Olympic Music Festival
Encyclopedia
Olympic Music Festival, based in Quilcene, Washington
, is a casual classical music
event featuring world-renowned musicians held in a barn nestled on 55 acres of farmland. The Olympic Music Festival was voted "Best Classical Music Festival" by readers of The Seattle Weekly
.
, the barn is on the Olympic Peninsula
at 7360 Center Road, Quilcene, WA 98376 (360). The surrounding farmland has donkey
s, horse
s, chicken
s, and a garden with flowers and other plants. Alan and his wife, Leigh Hearon, live on the farm and work year round fundraising for the festival and tending to the property and extensive gardens.
. He graduated from Long Island University
and did graduate work at Hunter College
and the University of Minnesota
. In 1953, Alan joined the Minneapolis Symphony and was assistant solo violist there for six years. He also was founding principal violist of the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra. During that time, he was also principal violist of the Philadelphia Chamber Orchestra. Alan was a founding member of the Philadelphia String Quartet. The Quartet left the Philadelphia Orchestra in 1966 to accept a unique position as Quartet-in-Residence at the University of Washington
. In addition to touring internationally and recording with the Quartet, Alan was Director of Chamber Music at the Allegheny Music Festival, and for many years was a featured artist at the Aspen Music Festival and School
, where he performed with Yo-Yo Ma
, Itzhak Perlman
, and Pinchas Zuckerman. After founding the Olympic Music Festival, Alan was honored with the Washington State Governor's award in 1972 and 1998, the only recipient to ever receive the award twice.
, Johannes Brahms
, as well as more modern selections from the classical repertoire, such as Dmitri Shostakovich
, Antonín Dvořák
, and Claude Debussy
. The music played at the festival is also played on the radio station Classical King FM 98.1, one of the music festival's sponsors.
's Des Abends, Op. 12, No. 1 and In Der Nacht, Op. 12, No. 5
, Gabriel Fauré
's Nocturne, Op. 33, no. 1, Frédéric Chopin
's Nocturne in C Sharp minor, Op. 27, No. 1, Debussy's Soirée Dans Grenade
, Schumann's Nachtstucke, Op. 23
, Fauré's Nocturne Op 33., No. 3, and Chopin's Nocturne in E Flat Major, Op. 55, No. 2 all on piano by Paul Hersch. In addition, the July 9–10 Mozart Festival includes three of Mozart's pieces, String Quartet in B Flat Major, K. 458
, String Quartet in D Major, K. 421, and the String Trio in E Flat Major, K. 563 with Charles Wetherbee and Korine Fujiwara on violin
, Alan Iglitzin on viola
, and Clancy Newman on cello
.
Quilcene, Washington
Quilcene is a census-designated place in Jefferson County, Washington, United States. The population was 591 at the 2000 census.The community is located on the scenic Olympic Peninsula along the seawater-filled glacial valley of the Hood Canal...
, is a casual classical music
Classical music
Classical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 11th century to present times...
event featuring world-renowned musicians held in a barn nestled on 55 acres of farmland. The Olympic Music Festival was voted "Best Classical Music Festival" by readers of The Seattle Weekly
Seattle Weekly
Seattle Weekly is a freely distributed newspaper in Seattle, Washington, United States. It was founded by Darrell Oldham and David Brewster as The Weekly...
.
History
The music festival was founded in 1984 by Alan Iglitzin, who originally intended his farm to be a summer home for the Philadelphia String Quartet. When people heard that the Philadelphia String Quartet was going to be practicing at a barn near Quilcene, people began to inquire as to whether there would be an opportunity to hear the Quartet there and Iglitzin began to consider creating a festival. Preliminary names for the festival included "Beethoven in the Barn" and "The Iglitzin Trio," but ultimately Iglitzin settled on the "Olympic Music Festival" referencing the peninsula on which it takes place.Location
In the Pacific Northwest region of the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, the barn is on the Olympic Peninsula
Olympic Peninsula
The Olympic Peninsula is the large arm of land in western Washington state of the USA, that lies across Puget Sound from Seattle. It is bounded on the west by the Pacific Ocean, the north by the Strait of Juan de Fuca, and the east by Puget Sound. Cape Alava, the westernmost point in the contiguous...
at 7360 Center Road, Quilcene, WA 98376 (360). The surrounding farmland has donkey
Donkey
The donkey or ass, Equus africanus asinus, is a domesticated member of the Equidae or horse family. The wild ancestor of the donkey is the African Wild Ass, E...
s, horse
Horse
The horse is one of two extant subspecies of Equus ferus, or the wild horse. It is a single-hooved mammal belonging to the taxonomic family Equidae. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million years from a small multi-toed creature into the large, single-toed animal of today...
s, chicken
Chicken
The chicken is a domesticated fowl, a subspecies of the Red Junglefowl. As one of the most common and widespread domestic animals, and with a population of more than 24 billion in 2003, there are more chickens in the world than any other species of bird...
s, and a garden with flowers and other plants. Alan and his wife, Leigh Hearon, live on the farm and work year round fundraising for the festival and tending to the property and extensive gardens.
Alan Iglitzin
Alan Iglitzin, the founder of the festival, studied with legendary violist William PrimroseWilliam Primrose
William Primrose CBE was a Scottish violist and teacher.-Biography:Primrose was born in Glasgow and studied violin initially. In 1919 he moved to study at the then Guildhall School of Music in London. On the urging of the accompanist Ivor Newton, Primrose moved to Belgium to study under Eugène...
