PORT ANGELES — Grab a lawnchair, listen to live classical music and sip on fine wine this evening during the 7th annual Camaraderie Cellars Summer Picnic.
The annual get-together is a benefit for the Port Angeles Symphony.
It will begin at 6 p.m. at Camaraderie Cellars, 334 Benson Road.
Camaraderie’s co-owners — Don and Vicki Corson — will serve a light picnic dinner and pour their wines including the new Rhapsody in Red II, blended especially for the Symphony, according to a news release.
With its relaxed atmosphere and garden setting, this is a highlight of the summer for Camaraderie Cellars, Vicki said.
The picnic is conducted in “the true sense of the word camaraderie,” she said.
“It’s good friendships, good music, good wine and good food around the patio.”
Advance reservations are required.
Tickets are $75 per person and include the picnic, wine and music, with proceeds directly supporting the orchestra, according to a news release. More than half of the Symphony’s budget comes from events such as this.
To make reservations, call 360-457-5579.
Jazz pianist Linda Dowdell, violinist Kristin Smith, percussionist Otto Smith, cellist Marlene Moore, and singers Joel Yelland and Robin Reed will serenade the audience with a song from “The Pearl Fishers,” an opera set in Sri Lanka.
Switching genres, Dowdell will pair with upright bassist Ted Enderle for a “Day of Wine and Roses” set.
Dowdell also will accompany Port Angeles Symphony maestro Jonathan Pasternack on “Manhã de Carnaval,” from the Brazilian composer Luiz Bonfá.
Pasternack, who will soon begin his second season as music director and conductor of the orchestra, is also a trombonist.
A few years ago, when he was a Brooklyn, N.Y.-born boy of 16, he won a trombone scholarship to the Manhattan School of Music, according to a news release.
He later transferred to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he studied astronomy, philosophy, political science and music, eventually founding the MIT Chamber Orchestra.
Yet another part of the evening — Smith and her concertina-playing husband Otto, of Port Townsend, will perform a short set of music fresh from July’s Festival of American Fiddle Tunes at Fort Worden State Park.
“We’ll play some Brazilian [tunes] and some klezmer music,” said Smith, a longtime member of the Port Angeles Symphony.
She and Otto also plan on stirring in some of the Quebecois sound from French Canada, which they learned at the festival.
“It’s great to have some new material,” she said.
“Can’t wait to share it.”
For more information, visit www.portangelessymphony.org or camaraderiecellars.com or call 360-457-5579.
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Features Editor Chris McDaniel can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 56650, or cmcdaniel@peninsuladailynews.com.
Jazz pianist Linda Dowdell will perform this evening during the 7th annual Camaraderie Cellars Summer Picnic at 330 Benson Road. (Diane Urbani de la Paz)
