Gualala Arts Chamber Music Series presents: Summer Chamber Music Weekend with Roy Bogas & Friends at the Gualala Arts Center Saturday, July 8 at 7:30 p.m.    Sunday, July 9 at 4:00 p.m. Roy Bogas and Friends to Return for the Fourth Annual Gualala Chamber Music Weekend

Peter Wyrick Amy Hiraga Roy Bogas Axel Strauss [not shown: Joanna Patterson]

The Gualala Arts Concert Series is delighted to present Roy Bogas and Friends for the fourth annual Summer Chamber Music Weekend, July 8th and 9th. This now-traditional weekend of superb performances by pianist Bogas and outstanding string players from the Bay Area will be the absolute highlight of our concert season. In addition to Bogas, the ensemble includes violinists Axel Strauss and Amy Hiraga, violist Joanna Patterson, and cellist Peter Wyrick.

In the Gualala Summer Chamber Music weekends of 2003, 2004, and 2005, the ensemble thrilled audiences in sold-out performances, and were accorded enthusiastic standing ovations. The love affair between Gualala and Roy Bogas and Friends will continue this season with two concerts at the Gualala Arts Center: Saturday, July 8th, 7:30 pm, and Sunday, July 9th at 4:00 pm.

Saturday's program will include the String Quartet No 1 by Beethoven, the Sonata for Violin and Piano by Franck, and the Piano Quartet in C Minor by Gabriel Fauré. Sunday's program will include the Sonata for Cello and Piano by Beethoven, the Sonata for Violin and Cello by Ravel, and the Piano Quintet in F Minor by Brahms.

Roy Bogas

Roy Bogas, who has been called Gualala's favorite pianist, received his training in New York and at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. He made his debut with the San Francisco Symphony at age 14, and at age 19 he became accompanist to Yehudi Menuhin, playing over a hundred concerts with him throughout North and South America. He has also played with Joseph Szigeti and many other well-known artists. In 1962 he was a prizewinner at the second Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow. He has performed as soloist with virtually every orchestra in Northern California, and with many other orchestras in this country and abroad. Bogas is a Professor of Music at Holy Names University in Oakland, and is also Principal Solo Pianist for the San Francisco Ballet. An active chamber musician, he is the founder and director of the MasterGuild Series of chamber music concerts at Holy Names.

Violinist Axel Strauss resides in San Francisco, where he serves as Professor of Violin at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. He made his recital debut in Hamburg in 1988 and his concerto debut with the Neubrandenburg Philharmonic two years later.

Axel Strauss

At the age of 17 he won the silver medal at the Enescu Competition in Romania, and has been recognized with many other awards, including top prizes in the Bach, Wieniawski, and Kocian Competitions. In 1998, he became the first German artist to win the coveted Naumburg Violin Award in New York. He later became teaching assistant to the famous Dorothy Delay at the Juilliard School. He has performed in recitals and concerto appearances in many venues in the United States as well as Europe, and has worked with Itzhak Perlman and other well-known artists. He also maintains a busy concert schedule, and is frequently invited to appear at music festivals in the United States and abroad.

Violinist Amy Hiraga was a member of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra from 1991 until 1999. She is currently a permanent member of the San Francisco Symphony. Her teachers included Dorothy Delay at the Juilliard School and Emanuel Zeitlin in Seattle. She has performed and appeared as soloist with many symphonies and chamber orchestras in the United States, and has also performed in many music festivals. She and her husband, cellist Peter Wyrick, live in Mill Valley with their two daughters, Mayumi and Mariko.

Joanna Patterson

Violist Joanna Patterson is a newcomer who joined the ensemble this year. Joanna Patterson, age 21, was born in the Principality of Monaco. She began viola at age 8, made her solo debut at age 11 performing the Telemann Concerto, and at age 14 soloed with the Orchestre Philharmonic de Monte Carlo, performing Bruch's "Romance." Joanna recently graduated with honors from the Cleveland Institute of Music where she was a full scholarship student of Robert Vernon. Other teachers have included Karen Tuttle and her parents, Ron and Roxanna Patterson. Joanna won the concerto competition at the Cleveland Institute of Music playing Bartok viola concerto in 2004. She is Principal Viola of the Canton Symphony Orchestra and will be performing the Penderecki viola concerto with them next season. In March 2005, Joanna played with The Cleveland Orchestra for six months as a contracted substitute performing with them at home in Severance Hall, on tour to the West Coast and Europe, and during the summer at the Blossom Festival. Summer plans include chamber music performances in San Francisco, participation in the New Hampshire Music Festival, and a tour with the Cleveland Orchestra to Europe. Joanna recently won a position with The Cleveland Orchestra and will be joining them as a member in September 2006.

Peter Wyrick, Associate Principal Cellist of the San Francisco Symphony, was one of the last students of Leonard Rose at the Juilliard School in New York. He has previously served as Principal Cellist of the Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra at Lincoln Center and as Associate Principal of the New York City Opera Orchestra. He was a member of the acclaimed Ridge String Quartet, whose recording of the Dvorak Piano Quintets with pianist Rudolf Firkusny on the RCA Label won the French Diapason d'Or and was nominated for the 1993 Grammy Award for the Best Chamber Music Performance. He has performed as soloist with the San Francisco Symphony, and as chamber musician and soloist with renowned chamber groups and orchestras throughout the world.

Tickets for the Gualala Chamber Music Weekend are $25 for each concert. Children and young people ages 7 through 17 are admitted free. Advance tickets are available at the Gualala Arts Center or at the Dolphin Gallery in Gualala. Tickets may also be purchased at the door prior to the performances. For further information, call the Gualala Arts Center at 707-884-1138, or visit the website, GualalaArts.org. Those unable to furnish their own transportation may call the Arts Center to request rides to the concerts.