Summer Festival 2024

Tickets & Events Below

53rd Summer Festival Schedule Outline & Subscription Information
May
28
to Jun 23

53rd Summer Festival Schedule Outline & Subscription Information

The 53rd Summer Music Festival will be held from May 28 - June 23, 2024.

Housing goes fast in Sitka during the summer, so book housing now!

https://visitsitka.org/where-to-stay is a great resource to find lodging.

TICKETS ARE NOW ON SALE!

Subscriptions to Harrigan Centennial Hall Concerts Now Available

Individual event tickets and concert descriptions are on our home page.

Schedule:

Café Concert & House Concert Times & Locations TBA - Usually on Tuesdays & Wednesdays Starting May 28

Special Events:

Sunday, June 2 - Family Concert

Sunday, June 9 - Classical Music Cruise

Sunday, June 16 - Community Crab Feed

Sunday, June 23 - Classical Music Brunch

Subscription Concerts at Harrigan Centennial Hall

Friday, May 31 at 7 p.m.

Saturday, June 1 at 7 p.m.

Friday, June 7 at 7 p.m.

Saturday, June 8 at 7 p.m.

Friday, June 14 at 7 p.m.

Saturday, June 15 at 7 p.m.

Friday, June 21 at 7 p.m.

Saturday, June 22 at 2:30 p.m. (Matinee Concert)

Bach’s Lunch - Thursday 12 p.m. FREE Concerts

May 30, June 6, June 13, and June 20


View Event →
Sea Mart Family Concert - FREE
Jun
2

Sea Mart Family Concert - FREE

Join us on the lawn of the Sheldon Jackson Campus for our FREE Sea Mart Family. The concert is about an hour long featuring family friendly music and discussion followed by ice cream. Come rain or shine and bring a chair! We have tents up in the event of rain. The Sitka Music Festival is Alaska’s premier chamber music presenter.

View Event →
Pianissimo!!! Awadagin Pratt & Natasha Paremski - Summer Subscription Concert Number 3
Jun
7

Pianissimo!!! Awadagin Pratt & Natasha Paremski - Summer Subscription Concert Number 3

Join star pianists Awadagin Pratt and Natasha Paremski for a musical journey with music by Philip Glass, Francois Couperin, Pēteris Vasks, Fred Hersch, Chopin, Rachmaninoff, Stravinsky, and Prokofiev. The Sitka Music Festival, a 501 (c)(3) Nonprofit is Alaska's premier chamber music presenter with the mission of providing the finest classical music experience in Alaska through performance and education.

View Event →
Zuill Bailey & Friends Play Chopin & Brahms - Summer Subscription Concert Number 4
Jun
8

Zuill Bailey & Friends Play Chopin & Brahms - Summer Subscription Concert Number 4

Join us for our fourth summer subscription concert featuring our Grammy-winning Artistic Director, Zuill Bailey with a line up of past festival favorites, Benjamin Breen, Martin Sher, Natasha Paremski, and Awadagin Pratt. The Sitka Music Festival, a 501 (c)(3) Nonprofit is Alaska's premier chamber music presenter with the mission of providing the finest classical music experience in Alaska through performance and education.

View Event →
Allen Marine Classical Music Cruise
Jun
9

Allen Marine Classical Music Cruise

Join us Sunday, June 9  from 6 p.m. - 8 p.m. aboard an Allen Marine catamaran for our popular evening cruise concert. The boat departs from the Crescent Harbor Shelter at 6:00pm and returns at 8:00pm.  Take in breathtaking views of Southeast Alaska and wildlife while enjoying world-class chamber music, a catered meal by Edith of Our Town Catering, and a. cash bar while cruising through the water just off Sitka. 

This event always sells out and we are back to a standard size boat this year, so get your tickets fast!

This is a fundraiser for the Sitka Music Festival.

The Sitka Music Festival, a 501 (c)(3) Nonprofit, is Alaska's premier chamber music presenter with the mission of providing the finest classical music experience in Alaska through performance and education. 


“This Event is Sponsored by Allen Marine Tours, Supporting Southeast Alaska Through Tourism!”

View Event →
Chopin: Etudes en Jazz with Matt Herskowitz - Summer Subscription Concert Number 5
Jun
14

Chopin: Etudes en Jazz with Matt Herskowitz - Summer Subscription Concert Number 5

Join us for our fifth summer subscription concert featuring the pianist Matt Herskowitz.  Matt will be performing his Chopin/Herskowitz program of Chopin: Etudes en Jazz that was recently featured on medici.tv. The program features Chopin's daring virtuosity and singing melodies paired with jazz inflections and voicing by Matt Herskowitz. The Sitka Music Festival, a 501 (c)(3) Nonprofit is Alaska's premier chamber music presenter with the mission of providing the finest classical music experience in Alaska through performance and education. 

View Event →
Simply Three Returns to Sitka! - Summer Subscription Concert Number 6
Jun
15

Simply Three Returns to Sitka! - Summer Subscription Concert Number 6

Join us for our sixth summer subscription concert featuring the sensational trio, Simply Three.  If you missed them in Sitka last time, don't miss them this time. Below is a video of "Amazing Grace" that was partially filmed here in Sitka on their last visit. 

Program will be announced from stage with various classical cross over tunes from pop to hymns to classical crossover.

CLASSICALLY TRAINED. POP INFLUENCED. STRING DRIVEN.

 

 

The electrifying trio of Glen McDaniel, Nick Villalobos, and Zack Clark, together known as Simply Three, has been captivating audiences worldwide with high-octane performances since 2010. Acclaimed as “having what it takes” (Boston Philharmonic) and “highly imaginative and well played” (Maine Today), Simply Three continues to receive praise for their ability to impress listeners with a multitude of genres that span from artists and composers such as Adele, Gershwin, Coldplay, twenty one pilots, Ed Sheeran, and Michael Jackson. By reshaping convention through this style of genre hopping, the trio continues to seek the true essence of classical crossover with original works as well as innovative arrangements that showcase their technical virtuosity and heartfelt musicality.

With an ever-growing online popularity, Simply Three is creating a renewed excitement for instrumental music through inventive music videos that have captured the hearts of millions of YouTube viewers across the globe. Furthermore, their works have gained great critical recognition by publications such as The Huffington PostRolling Stone, and RyanSeacrest.com, as well as mainstream artists themselves. Chart-topping rockers OneRepublic praised Simply Three’s version of their hit single “Counting Stars,” exclaiming they “LOVE this ‘Counting Stars’ cover!” Additionally, GRAMMY®-nominated R&B sensation Janelle Monáe proclaimed the trio’s project of her hit singles “Cold War” and “Tightrope” to be “an honor” while making it a highlighted feature of her personal website.

Simply Three has old school training but a new school sound. Their quest to look beyond the scope of possibility has led them to collaborate with some of the world’s most creative musicians, including Kellindo Parker (Janelle Monáe), Alyson Stoner, and Jeff Smith (M-Pact), in hopes of creating a new, fresh genesis for string playing. With this, the trio is able to merge shows into a unique synergy of thrilling performances and tone-rich sounds not soon to be forgotten.

The Sitka Music Festival, a 501 (c)(3) Nonprofit is Alaska's premier chamber music presenter with the mission of providing the finest classical music experience in Alaska through performance and education. 

View Event →
Community Crab Feed
Jun
16

Community Crab Feed

Bring your friends and the whole family to this annual community and feast on delicious Dungeness crab with all the fixin's prepared by Our Town Catering. The event is scheduled to take place at the Crescent Harbor Shelter from 3:00-5:00pm Sunday, June 16. Tickets are available until sold out. NEW this year - we have no added ticket fees for online buyers - so buy your ticket in advance before we sell out!

The community crab feed is a fundraiser for the Sitka Music Festival. The Sitka Music Festival, a 501 (c)(3) Nonprofit is Alaska's premier chamber music presenter with the mission of providing the finest classical music experience in Alaska through performance and education. 

View Event →
Piano Quartets: Mahler, Mozart, and Schumann - Summer Subscription Concert Number 7
Jun
21

Piano Quartets: Mahler, Mozart, and Schumann - Summer Subscription Concert Number 7

Join us four our 7th summer subscription concert featuring piano quartets by Mahler, Mozart, and Schumann. 

Gustav Mahler:  Piano Quartet in A minor

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart:  Quartet in E flat, K 493

Helen Kim, Violin

Allison Bailey, Viola

Zuill Bailey, Cello

Jasmin Arakawa, piano

—intermission—

 Robert Schumann : Piano Quartet, Op. 47

Helen Kim, Violin

Yinzi Kong, Viola

Zuill Bailey, Cello

William Ransom, Piano

 *repertoire and artists subject to change

Helen Hwaya Kim made her orchestral debut with the Calgary Philharmonic at the age of six, and has gone on to become a respected and sought-after artist. She has appeared as a soloist with the Boston Pops at Boston’s Symphony Hall, as well as with the Milwaukee and Atlanta Symphony Orchestras.

Ms. Kim earned her Bachelor and Master's Degree from the Juilliard School, where her teachers included Cho-Liang Lin and Dorothy DeLay.  While at Juilliard, she served as Concertmaster of the Juilliard Orchestra and was the winner of the Juilliard Concerto Competition at both the Pre–College and College levels. She is the recipient of more than one hundred national and international awards. She won the prestigious Artists International Competition in New York and, as a result, gave debut recitals at Carnegie Weill Hall and the Aspen Summer Music Festival.

