A Symphony Of Festivals

Long summer nights, with the elegant strains of a Mozart quintet wafting out over the picnickers on the wide green lawns - with their blankets and their plates of grilled vegetables and chicken, and maybe a champagne flute or two.

Warm summer afternoons on the dairy farm near the Olympic Peninsula rain forest, with musicians in their jeans and shirtsleeves joking with the audience, and the gentle baa of a sheep interrupting some high-octane Beethoven string quartets in the rustic barn.

It's summer classical festival season, and it's now under way. Heavy on the atmosphere, with an accent on the total experience as well as the classics, these festivals have sprung up in the past two decades like a crop of particularly delectable mushrooms - and they're every place. When the calendar flips to July, it's open season, a season that increasingly lasts into September (when we often have some of our nicest weather just as the kids head back to school).

Longtime music fans will remember an era in which the close of the Seattle Symphony season at the end of May ushered in a musical drought that was broken only by a few intermittent concerts (and, in the mid-'70s to late-'80s, by annual productions of Seattle Opera's "Ring") before things resumed in September. Not anymore! The summer concert calendar is jammed with wall-to-wall festival productions.

These festivals thrive in the sun, but they also work when the rain forces all the outdoor listeners inside and puts an end to all those bucolic picnics. It's the music, of course, that drives the festivals, though few object to the other amenities.

In this region of last-minute decision-makers, the box-office people have a hard time predicting what's going to sell out. Nearly all the festivals enjoy robust ticket sales because they've found their niche. That niche amounts to the right combination of place, style, timing, atmosphere, artistic personnel and repertoire, and if you think that's easy to coordinate, think again. Some of the most promising and artistically excellent festivals are no longer with us because they couldn't put all those elements together (consider the late and lamented International Music Festival, which introduced some of the world's finest musicians to Seattle but never found a niche of its own).

Increasingly, the summer music festivals have an educational component, because organizers realize that most schools still do a haphazard (and occasionally nonexistent) job of introducing good music to the younger generations. The kids in the audiences, however, are unlikely to recognize these concerts as educational events - especially when festivals such as the Seattle Chamber Music Festival get sponsors to underwrite free hot dogs and lemonade for all.

Summer festival mania shows no signs of abating, either. The newest entry is this year's new Summer Arts Festival at the University of Washington, which will usher in a five-day series of concerts and educational events on the campus later this month (with plans for something considerably bigger in the future).

Here is an assortment of festivals large and small, near and not so near, in Washington state (there are excellent festivals in Portland and Vancouver, B.C., too.). At this writing, tickets were available to at least some performances in all the festivals, although the very small size of the fledgling Orcas Island Chamber Music Festival means that it will be sold out long before its Labor Day weekend time slot.

Olympic Music Festival, through Sept. 10: The longest of the region's music festivals is already in full swing, with concerts at 2 p.m. every Saturday and Sunday (the same program both days) all the way through to a Piano Extravaganza on Sept. 9 and 10. This is the cozy festival in the late-19th-century dairy barn on the farm of violist and founder Alan Iglitzin, who plays in the festival and is its official paterfamilias and raconteur. Families flock to the festival for the friendly ambience, the outdoor seating on the lawn outside the barn (great for squirmy kids) and the petting zoo of farm animals. The weekend concerts regularly sell out to buses of retirees, tour groups, metro-area music lovers and lots of locals who come to see what all the fuss is about.

Excellent artists, many of them from the San Francisco area (like popular favorite Paul Hersh, who plays both piano and viola), return each year along with a sprinkling of newcomers. This weekend's offerings are a Mozart extravaganza that will include Hersh and Iglitzin, along with cellist Carter Enyeart and violinists Cecilia Archuleta and Ian Swensen, in the final Quintet in C Major. Upcoming "Romantic Weekend" (July 15-16) and "All Mozart" (Aug. 26-27) weekends also should sell out early.

The festival is located just a few miles west of the Hood Canal Bridge near Quilcene. The Seattle office has details on tickets ($13-$24, cheaper in advance than at the gate, and kids under 6 are not permitted in the barn seating), catering, directions, overnight stays in the vicinity and much more. Call 206-527-8839 and/or visit www.musicfest.net.

