Sitka Summer Music Festival
Encyclopedia
Chamber music
Chamber music is a form of classical music, written for a small group of instruments which traditionally could be accommodated in a palace chamber. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small number of performers with one performer to a part...
festival in the community of Sitka, Alaska
Alaska
Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
.
About
The festival takes place in early summer during the month of June with three groupings of musicians. Each group of musicians performs three concertConcert
A concert is a live performance before an audience. The performance may be by a single musician, sometimes then called a recital, or by a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra, a choir, or a musical band...
s before a new group arrives to perform the next three concerts.
Each season of the festival consists of around ten evening concerts, the centerpieces of the festival, as well as several free, informal "brown bag" concerts and multiple fundraising events and cruises.
All of the evening concerts occur at the breathtaking venue of Harrigan Centennial Hall, in downtown Sitka. While it is not an auditorium
Auditorium
An auditorium is a room built to enable an audience to hear and watch performances at venues such as theatres. For movie theaters, the number of auditoriums is expressed as the number of screens.- Etymology :...
(rather, the main hall of a convention/civic center), its glass-panel backdrop reveals a clear view of Crescent Harbor, Eastern Channel
Eastern Channel
Eastern Channel is a body of deep water adjacent to the southern half of Sitka, Alaska. It is the best suited of three channels for large ships to approach harbor in Sitka....
and its assortment of small, tree-covered islands dotting its water, snow-capped mountains, and an occasional bald eagle
Bald Eagle
The Bald Eagle is a bird of prey found in North America. It is the national bird and symbol of the United States of America. This sea eagle has two known sub-species and forms a species pair with the White-tailed Eagle...
swooping down from the sky.
The festival's sheet music
Sheet music
Sheet music is a hand-written or printed form of music notation that uses modern musical symbols; like its analogs—books, pamphlets, etc.—the medium of sheet music typically is paper , although the access to musical notation in recent years includes also presentation on computer screens...
library is housed in Stratton Library at the former Sheldon Jackson College
Sheldon Jackson College
Sheldon Jackson College was a small private college located on Baranof Island in Sitka, Alaska, United States. Founded in 1878, it was the oldest institution of higher learning in Alaska and maintained a historic relationship with the Presbyterian Church. The college was named in honor of Rev...
in Sitka.
The current Artistic Director is Paul Rosenthal
Paul Rosenthal
Paul Rosenthal is an American virtuoso violinist.Rosenthal has played the violin since the age of three, going on to attend the Juilliard School in New York City and the University of Southern California under acclaimed master Jascha Heifetz. Paul Rosenthal also is skilled at both the trumpet and...
. Zuill Bailey
Zuill Bailey
Zuill Bailey , Alexandria, Virginia, is an American cellist. A Juilliard graduate, he has appeared with a number of major orchestras internationally, and has an exclusive international recording contract with the Telarc label...
presently serves as Assistant Director and will assume the full directorship upon Rosenthal's retirement in 2012.
Other series
The festival also offers a series of Autumn and Winter Classics at Alaska Pacific UniversityAlaska Pacific University
Alaska Pacific University is a small liberal arts college located in Anchorage, Alaska, that emphasizes experiential and active learning...
in Anchorage
Anchorage, Alaska
Anchorage is a unified home rule municipality in the southcentral part of the U.S. state of Alaska. It is the northernmost major city in the United States...
, where the festival's full-time office located. During February and June the festival also offers a winter and summer touring series sending a small group of musicians (a piano quintet
Piano quintet
In European classical music, a piano quintet is a work of chamber music written for piano and four other instruments, most commonly piano, two violins, viola, and cello . Among the most frequently performed piano quintets are those by Robert Schumann, Johannes Brahms, César Franck, Antonín Dvořák...
at most) to a number of small, usually rural communities throughout the state. The winter series visits different communities each year, Sitka notwithstanding, which always hosts the finale concert.
History
The festival began in 1972 as an informal musical reunion of the students of Jascha HeifetzJascha Heifetz
Jascha Heifetz was a violinist, born in Vilnius, then Russian Empire, now Lithuania. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest violinists of all time.- Early life :...
and Gregor Piatigorsky
Gregor Piatigorsky
Gregor Piatigorsky was a Russian-born American cellist.-Early life:...
from the University of Southern California
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...
. Their concerts were a success and the "reunion" became an annual festival, growing larger throughout the years. The Autumn and Winter Classics in Anchorage were founded in 1980 and have also continued successfully since.