A native of Canada, Ms. Kim has been engaged by many of Canada's leading orchestras, including the National Arts Center Orchestra, Montreal Metropolitan Orchestra, Vancouver Symphony, Calgary Philharmonic, McGill Chamber Orchestra, and the Windsor, Regina, Victoria and Prince George Symphonies. She has also appeared with the DeKalb, New Orleans, Aspen and Banff Festival Orchestras, and with orchestras in the United Kingdom, Germany and Poland.

Ms. Kim has been profiled on national and international television and has appeared on CBC, PBS and CBS networks. Her performances have been aired on NPR and CBC radio networks. 

Ms. Kim has toured extensively throughout Canada and the United States, including performances at Alice Tully Hall and the Santa Fe and La Jolla International Music Festivals, where she performed with Cho-Liang Lin, Gary Hoffman, Andre Previn, and the Orion String Quartet. She performed Bach’s Double violin concerto with Hilary Hahn at the Amelia Island Chamber music festival. Other festival highlights include performances at the Highlands-Cashiers, Banff, Zenith and Sitka International Chamber Music Festivals.

An avid performer of new music, she can be heard on the recent CD release of the works of Alvin Singleton on Albany records. Helen performed the world premiere of the “Concertino” by Chen Yi, scored for solo violin and orchestra that was commissioned especially for her and the KSU Orchestra and was recently released by Centaur in 2016.

Ms. Kim currently resides in Atlanta, Georgia, where she served as Assistant and Associate Concertmaster for the Atlanta Symphony for three seasons. She is currently the Assistant Concertmaster of the Atlanta Opera Orchestra and recently joined the roster of the Atlanta Chamber Players.

Hailed by Gramophone for her ‘characterful sparkle’, Jasmin Arakawa has performed widely in North America, Central and South America, Europe, China and Japan. A prizewinner of the Jean Françaix International Music Competition, she has been heard at Carnegie Hall, Salle Gaveau in Paris and Victoria Hall in Geneva, as well as in broadcasts of the ABC Australia, BBC, PBS and Radio France. She has appeared as a concerto soloist with the Philips Symfonie Orkest in Amsterdam, Orquestra Sinfonica de Piracicaba in Brazil, and numerous orchestras in the United States and her native Japan. Other performance highlights include guest artist appearances at the Toronto Summer Festival, Ribadeo International Music Festival in Spain, Bicentenaire de Chopin in Switzerland, Scotiabank Northern Lights Music Festival in Mexico, Festival de Música de Cámara in Peru, Festival Internacional de Música Erudita de Piracicaba in Brazil, Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concert Series, Fazioli Piano Pure Series in Chicago and Distinguished Concerts International New York. Arakawa released her debut solo album Klavierabend on MSR Classics to critical acclaim, praised by American Record Guide for her ‘rich lyricism’ and ‘supreme clarity’.

She has a special interest in Spanish repertoire, which grew out of a series of lessons with Alicia de Larrocha. As a prizewinner of the Competition in the Performance of Music from Spain and Latin America and under the sponsorship of the Spanish Embassy, she subsequently recorded solo and chamber pieces by Spanish and Latin American composers.

Arakawa has collaborated with notable artists including cellists Zuill Bailey, Colin Carr and Gary Hoffman, flutists Jean Ferrandis, Marina Piccinini, and Carol Wincenc, clarinetist James Campbell, and the Penderecki String Quartet. In addition, she has served as Collaborative Pianist in Residence at the Banff Centre in Canada for three seasons. An advocate of new music, Arakawa has premiered and performed numerous contemporary works. Recently she released the complete works of Witold Lutosławski for violin and piano on PARMA Recordings with Canadian violinist Véronique Mathieu.

Jasmin Arakawa is a graduate of Tokyo University of the Arts. She holds Doctor of Music and Master of Music degrees in Piano Performance from Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, where she studied with Emile Naoumoff, the last protégé of Nadia Boulanger. A recipient of the 2016 Steinway Top Teacher Award, Arakawa has given master classes at China Conservatory of Music in Beijing, Conservatorio Nacional de Música in Peru, Instituto Baccarelli in Brazil, and numerous universities in North America and Europe. A sought-after adjudicator, Arakawa has served on the juries of international and national competitions, including the International Chopin Piano Competition for Latin American Pianists (Peru), New Orleans Piano Institute Competition (USA), and Beethoven International Piano Competition ASIA (Japan). Jasmin Arakawa is Associate Professor of Piano and Piano Area Coordinator at the University of Florida, UF Research Foundation Professor (2023-2025), and Director of the UF International Piano Festival.

Pianist, Artistic Director, Master teacher, editor and judge for international competitions, William Ransom regularly appears in recital, as soloist with orchestras, and as a chamber musician in Eastern and Western Europe, Japan, Korea, South America, Mexico, Canada, and throughout the United States. He has performed in New York’s Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Town Hall, and Merkin Hall; in Orchestra Halls in Chicago, Detroit, Los Angeles, and Atlanta; at the National Gallery in Washington D.C.; and in Philadelphia, Boston, Miami, and Dallas.

He has been invited to perform for the American Ambassadors to Austria, Japan, Korea, the Netherlands, and Ireland, and his performances have been broadcast on National Public Radio and Television in the United States, Japan, Korea, Argentina, and Poland. His recording of Enoch Arden, by Richard Strauss, The Music of Alfredo Barili, Chamber Music of Johannes Brahms and “Listening to Memories” with Chopin, Brahms and Bach were released on the ACA label. Mr. Ransom can also be heard on Heartkeys, from Rising Star Records.

Ransom commissioned and premiered several major works by composer Stephen Paulus including his “Concerto for Piano and Wind Ensemble,” and he was also the featured pianist performing music by Dwight Andrews used in August Wilson’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Broadway hit, The Piano Lesson, as well as the Hallmark Hall of Fame movie based on the same play.

A popular performer on many University concert series, he has performed at numerous colleges around the world including Yale, Cornell, Duke, Tulane, Vanderbilt, M.I.T., Stanford, Toho (Japan), Yonsei (Korea), and the School of the Arts (Argentina) where he has also given masterclasses.

Born in Boston, Ransom began his musical studies at an early age. He was a scholarship student of William Masselos at The Juilliard School in New York (BM and MM), and he also worked with Theodore Lettvin at the University of Michigan (DMA) and Madame Gaby Casadesus at the Ravel Academy idn France.

Ransom is the Mary L. Emerson Professor of Piano at Emory University in Atlanta. He is founder and Artistic Director of the Emory Chamber Music Society of Atlanta collaborates with such artists as cellists Yo-Yo Ma, Steven Isserlis, and Zuill Bailey; clarinetist Richard Stoltzman; members of the Emerson, Juilliard, Tokyo, Cleveland, St. Petersburg, American, Ariel, Parker, Vega, Borromeo, Lark, Cavani, Attacca, and Muir String Quartets; violinists William Preucil, Elmar Oliviera, Tim Fain, and Robert McDuffie; guitarist Eliot Fisk, and members of the Empire Brass Quintet, the Eroica Trio and the percussion group Nexus among many other classical musicians. He has also worked with jazz great Dave Brubeck and American bluegrass masters Chris Thile and Mark O’Connor.


In the summers, Ransom is Artistic Director of the Highlands-Cashiers Chamber Music Festival in North Carolina and for ten years was also an artist-faculty member of the Kamisaibara Pianists Camp in Japan. In 2016 he was named Artistic Director of the Juneau Jazz & Classics Festival and also one of Musical America Worldwide’s “30 Musical Innovators.”

Allison Bailey began violin studies at the age of four, developed a love for orchestral playing, and became the youngest member of the Prince William Symphony Orchestra at age ten.  Ms. Bailey attended Peabody Conservatory of Music, the University of Oregon, and the Manhattan School of Music. She holds a Bachelor’s degree, Graduate Performance Diploma, a Master’s degree in violin performance, and a Master’s degree in orchestral performance.

Prior to returning to Virginia in 1999, Ms. Bailey lived and worked in New York City, where she experienced a variety of performing engagements including frequent orchestral performances at Carnegie Hall, recording sessions at Sony studios for Quincy Jones Productions, performing on the soundtrack to the A&E Biography of Irving Berlin, and coaching actress Juliana Margulies in a violinist role for the NBC hit drama Homicide

Ms. Bailey has served as guest conductor for All-County, District, and Regional Orchestras in Fairfax and surrounding counties in addition to serving as adjudicator for the New York Orchestra Festival at Carnegie Hall and state assessments throughout Virginia.  She has also served as audition coach for Senior Regional Prep Day in Fairfax and Spotsylvania Counties, and faculty member of the Virginia Governor’s School for the Arts in Richmond.  

In addition to her post as Concertmaster of the Manassas Ballet Theatre Orchestra, Ms. Bailey also serves as Associate Concertmaster of the Alexandria Symphony Orchestra, Associate Concertmaster of the Fairfax Symphony Orchestra, and is an active freelance musician in the Washington area.  In recent years Ms. Bailey has been a featured soloist with the Alexandria Symphony Orchestra, and chamber musician at the Sitka Music Festival in Alaska and the Highlands-Cashiers Chamber Music Festival in North Carolina.

