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2021-2022 Concert Season

With optimism, PTSO is planning performances for its 2021-2022 concert season. Dates and Musical Highlights are listed below. This season PTSO will be highlighting Jefferson County musicians.

Please reserve these dates on your calendar. There will be open dress rehearsals the Friday evening before each concert at 7:00PM.

Sunday, October 24, 2021 || Concertino for Oboe and Strings by Brenno Blauth with Anne Krabill, oboe.

Saturday, December 4, 2021 || Fantasia by Heitor Villa-Lobos with PTSO 2021 Young Artist Competition winner, Maria Powell, tenor saxophone.

Sunday, February 27, 2022 || Grand Tango by Piazzolla with Pamela Roberts, cello.

Sunday, April 24, 2022 || Artik Concerto for Horn and Strings with Bruce Kelley, French horn.

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PTSO CHAMBER CONCERT: Friday, June 3 at Finnriver Farm & Cidery at 6PM.

Open Dress Rehersal is June 2 at Finnriver Farm & Cidery at 6 pm.

Featuring Michael Nicolella on guitar. With a repertoire spanning from J.S. Bach and Domenico Scarlatti to Jimi Hendrix and Elliott Carter, Michael Nicolella is recognized as one of America’s most innovative guitarists. He has received wide critical acclaim for his performances, recordings and compositions. As a concert artist, Michael has performed throughout North America, Europe and Japan as solo recitalist, chamber musician and soloist with orchestra.

When not enjoying the Finnriver fare, we ask that audience members please wear masks.

Open seating. No reservations needed.

PTSO concerts are free to attend (but not free to produce). We gratefully accept donations.

Please send questions to: contact@PTSymphony.org

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PT Leader: Upcoming Port Townsend Symphony Orchestra concert to feature Marrowstone Island horn player

https://www.ptleader.com/stories/upcoming-port-townsend-symphony-orchestra-concert-to-feature-marrowstone-island-horn-player,82196

Posted Thursday, April 21, 2022 10:07 am

Leader News Staff
news@ptleader.com

Marrowstone Island-based horn player Bruce Kelley will take the spotlight during the Port Townsend Symphony Orchestra’s next concert.

The Symphony Orchestra’s next performance is set for 2 p.m. Sunday, April 24 in the Chimacum High auditorium.

Kelley is the principal horn player in the Port Townsend and Port Angeles symphony orchestras. Prior to that, he was the principal horn at Eastside Symphony in Redmond for 30 years. In addition, Kelley was a founder of the Northwest Mahler Festival in Seattle.

The symphony orchestra’s featured piece for the concert is “Artik Concerto for Horn and String Orchestra” by Armenian-American composer Alan Hovhaness.

Also on the program are string orchestra pieces: “Impromptu” by Jean Sibelius, “Nocturn” by Anton Dovorak, “Drosera” by Sonya Leonore Stahl, “The Old Boatman” by Forence Price, and “Fantasia on Greensleeves” by Ralph Vaughan Williams.

The concert will also feature harpist Barbara McColgan, brass, and percussion, who will perform “Sacrae Symphony 1597” by Giovanni Gabrieli and “Celebration Fanfare” by Jeff Manookian.

Admission to the concert is free, and there will be an open dress rehearsal at
7 p.m. Friday, April 22. Currently, reservations are not required for either event.

Vaccination is required to attend and vaccination cards will be checked at the door. Depending on the status at the time, there may be a limit to the number of attendees, organizers of the event said.

COVID-19 protocols and more information about the concert and the Port Townsend Symphony Orchestra can be found at ptsymphony.org.

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CONCERT: Featuring Bruce Kelley, French Horn soloist

Picture of man holding French horn
photo by Diane Urbani de la Paz

Symphony Concert
Sunday, April 24, 2PM
Chimacum School Auditorium (91 W Valley Rd, Chimacum)
Doors will open to the public at 1:15.

The program opens with the Northwest premiere of Celebration Fanfare by Jeff Manookian. The concert will feature a rarely performed horn concerto by Alan Hovhaness performed by Bruce Kelley. Hovhaness was an Armenian-American composer who spent the last few decades of his life in the Northwest. Our program includes another Northwest premiere, a piece by Sonya Leonore Stahl who is not only a composer but a research scientist. Lastly, we will play a piece by Florence Price who is the first African-American woman to be recognized as a symphonic composer, and the first to have a composition played by a major orchestra. Our program also includes works by: Giovanni Gabrieli, Ralph Vaughn Williams, Antonín Dvořák, Ermanno Wolf Ferrari and Jean Sibelius. 

