÿe — with Stephen Miahky

Wolfgang’s Tango, Glenn — with David Glenn and Norbert Lewandowski

Albumblatt, Wagner — with Stephen Miahky, Maria Sampen and Norbert Lewandowski

Czardas, Monti —with Stephen Miahky, Maria Sampen and Norbert Lewandowski

Artist: Christina McGann, violin.