Violist Yinzi Kong received her early training at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music and holds a master’s degree from the Manhattan School of Music. Ms. Kong enjoys a versatile career as both a soloist and chamber musician and has 20 plus years teaching experience. As a founding member of international award-winning Vega String Quartet, Ms. Kong won several top prizes at the Bordeaux International String Quartet Competition in France, the Carmel String Quartet Competition and the Coleman Competition in the US, and she performs in major concert halls around the world including the stages of Carnegie Hall, the Musikverein in Vienna and the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. Festival concert appearances include Aspen, La Jolla, Rockport, Mostly Mozart, El Paso Pro Musica, Highlands-Cashiers, and Brevard. As a soloist, Miss Kong has given recitals in Canada, China, Italy and the US. Her collaboration partners are some of the finest musicians of our time including Eliot Fisk, William Preucil, Richard Stoltzman, Charles Wadsworth, Zuill Bailey, and the Eroica Trio. Her live performances have been broadcast on NPR's Performance Today, the National Radio of China, Shanghai TV, Radio France, France Musiques, and the East German Radio. She has recorded for Naxos and Artek. Miss Kong currently resides in Atlanta, where the Vega Quartet are full-time Artists-in-Residence at Emory University.

The Sitka Music Festival, a 501 (c)(3) Nonprofit is Alaska's premier chamber music presenter with the mission of providing the finest classical music experience in Alaska through performance and education. 

View Event →
Festival Finale: Chopin, Dvořák, & Quinn Mason - Summer Subscription Concert Number 8
Jun
22

Festival Finale: Chopin, Dvořák, & Quinn Mason - Summer Subscription Concert Number 8

Join us for our final subscription concert of the 2024 festival featuring a group of festival friends and family members. The concert opens with star pianist, Natasha Paremski performing Quinn Mason's: New Era Bagatelles followed by Chopin's Piano Sonata No. 2 before wrapping up with Dvorak's Piano Quintet No. 2.  

Program

Quinn Mason: New Era Bagatelles 

Frédéric Chopin: Piano Sonata No. 2 in B flat minor, Op. 35

Natasha Paremski, piano

—Intermission—

Antonin Dvořák: Piano Quintet No. 2, Op. 81

Helen Kim, Violin

Allison Bailey, Violin

Yinzi Kong, Viola

Zuill Bailey, Cello

William Ranson, Piano 1/3

          Jasmin Arakawa, piano  2/4

 

With her consistently striking and dynamic performances, pianist Natasha Paremski reveals astounding virtuosity and profound interpretations. She continues to generate excitement from all corners as she wins over audiences with her musical sensibility and a powerful, flawless technique.

 

Natasha is a regular return guest of many major orchestras, including Minnesota Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, Grant Park Festival, Winnipeg Symphony, Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony, Oregon Symphony, Elgin Symphony, Colorado Symphony, Buffalo Philharmonic, Virginia Symphony, and Royal Philharmonic Orchestra with whom she has performed and toured frequently since 2008 in venues such as Royal Albert Hall, Royal Festival Hall, and Cadogan Hall. She has performed with major orchestras in North America including Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, San Diego Symphony, Toronto Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, Houston Symphony, NAC Orchestra in Ottawa, Nashville Symphony. She has toured extensively in Europe with such orchestras as Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, Vienna’s Tonkünstler Orchester, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Orchestre de Bretagne, the Orchestre de Nancy, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Tonhalle Orchester in Zurich, Moscow Philharmonic, under the direction of conductors including Thomas Dausgaard, Peter Oundjian, Andres Orozco-Estrada, Jeffrey Kahane, James Gaffigan, JoAnn Falletta, Fabien Gabel, Rossen Milanov and Andrew Litton. In addition, she has toured with Gidon Kremer and the Kremerata Baltica in Latvia, Benelux, the United Kingdom and Austria as well as appearances with National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra in Taipei.

 

Natasha has given recitals at the Auditorium du Louvre in Paris, Wigmore Hall, Schloss Elmau, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Festival, Verbier Festival, San Francisco Performances, Seattle’s Meany Hall, Kansas City’s Harriman Jewell Series, Santa Fe’s Lensic Theater, Ludwigshafen BASF Series, Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires, Tokyo’s Musashino Performing Arts Center and on the Rising Stars Series of Gilmore and Ravinia Festivals.

A passionate chamber musician, Natasha is a regular recital partner of Grammy winning cellist Zuill Bailey, with whom she has recorded a number of CDs. Their Britten album on Telarc debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Classical Chart, remaining there for a number of weeks, in addition to being featured on The New York Times Playlist. She has been a guest of many chamber music festivals such as Jeffrey Kahane’s Green Music Center ChamberFest, the Lockenhaus, Toronto, Sitka Summer Music, and Cape Cod Chamber Music festivals to name a few.

 

Natasha was awarded several prestigious prizes at a very young age, including the Gilmore Young Artists prize in 2006 at the age of eighteen, the Prix Montblanc in 2007, the Orpheum Stiftung Prize in Switzerland. In September 2010, she was awarded the Classical Recording Foundation’s Young Artist of the Year. Her first recital album was released in 2011 to great acclaim, topping the Billboard Classical Charts, and was re-released on the Steinway & Sons label in September 2016 featuring Islamey recorded on Steinway’s revolutionary new Spirio technology. In 2012 she recorded Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1 and Rachmaninoff’s Paganini Rhapsody with Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and Fabien Gabel on the orchestra’s label distributed by Naxos.

 

With a strong focus on new music, Natasha’s growing repertoire reflects an artistic maturity beyond her years. In the 2010-11 season, she played the world premiere of a sonata written for her by Gabriel Kahane, which was also included in her solo album.

 

Natasha continues to extend her performance activity and range beyond the traditional concert hall. In December 2008, she was the featured pianist in choreographer Benjamin Millepied’s Danses Concertantes at New York’s Joyce Theater. She was featured in a major two-part film for BBC Television on the life and work of Tchaikovsky, shot on location in St. Petersburg, performing excerpts from Tchaikovsky’s First Piano Concerto and other works. In the winter of 2007, Natasha participated along with Simon Keenlyside in the filming of Twin Spirits, a project starring Sting and Trudie Styler that explores the music and writing of Robert and Clara Schumann, which was released on DVD. She has performed in the project live several times with the co-creators in New York and the U.K., directed by John Caird, the original director/adaptor of the musical Les Misérables.

 

Natasha began her piano studies at the age of four with Nina Malikova at Moscow’s Andreyev School of Music. She then studied at San Francisco Conservatory of Music before moving to New York to study with Pavlina Dokovska at Mannes College of Music, from which she graduated in 2007. Natasha made her professional debut at age nine with El Camino Youth Symphony in California. At the age of fifteen she debuted with Los Angeles Philharmonic and recorded two discs with Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra.

 

Born in Moscow, Natasha moved to the United States at the age of eight, becoming a U.S. citizen shortly thereafter, and is now based in New York City where she is Artistic Director of the New York Piano Society, a non-profit organization that supports pianists whose professions lie outside of music.

 

Helen Hwaya Kim made her orchestral debut with the Calgary Philharmonic at the age of six, and has gone on to become a respected and sought-after artist. She has appeared as a soloist with the Boston Pops at Boston’s Symphony Hall, as well as with the Milwaukee and Atlanta Symphony Orchestras.

Ms. Kim earned her Bachelor and Master's Degree from the Juilliard School, where her teachers included Cho-Liang Lin and Dorothy DeLay.  While at Juilliard, she served as Concertmaster of the Juilliard Orchestra and was the winner of the Juilliard Concerto Competition at both the Pre–College and College levels. She is the recipient of more than one hundred national and international awards. She won the prestigious Artists International Competition in New York and, as a result, gave debut recitals at Carnegie Weill Hall and the Aspen Summer Music Festival.

A native of Canada, Ms. Kim has been engaged by many of Canada's leading orchestras, including the National Arts Center Orchestra, Montreal Metropolitan Orchestra, Vancouver Symphony, Calgary Philharmonic, McGill Chamber Orchestra, and the Windsor, Regina, Victoria and Prince George Symphonies. She has also appeared with the DeKalb, New Orleans, Aspen and Banff Festival Orchestras, and with orchestras in the United Kingdom, Germany and Poland.

Ms. Kim has been profiled on national and international television and has appeared on CBC, PBS and CBS networks. Her performances have been aired on NPR and CBC radio networks. 

Ms. Kim has toured extensively throughout Canada and the United States, including performances at Alice Tully Hall and the Santa Fe and La Jolla International Music Festivals, where she performed with Cho-Liang Lin, Gary Hoffman, Andre Previn, and the Orion String Quartet. She performed Bach’s Double violin concerto with Hilary Hahn at the Amelia Island Chamber music festival. Other festival highlights include performances at the Highlands-Cashiers, Banff, Zenith and Sitka International Chamber Music Festivals.

An avid performer of new music, she can be heard on the recent CD release of the works of Alvin Singleton on Albany records. Helen performed the world premiere of the “Concertino” by Chen Yi, scored for solo violin and orchestra that was commissioned especially for her and the KSU Orchestra and was recently released by Centaur in 2016.

Ms. Kim currently resides in Atlanta, Georgia, where she served as Assistant and Associate Concertmaster for the Atlanta Symphony for three seasons. She is currently the Assistant Concertmaster of the Atlanta Opera Orchestra and recently joined the roster of the Atlanta Chamber Players.