Read the article from the Peninsula Daily News.

Open seating. No reservations needed. Vax cards will be checked. The wearing of high quality masks will be required.

On the Program

  • Brass ensemble pieces by Manookian and Gabrieli
  • Fantasia on Greensleeves by R. Vaughan Williams
  • Artik, Concerto for Horn and String Orchestra by Alan Hovhaness with Bruce Kelley, soloist
  • Drosera by Sonya Leonore Stahl
  • Impromptu by Jean Sibelius
  • Notturno by Antonín Dvořák
  • Serenade by Ermanno Wolf Ferrari
  • The Old Boatman by Florence Smith Price

PTSO concerts are free to attend. Donations are gratefully accepted.

While PTSO concerts are free to attend, they are not free to produce. Your support is needed and would be appreciated. You can donate with PayPal, using your credit or debit card. Or you can drop a donation in the basket at the concert. Or (we do strive to make donating easy!) you can drop a check in the mail: PTSO, PO Box 1703, Port Townsend, 98368-0159. Visit our website to learn more about donating to PTSO. Thank you.

Open Dress Rehearsal Friday, April 22 at 7:00PM
Public is welcome.

Symphony Concert Sunday, April 24 at 2:00PM

Covid protocols will be set as circumstances dictate.

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SOLOIST: Pamela Roberts, cellist

Pamela Roberts was recognized as a national cello talent by the age of 11.

She served as principal cellist in Washington’s All State Orchestra and the National Congress of Strings in Los Angeles. She was awarded the top music scholarship at the University of Washington, the Brechemin Award, for five years in a row. She received a 3-year fellowship to the Aspen Music Festival and was chosen to participate in the exclusive Cleveland Chamber Music Seminar.

Pamela Roberts became faculty cellist at the University of Puget Sound at the age of 25.  She performed as a soloist with the Seattle Symphony and Aspen Music Festival. As a chamber musician she worked with the Philadelphia String Quartet, Northwest Chamber Orchestra and Seattle Early Music Guild.

Roberts was principal cellist of the Tacoma Symphony and 5th Avenue Theater Orchestra, and is currently principal cellist of the Port Townsend Symphony Orchestra. She studied cello with Eva Heinitz, Toby Saks, Vivian King, Daniel Lynch and Alan Harris among others. She participated in master classes with Janos Starker, Gabor Reijto, David Soyer and Yo Yo Ma.

Pamela lives in Quilcene with her husband, Howard Gilbert, a well-known orchestral and jazz drummer.

PTLeader article: https://www.ptleader.com/stories/upcoming-orchestra-concert-to-feature-quilcene-cello-soloist,80588

PDN article: https://www.peninsuladailynews.com/entertainment/port-townsend-cellist-ready-to-speak-jazz/

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CONCERT: February 27, 2022 featuring Pamela Roberts, cellist

woman holding cello
Pamela Roberts, featured soloist

COMPLIMENTARY TICKETS NOW AVAILABLE! Open Dress Rehearsal: Friday, February 25 at 7:00 PM – No reservations needed. Symphony Concert: Sunday, February 27 at 2:00 PM – reservations required. See Covid Protocols below. Both concerts are at the Chimacum School Auditorium.

To reserve your seats for the Feb. 27 concert, please send an email to Contact@PTSymphony.org with your name and the number in your party. Look for your reservation confirmation in your Inbox. Tickets are complimentary – donations are accepted at the door.

Covid Protocols will be updated as circumstances dictate.

All PTSO musicians are fully vaccinated and boosted. The string and percussion players will be fully masked throughout the concert. Brass players will be rapid-tested prior to the concert.

To allow for covid-spacing, audience size will be limited to about 150 patrons.

Family groups will be allowed to sit together.

All audience members must be fully vaccinated and boosted for all those eligible, including children ages 12 and older who are five months past their primary vaccine series. Status will be confirmed prior to admittance. No proof, no admittance.

