by Vincent Oneppo
Poster for September 28, 2025 PTSO Chamber Music Series
Poster for Feb. 1, 2025 PTSO Chamber Music Series
by Vincent Oneppo
CONCERT! February 23, 2025!
Our symphony concerts are held Sunday afternoons at 2 PM at Chimacum School Auditorium (91 W Valley Rd, Chimacum). There are open dress rehearsals the Friday evening at 7 pm before each Sunday concert – also at Chimacum School Auditorium.
PTSO concerts are free to attend (but not free to produce). Donations are always gratefully accepted at the door, through the mail or with PayPal.
Program
Aaron Copland, El Salon Mexico
W. A. Mozart, Violin Concerto No. 3 (1st movement) with Anabel Moore (winner of the PTSO Young Artist Competition 2024)
Daniel Gall, Oatmeal Counterpoint* Premiere
Max Bruch, Swedish Dances
FEATURING: Off-the-grid on a small farm in the Pacific Northwest, composer and author, Daniel Gall, tends a garden of creative projects–with a new crop out each season.
Working remotely from his woodsy hermitage, over the years Daniel has collaborated with a host of musicians, ensembles, filmmakers, and choreographers/dance companies, including the Symbiosis Chamber Orchestra, the Glendale Philharmonic, the Definiens Project, the Vientos Trio, Mignolo Dance, Forza Dance, and many others. During the pandemic, he produced PROJECT SCREENDANCE, a social media series in which he collaborated with a different set of performers on a new dance film short each month, resulting in 23 films before calling it quits in Summer of 2022. Before he fled the grid nearly a decade ago, Daniel studied music at UCLA, and was the founder of the Los Angeles based new music organization and concert series, Synchromy.
In addition to his work as a composer, Daniel is a novelist who writes often-satirical and dystopian fantasies based on his experiences off the grid. He strives to connect his musical and literary works through fantastic themes and imaginative concepts, usually involving film or dance. For more about Daniel Gall and his work: danielgallcreativeworks.com
Brief Program Note About “Oatmeal Counterpoint”
1. Good Morning! (time to get up)
2. Oats for Breakfast
3. Exotic Fruit
4. Coffee Time
5. A Moment to Drift and Dream
6. Time to Face the Day
Nutritious, low-fat, high in fiber… Written over a bowl of oatmeal, Oatmeal Counterpoint is a suite of six dances for orchestra that act as a soundtrack to my morning routine. From oats to coffee, and including even a moment to dream, it’s a musical homage to the early hours, that fleeting space in our lives kept just for ourselves, before it’s time to let others in and face the day.
(Photo of Anabel Moore, violinist, is by Peninsula Daily News.)
CONCERT: December 8, 2024!
FEATURING Emmy Ulmer, who is delighted to perform the Werner Thaerichen Timpani Concerto for the Port Townsend community! She fell in love with this beautiful town as a teenager with the Marrowstone Music Festival at Fort Worden. A graduate of the University of Washington, she earned a double degree in Bachelors of Arts and Music in Percussion Performance. A freelancer for over 30 years, Emmy has been a percussionist and timpanist with many different ensembles throughout the greater Puget Sound region. While living in Vienna, Austria, she had the opportunity to play with the Orchester der Technischen Universitaet Wien. Emmy has been the English Captions Operator with Seattle Opera for over 20 years, a complex and rewarding job that fulfills another music side for her. The role she is most proud of is mom to her wonderful daughter, Anneliese. This is for her!
PROGRAM
Werner Thärichen, Timpani concerto with Emmy Ulmer
Georges Bizet, L’arlesienne Suites 1 and 2
6th Annual PTSO Young Artist Competition 2025
Poster by Vincent Oneppo; photo by Karl Perry.
CONCERT! Sunday, October 27, 2024 at 2 pm!
Our symphony concerts are held Sunday afternoons at Chimacum School Auditorium (91 W Valley Rd, Chimacum). There are OPEN DRESS REHEARSALS at 7 pm the Friday evening before each Sunday concert – also at Chimacum School Auditorium.
PTSO concerts are free to attend (but not free to produce). Donations are always gratefully accepted at the door. Tigran Arakelyan, Conductor and Artistic Director.