Hailed by Gramophone for her ‘characterful sparkle’, Jasmin Arakawa has performed widely in North America, Central and South America, Europe, China and Japan. A prizewinner of the Jean Françaix International Music Competition, she has been heard at Carnegie Hall, Salle Gaveau in Paris and Victoria Hall in Geneva, as well as in broadcasts of the ABC Australia, BBC, PBS and Radio France. She has appeared as a concerto soloist with the Philips Symfonie Orkest in Amsterdam, Orquestra Sinfonica de Piracicaba in Brazil, and numerous orchestras in the United States and her native Japan. Other performance highlights include guest artist appearances at the Toronto Summer Festival, Ribadeo International Music Festival in Spain, Bicentenaire de Chopin in Switzerland, Scotiabank Northern Lights Music Festival in Mexico, Festival de Música de Cámara in Peru, Festival Internacional de Música Erudita de Piracicaba in Brazil, Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concert Series, Fazioli Piano Pure Series in Chicago and Distinguished Concerts International New York. Arakawa released her debut solo album Klavierabend on MSR Classics to critical acclaim, praised by American Record Guide for her ‘rich lyricism’ and ‘supreme clarity’.

She has a special interest in Spanish repertoire, which grew out of a series of lessons with Alicia de Larrocha. As a prizewinner of the Competition in the Performance of Music from Spain and Latin America and under the sponsorship of the Spanish Embassy, she subsequently recorded solo and chamber pieces by Spanish and Latin American composers.

Arakawa has collaborated with notable artists including cellists Zuill Bailey, Colin Carr and Gary Hoffman, flutists Jean Ferrandis, Marina Piccinini, and Carol Wincenc, clarinetist James Campbell, and the Penderecki String Quartet. In addition, she has served as Collaborative Pianist in Residence at the Banff Centre in Canada for three seasons. An advocate of new music, Arakawa has premiered and performed numerous contemporary works. Recently she released the complete works of Witold Lutosławski for violin and piano on PARMA Recordings with Canadian violinist Véronique Mathieu.

Jasmin Arakawa is a graduate of Tokyo University of the Arts. She holds Doctor of Music and Master of Music degrees in Piano Performance from Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, where she studied with Emile Naoumoff, the last protégé of Nadia Boulanger. A recipient of the 2016 Steinway Top Teacher Award, Arakawa has given master classes at China Conservatory of Music in Beijing, Conservatorio Nacional de Música in Peru, Instituto Baccarelli in Brazil, and numerous universities in North America and Europe. A sought-after adjudicator, Arakawa has served on the juries of international and national competitions, including the International Chopin Piano Competition for Latin American Pianists (Peru), New Orleans Piano Institute Competition (USA), and Beethoven International Piano Competition ASIA (Japan). Jasmin Arakawa is Associate Professor of Piano and Piano Area Coordinator at the University of Florida, UF Research Foundation Professor (2023-2025), and Director of the UF International Piano Festival.

Pianist, Artistic Director, Master teacher, editor and judge for international competitions, William Ransom regularly appears in recital, as soloist with orchestras, and as a chamber musician in Eastern and Western Europe, Japan, Korea, South America, Mexico, Canada, and throughout the United States. He has performed in New York’s Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Town Hall, and Merkin Hall; in Orchestra Halls in Chicago, Detroit, Los Angeles, and Atlanta; at the National Gallery in Washington D.C.; and in Philadelphia, Boston, Miami, and Dallas.

He has been invited to perform for the American Ambassadors to Austria, Japan, Korea, the Netherlands, and Ireland, and his performances have been broadcast on National Public Radio and Television in the United States, Japan, Korea, Argentina, and Poland. His recording of Enoch Arden, by Richard Strauss, The Music of Alfredo Barili, Chamber Music of Johannes Brahms and “Listening to Memories” with Chopin, Brahms and Bach were released on the ACA label. Mr. Ransom can also be heard on Heartkeys, from Rising Star Records.

Ransom commissioned and premiered several major works by composer Stephen Paulus including his “Concerto for Piano and Wind Ensemble,” and he was also the featured pianist performing music by Dwight Andrews used in August Wilson’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Broadway hit, The Piano Lesson, as well as the Hallmark Hall of Fame movie based on the same play.

A popular performer on many University concert series, he has performed at numerous colleges around the world including Yale, Cornell, Duke, Tulane, Vanderbilt, M.I.T., Stanford, Toho (Japan), Yonsei (Korea), and the School of the Arts (Argentina) where he has also given masterclasses.

Born in Boston, Ransom began his musical studies at an early age. He was a scholarship student of William Masselos at The Juilliard School in New York (BM and MM), and he also worked with Theodore Lettvin at the University of Michigan (DMA) and Madame Gaby Casadesus at the Ravel Academy idn France.

Ransom is the Mary L. Emerson Professor of Piano at Emory University in Atlanta. He is founder and Artistic Director of the Emory Chamber Music Society of Atlanta collaborates with such artists as cellists Yo-Yo Ma, Steven Isserlis, and Zuill Bailey; clarinetist Richard Stoltzman; members of the Emerson, Juilliard, Tokyo, Cleveland, St. Petersburg, American, Ariel, Parker, Vega, Borromeo, Lark, Cavani, Attacca, and Muir String Quartets; violinists William Preucil, Elmar Oliviera, Tim Fain, and Robert McDuffie; guitarist Eliot Fisk, and members of the Empire Brass Quintet, the Eroica Trio and the percussion group Nexus among many other classical musicians. He has also worked with jazz great Dave Brubeck and American bluegrass masters Chris Thile and Mark O’Connor.


In the summers, Ransom is Artistic Director of the Highlands-Cashiers Chamber Music Festival in North Carolina and for ten years was also an artist-faculty member of the Kamisaibara Pianists Camp in Japan. In 2016 he was named Artistic Director of the Juneau Jazz & Classics Festival and also one of Musical America Worldwide’s “30 Musical Innovators.”

Allison Bailey began violin studies at the age of four, developed a love for orchestral playing, and became the youngest member of the Prince William Symphony Orchestra at age ten.  Ms. Bailey attended Peabody Conservatory of Music, the University of Oregon, and the Manhattan School of Music. She holds a Bachelor’s degree, Graduate Performance Diploma, a Master’s degree in violin performance, and a Master’s degree in orchestral performance.

Prior to returning to Virginia in 1999, Ms. Bailey lived and worked in New York City, where she experienced a variety of performing engagements including frequent orchestral performances at Carnegie Hall, recording sessions at Sony studios for Quincy Jones Productions, performing on the soundtrack to the A&E Biography of Irving Berlin, and coaching actress Juliana Margulies in a violinist role for the NBC hit drama Homicide

Ms. Bailey has served as guest conductor for All-County, District, and Regional Orchestras in Fairfax and surrounding counties in addition to serving as adjudicator for the New York Orchestra Festival at Carnegie Hall and state assessments throughout Virginia.  She has also served as audition coach for Senior Regional Prep Day in Fairfax and Spotsylvania Counties, and faculty member of the Virginia Governor’s School for the Arts in Richmond.  

In addition to her post as Concertmaster of the Manassas Ballet Theatre Orchestra, Ms. Bailey also serves as Associate Concertmaster of the Alexandria Symphony Orchestra, Associate Concertmaster of the Fairfax Symphony Orchestra, and is an active freelance musician in the Washington area.  In recent years Ms. Bailey has been a featured soloist with the Alexandria Symphony Orchestra, and chamber musician at the Sitka Music Festival in Alaska and the Highlands-Cashiers Chamber Music Festival in North Carolina.

Violist Yinzi Kong received her early training at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music and holds a master’s degree from the Manhattan School of Music. Ms. Kong enjoys a versatile career as both a soloist and chamber musician and has 20 plus years teaching experience. As a founding member of international award-winning Vega String Quartet, Ms. Kong won several top prizes at the Bordeaux International String Quartet Competition in France, the Carmel String Quartet Competition and the Coleman Competition in the US, and she performs in major concert halls around the world including the stages of Carnegie Hall, the Musikverein in Vienna and the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. Festival concert appearances include Aspen, La Jolla, Rockport, Mostly Mozart, El Paso Pro Musica, Highlands-Cashiers, and Brevard. As a soloist, Miss Kong has given recitals in Canada, China, Italy and the US. Her collaboration partners are some of the finest musicians of our time including Eliot Fisk, William Preucil, Richard Stoltzman, Charles Wadsworth, Zuill Bailey, and the Eroica Trio. Her live performances have been broadcast on NPR's Performance Today, the National Radio of China, Shanghai TV, Radio France, France Musiques, and the East German Radio. She has recorded for Naxos and Artek. Miss Kong currently resides in Atlanta, where the Vega Quartet are full-time Artists-in-Residence at Emory University.

The Sitka Music Festival, a 501 (c)(3) Nonprofit is Alaska's premier chamber music presenter with the mission of providing the finest classical music experience in Alaska through performance and education. 

View Event →
Classical Music Brunch
Jun
23

Classical Music Brunch

Join us for the 2024  Brunch Concert in our beautifully renovated home, The Miner Music Center at Stevenson Hall!  This fundraiser is one of the Festival's most intimate events as the audience is limited to 40 attendees and it is the final summer festival event.

Doors open at 11 a.m. for a beverage while you find your seats followed by a concert around 11:30  and finishing with a full catered brunch. Beverages will include Prosecco, Mimosas, Orange Juice, Coffee, Tea and more. Every year the brunch has at least one Alaskan themed item, which is often Moose Pastrami. 

