Summer Chamber Music Festival

The annual Summer Chamber Music Festival is returning on July 9-10. In 2021, Roy Bogas passed the baton to Wyrick Family and Friends and we know you will enjoy performances by familiar artists who have delighted us for many years at our mid-summer musical weekend.

Advance tickets are $40 and are available now!

The Summer Chamber Music Festival returns to Gualala Arts Saturday and Sunday, July 9 & 10, 2022. Performances begin at 4:00 p.m. Tickets are $40 for each day’s performance, and are available at Gualala Arts, Dolphin Gallery, and online at EventBrite.com. Cellist Peter Wyrick, family and friends bring the music of a variety of composers to delight chamber music lovers on the coast. 

Born in New York to a musical family, Peter Wyrick began studies at the Juilliard School at age eight and made his solo debut at age twelve. He has served as Associate Principal Cello of the San Francisco Symphony, and has been principal cello of the Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra, and associate principal cello of the New York City Opera Orchestra. As a member of the Ridge String Quartet, he recorded the Dvořák piano quintets with pianist Rudolf Firkušný, an RCA recording that won France’s Diapason d’Or and a Grammy nomination.

Cellist Wyrick will be joined by a superb group of musicians. Contributing to the festival weekend are Amy Hiraga, violin; Nancy Ellis, viola; Helen Kim, violin and Mayumi Wyrick, violin. Returning for Saturday’s performance is pianist Roy Bogas.

Violinist Helen Kim is a graduate of the Yale School of Music, whose credits include the San Francisco Symphony, the Saint Louis Symphony, Elgin Symphony, and numerous festivals including Aspen, Luzerne, and the Innsbrook Institute. 

Amy Hiraga studied at the University of Cincinnati and the Juilliard School. She has been a member of the Orchestra of Saint Luke’s and the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. She worked as a freelance musician in New York and joined the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra in 1991, then rejoined the San Francisco Symphony when she and Mr. Wyrick returned to San Francisco in 1999.

New Jersey native Nancy Ellis joined the San Francisco Symphony’s viola section in 1975. She attended Oberlin College for two years before transferring to (and graduating from) Mills College. She has toured Europe with a quartet that backed rock singer Van Morrison, and she has attended the Marlboro Music Festival.

Violinist Mayumi Hiraga Wyrick is currently a student of Nicholas Kitchen at the New England Conservatory of Music. She is a past winner of the Marin Music Chest scholarship award and won the instrumental award for the Robert Mondavi Young Artists Competition in 2007.

Pianist and longtime local favorite Roy Bogas is a pianist of international renown with a long and distinguished career. He debuted in performance with the San Francisco Symphony at age 14, made his conducting debut with Prometheus in 1976, became the accompanist for violinist Yehudi Menuhin at age 19, and established a solid reputation as a pianist, conductor and composer.

The program for Saturday includes Ludwig von Beethoven’s “Seven Variations for Piano and Cello” from Mozart’s “Magic Flute”, Leos Janacek’s “String Quartet No. 2 ‘Intimate Letters'” [see link to NPR story about Janacek below], and Johannes Brahms “Piano Quintet in f minor, Op. 34”.

On Sunday the program will include Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s “Duo k423 in G Major”, Claude Debussy, “String Quartet Op. 40”, and Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, “String quintet, Op. 87 in B-flat Major.”

Here’s a link to a 9-minute story from NPR, “Janacek’s Love Letters With Strings Attached” about the composer, Leos Janacek.

Contributing Artists This Weekend:
• Peter Wyrick – cello
• Amy Hiraga – violin
• Nancy Ellis – viola
• Helen Kim – violin
• Mayumi Wyrick – violin
• Roy Bogas – piano

The program for the Summer Chamber Music Festival

Saturday:
• Beethoven – Seven Variations for Piano and Cello from Mozart’s Magic Flute

• Leos Janacek – String Quartet No. 2 “Intimate Letters”
— I   Andante
— II  Adagio
— III Moderato
—IV  Allegro

 • Johannes Brahms – Piano Quintet in f minor, Op. 34
— I  Allegro non troppo
— II  Andante, un poco Adagio
— III  Scherzo Allegro
— IV  Finale Poco sostenuto
 
Sunday:
• Mozart – Duo k423 in G Major
— Allegro, Adagio
— II Rondeau-Allegro

• Claude Debussy – String Quartet Op. 40
— I   Animè et trés décidè
— II  Assez vif et bien rythmè
— III  Andantino doucement expressif
— IV  Trés modérè
 
• Felix Mendelssohn – String quintet, Op. 87 in B-flat Major
— I  Allegro vivace
— II  Andante scherzando
— III  Adagio e lento
— IV  Allegro molto vivac

Save the dates and check back for more information on the 2022 Festival Weekend.