. He graduated from Long Island University
Long Island University
Long Island University is a private, coeducational, nonsectarian institution of higher education in the U.S. state of New York.-History:...
and did graduate work at Hunter College
Hunter College
Hunter College, established in 1870, is a public university and one of the constituent colleges of the City University of New York, located on Manhattan's Upper East Side. Hunter grants undergraduate, graduate, and post-graduate degrees in more than one hundred fields of study, and is recognized...
and the University of Minnesota
University of Minnesota
The University of Minnesota, Twin Cities is a public research university located in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, United States. It is the oldest and largest part of the University of Minnesota system and has the fourth-largest main campus student body in the United States, with 52,557...
. In 1953, Alan joined the Minneapolis Symphony and was assistant solo violist there for six years. He also was founding principal violist of the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra. During that time, he was also principal violist of the Philadelphia Chamber Orchestra. Alan was a founding member of the Philadelphia String Quartet. The Quartet left the Philadelphia Orchestra in 1966 to accept a unique position as Quartet-in-Residence at the University of Washington
University of Washington
University of Washington is a public research university, founded in 1861 in Seattle, Washington, United States. The UW is the largest university in the Northwest and the oldest public university on the West Coast. The university has three campuses, with its largest campus in the University...
. In addition to touring internationally and recording with the Quartet, Alan was Director of Chamber Music at the Allegheny Music Festival, and for many years was a featured artist at the Aspen Music Festival and School
Aspen Music Festival and School
The Aspen Music Festival and School, founded in 1949, is an internationally renowned classical music festival that presents music in an intimate, small-town setting...
, where he performed with Yo-Yo Ma
Yo-Yo Ma
Yo-Yo Ma is an American cellist, virtuoso, and orchestral composer. He has received multiple Grammy Awards, the National Medal of Arts in 2001 and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2011...
, Itzhak Perlman
Itzhak Perlman
Itzhak Perlman is an Israeli-born violinist, conductor, and instructor of master classes. He is regarded as one of the pre-eminent violinists of the 20th and early-21st centuries.-Early life:...
, and Pinchas Zuckerman. After founding the Olympic Music Festival, Alan was honored with the Washington State Governor's award in 1972 and 1998, the only recipient to ever receive the award twice.
Music
The music is chosen from the mainstream classical music, starting with Joseph Hayden, Mozart, Johann Sebastian BachJohann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer, organist, harpsichordist, violist, and violinist whose sacred and secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity...
, Johannes Brahms
Johannes Brahms
Johannes Brahms was a German composer and pianist, and one of the leading musicians of the Romantic period. Born in Hamburg, Brahms spent much of his professional life in Vienna, Austria, where he was a leader of the musical scene...
, as well as more modern selections from the classical repertoire, such as Dmitri Shostakovich
Dmitri Shostakovich
Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich was a Soviet Russian composer and one of the most celebrated composers of the 20th century....
, Antonín Dvořák
Antonín Dvorák
Antonín Leopold Dvořák was a Czech composer of late Romantic music, who employed the idioms of the folk music of Moravia and his native Bohemia. Dvořák’s own style is sometimes called "romantic-classicist synthesis". His works include symphonic, choral and chamber music, concerti, operas and many...
, and Claude Debussy
Claude Debussy
Claude-Achille Debussy was a French composer. Along with Maurice Ravel, he was one of the most prominent figures working within the field of impressionist music, though he himself intensely disliked the term when applied to his compositions...
. The music played at the festival is also played on the radio station Classical King FM 98.1, one of the music festival's sponsors.
2011 Program
The June 25 & 26 "Night Music" program (the most current program) is Debussy's Nocturne (1892), Robert SchumannRobert Schumann
Robert Schumann, sometimes known as Robert Alexander Schumann, was a German composer, aesthete and influential music critic. He is regarded as one of the greatest and most representative composers of the Romantic era....
's Des Abends, Op. 12, No. 1 and In Der Nacht, Op. 12, No. 5
Fantasiestücke
Robert Schumann's Fantasiestücke, Op. 12, are eight pieces for piano, written in 1837. Schumann titled the work inspired by the 1814 collection of novellas Fantasiestücke in Callots Manier by his favourite author, E. T. A...
, Gabriel Fauré
Gabriel Fauré
Gabriel Urbain Fauré was a French composer, organist, pianist and teacher. He was one of the foremost French composers of his generation, and his musical style influenced many 20th century composers...
's Nocturne, Op. 33, no. 1, Frédéric Chopin
Frédéric Chopin
Frédéric François Chopin was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist. He is considered one of the great masters of Romantic music and has been called "the poet of the piano"....
's Nocturne in C Sharp minor, Op. 27, No. 1, Debussy's Soirée Dans Grenade
Estampes
Estampes , L.100, is a composition for solo piano by Claude Debussy. It was finished in 1903.It consists of three movements:# Pagodes - approx. 6 minutes.# Soirée dans Grenade - approx. 5½ minutes....
, Schumann's Nachtstucke, Op. 23
Nachtstücke
The Nachtstücke are a set of four character pieces for piano by the German composer and pianist Robert Schumann.- Historical background :...
, Fauré's Nocturne Op 33., No. 3, and Chopin's Nocturne in E Flat Major, Op. 55, No. 2 all on piano by Paul Hersch. In addition, the July 9–10 Mozart Festival includes three of Mozart's pieces, String Quartet in B Flat Major, K. 458
String Quartet No. 17 (Mozart)
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's String Quartet No. 17 in B-flat major K. 458, nicknamed "The Hunt," is the fourth of the Quartets dedicated to Haydn. It was completed in 1784 It is in four movements:# Allegro vivace assai# Menuetto and Trio...
, String Quartet in D Major, K. 421, and the String Trio in E Flat Major, K. 563 with Charles Wetherbee and Korine Fujiwara on violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
, Alan Iglitzin on viola
Viola
The viola is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.- Form :The viola is similar in material and construction to the violin. A full-size viola's body is between and longer than the body of a full-size violin , with an average...
, and Clancy Newman on cello
Cello
The cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...
.