This year, the event will be even more special as we showcase the Sitka Violin, an instrument made of salvaged wood from Sitka, including Sitka Spruce that used to be in our building, the Miner Music Center at Stevenson Hall. Meet the violin maker and learn about this project. 

Also new this year - all ticket fees are included in the price and not added at the end. So, get your ticket online in advance, because the brunch sells out!

View Event →

Winterlude
Feb
13

Winterlude

Join soprano Danielle Talamantes for an intimate evening at the Miner Music Center at Stevenson Hall. Doors will open at 5:30 p.m. for Prosecco and wine at an open bar with lite fare. Music will follow featuring Romantic French chanson and Duke Ellington Standards. 

Dress code is open - you can choose to wear your operatic finest or come in Xtratufs. 

Space is limited and last year's event sold out - reserve your tickets today! 

Selections of French chanson
Gabriel Fauré (1845 - 1924)
Aprés un Rêve
Chanson d’Amour
En Sourdine

Tres arias
Joaquín Turina (1882 - 1949)
Romance
El pescador
Rima

Selections from Ten Poems of James Joyce
Henry Dehlinger (1966 - )
Strings in the Earth and Air
Alone
At That Hour

Selections from Moments in Sonder
Elizabeth Brittany Boykin (1989 - ), poetry by Maya Angelou
Tears
Passing Time
How Can I Lie to You
The Lesson

Selections from the American Songbook
Duke Ellington (1899 - 1974)
Solitude
Don’t Get Around Much Anymore
Sentimental Mood


Danielle Talamantes –

“It’s not often that an operagoer is fortunate enough to witness the birth of a star!,” noted of Soprano Danielle Talamantes’ recent turn as Violetta in La Traviata with Hawaii Opera Theatre. Last season she made her Washington National Opera début as Maria Hernández in Kamal Sankaram’s Rise as part of their production Written in Stone, returned to her signature role as Mimì in Puccini’s La Bohème with Jacksonville Symphony and three world premiers: Mosaic for Earth by composer Dwight Bigler at her Alma Mater, Virginia Tech, the rhapsody written for Talamantes and orchestra based on T.S. Eliot’s iconic poem The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock with the National Philharmonic, and the stunning choral cantata Kohelet with the Washington Master Chorale and Santa Clara Master Chorale; the latter two works by acclaimed composer Henry Dehlinger. The conclusion of the season was with the Fairfax Symphony in the Beethoven Symphony No. 9 and a debut as guest soloist with the Buffalo Philharmonic. 

This season’s engagements include Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 and Ginastera’s Milena with the National Philharmonic, Verdi’s Requiem with the Pensacola Symphony and the NC Master Chorale, Britten’s War Requiem with Opera Roanoke, Handel’s Messiah with The US Naval Academy, as well as concerts with Lyric Fest, Choralis, and the Artist Series of Sarasota. 

Recent seasons performances include Frasquita in Bizet’s Carmen and Anna in Verdi’s Nabucco with The Metropolitan Opera, Beatrice in Catán’s Il postino with VA Opera, Marzelline in Beethoven’s Fidelio with Princeton Festival; Violetta in La traviata with Hawaii Opera Theater, Cedar Rapids Opera Theatre, and Finger Lakes Opera, Mimì in La bohème with St Petersburg (FL) Opera and Jacksonville Symphony; the title role of Susannah with Opera Roanoke; Donna Anna in Don Giovanni with Cedar Rapids Opera Theater; and a Spoleto Festival USA début as Sergente in Cavalli’s Veremonda. 

Professional recordings include At That Hour: Art Songs by Henry Dehlinger on the Avie Record Label; Canciones españolas and Heaven and Earth: A Duke Ellington Songbook on the MSR Classics label.

View Event →
Alaska Airlines' Winter Classics - Hermitage Piano Trio
Feb
11

Alaska Airlines' Winter Classics - Hermitage Piano Trio

  • UAA University of Alaska Anchorage Recital Hall (map)
  • Google Calendar ICS

Sunday, February 11
4 p.m. – Hermitage Piano Trio

Trio in G minor “Elégiaque”
Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873 – 1943)

 Élégie, Op 23
Josef Suk (1874 – 1935)

 Trio in C minor, Op. 1, No. 3
Ludvig van Beethoven (1770 – 1827)

Perelló – Tres Impresiones
Mariano Parelló (1886 – 1960)

Trio in C
Gaspar Cassado (1897 – 1966)

Now entering their second decade, the United States-based Hermitage Piano Trio has solidified its place as one of the world’s leading piano trios, garnering multiple GRAMMY® Award nominations and receiving both audience and press accolades for their performances that The Washington Post singled out for “such power and sweeping passion that it left you nearly out of breath.”

The Trio is a champion of immense repertoire ranging from the works of the great European tradition to more contemporary American pieces.  Hallmarks of the Hermitage Piano Trio are their impeccable musicianship, sumptuous sound and interpretative range, which have led to demand for many repeat performances.  They have appeared on major chamber music series and festivals in Los Angeles, New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Miami, Washington, D.C., Tucson, Portland (OR), Tulsa, San Diego, Corpus Christi, Newport (RI), San Miguel de Allende (Mexico), Winnipeg (Canada), New Orleans, and many others.  In addition to their extensive touring engagements, the Trio is involved in educational and outreach projects.

Hermitage Piano Trio began its multiple-album recording deal with Reference Recordings, debuting its CD titled “Rachmaninoff,” which featured Sergei Rachmaninoff’s two trios and his unforgettable Vocalise.  Echoing many enthusiastic reviews of the “Rachmaninoff” recording, The Stradlauded the Trio’s “outstanding playing in intense, heartfelt performances,” and American Record Guide praised that “the Hermitage wants to burst forth with passion, to let the whole world know!  I am really glad that someone can still play that way in our utterly unromantic age.”  Their second album “Spanish Impressions,” released in September 2023, has the Trio exploring the rich and diverse musical heritage of early 20th century Spanish composers, including works by Arbós, Turina, Cassadó and Perelló.

”More striking even than the individual virtuosity was the profound level of integration among the players, who showed a rare degree of ensemble from beginning to end. 

- The Washington Post

A rarity in the chamber music world, this elite Trio brings together three accomplished soloists in their own right. An established soloist, violinist Misha Keylin has performed in forty-five countries spanning five continents. He has captured special attention with his world-premiere CD series, released by Naxos, of Henri Vieuxtemps seven violin concertos and showpieces. These recordings have already sold hundreds of thousands of copies worldwide and have garnered numerous press accolades and awards, including “Critic’s Choice” by The New York Times, Gramophone, and The Strad.  Hailed as “a brilliant cellist” by the legendary Mstislav Rostropovich, Sergey Antonov went on to prove his mentor’s proclamation when he became one of the youngest cellists ever awarded the gold medal at the world’s premier musical contest, the quadrennial International Tchaikovsky Competition. Antonov’s entry into this elite stratum of sought-after classical artists has already placed him on stages at world-renowned venues from Russia’s Great Hall at the Moscow Conservatory to Suntory Hall in Tokyo. And pianist Ilya Kazantsev, praised by The Washington Post as “virtually flawless,” has performed as a recitalist and a soloist with orchestras in Russia, Canada, Europe, and the United States. Mr. Kazantsev’s many awards and honors include first prize at the Nikolai Rubinstein International Competition (France) as well as top prizes at the International Chopin Competition (Russia) and the World Piano Competition (USA).

View Event →
Alaska Airlines' Winter Classics - Danielle Talamantes
Feb
10

Alaska Airlines' Winter Classics - Danielle Talamantes

  • UAA University of Alaska Anchorage Recital Hall (map)
  • Google Calendar ICS

Saturday, February 10
7 p.m. – Danielle Talamantes, soprano with Henry Dehlinger, piano

Selections of French chanson
Gabriel Fauré (1845 - 1924)
Aprés un Rêve
Chanson d’Amour
En Sourdine

Tres arias
Joaquín Turina (1882 - 1949)
Romance
El pescador
Rima

 Selections from Ten Poems of James Joyce
Henry Dehlinger (1966 - )
Strings in the Earth and Air
Alone
At That Hour

Selections from Moments in Sonder
Elizabeth Brittany Boykin (1989 - ), poetry by Maya Angelou
Tears
Passing Time
How Can I Lie to You
The Lesson

 Selections from the American Songbook
Duke Ellington (1899 - 1974)
Solitude
Don’t Get Around Much Anymore
Sentimental Mood


Danielle Talamantes –

“It’s not often that an operagoer is fortunate enough to witness the birth of a star!,” noted of Soprano Danielle Talamantes’ recent turn as Violetta in La Traviata with Hawaii Opera Theatre. Last season she made her Washington National Opera début as Maria Hernández in Kamal Sankaram’s Rise as part of their production Written in Stone, returned to her signature role as Mimì in Puccini’s La Bohème with Jacksonville Symphony and three world premiers: Mosaic for Earth by composer Dwight Bigler at her Alma Mater, Virginia Tech, the rhapsody written for Talamantes and orchestra based on T.S. Eliot’s iconic poem The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock with the National Philharmonic, and the stunning choral cantata Kohelet with the Washington Master Chorale and Santa Clara Master Chorale; the latter two works by acclaimed composer Henry Dehlinger. The conclusion of the season was with the Fairfax Symphony in the Beethoven Symphony No. 9 and a debut as guest soloist with the Buffalo Philharmonic. 

