QUILCENE — George Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue” and the nation’s best-known patriotic songs come together in the Olympic Music Festival’s Independence Day pops concerts this weekend.
The pair of concerts start at 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at the festival farm, 7360 Center Road, with cellist Dmitri Atapine, pianist Julio Elizalde — also the festival’s new artistic director — and violinist Kristin Lee playing inside a restored, century-old barn.
That’s the Olympic Music Festival way: classical masterworks not in a concert hall but in a relaxed setting, where performers and patrons wear their weekend clothes — no tuxedoes nor gowns are found out here.
Music lovers have a choice of seating inside the barn or outside on the grass where the music is broadcast.
The farm gates open at 11 a.m. for those looking to stroll and picnic; then the barn doors open at 1 p.m. for general seating.
Independence Pops tickets range from $14 to $35 via www.olympicmusicfestival.org and 360-732-4800, and while reserved seats in the barn are available in advance, lawn tickets are sold only at the gate.
This weekend’s program is a varied one, with Gershwin’s Three Preludes for Cello and Piano as well as his piano “Rhapsody.” Paul Schoenfield’s “Cafe Music” and “Four Souvenirs for Violin and Piano,” John Philip Sousa’s “Stars and Stripes Forever” and “The Star-Spangled Banner” are here too.
Founded in 1984, the Olympic Music Festival is located on a 55-acre farm near Quilcene, about 18 miles south of Port Townsend. It continues through the summer, with 2 p.m. concerts each Saturday and Sunday through Sept. 13.
Abundant details await at Olympicmusicfestival.org.