Gualala Arts Chamber Music Series presents: The Fifth Annual Summer Chamber Music Weekend with pianist Roy Bogas and Friends Horn player joins ensembles for special performance Saturday, July 7, 2007 at 7:30 p.m.   Sunday, July 8, 2007 at 4:00 p.m. at the Gualala Arts Center

The Chamber Music Series is delighted to again present the Roy Bogas and Friends Ensemble for the fifth annual Summer Chamber Music Weekend, Saturday, July 7th, 7:30 pm, and Sunday, July 8th, 4:00 p.m., at the Gualala Arts Center.

This traditional weekend of superb performances by pianist Bogas and outstanding musicians from the Bay Area is the highlight of our concert season. In addition to Bogas, the ensemble includes violinists Nadya Tichman and Amy Hiraga, violist Nancy Ellis, cellist Peter Wyrick, and, in a special appearance, French horn player William Klingelhoffer.

Starting in 2003, Roy Bogas and Friends have thrilled Gualala audiences each July in sold-out performances, and have been accorded roof-raising ovations. This year's Chamber Music Weekend promises to reveal some intriguing music that will be new to many people. Sunday's concert features two works by Camille Saint-Saens, the mature Violin Sonata opus 75, played by Nadya Tichman and Roy Bogas, and the seldom-heard early Piano Quintet, opus 14, played by Bogas and the full string quartet.

Also featured will be music of the twentieth-century genius, Ernest Bloch, whose granddaughter, Sita Milchev, resides in Gualala, along with her daughter and granddaughters. Bloch will be represented Saturday evening by his masterful Piano Quintet, and on Sunday by a sampler of some of his other works, including excerpts from his Enfantines, simple piano pieces intended for children to play and transcribed for strings by Roy Bogas, a short original string quartet movement called Night, and the brilliant improvisation Nigun, from his suite Baal Shem in a transcription by Joseph Schuster for cello and piano, played by Peter Wyrick.

Special Guest William Klingelhoffer will be heard on Saturday evening in the great Horn Trio by Johannes Brahms, one of the few chamber works for French horn, and a very late work by the German master, written during his walks in the countryside resort of Baden-Baden. Mr. Klingelhoffer is Principal Hornist at San Francisco Opera and a well-known exponent of the Brahms trio. He will be joined in this performance by Amy Hiraga and Roy Bogas. Cellist Peter Wyrick will open Saturday's program with his interpretation of an amusing set of variations by Beethoven on a theme from Mozart's opera Magic Flute.

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 the 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 Tchaikovski 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 Nadya Tichman, who is well-remembered for her March, 2006 concert in Gualala with Roy Bogas, is Associate Concertmaster of the San Francisco Symphony. She joined the orchestra in 1980, and served as Acting Concertmaster from 1998 to 2001. Born in New York, she studied with the legendary Dorothy Delay at Juilliard, and received a bachelor's degree from the Curtis Institute of Music. In San Francisco, she continued her studies with Isadore Tinkleman. She has performed as soloist with the San Francisco Symphony on many occasions, and has participated in festivals such as the Grand Teton Music Festival, Chamber Music West, the Olympic Music Festival, Music in the Vinyards, and Midsummer Mozart. A founding member of the Donatello Quartet, she co-directed Chamber Music Sundaes from 1984 to 1986. She performs in many chamber music series, including Davies Hall, MasterGuild, and the Gualala Chamber Music Weekend.

Violinist Amy Hiraga was a member of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra from 1991 to 1999. She is currently a permanent member of the San Francisco Symphony. She also studied with Dorothy Delay at Juilliard 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.

Violist Nancy Ellis received her training at the Interlochen Arts Academy, Oberlin College, and Mills College, where she studied with Nathan Rubin. She has toured with Music from Marlboro and also as part of a quartet in support of rock singer Van Morrison. She has been a member of the San Francisco Symphony since 1975, and has also performed for the past thirty years with the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players. Ms. Ellis is an experienced chamber music player and has been heard in this capacity in many venues, including Davies Symphony Hall.

Peter Wyrick, Associate Principal Cellist of the San Francisco Symphony, was one of the last students of Leonard Rose at Juilliard. He has previously served as Principal Cellist of the Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra at Lincoln Center, and as Associate Principal Cellist 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 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 ensembles and orchestras throughout the world.

William Klingenhoffer, Principal Hornist at the San Francisco Opera, began his studies in Chicago with Nancy Fako, Frank Brouk, and Dale Clevenger of the Chicago Symphony, and was appointed Principal Horn of Chicago's Civic Orchestra at age 17. He also played with Chicago's Grant Park Orchestra, University of Chicago's Contemporary Chamber Players, and toured with the Chicago Symphony. In 1975 he was appointed Principal Horn of Chicago's Lyric Opera, subsequently playing Principal Horn with the Houston Opera. He joined the San Francisco Opera in 1980. Other engagements have included solos with the San Francisco Chamber Orchestra, Mendocino Festival Orchestra, Chamber Music with Anchor Winds, Summit Brass Ensemble, and two summers as Principal Horn of the Santa Fe Opera. He is married to San Francisco Cellist Jill Brindel, and has three children, Sarah, Louis, and Jacob.

Tickets are $25 for advance purchases, or $30 on the day of the concert (buy your tickets early!). 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. For advance credit card purchases by telephone, call the Arts Center at 707-884-1138. For further information visit our website, GualalaArts.org. Those unable to furnish their own transportation may call the Arts Center to request rides to the concert.