CHIMACUM — The Port Townsend Symphony Orchestra is returning to the stage — with no reservations or audience limitations — for a public dress rehearsal Friday night and its spring concert Sunday.
The 480-seat Chimacum School Auditorium, 91 West Valley Road, is the venue, and admission is free with donations welcome.
The musical program ranges from Jean Sibelius and Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Hovhaness’ Artik Concerto, featuring principal horn player Bruce Kelley.
“This piece is quite unusual,” said Kelley, who lives on Marrowstone Island.
“Maybe it’s the rebel in me, but I like playing something that few people have done. But this piece is also a special choice for this orchestra in particular,” he added.
Hovhaness is an Armenian American, as is the Port Townsend Symphony’s conductor, Tigran Arakelyan.
“I love that kind of synchronicity because it allows us all to learn something about music and other cultures,” Kelley said.
For tonight’s rehearsal, doors will open at 6:30 p.m. with the conductor raising his baton at 7 p.m.; on Sunday, the auditorium will open at 1:15 p.m. for the 2 p.m. concert. Patrons must show proof of full vaccination, including boosters if eligible, and wear high-quality masks. For information, see PTSymphony.org.
Kelley, who also performs with the Port Angeles Symphony Orchestra, was principal horn player with Redmond’s Eastside Symphony for some three decades. He’s also a founder of the Northwest Mahler Festival.
This weekend’s performances also feature the orchestra brass and percussion players in Giovanni Gabrieli’s “Sacrae Symphony” and the “Celebration Fanfare” by Jeff Manookian. Vaughan Williams’ “Fantasia on Greensleeves” is also on the program, featuring harpist Barbara McColgan.
Back at the beginning of the season, Kelley said, he and his fellow musicians contended with pandemic protocols that made playing pretty uncomfortable.
But both the Port Angeles and Port Townsend symphony orchestras took “valiant measures to be as safe as possible — so that made it feel like getting back to performing was a real team effort. Ultimately, it brought the musicians closer, even though we were sitting farther apart,” he added.
“Of course, it feels great to get back to something I love doing.”
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Jefferson County Senior Reporter Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-417-3509 or durbanidelapaz @peninsuladailynews.com.