Audience members must wear safe and effective masks (no face shields, or knit or mesh masks). KN95 or N95 masks are preferred. A cloth mask over a surgical mask is also effective. Masks must be worn to fully cover the mouth and nose while in the building.

The concert will be about one hour in length with no intermission. No food or drink, except a personal water container.

(Photo is of Pamela Roberts, cellist, rehearsing at the Legion in Port Townsend with the PTSO string players. Note: Pamela was tested before the rehearsal so she could play without a mask for her solo.)

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LEADER: Concert features Maria Powell, saxophonist

James Sloan
jsloan@ptleader.com

After their return from a long, COVID-induced hiatus, the Port Townsend Symphony Orchestra will perform their second concert of 2021 this Saturday.

The group first came back to the stage in October after 20 months away, but this concert marks a return to the symphony orchestra’s regular concert venue at Chimacum High School.

“It’s great to be back in our regular space,” said Tigran Arakelyan, the group’s conductor. Arakelyan is excited to return to the concert setting that “the orchestra is used to.”

The performance will feature saxophonist Maria Powell, a junior at Chimacum High, who will perform a solo in one of the symphony orchestra’s pieces. The talented young performer has played the saxophone since fifth grade, earning multiple honors such as the Junior Stars of Tomorrow Champion award, first place in the Jefferson County Young Artist Competition, and performing with various accredited ensembles and orchestras around the region.

Additionally, Powell is the Chimacum drum major for the newly combined East Jefferson High School Band.

“Maria is a super talented player,” Arakelyan said. “Even as a younger artist, she is really able to listen to the orchestra. She’s really aware of what is happening.”

The promising tenor saxophonist participated and finished first in the PT Symphony Orchestra Young Artist competition, where Arakelyan observed her talent and offered her a solo in the symphony orchestra’s next concert.

Although the saxophone is mainly associated with jazz in the United States, the conductor reiterated the instrument’s significance in the classical sphere.

“The saxophone in Europe has a long tradition as classical instrument,” he noted.

The Dec. 4 concert will have four enticing selections for listeners to enjoy and get into the holiday spirit. “Brook Green Suite” by Gustav Holst, “Fantasia for Saxophone and Orchestra” by Heitor Villa-Lobos, “Serenade for Strings” by Mieczyslaw Karlowicz, and a surprise percussion number will line the concert’s program.

Read more

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CONCERT: October 24, 2021 featuring Anne Krabill, oboist

OUR FIRST CONCERT OF THE SEASON!

Sunday, October 24, at 2 PM

Open Dress Rehearsal: Friday, October 22, at 7 PM, public welcome*

NEW LOCATION
Port Townsend American Legion Hall
209 Monroe St  (at the end of Water Street)ON THE PROGRAM

Blauth: Oboe concertina featuring Port Townsend’s own Anne Krabill.
Hovhaness: Psalm & Fugue.
Janacek: Suite for Strings.

Anne Krabill, oboist

Anne Krabill holds the title of principal oboe of the Port Angeles Symphony Orchestra, the Port Angeles Chamber Orchestra, and the Port Townsend Symphony Orchestra. In addition she has performed as principal oboe with the Northwest Symphony in Seattle, the Bainbridge Symphony, the Peninsula Dance Theater in Bremerton, the Sooke Philharmonic in British Columbia, and was a guest performer with the 82nd Airborne Division Band in North Carolina. –

  • All PTSO musicians are fully vaccinated and will be wearing masks (except for the oboe soloist).
  • To allow for covid-spacing, audience size will be limited to about 100 patrons. Family groups will be allowed to sit together.
  • All audience members must be fully vaccinated. Status will be confirmed prior to admittance. No proof: no admittance. No “vouching” for each other.
  • Audience members must wear safe and effective masks (no face shields). Masks must be at least 2 layers (3 layers are better) and worn to fully cover the mouth and nose throughout the concert.
  • The concert will be about an hour in length with no intermission.
  • No food or drink, except a personal water container.

Reservations for the October 24 concert are encouraged. An invitation email will be sent October 17.

October 24: Water Street door will open at 1:20 for people with reservations. Walk-ups will be seated as space permits beginning at 1:45.

*October 22 dress rehearsal will be open to the public. To minimize rehearsal disruptions, please arrive no later than 6:50.

While PTSO concerts are free, we gratefully accept donations.

Please send questions to: contact@PTSymphony.org