Musicians
While there have been 110 festival musicians since its inception in 1972, a list of the more notable musicians classified by instrument is below:Cello
- Zuill BaileyZuill BaileyZuill Bailey , Alexandria, Virginia, is an American cellist. A Juilliard graduate, he has appeared with a number of major orchestras internationally, and has an exclusive international recording contract with the Telarc label...
- Anthony Elliott
- Denise DjokicDenise DjokicDenise Djokic is a gifted cellist from Halifax, Nova Scotia. She is the daughter of Lynn Stodola and Philippe Djokic.Cellist Denise Djokic has been praised worldwide for her sincere, powerful interpretations, and her bold command of the instrument. Instantly recognized by her "arrestingly...
- Godfried Hoogeveen
- Gregor PiatigorskyGregor PiatigorskyGregor Piatigorsky was a Russian-born American cellist.-Early life:...
- Nathaniel RosenNathaniel RosenNathaniel "Nick" Rosen is an American cellist, former gold prize winner at the International Tchaikovsky Competition, and former faculty member at the USC Thornton School of Music and the Manhattan School of Music....
- Peter Rejto
- Stephen Kates
- Toby Saks
Piano
- Arnulf von ArnimArnulf von ArnimArnulf von Arnim is a German classical pianist and teacher.Von Arnim studied in Germany and France and attended classes by Claudio Arrau and Wilhelm Kempff. He is the winner of several prizes - Viotti , Busoni . He has recorded concertos and sonatas by Schubert, Schumann, Liszt and others...
- Doris Stevenson
- Edward AuerEdward AuerEdward Auer is an American classical pianist. In 1965, he became the first American to prize in the International Chopin Piano Competition. Due to his frequent and subsequent touring in Poland, Mr. Auer is recognized worldwide as one of the leading interpreters of Frédéric Chopin...
- Phillip BushPhillip BushPhillip Bush is an American classical pianist, with a career focusing primarily on chamber music and contemporary classical music....
- Jerome LowenthalJerome LowenthalJerome Lowenthal is an American classical pianist. He is a professor of piano at the Juilliard School in New York, where he was also chair of the piano department. Additionally, Lowenthal is on the faculty at Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, California.He made his debut at 13 with the...
- Sung Mi-Im
- Ursula OppensUrsula OppensUrsula Oppens is an American classical pianist.-Biography:After earning her master's degree from the Juilliard School of Music, Oppens won the Young Concert Artists International Auditions in 1968. This win led to her New York City debut at Carnegie Hall in 1969...
Viola
- Atar AradAtar AradAtar Arad is an Israeli American violist, professor of music, essayist and composer.He has performed in top venues around the world both as a featured soloist with orchestras in and as a member of the distinguished Cleveland Quartet from 1980 to 1987, taking the seat previously established by...
- David Harding
- Marcus ThompsonMarcus ThompsonMarcus Thompson is a violist and viola d'amore player known for his work as a recitalist, orchestral soloist, chamber musician, recording artist and educator....
- Milton Thomas
- Paul NeubauerPaul NeubauerViolist Paul Neubauer was the youngest principal player for the New York Philharmonic at 21 years of age, and currently teaches at the Juilliard School, and Mannes College The New School for Music. He performs with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center...
- Rainer Moog
- Randolph Kelly
- Toby Hoffman
- Leslie Harlow
Violin
- Andres CardenesAndrés CárdenesAndrés Cárdenes is a Cuban-born violinist, violist, teacher, conductor, and concertmaster. He has performed and taught in a number of prominent positions, including his current distinguished professorship in violin at Carnegie Mellon University School of Music where he holds the Dorothy Richard...
- Arturo Delmoni
- Charles Castleman
- Christiaan Bor
- Diane Monroe
- Gwen Thompson
- Ik-Hwan BaeIk-Hwan BaeIk-Hwan Bae, concert violinist, was born in Seoul, Korea and made his professional debut with the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra at the age of 12. He attended New York City's prestigious Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Performing Arts, graduating in 1976. While there, Bae also studied with Ivan...
- Martin BeaverMartin BeaverMartin Beaver is a Canadian violinist. As a part of the Tokyo String Quartet he plays the Paganini-Comte Cozio di Salabue violin circa 1727...
- Paul RosenthalPaul RosenthalPaul Rosenthal is an American virtuoso violinist.Rosenthal has played the violin since the age of three, going on to attend the Juilliard School in New York City and the University of Southern California under acclaimed master Jascha Heifetz. Paul Rosenthal also is skilled at both the trumpet and...
- Philippe DjokicPhilippe DjokicPhilippe Djokic is a Canadian violinist, conductor, and music educator of French birth. He became a naturalized Canadian citizen in 1990.Born in Nancy, France, Djokic was the son of a Serbian father and French mother...
A full list of musicians.