Submitted by the Orcas Island Chamber Music Festival
The joyful collaboration of professional musicians that is the Orcas Island Chamber Music Festival returns to Lopez Center on Monday, August 12, at 3 pm. The Festival’s founder and Artistic Director, Aloysia Friedmann, has programmed an abundant afternoon of music, ranging from Beethoven to Django Reinhardt, offering a bit of something for everyone. In addition to 11 visiting musicians, the event features a post-concert wine bar with refreshments provided by Island Grazing Tables, and a separate picnic area with non-alcoholic drinks and refreshments for those under 21 years of age.
“The Orcas Island Chamber Music Festival is unique,” Friedmann offers. “There are larger festivals in Tanglewood, Aspen, Santa Fe, and Europe, but here we have become a family. We are in a singularly stunning location, where we can hear chamber music at the highest level; we can visit with friends, and we can mingle after concerts with hors d’oeuvres and good conversation, and we can feel part of a community with an open and mutually respectful atmosphere.”
Featured musicians at the Lopez concert are Canada’s Gryphon Trio, and the astonishing young Ukrainian pianist Illia Ovcharenko. The Gryphon’s violinist, AnnaLee Patipatanakoon; cellist, Roman Borys; and pianist, Jamie Parker are creative innovators with an appetite for discovery and new ideas. For more than 25 years, the Gryphon Trio has earned acclaim and impressed international audiences with its highly refined, dynamic, and memorable performances.
Illia Ovcharenko is one of the world’s most celebrated young pianists. He won the Honens International Piano Competition in Calgary, Alberta, in 2023 at the age of 21. The Honens competition seeks to identify the “Complete Artist” – someone who demonstrates technical mastery, perseverance against adversity, and an understanding of musical text that is both intellectual and emotional.
These four are joined by Aloysia Friedmann, viola; Robyn Bollinger, violin; Mak Grgić, guitar; Cho-Liang Lin, violin; Jeff Thayer, violin; Robert DeMaine, cello; and David Grossman, double bass. These musicians have come to Orcas and Lopez from major symphony orchestras and Chamber Music festivals across the United States. One program piece will feature Ukrainian-born Roman Borys and Illia Ovcharenko honoring Ukrainian composer, Viktor Kosenko. The Lopez audience will welcome returning classical guitarist, Mak Grgić, whose love for the Balkan music of his childhood meets the syncopated jazz of Django Reinhardt.
All ticketing is sold online at oicmf.org: Adult tickets are $40; ages 18 and under are $10. Many free 18-and-under tickets have been sponsored by Sunset Builders Supply, and may be requested from Lopez Concert Coordinator, Micki Ryan at lopez@oicmf.org. Parents of music students who wish to accompany their budding Mozart are encouraged to enquire about “Friends of Joyce” tickets, which are available free to those who would otherwise find ticket prices unattainable: email lopez@oicmf.org. Those unable to attend the Festival concerts on Orcas and Lopez are invited to register for live-streamed Orcas Island concerts. Please register with a donation at www.oicmf.org.
Lopez Center doors open for seating at 2:30 pm, August 12, for the 3 pm performance. Late arrivals will wait in the lobby to be seated between performances. The August 12th OICMF concert on Lopez is sponsored by 17 Lopezians. Catering and flowers are provided by five Lopez Island businesses. All labor is generously given by 29 hard-working Lopez volunteers.
