The Seattle Chamber Music Society, founded by the late Toby Saks in 1982, is gearing up for the 2014 Summer Festival, running July 7-August 2 with twelve performances at the intimate Nordstrom Recital Hall (and one at Volunteer Park!). Artistic Director James Ehnes does a fantastic job of bringing together musicians of the highest caliber from all over the globe to present world class performances. A handful of the shows particularly stand out for Second Inversion:
- Monday, July 7, 7pm (FREE): Augustin Hadelich performs David Lang’s Mystery Sonatas
- Wednesday, July 9, 8pm (tickets): The tour-de-force that is Stravinsky’s Octet for Winds opens a program also offering a Mendelssohn trio and Beethoven quartet.
- Friday, July 11, 8pm (tickets): The complete version of The Soldier’s Tale by Stravinsky will be narrated by Jeff Kready, currently in the Broadway hit A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder. The concert also features a Mozart flute quartet and a Brahms piano quartet.
- Monday, July 14, 8pm (tickets): While chamber music staples of Brahms, Mozart, and Beethoven are at the forefront of SCMS programming, James Ehnes is passionate about programming new music and a commissioning club funds a new work every year. This year’s featured composer is Derek Bermel, and his piano trio, Death with Interruptions for Violin, Cello and Piano will be premiered on this July 14 concert.
Outreach and accessibility to the community is another area SCMS is passionate about, and these events are well worth exploring:
- Free Open Rehearsals and Classical Conversations with festival musicians
- Free 7pm pre-concert recital before EVERY 8pm main show
- Free concert live in Volunteer Park on Wednesday, July 30 at 7pm
- Free live audio broadcasts of all 8pm concerts in Seattle Neighborhood parks
- Free live audio broadcasts of all 8pm concerts on KING FM.
I hope you’ll take advantage of at least one of SCMS’ offerings. Happy summer listening!