A chemist [Borodin] and a school teacher [Schubert] walk into a bar... There’s no punch line. Just great music.

Festival Series IV will bring the 2012 Walla Walla Chamber Music Festival to a close in lyrical fashion. Do you think composer Alexander Borodin had any clue what a Tony Award was? I think it’s safe to say he didn’t. Yet his music played a key role in earning that honor for the 1953 musical Kismet. Skip the awards shows, and go straight to the source. This gorgeous quartet will make you want to steal its melodies and make a great deal of money off of them... It’s that good.

Closing out the 2012 Walla Walla Chamber Music Festival is the only piece composed by Schubert that the composer heard performed publicly during his lifetime, the Piano Trio in E Flat, Op. 100. Incidentally, this work figured prominently in Stanley Kubrick’s film Barry Lyndon. It seems that popular culture looks to chamber music when it wants to get down to business... As it should!

Artists: Jennifer Caine, Timothy Christie, Oksana Ezhokina, Icicle Creek Piano Trio, Norbert Lewandowski, Christina McGann, Stephen Miahky, Philip Payton, Maria Sampen, and Sally Singer

A good quartet takes chemistry. Good thing Borodin had a PhD in it.

What does it take to achieve immortality? In the case of Alexander Borodin, it takes the likes of Tony Bennett, Bing Crosby, Isaac Hayes, and Sarah Brightman singing your music in arenas you never intended. Like his opera Prince Igor, Borodin’s String Quartet No. 2 in D provided much fodder for the hit musical Kismet.

WWCMF visits the stunning Spring Valley Vineyards estate to explore the primary source... Accept no substitutes. Hear Borodin as Borodin intended. No Tony Awards. No hit singles. Just plain gorgeous classical chamber music!

Artists: Timothy Christie, Norbert Lewandowski, Philip Payton and Stephen Miahky

A piece that Schubert finished.

Festival Series III walks softly, but carries a big stick. The program will open with the World Premiere of Sotto Voce for piano trio, by composer, Marilyn Shrude. In Italian, sotto voce means “under the voice.” The work inhabits a quiet place, but makes a profound impact. Sotto Voce was composed for WWCMF as part of a Guggenheim Fellowship awarded to Marilyn Shrude in 2011.

Opposite this brand new trio is the B Flat Piano Trio, Op. 99, by Franz Schubert. One of two undisputed masterpieces by Schubert in this medium, the B Flat Piano Trio is a subtle work when compared to its counterpart, the magnificent E Flat Piano Trio, Op. 100. It lives “under the voice,” and yet it speaks volumes. This will be a special night of chamber music.

Artists: Timothy Christie, Katri Ervamaa, Norbert Lewandowski, Christina McGann, Stephen Miahky, Philip Payton, Erik Rynearson, Maria Sampen, Cristina Valdes and Julie Woods

Elgar Serenade for Strings in E minor, Op. 20: Jolly Good Show, What!

Tasting Music III offers a more intimate approach to a work traditionally associated with string orchestra, the Serenade for Strings in E minor, Op. 20, by Sir Edward Elgar. Here, the musicians of WWCMF perform the piece in a chamber version with one player per part.

English restraint was evidenced in the late 19th Century by both the formality of the dress code and the tact with which one negotiated a moral quandary. It was nowhere in evidence, however, in the milieu of men’s facial hair, most notably when it came to the prodigious (roll the ‘r’, please) mustaches favored by composers such as Elgar.

While his pocket watch was wound to precision, his frock coat eternally buttoned, and the handle of his walking stick polished to a high sheen, Elgar in his music could be comparatively unruly with sentiment. The slow movement of this Serenade will set your passions ablaze, and we disavow any responsibility.

The E minor Serenade for Strings will certainly be a Good Show! Possibly even a Jolly Good Show!

Artists: Timothy Christie, Katri Ervamaa, Norbert Lewandowski, Christina McGann, Stephen Miahky, Philip Payton, Erik Rynearson, and Maria Sampen

What’s the difference between a fiddle and a violin? Exactly.

Festival Series II presents three distinct versions of what it means to play the fiddle.

Long before Charlie Daniels scored a hit with the song The Devil Went Down to Georgia, Igor Stravinsky told the story of a soldier who sells both his soul and his fiddle to the Devil for wealth and power. Here, WWCMF offers Stravinsky’s trio version for violin, clarinet and piano.

American composer Evan Chambers was brought up on a steady diet of folk music. His work Come Down Heavy! for violin, saxophone, and piano is a testament to his roots. From the gritty Steel Drivin’ Man (John Henry) to the tender I Gave My Love a Cherry, this magnificent piece is uniquely American.

The program concludes with Mendelssohn at his finest. The String Quintet in B Flat will leave you glowing with uproarious joy.

Artists: Timothy Christie, Katri Ervamaa, Andrew Jennings, Norbert Lewandowski, Christina McGann, Stephen Miahky, Erik Rynearson, John Sampen, Maria Sampen, Kevin Schempf, and Cristina Valdes.

Mendelssohn B Flat Viola Quintet: For best results, shake before opening.

Have you ever popped the cork on a bottle of champagne only to see the contents of the bottle burst forth in a bubbly jet of unchecked enthusiasm? This experience need not be the sole propriety of championship-winning professional athletes. We can all experience this frivolous rush without the needless waste. The Mendelssohn String Quintet in B Flat, Op. 87, offers just such an experience.