This season’s engagements include Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 and Ginastera’s Milena with the National Philharmonic, Verdi’s Requiem with the Pensacola Symphony and the NC Master Chorale, Britten’s War Requiem with Opera Roanoke, Handel’s Messiah with The US Naval Academy, as well as concerts with Lyric Fest, Choralis, and the Artist Series of Sarasota. 

Recent seasons performances include Frasquita in Bizet’s Carmen and Anna in Verdi’s Nabucco with The Metropolitan Opera, Beatrice in Catán’s Il postino with VA Opera, Marzelline in Beethoven’s Fidelio with Princeton Festival; Violetta in La traviata with Hawaii Opera Theater, Cedar Rapids Opera Theatre, and Finger Lakes Opera, Mimì in La bohème with St Petersburg (FL) Opera and Jacksonville Symphony; the title role of Susannah with Opera Roanoke; Donna Anna in Don Giovanni with Cedar Rapids Opera Theater; and a Spoleto Festival USA début as Sergente in Cavalli’s Veremonda. 

Professional recordings include At That Hour: Art Songs by Henry Dehlinger on the Avie Record Label; Canciones españolas and Heaven and Earth: A Duke Ellington Songbook on the MSR Classics label.


View Event →
Alaska Airlines' Winter Classics - Zuill Bailey & Timothy Smith
Feb
9

Alaska Airlines' Winter Classics - Zuill Bailey & Timothy Smith

  • UAA University of Alaska Anchorage Recital Hall (map)
  • Google Calendar ICS

Friday, February 9
7 p.m. – Zuill Bailey, cello & Timothy Smith, piano

Kol Nidrei, Op. 47
Max Bruch (1838 – 1920)

Cello Concerto
Édouard Lalo (1823 – 1892)

Cello Concerto No. 1
Dmitry Shostakovich (1906 – 1975)

Zuill Bailey, widely considered one of the premiere cellists in the world, is a Grammy Award winning, internationally renowned soloist, recitalist, Artistic Director and teacher.  His rare combination of celebrated artistry, technical wizardry and engaging personality has made him one of the most sought after and active cellists today.

Mr. Bailey has been featured with symphony orchestras and music festivals worldwide.  He won the Best Solo Performance Grammy Award in 2017, for his recording of  Michael Daugherty’s “Tales of Hemingway,” with the Nashville Symphony led by Giancarlo Guerrero.  His extensive discography includes his newest release – the world premier recording of Ellen Taaffe Zwilich’s Cello Concerto with the Santa Rosa Symphony. In 2021 he released his second recording of the Bach Cello Suites for PS Audio’s Octave Records label, recorded and mixed in stereo and multichannel sound.

He appeared in a recurring role on the HBO series “Oz,” and has been heard on NPR’s “Morning Edition,” “Tiny Desk Concert,” “Performance Today,” “Saint Paul Sunday,” BBC’s  “In Tune,” XM Radio’s “Live from Studio II,” Sirius Satellite Radio’s “Virtuoso Voices,” and his latest disc of Bach Suites was the disc of the week on Sirius’ Symphony Hall.

Mr. Bailey received his Bachelor’s Degree from the Peabody Conservatory where he was named the 2014 Johns Hopkins University Distinguished Alumni, and received a Master’s Degree from the Juilliard School.  He performs on the “rosette” 1693 Matteo Gofriller Cello formerly owned by Mischa Schneider of the Budapest String Quartet.

He is the Artistic Director of El Paso Pro-Musica (Texas), the Sitka Music Festival/Series and Cello Seminar, (Alaska), Juneau Jazz and Classics, (Alaska), the Northwest Bach Festival (Washington),  Classical Inside Out Series- Mesa Arts Center (Arizona) and is Director of the Center for Arts Entrepreneurship and Professor of Cello at the University of Texas at El Paso.

Timothy Smith, who has been described as "A pianist who interlaces grace with bursts of power and color" by the Philadelphia Inquirer, and "an excellent pianist" by Vers l'Avenir (Belgium) is Professor of Piano and head of Piano Studies at the University of Alaska Anchorage. Raised in Seattle, Washington, Smith began private piano studies at age five, and at ten was accepted into the Pre-College division of the Juilliard School. He made his orchestral debut at the age of 15. His undergraduate studies were at the University of Washington in Seattle, with Bela Siki, where Smith received numerous awards and scholarships. He continued graduate study as a scholarship student of Martin Canin at Juilliard where he received his Master of Music degree, and later at the State University of New York at Stony Brook, again with Martin Canin, where he was awarded the Doctorate of Musical Arts in 1985. Dr. Smith has won major prizes and recognition in international competitions, including the Casadesus (5th prize), Gina Bachauer (4th prize), Washington, D.C. International (3rd prize), Queen Elizabeth (Brussels) (semi-finalist), among others. As a winner of the Artists International Competition, Smith made his New York recital debut in Carnegie Recital Hall. He has appeared with many orchestras, including the Seattle and Utah Symphonies, the Palo Alto Chamber Orchestra, as well as orchestras in Anchorage, Japan, and China (see below). Smith has performed on National Public Radio, WQXR-FM (New York), RTB (Belgium), and others. He has given master classes in Japan, Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and China, PRC, and also in North and South America. He has given over 50 concerts in Asia, including many venues in Japan: Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, Sendai, Sapporo, and many others, from Asahigawa in the north to Kure in the south. In the U.S., his students have received honors and recognition in local, state, regional, and national competitions, and have been featured on NPR and on WQXR-FM in New York. He has recorded for Seoul Records (Korea), is listed in Who's Who among America's Teachers, and American Keyboard Artists. Previous to his appointment at UAA, Smith taught class piano at the Juilliard School, and undergraduate piano at the State University of New York at Stony Brook. In addition to teaching piano at UAA, Dr. Smith teaches Chamber Music and Piano Master Class. Smith has extensive university administrative experience, with 19 years as Chair of the Department of Music, and currently as Associate Dean for the Fine Arts at UAA. As Department Chair in the 1990s, Smith led the department to receive its accreditation with NASM. His solo recording, Timothy Smith plays Liszt, has been released nationally by Albany Records and is currently available online at MSR Classics, and also on iTunes. Of this recording, Adrian Corleonis of Fanfare Magazine wrote, "...impressive and towering...one of the more gripping accounts of the (Liszt) Sonata in recent memory." 

Smith gave a solo recital in Seattle's Town Hall and was a featured performer on KING-FM radio. He also gave a solo recital and master class at the University of Hawaii. His performance of the Khachaturian concerto with the Anchorage Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Randall Fleischer, was a huge success. Other concerts include a solo recital in Nagoya, Japan at the Fushimi Denki Bunka Kaikan, a Steinway hall, as well as solo recitals in Arcata, Santa Barbara, Sacramento, and in Vancouver, B.C. The past season Smith gave solo recitals in Anchorage, Baton Rouge (at LSU), and Tacoma (at Pacific Lutheran University). He also was a judge for the Simon Fiset competition in Seattle for the Seattle Music Teachers Association.

In another notable concert event, Smith gave two performances of a two piano concerto entitled"A Green Call"  with pianist Sa Chen and the China National Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Terje Mikkelsen. The concert was held in the Poly Plaza theatre in Beijing, and it was repeated in the Tianqiao Theatre, also in Beijing, with the Norwegian Prime Minister in attendance. The first concert was videotaped and broadcast twice nationally over Chinese Television (CCTV, also known as Chinese Central Television.) It was also broadcast later in Norway. 

In the summer of 2006, Smith had a very successful month long concert tour of the People's Republic of China, where he gave concerts in Ningbo, Jinan (2), Dongying, Baotou, and in Beijing, where he performed at the large concert hall in the Forbidden City. Master classes were also given in Ningbo, Jinan, Dongying, and Baotou. 

Smith was invited to join the faculty of the Sewanee Summer Music Festival for its 2008 season, where he performed with such distinguished musicians as Janet Sung and Keith Redpath (violins), Hillary Hearndon (viola), and Paul York (cello). In August of 2010 Smith gave a concert with Japanese tenor John Ken Nuzzo in Nagoya, and that next month, Smith opened with the Anchorage Symphony as featured soloist, performing the Liszt Concerto No. 2 in A major. Two more concerts with tenor John Nuzzo followed that season, one in recital in Anchorage in January of 2011, followed by a "Japan Relief Concert" also in Anchorage in June.

In the summer of 2011, Smith performed across China on a concert tour covering six cities, resulting in six performances and three master classes (Dongying, Chongqing, and Suzhou). Performances were given in Lanzhou, Qingdao, Dongying, Chongqing, Guangzhou, and Suzhou. The concerts in Qingdao and Guangzhou were part of a larger "gala concert" where the artist shared the stage at alternate times with the local symphony orchestras. Lanzhou, Dongying, Chongqing and Suzhou were full solo recitals. In Chongqing, Smith was joined by pianist Sa Chen and a faculty member from the Beijing Conservatory who also contributed to the Chongqing performance. Smith was also joined by his wife Rumi where they were featured as duo pianists on several of the concerts. Both Smith and his wife gave master classes at the Chonqing School for the Arts, as a part of their International Summer Piano Festival. This was Smith's fourth invited trip to China.

Smith is currently working on a research project that involves the use of Tobii eye scanning technology to evaluate sight-reading habits of pianists. Possibilities for this technology may include improved tools and approaches for instruction in this area. The UAA Green & Gold News featured an article on this research project in April 2014.