Icicle Creek Chamber Music Festival, through Aug. 12: Following its jazz opener this past weekend, the festival turns to the classical music of America, Vienna, France and Spain, with appearances this weekend by noted violinist Camilla Wicks with the Kairos Quartet (in residence at Central Washington University), cellist David Geber of the American String Quartet and Toronto pianist Peter Longworth. New music by Maria Newman, and performances by such artists as pianists Lisa Bergman and Francine Kay, flutist Jeffrey Zook, soprano Terri Richter and classical guitarist Ricardo Iznaola are among upcoming highlights. Concerts are at 8 p.m. Saturdays, 2 p.m. Sundays, in the Sleeping Lady Conference Center near Leavenworth; special dinners are available (reserve at 800-574-2123). Concert tickets ($14-$25) are available at the Leavenworth Chamber and Visitor Center, 877-265-6026, or by e-mail at icicle@icicle.org.

Seattle Chamber Music Festival, through July 29: Each Monday, Wednesday and Friday, this highly popular festival draws crowds to the Lakeside School in north Seattle for 7 p.m. recitals and 8 p.m. concerts by some outstanding artists, including pianist Jon Kimura Parker, violinists Cho-Liang Lin and William Preucil, pianist Craig Sheppard, cellist Ronald Thomas and many more artists chosen by cellist/artistic director Toby Saks.

The festival has its own "Under Forte" group, with events for music lovers under 40; plus a Family Concert on July 20 ($7); an Emerging Artist Concert (with two hot 15-year-old players, violinist Shunsuke Sato and pianist Vassilis Varvaresos) on July 23 ($15/$25); plus catered picnics to be enjoyed on the Lakeside lawns where you can sit outside and enjoy broadcasts of the live music.

Several programs are already sold out, including most of the ultra-popular final week; repertoire offers the familiar masterworks and a smattering of the decidedly unfamiliar.

Among the highlights tonight: a 7 p.m. recital featuring the dynamic violinist Ida Levin (fans will remember her performances with the Mendelssohn String Quartet) in Mendelssohn's F Major Violin Sonata. The 8 p.m. concert has another festival favorite, cellist Bion Tsang, in the Strauss Cello Sonata, and there's a Mozart string trio (K.563), but the unusual piece is the Piano Quartet in E Major of Sergei Taneyev.

Next week, look for Levin back again in the tuneful Dohnanyi Serenade for String Trio (with Marcus Thompson and Toby Saks), in the 7 p.m. recital on Monday; pianist Adam Neiman in sonatas of Grieg and Beethoven on Wednesday; and the rarely heard Erwin Schulhoff String Quartet No. 1 (in Wednesday's 8 p.m. concert). Clarinetist Franklin Kowalsky will join in at 8 p.m. next Friday, with a Khachaturian trio.

Tickets are $15/$32. Call 206-283-8808; the Web site is www.scmf.org.

Lake Chelan Bach Fest, Sunday-July 16: The 19th season of this festival, held in United Methodist Church of Chelan and nearby North Shore Bible Church of Manson, as well as the Chelan High School Performing Arts Center, will offer musical tributes to Bernstein and Copland (among others) as well as a considerable sprinkling of Bach's works. Some familiar Seattle names will appear, including pianist Lisa Bergman, baritone Anthony Brown, pianist/coach Bern Herbolsheimer, guitarist Michael Partington and tenor Kenneth Gayle; there are children's programs in parks, Brandenburg Concertos, opera arias, spirituals, festival orchestra programs and plenty more. Season tickets run $48-$60; individual tickets are $5-$10. Info is available from the local Chamber of Commerce at 800-4-CHELAN, or at the Bach Fest phones, 509-682-9504 and 509-682-2158.

