SEQUIM — A new organization, Peninsula Friends of Music Performance, will introduce itself to the community with a concert at the Dungeness Schoolhouse, 2781 Towne Road, this Friday evening.
Kate Powers, a 14-year-old violinist from Sequim, along with accompanist Gary McRoberts of Port Angeles and 17-year-old pianist Scott Wahlquist of Bremerton will fill the historic schoolhouse with Beethoven, Rachmaninoff and Chopin, plus a violin concerto by Dmitri Kabalevsky.
And to balance things out, Kate will offer a traditional Gaelic tune and her own arrangement of Jay Ungar’s “Wizard’s Walk.”
Admission to the 7 p.m. concert is a suggested donation of $10.
The Peninsula Friends of Music Performance formed late last year, McRoberts said, with four local musicians and music teachers behind it: Taylor Ackley, Mary Moon, Craig Buhler and himself.
“Our intention is to produce concerts by the finest area musicians in what we refer to as ‘art music,’” said Buhler.
That encompasses classical, jazz and what he called “serious folk: Gypsy, flamenco, Celtic, East Indian” and beyond.
Inaugural concert
As for the inaugural concert with two teenagers, “please do not be fooled by their tender years,” Buhler said, adding, “Kate and Scott are truly amazing performers.”
Kate, winner of the Port Angeles Symphony’s Junior Young Artist Competition last year, now plays with the symphony and the new Deka Trio chamber ensemble.
McRoberts added that unlike some of the other local musical ensembles, the players won’t be volunteers.
“We want to pay the musicians,” he said. “We can’t pay union wages, but we can pay them something.”
Besides a concert series, the Peninsula Friends of Music Performance plan to host informal gatherings for musicians at music stores and coffee houses, and eventually establish a college scholarship fund for young players.
For more about the Peninsula Friends of Music Performance, contact Buhler at craig@craigbuhler.com or 360-683-2277.
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Features Editor Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5062, or at diane.urbani@peninsuladailynews.com.