Timothy Smith is a Steinway Concert Artist, and is the Sr. Associate Dean of the College of Arts & Sciences at UAA.


View Event →
Anchorage Museum Lunch Concert (FREE with museum admission)
Feb
9

Anchorage Museum Lunch Concert (FREE with museum admission)

No Tickets Required - Free with museum Admission

Join Grammy-winning cellist, Zuill Bailey with pianist Timothy Smith for an afternoon concert with selections from the evening concert below.

Friday, February 9
7 p.m. – Zuill Bailey, cello & Timothy Smith, piano

Kol Nidrei, Op. 47
Max Bruch (1838 – 1920)

Cello Concerto
Édouard Lalo (1823 – 1892)

Cello Concerto No. 1
Dmitry Shostakovich (1906 – 1975)

Zuill Bailey, widely considered one of the premiere cellists in the world, is a Grammy Award winning, internationally renowned soloist, recitalist, Artistic Director and teacher.  His rare combination of celebrated artistry, technical wizardry and engaging personality has made him one of the most sought after and active cellists today.

Mr. Bailey has been featured with symphony orchestras and music festivals worldwide.  He won the Best Solo Performance Grammy Award in 2017, for his recording of  Michael Daugherty’s “Tales of Hemingway,” with the Nashville Symphony led by Giancarlo Guerrero.  His extensive discography includes his newest release – the world premier recording of Ellen Taaffe Zwilich’s Cello Concerto with the Santa Rosa Symphony. In 2021 he released his second recording of the Bach Cello Suites for PS Audio’s Octave Records label, recorded and mixed in stereo and multichannel sound.

He appeared in a recurring role on the HBO series “Oz,” and has been heard on NPR’s “Morning Edition,” “Tiny Desk Concert,” “Performance Today,” “Saint Paul Sunday,” BBC’s  “In Tune,” XM Radio’s “Live from Studio II,” Sirius Satellite Radio’s “Virtuoso Voices,” and his latest disc of Bach Suites was the disc of the week on Sirius’ Symphony Hall.

Mr. Bailey received his Bachelor’s Degree from the Peabody Conservatory where he was named the 2014 Johns Hopkins University Distinguished Alumni, and received a Master’s Degree from the Juilliard School.  He performs on the “rosette” 1693 Matteo Gofriller Cello formerly owned by Mischa Schneider of the Budapest String Quartet.

He is the Artistic Director of El Paso Pro-Musica (Texas), the Sitka Music Festival/Series and Cello Seminar, (Alaska), Juneau Jazz and Classics, (Alaska), the Northwest Bach Festival (Washington),  Classical Inside Out Series- Mesa Arts Center (Arizona) and is Director of the Center for Arts Entrepreneurship and Professor of Cello at the University of Texas at El Paso.

Timothy Smith, who has been described as "A pianist who interlaces grace with bursts of power and color" by the Philadelphia Inquirer, and "an excellent pianist" by Vers l'Avenir (Belgium) is Professor of Piano and head of Piano Studies at the University of Alaska Anchorage. Raised in Seattle, Washington, Smith began private piano studies at age five, and at ten was accepted into the Pre-College division of the Juilliard School. He made his orchestral debut at the age of 15. His undergraduate studies were at the University of Washington in Seattle, with Bela Siki, where Smith received numerous awards and scholarships. He continued graduate study as a scholarship student of Martin Canin at Juilliard where he received his Master of Music degree, and later at the State University of New York at Stony Brook, again with Martin Canin, where he was awarded the Doctorate of Musical Arts in 1985. Dr. Smith has won major prizes and recognition in international competitions, including the Casadesus (5th prize), Gina Bachauer (4th prize), Washington, D.C. International (3rd prize), Queen Elizabeth (Brussels) (semi-finalist), among others. As a winner of the Artists International Competition, Smith made his New York recital debut in Carnegie Recital Hall. He has appeared with many orchestras, including the Seattle and Utah Symphonies, the Palo Alto Chamber Orchestra, as well as orchestras in Anchorage, Japan, and China (see below). Smith has performed on National Public Radio, WQXR-FM (New York), RTB (Belgium), and others. He has given master classes in Japan, Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and China, PRC, and also in North and South America. He has given over 50 concerts in Asia, including many venues in Japan: Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, Sendai, Sapporo, and many others, from Asahigawa in the north to Kure in the south. In the U.S., his students have received honors and recognition in local, state, regional, and national competitions, and have been featured on NPR and on WQXR-FM in New York. He has recorded for Seoul Records (Korea), is listed in Who's Who among America's Teachers, and American Keyboard Artists. Previous to his appointment at UAA, Smith taught class piano at the Juilliard School, and undergraduate piano at the State University of New York at Stony Brook. In addition to teaching piano at UAA, Dr. Smith teaches Chamber Music and Piano Master Class. Smith has extensive university administrative experience, with 19 years as Chair of the Department of Music, and currently as Associate Dean for the Fine Arts at UAA. As Department Chair in the 1990s, Smith led the department to receive its accreditation with NASM. His solo recording, Timothy Smith plays Liszt, has been released nationally by Albany Records and is currently available online at MSR Classics, and also on iTunes. Of this recording, Adrian Corleonis of Fanfare Magazine wrote, "...impressive and towering...one of the more gripping accounts of the (Liszt) Sonata in recent memory." 

Smith gave a solo recital in Seattle's Town Hall and was a featured performer on KING-FM radio. He also gave a solo recital and master class at the University of Hawaii. His performance of the Khachaturian concerto with the Anchorage Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Randall Fleischer, was a huge success. Other concerts include a solo recital in Nagoya, Japan at the Fushimi Denki Bunka Kaikan, a Steinway hall, as well as solo recitals in Arcata, Santa Barbara, Sacramento, and in Vancouver, B.C. The past season Smith gave solo recitals in Anchorage, Baton Rouge (at LSU), and Tacoma (at Pacific Lutheran University). He also was a judge for the Simon Fiset competition in Seattle for the Seattle Music Teachers Association.

In another notable concert event, Smith gave two performances of a two piano concerto entitled"A Green Call"  with pianist Sa Chen and the China National Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Terje Mikkelsen. The concert was held in the Poly Plaza theatre in Beijing, and it was repeated in the Tianqiao Theatre, also in Beijing, with the Norwegian Prime Minister in attendance. The first concert was videotaped and broadcast twice nationally over Chinese Television (CCTV, also known as Chinese Central Television.) It was also broadcast later in Norway. 

In the summer of 2006, Smith had a very successful month long concert tour of the People's Republic of China, where he gave concerts in Ningbo, Jinan (2), Dongying, Baotou, and in Beijing, where he performed at the large concert hall in the Forbidden City. Master classes were also given in Ningbo, Jinan, Dongying, and Baotou. 

Smith was invited to join the faculty of the Sewanee Summer Music Festival for its 2008 season, where he performed with such distinguished musicians as Janet Sung and Keith Redpath (violins), Hillary Hearndon (viola), and Paul York (cello). In August of 2010 Smith gave a concert with Japanese tenor John Ken Nuzzo in Nagoya, and that next month, Smith opened with the Anchorage Symphony as featured soloist, performing the Liszt Concerto No. 2 in A major. Two more concerts with tenor John Nuzzo followed that season, one in recital in Anchorage in January of 2011, followed by a "Japan Relief Concert" also in Anchorage in June.

In the summer of 2011, Smith performed across China on a concert tour covering six cities, resulting in six performances and three master classes (Dongying, Chongqing, and Suzhou). Performances were given in Lanzhou, Qingdao, Dongying, Chongqing, Guangzhou, and Suzhou. The concerts in Qingdao and Guangzhou were part of a larger "gala concert" where the artist shared the stage at alternate times with the local symphony orchestras. Lanzhou, Dongying, Chongqing and Suzhou were full solo recitals. In Chongqing, Smith was joined by pianist Sa Chen and a faculty member from the Beijing Conservatory who also contributed to the Chongqing performance. Smith was also joined by his wife Rumi where they were featured as duo pianists on several of the concerts. Both Smith and his wife gave master classes at the Chonqing School for the Arts, as a part of their International Summer Piano Festival. This was Smith's fourth invited trip to China.

Smith is currently working on a research project that involves the use of Tobii eye scanning technology to evaluate sight-reading habits of pianists. Possibilities for this technology may include improved tools and approaches for instruction in this area. The UAA Green & Gold News featured an article on this research project in April 2014.

Timothy Smith is a Steinway Concert Artist, and is the Sr. Associate Dean of the College of Arts & Sciences at UAA.