THIS CONCERT FEATURES Seattle-based percussionist/bandoneonist/composer BEN THOMAS. Ben started playing bandoneon in 2006, traveling to Argentina and working with tango musicians from across the world. He tours regularly with the Atlas Tango Project and can be heard on their most recent album, “Estaciones y Sueños”. He was a guest artist with the Eugene Opera in 2018 as the bandoneon soloist for Piazzolla’s “Maria de Buenos Aires”. Thomas has released five albums of original music on Origin Records, spanning jazz, chamber music, and tango. His music explores both traditional tango and how it continues to grow as it encounters new times and new influences. Following the lead of some of the pioneers of the current scene in Buenos Aires, such as Diego Schissi and Exequiel Mantega, Thomas builds pieces combining rhythmic intensity with lush harmonies, whimsy, and an emphasis on storytelling. He studied mathematics and music at Swarthmore College before going to the University of Michigan for a Master of Music in Contemporary Improvisation and the University of Washington for a DMA in Percussion Performance. Thomas has taught music theory, composition, and performance at Highline College since 2001.
PROGRAM
Antonín Dvorak, Carnival Overture
Florence Price, Dance in the Canebrakes
New piece for bandoneon and orchestra* Premiere with Ben Thomas (soloist and composer)
Jennifer Higdon, Blue Cathedral
Alexander Borodin, In the Steppes of Central Asia
JOIN US!
2023-2024 Concert Dates
2023-2024 Concert Dates
Sunday, October 29, 2023
Unfinished Symphony by Franz Schubert
Danzon No. 2 by Arturo Márquez
Romance for Cello and Orchestra by Karl Bach
. . . . with Pamela Roberts, principal cello, Port Townsend Symphony Orchestra
(world premiere)
Sunday, December 3, 2023
COURAGE by Adrienne Albert
Overture to Candide by Leonard Bernstein
Winter Night (Sleigh Ride) by Frederick Delius
Winterlust Polka by Josef Strauss
Christmas Waltz by P.I. Tchaikovsky
Flute Concerto by Carl Reinecke
. . . . with Arin Sarkissian, principal flute, Victoria Symphony
February 25, 2024
Festive Overture by William Grant Still
Symphony No. 2 by Alexander Borodin
Mozart Sinfonia Concertante for four winds
. . . . with PTSO’s own Anne Krabill, oboe; Kevin Fay, clarinet;
Dave Krabill, bassoon; Bruce Kelley, French horn
Sunday, April 28, 2024
Pirates of the Caribbean by Klaus Badelt
Music from the Gladiator by Hans Zimmer
La Forza del Destino by Giuseppe Verdi
Suite from Hamilton by Lin-Manuel Miranda
007: Through the Years by Stephen Bulla
Violin Concerto in A Major, by W.A. Mozart, 1st mvt.
. . . . with Zia Magill, violin, 2023 PTSO Young Artist Competition winner
AND FOR THE SUMMER…
Sunday, June 23 at 2 pm
Port Townsend Symphony Chamber Orchestra
Wheeler Theater at Fort Worden
200 Battery Way E, Port Townsend, WA
Conducted by Matthew McBride-Daline
Bach Concerto in C minor for Two Violins in in C minor, BWV 1060R – Kristin Smith and Matthew Daline, solo violins
Florence Price – “Adoration” for string orchestra
Hindemith “Trauermusik”, viola and string orchestra (with solo viola)
Béla Bartók – Romanian Folk Dances for String Orchestra Sz.56 BB 68
Zia MaGill featured in April 28, 2024 PTSO concert
PORT TOWNSEND SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA. Violinist Zia McGill was featured soloist for the April 28 concert at 2 pm at Chimacum School Auditorium (91 W Valley Rd, Chimacum). The program also featured popular music from films. Our concerts are free with donations accepted at the door.
Zia Magill was the first-place winner of the 2023 Port Townsend Symphony Orchestra competition. Zia began playing violin at age seven and has studied with several musicians in the region, including Pat Yearian, Kristin Smith, Gwen Franz and most recently, Matthew Daline. She also plays multiple other instruments, including piano, guitar and cello, and enjoys playing fiddle tunes. Zia is currently a senior at West Sound Academy completing an International Baccalaureate diploma, while considering various college possibilities. Beyond her musical life, Zia loves the outdoors and is an avid sailor, hiker, and photographer.
PROGRAM
Pirates of the Caribbean by Klaus Badelt
Violin Concerto in A Major, by W.A. Mozart, 1st mvt.
. . . . with Zia Magill, violin
Music from the Gladiator by Hans Zimmer
La Forza del Destino by Giuseppe Verdi
Suite from Hamilton by Lin-Manuel Miranda
007: Through the Years by Stephen Bulla
Photo by Jessica Plumb.
Upcoming PTSO concert – Sunday, Feb. 25, 2024
Port Townsend Symphony Orchestra presents:
Sunday, February 25, 2024 PTSO concert at Chimacum School Auditorium at 2 pm (open dress rehearsal is Friday, Feb. 23 at 7 pm.) No tickets required.
