Submitted by Archipelago Collective
Archipelago Collective is thrilled to be celebrating a decade of music on San Juan Island by commissioning a new work for a seven-person ensemble by British-American composer Freya Waley-Cohen. She has an “instinct for color” (The Arts Desk), writing music that can move from “a bubbling, popping, feathered array of orchestral sounds” to a “quiet, eerie, interior world” (The Guardian). Her music music is characterized by contrasts between earthy rhythmic play and fragility, luminous spaces, and a sense of the otherworldly.
About her new work celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Archipelago Collective, she writes:
“It’s so meaningful to return to writing for Sophie Baird-Daniel and this ensemble of world-class musicians. I first wrote for Sophie when we were fellows at Tanglewood together, and have since written her a solo work. I’m looking forward to deepening this musical friendship through writing for her and the ensemble, treating the seven players of the septet as equal musical voices.
Much of my recent work has come from a deep knowing of a place – childhood memories of the Isle of Skye, the moors of the southwest of England and their ancient folklore, the deep thick clay and secret rivers that run under London, or the delicate dappled light in the corners of a New England summer. In this case, I’m fascinated by the rhythms and sounds of a place I haven’t yet been to and the freshness that is conjured for me by imagining its shores when I haven’t yet heard their rhythms or experienced their cycles. It will be a piece about my anticipation and imagination of the San Juan archipelago, structured in cycles, of imagined moons and months and years and tides. “
The festival lasts from Sept. 6 through Sept. 8, and tickets are $25 tickets to single concerts. The weekend pass is currently sold out, but single tickets may still be available for select concerts.Please contact us to be put on the waitlist for any sold-out performances. Kids 18 and under are welcome for free!
Performances:
Chamber Music I
Friday, Sept. 6, 7 p.m.
Trio for Oboe, Bassoon & Piano Francis Poulenc
Pisces (World Premiere) Freya Waley-Cohen
The Four Seasons Antonio Vivaldi
Soloist Rachell Ellen Wong
Thank you to our principal commission sponsors Bruce and Gail Rankin, Carolyn Haugen, and Peter Coggan.
Brickworks, 150 Nichols St, Friday Harbor
Single Ticket $25
Freya Waley-Cohen: Inspirations
Generously sponsored by Gary Sterner
Saturday, Sep 7, 1 p.m.
Isle Freya Waley-Cohen
L’Isle Joyeuse Claude Debussy
Je dors, mais mon coeur veille, from Vingt Regards sur l’Enfant Jésus Olivier Messiaen
Bad Habit (US Premiere) Freya Waley-Cohen
Ophelia’s Last Dance Oliver Knussen
For Simon Freya Waley-Cohen
Regard de l’Esprit de Joie, from Vingt Regards sur l’Enfant Jésus Olivier Messiaen
Single Ticket $15
SJI Museum of Art, 540 Spring St, Friday Harbor
Chamber Music II
Saturday, Sept. 7, 7 p.m.
Flute Quartet, K. 298 W.A. Mozart
Phantasy Oboe Quartet Benjamin Britten
Submerged for Harp, Viola & Flute Miguel del Aguila
Piano Quintet, Op. 57 Dmitri Shostakovich
Brickworks, 150 Nichols St, Friday Harbor
Single Ticket $25
Chamber Music III
Generously sponsored by Martha Salot
Sunday, Sept. 8, 2. p.m.
Wind Quartet Jean Francaix
Clarinet Trio, Op. 114 Johannes Brahms
Souvenir de Florence Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Single Ticket $25
Brickworks, 150 Nichols St, Friday Harbor
Sponsored by: Bruce and Gail Rankin, Tom Carolyn Haugen, Peter Coggan
