‘Great music
belongs to all of us’
Liberty Theater is a gem.
Clark recognized a beautiful place; committed,
community-minded people; and an outstanding
concert hall. “I think the people struggling to modi-
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of the Lincoln Center in New York should just come
to Astoria, look at the Liberty Theater, then build
one of these again,” he says.
Music highlights
What a great hall needs it great music to bring
it alive, and Clark and his band of extraordinary
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tival has built on itself, garnered a growing rep-
utation and now includes three full weekends of
exceptional music.
The program is a balance between more famil-
iar pieces that folks just love hearing, like Beetho-
ven’s symphonies — da-da-da-dum! — to import-
ant pieces of music that Clark and others feel are
exceptional. “And frankly a few
The Liberty Theater
pieces that I am doing to get my
Clark is a conductor who has played concert halls juices going,” says Clark.
all over the world. He cites the Weiner Musikverien
The program provides a
LQ$XVWULDDVRQHRIWKHIRXURU¿YHEHVWFRQFHUWKDOOV surfeit of riches from inti-
internationally, and he ranks the Liberty Theater mate chamber music to a fully
with the best.
staged opera, costumes, set and
“The Liberty Theater shares many of the same all. When asked what he would
characteristics as the Musikverien in Vienna. It’s a spotlight, Clark talks about
classic shoebox shape and was built of older materi- two performances that book-
als — wood, plaster — it’s perfect. The Musikverein end the festival.
has what the Liberty Theater has: nooks and cran-
The opening concert at 4
QLHVDQGOLWWOH¿OLJUHHVPXUDOVDQGVWDWXDULHV(YHQ p.m. Saturday, June 13, features not one but two
the chandelier. These all have the tendency to give concertmasters performing Dvorak, Brahms,
the sound little chances to hide for a millisecond so Honegger and Sibelius. (There are several Sibel-
it doesn’t hit you right in the face. It bounces off var- ius pieces on the festival schedule, commemo-
ious things.”
rating the 150th anniversary of the composer’s
In the experts’ view, it’s these older concert halls birth.)
of moderate size, built in an era before newer mate-
Canadian violinist Martin Chalifour has
rials and computer modeling, that are the best in the been principal concertmaster of the Los Ange-
world. And Astoria is graced with one of them. The les Philharmonic since 1995. He is performing
Venture behind the scenes at the 13th annual Astoria Music Festival,
which kicks off three weekends of music starting June 13
W
the West Coast; that was only one element of
Astoria’s draw.
What could possibly bring internationally
“The real surprise was meeting Steve For-
famous, world-class musicians, vocalists and rester and walking into the Liberty Theater.”
conductors to the North Coast? Keith Clark, ar- Clark continues, “The acoustics were amaz-
tistic director for the Astoria Musical Festival — ing. The great advantage was that the Liberty
which runs three weekends June 13 through the Theater had never been restored. There was no
28 — knows the answer, and it’s in three parts. mucking it up, even the seats were still original.
Location, location, location? In a way, yes.
It looked bad, and it smelled bad, but — I knew
immediately — it was a diamond in the rough.”
A diamond in the rough
Two down.
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“I knew at that time that we had the right
into Astoria. “I had no idea even where Astoria elements because there were people like Steve
ZDVZKHQ0DUJH%ORRP¿HOGFDOOHGPHWRYLVLW and others who wanted to save the theater,” says
her. But I still remember driving on Highway Clark, “I thought right away, music festival!”
30 and coming over the top of the hill — then Forrester and others were committed to a resto-
the water was spread out in front of me, the ration of Astoria’s jewel and fought against an
bridge, the town — it was beautiful. A movie early movement to simply tear it down and start
set.”
over. So the third element clicked into place:
Still, there are a lot of beautiful places on the people in the community.
Story by CATE GABLE
Hideki Yamaya
Israel Nebeker
Hector Olivera
with violinist Sarah Kwak, Oregon Symphony
concertmaster since in 2012. It is extremely rare
to snag even one musician of concertmaster sta-
tus — a concertmaster is basically like the star
quarterback of the orchestra team — so to have
two opening the festival is a feat.
These two outstanding violinists join
Tchaikovsky Competition Gold Medal cellist
Sergey Antonov and Astoria Music Festival Di-
rector of Chamber Music and Lanier Trio pianist
Cary Lewis for an evening of artistry.
Musical rivalry
‘To hear these two
bel canto sopranos
together is a
once-in-a-lifetime
opportunity.’
Angela Meade
Keith Clark
Submitted photo
Clark also cites as one of his all-time favorites
the opera that closes the festival, Donizetti’s “Ma-
ria Stuarda.” Donizetti’s opera is in a bel canto
style, which is a musical technique that shows off
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it, “Bel canto singing is like Jimi Hendrix really
showing off on his guitar, wowing us with his out-
rageous technique.”
This opera, premiered in
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litical rivalry between Mary
Queen of Scotts and Queen
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lethal tensions between Cath-
olics and Protestants. These
two queens were cousins, each
representing different reli-
gions, and in competition for
the same man. The stakes were
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eventually lost her head.
“Clear battle lines were drawn,” says Clark
DERXWWKHFRQÀLFWVLQWKLVRSHUD³7KHUHLVDORYH
interest between the queens. And talk about
strong women — the vile names they call each
other! They hated each other. It has the perfect
elements for an opera or a BBC series!”
