PORT TOWNSEND — You can bask in classical chamber music and probe world-renowned artists this weekend.
The Olympic Music Festival will present the first two performances of the Olympic Chamber Music Fellowship: “Mozart in Vienna” at 2 p.m. Saturday and “Hungarian Fantasies” at 2 p.m. Sunday.
Both will be at Wheeler Theater in Fort Worden State Park, 200 Battery Way.
Ticket prices range from $33 to $40 and can be purchased at 360-385-9699 or www.olympicmusicfestival.org.
“Mozart in Vienna” highlights the compositions written near the end of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s life while residing in Vienna, and “Hungarian Fantasies” contrasts Johannes Brahms’ Gypsy-inspired chamber music with compositions by Hungarian composers such as Béla Bartók.
After each performance, audience members can interact with the artists during a question-and-answer session.
In its third year, the Olympic Chamber Music Fellowship brings five up-and-coming musicians from around the world to the Olympic Peninsula for a two-week residency program.
“One of the greatest challenges in a young musician’s development is the transition from student to professional,” artistic director Julio Elizalde said.
“When I began my tenure as director, I knew this would be the perfect place to provide this critical practical experience for the most gifted emerging artists.”
Violinist Max Tan is one of the five Olympic Chamber Music Fellows and was recently accepted to the Juilliard School’s artist diploma program.
“Learning by collaboration is a very dynamic experience versus learning through lessons,” Tan said.
“I hope that the chance to collaborate with other fine young artists as well as the guest artists will be a wonderful opportunity to elevate my own artistry.”
Other fellows include violinist Adelya Nartadjieva (Yale School of Music), violist SoHui Yun (New England Conservatory), cellist Ari Evan (Juilliard School) and Hsin-Chiao Liao (State University of New York at Stony Brook).