By Nancy Raskauskas
The Entertainer | Posted: Thursday, June 18, 2009 12:00 am
Annual series brings home standout musicians
CORVALLIS - The 9th annual Chintimini Chamber Music Festival's theme of "Midsummer Nights Dreams" references the summer solstice, astronomy and several works that will be played during the four-concert series.
But artistic director Erik Peterson, a principle violin with the Colorado Symphony, also happens to have a very specific focus: to entice new audiences to experience classical music.
"My dream is that people will really find excitement and energy (in the performances)," he said. "I want people that have never heard chamber music to come in and be blown away."
The festival features solo performances and ensembles of various sizes, up to 14 musicians, in concert at 7:30 p.m. June 19, 23, 26 and 28, at the First Congregational Church, 4515 S.W. West Hills Road.
Peterson describes the chamber music genre as "any piece that is meant to be played in an intimate setting."
The festival got its start in 2000, when a few professional musicians playing together in other summer festivals around the Northwest, including Peterson, realized that they were all originally from Corvallis.
In 2001, Peterson teamed with Corvallis supporters, including Joan Caldwell, to found the Chintimini Chamber Music Festival.
Each year since, four to eight local musicians now living in Denver, New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Houston and other cities around the world have returned to take part.
Over the years, the festival has widened its base to include musicians from all over the Willamette Valley; and it now involves a few musicians who grew up in Eugene, Salem, Lebanon and Portland in addition to Corvallis and Albany natives.
The logistics of the festival can get complicated. The rehearsal schedule this year went through at least 12 iterations to account for the musicians' changing travel schedules.
Still, this year is a more relaxed schedule in some ways. The four major concerts are spread out across 10 days, as opposed to the six-day musical sprint musicians have endured in past years.
"This year is the first year we have a day off in the rehearsal schedule," Peterson said.
Organizers hope the new schedule will be "easier on the musicians and the audience."
This year's festival also coincides with the 200th birthday of German composer Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847).
"We came up with lots of Mendolsohn because it's a big year for him," Peterson said.
Other featured composers will include Bach Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven, Brahms, Vitali and a world premiere of a piece called "The Power of Humanism" by Ghanaian drummer and dancer Obo Addy, who is credited with introducing the worldbeat music scene to the Northwest in the 1970s.
"One thing that I believe strongly in is supporting the creation of new work," Peterson said.
"I think the roof might just come off the church," Peterson said about Addy's new piece. "I can't wait to hear the drums and xylophone."
CHECK IT OUT
WHAT: 9th annual Chintimini Chamber Music Festival
WHO: Myles Criss (organ), Robin Olschner (bass), Ben Freimuth (clarinet), Obo Addy (African xylophone), Charles Armah (African drums), Jennifer Peterson (harpsichord), Cathy Peterson and Jill Pauls (flute), Liz Freimuth and Betty Busch (horns), Rachelle McCabe and Alexander Tutunov (piano), Anne Ridlington, Andy Kolb and Noah Seitz (cello), Kenji Bunch, Adam Matthes and Michael Tubb (viola), Erik Peterson, Sarah Knutson, Jessica Lambert, Erin Furbee, Fritz Gearhart, Lisa Bieber and Jenny Peterson (violin).
COMPOSERS: Bach Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven, Brahms, Mendelssohn, Vitali and a world premiere by Obo Addy.
WHEN: Concerts at 7:30 p.m. Friday, June 19 ("All Mozart"); Tuesday, June 23 (Chamber Orchestra); Friday, June 26 (Beethoven quartet); and Sunday, June 28 ("The Power of Humanism").
WHERE: First Congregational Church, 4515 S.W. West Hills Road, Corvallis.
COST: $18 for single concerts, $55 for series. Students free (high school and college must show ID). Tickets available at Grass Roots Books & Music, Gracewinds Music, Beard Framing and Sid Stevens Jewelers. Special soiree with Mendelssohn Trio on June 21 for donors of $120 or more.
INFO: www.chintimini.org
or 753-2106.
FOR KIDS: "Tungi and the Giant" featuring Charles Armah on drums and narrated by David Simmons, 2 p.m. Saturday, June 27, Fire Hall Meeting Room, 680 Commercial St., Monroe; and 3 p.m. Sunday, June 28, Main Meeting Room, Corvallis-Benton County Public Library, 645 N.W. Monroe Ave., Corvallis. Free.
NEWPORT: Newport Symphony will host a Chintimini concert at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, July 1, at the First Presbyterian Church, 227 N.E. 12th St., Newport. Admissi