Festive Overture by William Grant Still
Symphony No. 2 by Alexander Borodin
Mozart Sinfonia Concertante for four winds
. . . . with PTSO’s own Anne Krabill, oboe; Kevin Fay, clarinet; Dave Krabill, bassoon; Bruce Kelley, French horn
Tigran Arakelyan, Conductor and Artistic Director
ABOUT OUR SOLOISTS
Oboist Anne Krabill is principal oboe of the Port Angeles Symphony Orchestra, Port Angeles Chamber Orchestra, and Port Townsend Symphony Orchestra. She is a native Canadian and received a Bachelor of Music from Mount Allison University. She studied with Gustav Steinert in Germany and Leon Goossens in London. Anne was principal oboist with the Atlantic Symphony Orchestra in Halifax, Nova Scotia. She taught oboe and chamber music at Dalhousie University, and performed frequently as a soloist and chamber musician. Anne and her husband, David, a bassoonist, recently retired from their reed manufacturing business.
Clarinetist Kevin Fay is the principal clarinet of the Port Townsend Symphony Orchestra. He has been the principal clarinet of the Cascade Symphony, the Northwest Mahler Festival, and the Northwest Symphony Orchestra, and has performed with the Lake Union Civic Orchestra, the Rainier Symphony, the Octava Chamber Orchestra, Philharmonia Northwest, the Port Angeles Symphony Orchestra and the Thalia Symphony Orchestra. Kevin’s playing is not limited to symphony orchestras. He has been the principal clarinet, piccolo clarinet, and principal saxophone for the the Washington Wind Symphony since 1990, played in the pit orchestra of the Village Theater, and currently plays baritone saxophone in the MachOne Big Band. Kevin studied clarinet with William McColl at the University of Washington, where he performed in master classes with David Schfrin and Richard Stolzman, Eugene Zoro at Western Washington University, Allen Siegel at the State University of New York at Buffalo, and Bill Wicker. Aside from musical endeavors, Kevin retired as a corporate lawyer serving public companies in the Seattle area, and represents the Ninth Congressional District on the Board of Governors of the Washington State Bar Association.
Bassoonist David Krabill is principal bassoonist with the Port Townsend Symphony Orchestra. He studied at Kent State University and had further studies at the Cleveland Institute of Music. He spent several summers at the Blossom Festival of Music studying with members of the Cleveland Orchestra. Dave moved to Canada in the early 1970s to play principal bassoon with the Atlantic Symphony Orchestra in Halifax, Nova Scotia. He also performed frequently for CBC Radio and Television. Along with his wife, Anne, he was a member of the East Coast Woodwind Trio and the Scotia Winds quintet, and taught bassoon and chamber music at Dalhousie University. Dave and Anne raised their four children in Port Townsend and said they are delighted that three of their children and all of their grandchildren also call the area home. Krabill stepped away from orchestral gigs for many years to focus on his family business, the Emerald Reed Company of Port Townsend.
Hornist Bruce Kelley is a resident of Marrowstone Island and is the principal horn player in the Port Townsend and co-principal at 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. Bruce was a featured soloist with the PTSO in 2022, playing “Artik Concerto for Horn and String Orchestra” by Armenian-American composer Alan Hovhaness. Bruce’s other interests include mineralogy, astronomy, photography, and computer software. He studied with Barney Blough.
SOLOIST: Arin Sarkissian, flute
Port Townsend Symphony Orchestra presents Arin Sarkissian, principal flute of the Victoria Symphony, performing Carl Reinecke’s Flute Concerto, op. 283.
Sunday, December 3 at 2 pm at Chimacum School Auditorium.
The public is welcome to attend our dress rehearsal also, Friday, December 1 at 7PM.
Overture to Candide, Leonard Bernstein
Winter Night (Sleigh Ride), Frederick Delius
Winterlust Polka, Josef Strauss
Christmas Waltz, P. I. Tchaikovsky
COURAGE, Adrienne Albert
The concert is free to attend. No tickets required. Donations are gratefully accepted at the door.
Arin Sarkissian graduated from Rice University with a Bachelor of Music in Flute Performance with Distinction in Research and Creative Works, studying under the professorship of Leone Buyse. Arin was named the 2022 Michael Measures 2nd Prize recipient by the Canada Council for the Arts. In the summer of 2022, he made guest artist appearances at Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal’s La Virée Classique, appeared in orchestral and chamber performances at Ottawa’s National Arts Centre, and performed alongside the National Youth Orchestra of Canada. Also, Arin was named a Yamaha Young Artist Performance Competition Winner and won 1st Place at the Nancy Clew Eller, Music Teachers National Association, San Diego Flute Guild, and Naftzger Young Artist