PORT TOWNSEND — The Port Townsend Symphony Orchestra (PTSO) will present its fall concert at 2 p.m. Sunday, October 29 at the Chimacum High School Auditorium.
In addition to the concert, there will be an open dress rehearsal at 7 p.m. Friday, October 27 at the auditorium, 91 West Valley Road.
Both events are free with donations gratefully accepted at the door. No tickets are required.
Acclaimed PTSO conductor and artistic director Tigran Arakelyan will lead the concert, which will feature the orchestra’s principal cellist, Pamela Roberts, as soloist. She will perform the world premiere of Romance for Cello and Orchestra by Port Townsend composer Karl Bach.
In the summer of 2022 Roberts attended a rehearsal of the Port Townsend Summer Band when Karl Bach was conducting three of his own compositions. She approached him after the rehearsal.
“I encouraged Karl to consider writing a solo work for cello because I felt the melodic style of his writing would be genuinely appreciated by cellists. He has surpassed my expectations with this beautiful piece. It is melodic, flowing and at times bombastic. The fast passages are challenging and he doesn’t hold back, taking the soloist into the higher reaches of the instrument. I love it and I think the audience will too.”
Bach explained, “Years ago I was improvising on the piano and three distinct themes emerged. These melodies somehow remained in my brain and so many years later this opportunity to write a piece for cello provided just the place to use them.”
Bach had a 20-year career in The U.S. Navy Band, Washington, D.C. in which he served as a vocalist, percussionist and administrator. He retired as a Senior Chief Petty Officer. He earned a Master of Arts in Teaching degree from Lewis and Clark College and taught in schools in Virginia and Oregon before his retirement to Port Townsend. Bach joined the Port Townsend Summer Band as a percussionist and served as their conductor for 17 years. He performed for 13 years as timpanist and 2 years as board president with the Port Townsend Community Orchestra (now PTSO) and was also a member of the Port Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Port Angeles Symphony, Bainbridge Symphony and the vocal ensemble, Rain Shadow. Bach began composing in 2000 and has more than 40 compositions listed in the on-line catalog MY SCORE on the website of J.W. Pepper and Son. His works include music for concert band, brass band, orchestra and chorus.
Roberts was faculty cellist at the University of Puget Sound. She has performed as soloist with the Seattle Symphony, Bremerton WestSound Symphony, Port Townsend Symphony Orchestra and the Aspen Music Festival, where she was awarded a 3-year fellowship. As a chamber musician Roberts worked with the Philadelphia String Quartet, Northwest Chamber Orchestra and Seattle Early Music Guild. She was principal cellist of the Tacoma Symphony and Seattle’s 5th Avenue Theater Orchestra. She is currently principal cellist of the Port Townsend Symphony Orchestra and a founder and artistic director of the PTSO Chamber Music Series. Pamela earned her Masters Degree from the University of Washington, where she studied cello with Eva Heinitz and Toby Saks. She lives in Quilcene with her husband Howard Gilbert, a retired Seattle Symphony percussionist and jazz drummer.
Also on the program is Danzon No. 2 by the Mexican composer Arturo Márquez. The Danzón dance form originated in Cuba. This composition is one of the most popular and frequently performed Mexican contemporary classical orchestral pieces.
Symphony #8 in B minor by Franz Schubert will also be featured. Commonly known as the Unfinished Symphony, it is a musical composition that Schubert started in 1822, but left with only two movements—though he lived for another six years. A scherzo, nearly completed in piano score, but with only two pages orchestrated, also survives.
Arakelyan shared his feelings about the upcoming concert, “I am excited to collaborate with Karl and Pamela again. I have worked with both of them throughout my time with the PTSO, but I have not worked with them in collaboration. Karl wrote this beautiful piece for cello and orchestra in collaboration with our fantastic principal cellist Pamela. I am excited to be in the middle of this magnificent project, working with the orchestra and Pamela to bring Karl’s newest work to life for our community. This premiere is not to be missed.”
For additional details and updates visit ptsymphony.org.
Photo: Port Townsend composer Karl Bach watches solo cellist Pamela Roberts execute the beginning passages of Romance for Cello and Orchestra. (Photo by Karl Perry).