View Event →
Soprano Danielle Talamantes in Ketchikan
Feb
6

Soprano Danielle Talamantes in Ketchikan

Selections of French chanson
Gabriel Fauré (1845 - 1924)
Aprés un Rêve
Chanson d’Amour
En Sourdine

Tres arias
Joaquín Turina (1882 - 1949)
Romance
El pescador
Rima

Selections from Ten Poems of James Joyce
Henry Dehlinger (1966 - )
Strings in the Earth and Air
Alone
At That Hour

Selections from Moments in Sonder
Elizabeth Brittany Boykin (1989 - ), poetry by Maya Angelou
Tears
Passing Time
How Can I Lie to You
The Lesson

Selections from the American Songbook
Duke Ellington (1899 - 1974)
Solitude
Don’t Get Around Much Anymore
Sentimental Mood


Danielle Talamantes –

“It’s not often that an operagoer is fortunate enough to witness the birth of a star!,” noted of Soprano Danielle Talamantes’ recent turn as Violetta in La Traviata with Hawaii Opera Theatre. Last season she made her Washington National Opera début as Maria Hernández in Kamal Sankaram’s Rise as part of their production Written in Stone, returned to her signature role as Mimì in Puccini’s La Bohème with Jacksonville Symphony and three world premiers: Mosaic for Earth by composer Dwight Bigler at her Alma Mater, Virginia Tech, the rhapsody written for Talamantes and orchestra based on T.S. Eliot’s iconic poem The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock with the National Philharmonic, and the stunning choral cantata Kohelet with the Washington Master Chorale and Santa Clara Master Chorale; the latter two works by acclaimed composer Henry Dehlinger. The conclusion of the season was with the Fairfax Symphony in the Beethoven Symphony No. 9 and a debut as guest soloist with the Buffalo Philharmonic. 

This season’s engagements include Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 and Ginastera’s Milena with the National Philharmonic, Verdi’s Requiem with the Pensacola Symphony and the NC Master Chorale, Britten’s War Requiem with Opera Roanoke, Handel’s Messiah with The US Naval Academy, as well as concerts with Lyric Fest, Choralis, and the Artist Series of Sarasota. 

Recent seasons performances include Frasquita in Bizet’s Carmen and Anna in Verdi’s Nabucco with The Metropolitan Opera, Beatrice in Catán’s Il postino with VA Opera, Marzelline in Beethoven’s Fidelio with Princeton Festival; Violetta in La traviata with Hawaii Opera Theater, Cedar Rapids Opera Theatre, and Finger Lakes Opera, Mimì in La bohème with St Petersburg (FL) Opera and Jacksonville Symphony; the title role of Susannah with Opera Roanoke; Donna Anna in Don Giovanni with Cedar Rapids Opera Theater; and a Spoleto Festival USA début as Sergente in Cavalli’s Veremonda. 

Professional recordings include At That Hour: Art Songs by Henry Dehlinger on the Avie Record Label; Canciones españolas and Heaven and Earth: A Duke Ellington Songbook on the MSR Classics label.

Sponsored by:

Bawden Street Brewing


View Event →
Mike Block Trio - Sitka
Oct
3

Mike Block Trio - Sitka

Mike Block Trio, featuring Joe K. Walsh (mandolin/vocals) and Noah Fishman (bass/vocals), is led by cello player, singer, and composer, Mike Block, who has been hailed as “one of the bravest, most intriguing musicians on the American fusion scene” by Gramophone Magazine. The trio fertilizes American roots music with contemporary and international influences, bringing an exciting and personal perspective to the acoustic music scene.

View Event →
Mike Block Trio - Anchorage
Sep
30

Mike Block Trio - Anchorage

Mike Block Trio, featuring Joe K. Walsh (mandolin/vocals) and Noah Fishman (bass/vocals), is led by cello player, singer, and composer, Mike Block, who has been hailed as “one of the bravest, most intriguing musicians on the American fusion scene” by Gramophone Magazine. The trio fertilizes American roots music with contemporary and international influences, bringing an exciting and personal perspective to the acoustic music scene.

View Event →
Alaska Airlines’ Autumn Classics Week 2
Sep
29
to Oct 1

Alaska Airlines’ Autumn Classics Week 2

Hailed as "Superb" and "imaginative, skillful creators" by the New York Times, the Calder Quartet captivates audiences exploring a broad spectrum of repertoire, always striving to fulfill the composer’s vision in their performances. The group's distinctive artistry is exemplified by a musical curiosity brought to everything they perform and has led them to be called "one of America’s most satisfying - and most enterprising - quartets". (Los Angeles Times)


View Event →
Zuill Bailey in Recital - Ketchikan
Sep
26

Zuill Bailey in Recital - Ketchikan

Zuill Bailey, widely considered one of the premiere cellists in the world, is a Grammy Award winning, internationally renowned soloist, recitalist, Artistic Director and teacher. His rare combination of celebrated artistry, technical wizardry and engaging personality has made him one of the most sought after and active cellists today.

View Event →
Alaska Airlines' Autumn Classics Week 1
Sep
15
to Sep 17

Alaska Airlines' Autumn Classics Week 1

Hailed by The New York Times at its Carnegie Hall debut as “invariably energetic and finely burnished… playing with earthy vigor,” the Grammy Award-winning Catalyst Quartet was founded by the internationally acclaimed Sphinx Organization in 2010. The ensemble (Karla Donehew Perez, violin; Abi Fayette, violin; Paul Laraia, viola; and Karlos Rodriguez, cello) believes in the unity that can be achieved through music and imagine their programs and projects with this in mind, redefining and reimagining the classical music experience.

View Event →
Catalyst Quartet & Zuill Bailey - Sitka
Sep
12

Catalyst Quartet & Zuill Bailey - Sitka

Hailed by The New York Times at its Carnegie Hall debut as “invariably energetic and finely burnished… playing with earthy vigor,” the Grammy Award-winning Catalyst Quartet was founded by the internationally acclaimed Sphinx Organization in 2010. The ensemble (Karla Donehew Perez, violin; Abi Fayette, violin; Paul Laraia, viola; and Karlos Rodriguez, cello) believes in the unity that can be achieved through music and imagine their programs and projects with this in mind, redefining and reimagining the classical music experience.

View Event →
Winter Classics
Feb
17
to Feb 19

Winter Classics

  • UAA Fine Arts Building - Recital Hall (map)
  • Google Calendar ICS

Experience world-class chamber music February 17 - 19, 2023, featuring Grammy-award® winning cellist Zuill Bailey with the Arianna String Quartet.

View Event →
Autumn Classics
Sep
16
to Oct 2

Autumn Classics

The Sitka Music Festival is pleased to announce the 2022 Alaska Airlines’ Autumn Classics. There will be two weekends of concerts in Anchorage – September 16 - 18 and September 30 - October 2 – and one concert in Sitka on September 28. The season will feature everything from Grammy Award Winning Artistic Director, Zuill Bailey playing two of Beethoven’s Cello Sonatas to the riveting music of Simply Three, a YouTube sensation with over a million subscribers. We can't wait to see you there!

COVID-19 Policy: Masks are required at all concerts.

TICKETS ARE ON SALE NOW!

This concert series is generously sponsored by Alaska Airlines.

View Event →
Sitka Music Festival
Jun
3
to Jun 26

Sitka Music Festival

Since 1972, the Sitka Music Festival (formerly Sitka Summer Music Festival) has been Alaska’s premier classical music festival, presenting exquisite music in the pristine setting of Southeast Alaska and throughout the state. The finest musicians from around the world gather in this rarefied paradise for concerts and events that will challenge and excite your senses.

View Event →
Winter Classics
Mar
4
to Mar 6

Winter Classics

  • UAA Fine Arts Building - Recital Hall (map)
  • Google Calendar ICS

Experience world-class chamber music March 4 - 6, 2022 with Grammy-award® winning cellist Zuill Bailey, pianist Alfredo Oyágüez, and the Eroica Trio making their Alaska debut in Anchorage. Three unique concerts feature these world-class chamber musicians in classic masterworks and modern compositions. Tickets for Winter Classics will be available in early January.

View Event →
  • "It is safe to say that by far . . . the best-played music, that Alaska has ever experienced has been located in Sitka . . ."

    The New York Times

  • "Just beyond the floor-to-ceiling glass wall at the rear of the stage, bald eagles swooped across the waters of mountain-encircled Crescent Bay."

    Los Angeles Times

More than just a Summer Festival - The Sitka Music Festival is Alaska’s Premier Chamber Music Presenter

Founded in 1972 by Paul Rosenthal, the Sitka Summer Music Festival quickly became noted as a leading chamber music festival when Gregor Piatigorsky came to perform in 1974. The festival also drew national attention with articles in the New York Times and Los Angeles Times. Now in its 53rd season, the festival has grown to have a full year presence throughout Alaska. In 2021, the name “summer” was removed and the festival began using the name Sitka Music Festival. Under our current Artistic Director, Zuill Bailey, the festival has invested heavily in the community with community engagement concerts and events, and educational outreach. In 2023, the festival presented 79 events of which over half were free.

In Sitka, the Festival has grown to fill four weeks every June with as many as 28 concerts and events in various locations around Sitka with at least one free concert or event each week. In July, we host three weeks of concert programming featuring renowned guest artists and fellows at the Sitka International Cello Seminar.

Since the early ‘80s the Sitka Music Festival has presented the Autumn Classics concert series in September and Winter Classics in February – usually nine concerts per year held in Anchorage. Recently we have expanded to include concerts in Ketchikan and Sitka as a standard part of the Alaska Airlines’ Autumn and Winter Classics

Across Alaska, thanks in part to grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Alaska State Council on the Arts, and the Atwood Foundation, Festival musicians travel to at least three other Alaska communities per year. The Festival partners with local arts organizations, schools, or borough governments for these tours. To date, 42 Alaskan communities from Selawik to Port Alexander have enjoyed professional classical music performances, courtesy of the Sitka Music Festival.

What is Chamber Music?

Chamber Music is Classical Music in its most intimate and inviting form.

Attending a Concert for the First Time?

We want you to feel welcome! There is no formal dress code. Some people come wearing their finest attire and some people come wearing their rain gear or snow gear.