Experience the rush!

Pop!

Artists: Timothy Christie, Katri Ervamaa, Stephen Miahky, Christina McGann, and Erik Rynearson

Theme and Variation. Wild and Wooly

Collage has become an annual tradition at WWCMF. This showcase of unchecked virtuosity will change your whole perception of classical music and your whole perception of a night out in Waitsburg, Washington. Jim and Claire, the artist-proprietors of jimgermanbar generously open their doors and their hearts to WWCMF each year. To thank them, we put on a kaleidoscopic concert that mashes centuries of music into one show. No breaks between movements; no chance to catch your breath; no time to blink.

The 2012 Collage performances focus on the concept of theme and variation. No such program would be complete without the Paganini Caprice No. 24 in A minor. Composers such as Rachmaninov, Brahms and Liszt all wrote music based on the virtuoso violin piece, and American composer George Rochberg used it for a set of 50 variations for solo violin. It is rumored that Paganini sold his soul to the Devil in exchange for complete mastery of the violin. We’ll leave the dark arts out of it, and just practice a lot before June 14!

Enjoy the signature cocktail: this year Jim will create the “Tango Sureale,” inspired by the profound and wild Clarinet Quintet by William Albright. Past signature drinks have included the “Cavatina” and the “Vox Dei.”

Join us as we pioneer Chamber Music Mixology!

Artists: Timothy Christie, Katri Ervamaa, Andrew Jennings, Norbert Lewandowski, Christina McGann, Stephen Miahky, Philip Payton, Erik Rynearson, John Sampen, and Maria Sampen

Theme and Variation. Wild and Wooly

Collage has become an annual tradition at WWCMF. This showcase of unchecked virtuosity will change your whole perception of classical music and your whole perception of a night out in Waitsburg, Washington. Jim and Claire, the artist-proprietors of jimgermanbar generously open their doors and their hearts to WWCMF each year. To thank them, we put on a kaleidoscopic concert that mashes centuries of music into one show. No breaks between movements; no chance to catch your breath; no time to blink.

The 2012 Collage performances focus on the concept of theme and variation. No such program would be complete without the Paganini Caprice No. 24 in A minor. Composers such as Rachmaninov, Brahms and Liszt all wrote music based on the virtuoso violin piece, and American composer George Rochberg used it for a set of 50 variations for solo violin. It is rumored that Paganini sold his soul to the Devil in exchange for complete mastery of the violin. We’ll leave the dark arts out of it, and just practice a lot before June 14!

Enjoy the signature cocktail: this year Jim will create the “Tango Sureale,” inspired by the profound and wild Clarinet Quintet by William Albright. Past signature drinks have included the “Cavatina” and the “Vox Dei.”

Join us as we pioneer Chamber Music Mixology!

Artists: Timothy Christie, Katri Ervamaa, Andrew Jennings, Norbert Lewandowski, Christina McGann, Stephen Miahky, Philip Payton, Erik Rynearson, John Sampen, and Maria Sampen

A piece in the key of B minor can still be major.

Be a part of Opening Night of the 2012 Walla Walla Chamber Music Festival Series at the acoustically magnificent Power House Theatre. The program will begin with the World Premiere of New Zealand composer Christopher Gendall’s Reckless Abandon for Piano, Soprano Saxophone, and Violin. This work was specially commissioned for the 2012 Walla Walla Chamber Music Festival.

The Power House Theatre was conceived as copy of Shakespeare’s own theater in London. It seems appropriate that we honor that legacy by including some work inspired by the Bard. Gordon Jacob’s Six Shakespearean Sketches consists of six movements for string trio inspired by passages from Shakespeare. WWCMF is delighted to collaborate with Shakespeare Walla Walla on this performance. The six brief movements draw on The Merchant of Venice, The Tempest, Twelfth Night, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream among others. Jacob’s miniature masterpieces are the perfect intersection between Shakespeare and chamber music.

The program concludes with the autumnal Quintet in B minor for Clarinet and Strings, Op. 115 by Johannes Brahms. When Brahms decided to retire from composition, he composed his Op. 111 String Quintet in 1890 and intended it to be his final composition. Roughly a century in advance of Michael Corleone, however, Brahms was heard to utter, “Just when I think I’m out, they pull me back in!” In this case, they referred to clarinetist Richard Mühlfeld. Brahms heard Mühlfeld perform, and the experience stirred Brahms’ creative impulses. The result? This Quintet, plus a Trio and two Sonatas for Clarinet and Piano. Together, these pieces represent Brahms’ final works in the medium of chamber music. The Quintet gives us a view into Brahms at the height of his musical powers at the end of his life.

Artists: Timothy Christie, Andrew Jennings, Norbert Lewandowski, Stephen Miahky, John Sampen, Maria Sampen, Kevin Schempf, and Cristina Valdes.

Brahms Unmatched beauty, tenderness, and melancholy.

Join WWCMF at Garrison Creek Cellars. Set amid the verdant splendor of Les Collines Vineyards, the Tasting Room and production facility at Garrison Creek Cellars boasts views matched only by the acoustics of the room itself. For this first Tasting Music event of the 2012 Season, we will explore the Clarinet Quintet of Johannes Brahms, Op. 115. It is a work of unmatched beauty, tenderness, and melancholy.

Artists: Timothy Christie, Andrew Jennings, Norbert Lewandowski, Stephen Miahky, and Kevin Schempf