Just as in other festival performances, the
The Hermitage Trio
Oregon Symphony concert master Sarah Kwak, left, and Lanier Trio
pianist Cary Lewis will perform in the 2015 festival’s opening Celeb-
rity Chamber Music Matinee program at 4 p.m. Saturday, June 13,
which includes the rarely performed Piano Quartet by Jean Sibelius.
Lewis, who is also the director of chamber music for the festival,
will also perform June 19 at the Festival All-Stars concert, and June
27 with the Enso String Quartet
leads are top-notch. Angela Meade, America’s
reigning queen of bel canto and winner of the
2012 Beverly Sills Artists Award, stars as Mary
Queen of Scots; and French-Canadian Metro-
politan Opera soprano Alexandra Deshorties
SRUWUD\V4XHHQ(OL]DEHWK,³7RKHDUWKHVHWZR
bel canto sopranos together is a once-in-a-life-
time opportunity,” Clark says.
Music for all
“What we’re doing in Astoria is important,”
Clark continues. “I grew up in a small town in Il-
linois, 90 miles from Chicago. I came to L.A. to
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thought has always been that people in a small
town deserve to hear this kind of music.
“Great music belongs to all of us, whether it’s
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up around. With the help of hundreds of people
Submitted photo by Michael Mathers
in Astoria, we are making world-class music ac- Award-winning cellist Sergey Antonov practices onstage at the Liberty Theater, which, according to festival artistic director Keith Clark, is
among the best concert halls in the world.
cessible to all.”
Astoria Music Festival Highlights
7:30 p.m. Bach’s powerful “St. John Passion” featuring tenor Oliver Mercer and baritone Rich-
ard Zeller, joined by chorus and orchestra.
Saturday, June 13
4 p.m.
Celebrity Chamber Music Matinee: Acclaimed concertmasters Martin Chalifour and
Sarah Kwak, prizewinning cellist Sergey Antonov and pianist Cary Lewis open the festival.
Sunday, June 21
5 p.m.
Resident ensemble, the Hermitage Trio, stars in Beethoven’s Triple Concerto. Then
Metropolitan Opera soloists, chorus and orchestra perform the triumphal fi nal act of Beethoven’s
opera “Fidelio.”
7:30 p.m. The Gala Opening All-Beethoven concert features concertmaster Martin Chalifour
performing Beethoven’s Violin Concerto in D Major and the Astoria Festival Orchestra doing the
iconic Symphony No. 5.
Sunday, June 14
5 p.m.
Finalandia celebrates the Sibelius 150 Jubilee.
Submitted photo
Submitted photo by Ben Moon
From left to right: Lutenist and guitarist Hideki Yamaya will perform at the Elizabethan Garland pro-
gram set for 7:30 p.m. June 17 at the CCC Performing Arts Center. The concert will include madrigals,
lute songs, and joyful instrumental dances performed by a Renaissance band of performers, plus a rare
showing of Thomas Edison’s 18-second fi lm, “The Execution of Mary Stuart” from 1895.
Israel Nebeker, of indie folk-rock band Blind Pilot, has reimagined classical night music through a contem-
porary lens with a festival-commissioned string quartet. Nebeker will perform at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, June
12 | June 11, 2015 | coastweekend.com
Submitted photo
Photo by Dwight Caswell
Submitted photo by Michael Mathers
16 at the CCC Performing Arts Center.
Internationally acclaimed organist Hector Olivera will perform in concert at the Liberty Theater June 27.
Soprano Angela Meade, pictured here performing at last year’s music festival, will star as Mary Stuart in
the Astoria Music Festival’s fi nale opera in concert of Donizetti’s “Maria Stuarda” on June 28.
Astoria Music Festival Artistic Director Keith Clark will conduct the Astoria Music Festival Orchestra at the
Submitted photo
gala opening All-Beethoven concert June 13, the Finlandia concert June 14, Bach’s “St. John Passion” con-
cert June 20, Beethoven’s “Fidelio” concert June 21, and the fi nale opera in concert of Donizetti’s “Maria
Stuarda” June 28.
The Hermitage Trio, featuring, from left, cellist Sergey Antonov, violinist Micha Keylin and pianist Ilya Kazant-
sev, will perfrom Beethoven’s Triple Concerto in C Major June 21 and works by Mendelssohn with Festival
Apprentice Artists June 22. Antonov and Kazantsev will perform in multiple concerts at this year’s festival.
Monday, June 15
Noon
OPB will do a free taping of its arts and culture radio show “State of Wonder” before
a live audience in the Liberty Theater.
Saturday, June 20
4 pm.
Sergy’s Annual Happy Hour with the Hermitage Piano Trio.
Thursday and Friday, June 25 and 26
7:30 p.m. Vocal and Instrumental Apprentice Artists join for two fully staged performances
of Mozart’s “Die Zauberfl öte” — set in Astoria, complete with Columbia River bar pilots, Lewis and
Clark, and even a pirate.
Saturday, June 27
7:30 p.m. The Grammy-nominated Enso String Quartet performs Sibelius and Dvorak, with
pianist Cary Lewis.
Sunday, June 28
5 p.m.
Metropolitan Opera sopranos Angela Meade and Alexandra Deshorties star in the
Northwest premiere of Donizetti’s opera in concert “Maria Stuarda.”
For a complete schedule or to purchase tickets, visit www.astoriamusicfestival.org or visit the festival offi ce at 1271 Commercial St., Astoria
June 11, 2015 | coastweekend.com | 13