UW Summer Arts Festival, July 18-22: Based on the theme of "Quartets," this new festival on the UW campus offers a wide spectrum in a short time: dance, music, cinema, art, drama, education, jazz. Of special note for classical fans is the appearance of the Kronos Quartet at Meany Theater, July 28 at 8 p.m. ($20/$28), and the Double Duo performances July 21-22 by the Duo Patterson and soprano Carmen Pelton with pianist Craig Sheppard (a bargain at $5 each evening). The festival offers educational music workshops for precollege students, and continuing education credits for adults, as well as lectures and many more activities; for information, brochures and tickets, call 206-543-4880.

Bellingham Festival of Music, July 28-Aug. 13: Now in its eighth season, this festival has stuck to its Beethoven guns since the beginning, and now offers 16 concerts - opening with legendary pianist Alicia de Larrocha in two different programs July 28 and 29. Artistic director Michael Palmer, who conducts the American Sinfonietta, will lead such favorites as Beethoven's Pastorale Symphony (No. 6), Haydn's oratorio "The Creation," and a collaboration with Western Washington University's Theatre Department, in Shakespeare's complete play, "A Midsummer Night's Dream," along with Mendelssohn's incidental music. Artists such as guitarist Pepe Romero (a regular), pianist Gustavo Romero, the Pacifica Quartet and Chuck Israels' Little Big Band will perform; there's a free Young People's Concert Aug. 13 with music of Mendelssohn.

The festival takes place in WWU's Concert Hall and at nearby Resort Semiahmoo; ticketed events range from $10 to $23, at 800-335-5550. The Web site can be found at www.bellinghamfestival.org.

Methow Music Festival, Aug. 5-20: A relative newcomer, this 5-year-old festival brings together some fine musicians, most of them from the Seattle area, for bucolic concerts in the meadow and in the barn at the Mazama, Okanogan County, site in the Methow Valley. This year, radio host (KING-FM) and pianist/harpsichordist George Shangrow will be featured, along with violist Eric Shumsky, pianist Duane Hulbert, violinist Sungil Lee, flutist Jeffrey Cohan, violinist Walter Schwede, soprano Terri Richter and others. There's an Alphorn concert at the Washington Pass Overlook, with 12-foot-long Swiss horns from the Spokane Horn Club, and mainstream chamber repertoire by Vivaldi, Beethoven, Debussy, Mozart and the usual suspects. Concerts span three weekends, with different programs each night.

Tickets are $15; kids under 18 are free, and everybody comes free to the Aug. 13 Alphorn concert at 1 p.m. and to the outdoor "Picnic and Pops" concert that follows in the meadow (4-7 p.m.). For info, call 800-340-1458; tickets at 877-996-9283, or check out www.methow.com/mmf.

Marrowstone Music Festival, Aug. 6-27: Run by the Seattle Youth Symphony Orchestra, this is a festival for young people 13-23, but there are many performances by the outstanding faculty (including some top local players and such distinguished visitors as Dale Clevenger, horn, and Richard Aaron, cello), as well as by the Marrowstone Festival orchestras during the three-week tenure in Fort Worden State Park near Port Townsend. Three student-orchestra concerts Aug. 13, 20 and 27 start at 2 p.m. in the McCurdy Pavilion at the park; on Saturdays at 2 p.m. and Thursdays at 8 p.m., the artist faculty performs chamber music (the weekday events are free). For tickets and driving directions, call the Centrum Box Office at 1-800-733-3608; the Web site address is www.syso.org/summ.htm..

Orcas Island Chamber Music Festival, Aug. 30-Sept. 5: Tiny but choice, the 3-year-old festival is run by violist Aloysia Friedmann and her husband, pianist Jon Kimura Parker - both regulars at the Seattle Chamber Music Festival. This year, two Orcas Center programs will be repeated once each (Aug. 30 and Sept. 1 and Sept. 4-5), with repertoire extending from Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D Minor to Dvorak's Piano Quartet in E-Flat; there also are two Bach concerts at 2 and 7:30 p.m. Sept. 2 in the nearby Eastsound Episcopal Church. Tickets went on sale Wednesday, and may already be gone; they're $10-$20, $25 for the Bach program, at 360-376-2281; for driving directions, programming details and other info, consult www.sanjuanweb.com/orcaschambermusic.