2023 SEASON
AUGUST 19-27
Opening Night: A special evening with Garrick Ohlsson and the Takács Quartet


Saturday, August 19
7pm
6:15pm pre-concert talk with Classic KING FM 98.1’s Lisa Bergman
Johannes Brahms | Sonata in E-flat for Viola and Piano, Op 120 No 2 (1894)
Johannes Brahms | Rhapsody in G minor, Op 79 No 2 (1879)
Lembit Beecher | New Work for Violin and Viola (World Premiere)
Amy Beach | Piano Quintet in F-sharp minor, Op 67 (1907)
Music on the Strait is honored to present one of the first performances in the brand-new Field Arts and Events Hall with celebrated virtuoso pianist Garrick Ohlsson, the only American to have won first prize at the International Chopin Piano Competition. Ohlsson will perform solo and chamber works by Johannes Brahms. He will later be joined by the Takács Quartet for a rousing performance of Amy Beach’s Piano Quintet, a piece for which he and the Takács recorded and won a 2001 Gramophone Award. We are also thrilled to present a new work by 2023 composer-in-residence Lembit Beecher, inspired in part by the transformation of the Elwha River and written for Artistic Directors James Garlick and Richard O’Neill.
Edward Dusinberre, violin
Harumi Rhodes, violin
Richard O’Neill, viola
András Fejér, cello
Takács Quartet in Concert


Sunday, August 20
3pm
2:15pm pre-concert talk with Classic KING FM 98.1’s Lisa Bergman
Josef Haydn | Quartet in D major, Op 71 No 2 (1793)
Béla Bartôk | Quartet No 3, Sz 85 (1927)
Ludwig van Beethoven | Quartet No 8 in E minor, Op 59 No 2 (1806)
Winner of last year’s Gramophone Classical Music Award in the Chamber Music category, the world-renowned Takács Quartet returns to Music on the Strait for a second time. Don’t miss the opportunity to hear this iconic quartet performing their signature repertoire of Haydn, Bartôk, and Beethoven–and hear first-hand why they are heralded as one of the greatest string quartets of all time! Seating in intimate and acoustically pristine Maier Hall at Peninsula College is limited.
Edward Dusinberre, violin
Harumi Rhodes, violin
Richard O’Neill, viola
András Fejér, cello
Grieg’s String Quartet


Friday, August 25
7pm
6:15pm pre-concert talk with Classic KING FM 98.1’s Lisa Bergman
Jerod Impichchaachaaha' Tate | Pisashi for String Quartet
Anton Prischepa | Based on Actual Events for Violin and Marimba
Edvard Grieg | String Quartet in G minor, Op 27
Noah Geller, the dynamic Concertmaster of the Seattle Symphony makes his Music on the Strait debut leading Grieg’s bold and energetic String Quartet in G minor. Before intermission, Geller shares the stage with Mari Yoshinaga, the internationally acclaimed percussionist and his frequent duo partner. We open this program with a string quartet by Jerod Impichchaachaaha' Tate, a citizen of the Chickasaw Nation in Oklahoma. Tate uses Hopi and Pueblo rhythms and forms as musical inspiration. For instance, the opening viola solo, which recurs throughout the work, is a paraphrase of a Pueblo Buffalo Dance..
James Garlick, violin
Richard O’Neill, viola
Ani Aznavoorian, cello
Mari Yoshinaga, Marimba
Jeremy Denk performs Bach’s Complete Partitas


Saturday, August 26
7pm
NOTE: There will be no pre-concert talk but Jeremy Denk will give remarks from the stage during the performance
JS Bach
Partita No. 1 in B flat major, BWV 825
Partita No. 2 in C minor, BWV 826
Partita No. 3 in A minor, BWV 827
Partita No. 4 in D major, BWV 828
Partita No. 5 in G major, BWV 829
Partita No. 6 in E minor, BWV 830
MacArthur “Genius” Jeremy Denk, one of today’s leading interpreters of Bach’s keyboard music, returns to Music on the Strait for the fourth time to perform a musical marathon: all six Bach Partitas for keyboard in one evening. This is a musical event of a lifetime!
Festival Finale: Denk performs Clara Schumann, Robert Schumann, and Johannes Brahms


Sunday, August 27
3pm
NOTE: There will be no pre-concert talk but Jeremy Denk will give remarks from the stage during the performance
Clara Schumann | Three Romances for Violin and Piano (1853)
Robert Schumann | Märchenbilder (Fairy Tales), Op 113 (1851)
Johannes Brahms | Piano Quartet in A major, Op 26 (1861)
In October 1853, a 20-year-old young composer named Johannes Brahms knocked on the door of Robert and Clara Schumann with a letter of introduction. That same year, Clara Schumann wrote her Three Romances for Violin and Piano, and Robert Schumann soon proclaimed Brahms the heir to Beethoven’s musical lineage and so began one of the most intimate friendships in music history. Jeremy Denk leads us on a rare and remarkable journey to explore these three intertwined musical voices.