PORT TOWNSEND — There will be a concert to benefit Toni Boutilier at 2 p.m. Saturday at Grace Lutheran Church, 1120 Walker St., Port Townsend.
The concert is free. Donations to benefit Boutilier will be accepted at the door. There will be a short reception after the concert.
The concert will feature the premiere of Philip Hirischi’s cello solo, “Sunny Day on Portage Bay.”
The piece will be performed by Pamela Roberts, the principal cellist for the Port Townsend Symphony Orchestra.
“Toni Boutilier loves cello music, so this concert will be fun for her,” Roberts said. “She was diagnosed at age 31 with breast cancer when her children were 5 and 12 years old. The cancer metastasized to her brain, requiring intensive treatments over the last eight years.
“Of course, medical bills are constant,” Roberts added. “As a volunteer, Toni created hygiene kits and lunch bags for the homeless, and then she started the countywide Shoe Drive, which she has been leading now for eight years. Her generosity is a great example to us all.”
Roberts will be joined by pianist Helen Lauritzen on the Allegretto poco mosso from Cesar Franck’s Sonata for Cello and Piano in A major, FWV 8.
The remainder of the program will be performed by pianist Sung-Ling Hsu, performing “Spiegel Im Spiegel” by Arvo Part, “The Swan” by Camille Saint-Saens, “Lush Life” by Billy Strayhorn, “Arpeggione Sonata” by Franz Schubert, “Summertime” by George Gershwin and “Guitarre” by Moritz Moszkowski.
For more information, email Roberts at pamela roberts1@gmail.com.
