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Gualala Arts
Promoting public interest and participation in the arts since 1961.
Archive of past events: 2004 through 2014
The Gualala Arts Chamber Music Weekend returns with performances by the Wyrick Chamber Players in the Gualala Arts Center Coleman Auditorium on Saturday and Sunday, July 13 and 14.
After ten years of summer concerts in Gualala, Roy Bogas will be taking the weekend off. His friend Peter Wyrick, Associate Principal Cellist of the San Francisco Symphony, will lead the weekend's performances in Bogas' place. He will be joined by both his family and his friends from the San Francisco Symphony performing as the Wyrick Chamber Players. Last year's performers - violinists Amy Hiraga and violist Nancy Ellis - return and will join violinist Alisa Wyrick, clarinetist Amalie Wyrick-Flax and violinist Eric Wyrick. The Gualala Arts Chamber Music Committee has made the chamber music performances at the Gualala Arts Center a regular part of the Mendonoma coast's summer entertainment options. Over the past decade this chamber music festival weekend has presented a wide repertoire of pieces for piano and strings, ranging from duos to quintets, and covering centuries of musical genius. Composers from classical, romantic, and contemporary periods have been featured at these performances, chosen and coordinated by festival founder Bogas. "Sea Ranchers helped create this festival series, serving on the Chamber Music Committee of Gualala Arts, hosting musicians, and contributing their time and energy to sustain the program through the last decade," notes Paula Osborne, Chamber Music Committee member. "As a result many visitors and residents alike have found a 'new favorite' form of enjoyment in chamber music, and attend monthly concerts from nationally recognized groups throughout the year. More intimate than larger venues, chamber music delivers an intensely personal, often sublime experience, which cannot be duplicated in a large concert hall with a full orchestra. The chamber repertoire is broader and deeper than most listeners expect."
As a chamber musician, Peter Wyrick has enjoyed collaborating with YoYo Ma, Joshua Bell, Jean Yves Thibaudet, Yefim Bronfman, Lynn Harrell, Jeremy Denk, Julia Fischer, Edgar Meyer, among others. He was a member of the acclaimed Ridge String Quartetwhose 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 participated in Finland's Helsinki Festival, the Spoleto Festival in Charleston, S.C., and Spoleto, Italy, as well as the Bard, Vancouver Chamber Music West, La Jolla, Santa Fe, Ruby Mountain, and Tahoe Music festivals. Peter was the Principal cellist of the Mostly Mozart Orchestra at Lincoln Center and the Associate Principal of the New York City Opera Orchestra. His recordings include the cello sonatas of Gabriel Faure with pianist Earl Wild for dell'Arte Records as well as performances for Stereophile and Arabesque labels. One of the last students of Leonard Rose at the Juilliard School, Peter plays on a David Tecchler cello, on generous loan from Jacques and Barbara Schlumberger, made in Rome, circa 1724.
Violinist Eric Wyrick is Concertmaster of the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra (NJSO) and a member and frequent leader of the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. Eric began playing the violin at 4 years old, and was soon studying at the Julliard Pre-College Division with Dorothy DeLay. He has held Concertmaster positions with the American Symphony Orchestra, the Bard Festival Orchestra and L'Opera Francais New York. Eric can be heard annually as soloist with the NJSO. Amy Hiraga is a violinist in the San Francisco Symphony. A former member of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra from 1991 to 1999, she performed and recorded with that orchestra as well as the Orchestra of St. Luke's, the New York Chamber Orchestra and the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. Amy has performed as soloist with the Seattle Symphony, Aspen Philharmonia, Solisti of New York, Northwest Chamber Orchestra, and the St Luke's Chamber Ensemble. Chamber music appearances include performances at the Caramoor, Bard, Olympic, Chamber Music West, and Santa Fe Chamber Music Festivals, as well as with the St. Luke's Chamber Ensemble, Chelsea Ensemble,and the Partita Ensemble. Former teachers include Emanuel Zetlin in Seattle, Washington and Dorothy DeLay at the Juilliard School in New York. An avid chamber musician, Hiraga frequently performs in many Bay Area venues such as Davies Symphony Hall and Kohl Mansion and has recorded for Stereophile, Muse and Lapis Island Records. 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.
While still a student at Bard High School Early College, Amalie attended Juilliard Pre-College, where she appeared with the Juilliard Pre-college Symphony Orchestra at Alice Tully Hall with Itzhak Perlman as soloist. She also was featured on the soundtrack of the indie film "Ready? Ok!" which won the best U.S. narrative feature film at FilmOut San Diego. Amalie began her undergraduate studies at the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre, and Dance where she studied with Daniel Gilbert. After her sophomore year, she transferred to Bard College, where she studied with Laura Flax. During her time at Bard, Amalie participated in a three-week long tour of China with the Bard College Conservatory Orchestra. She performed in the Friends of Chamber Music concert series in Reading, Pennsylvania, as well as in master classes with David Krakauer, and Daniel Phillips. After her graduation in May, Amalie is taking part in a one-month-long European tour with the Bard College Conservatory Orchestra. Next fall, she will be pursuing her Master of Music degree at Lynn Conservatory with teacher Jon Manasse.
The Saturday and Sunday concerts are completely different. Program 1 will include pieces by Beethoven, Debussy and Brahms. Program 2 will feature pieces by Prokofiev, Mendelssohn and Brahms.
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The Gualala Arts Center, located at 46501 Old State Highway in Gualala, CA,
Serving the coastal communities of northern Sonoma & southern Mendocino Counties.
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Born in New York to musician parents, Peter Wyrick began his studies in Poughkeepsie, NewYork and proceeded to the Juilliard School at the age of eight. He is active as a soloist, chamber musician, teacher and orchestra musician. Since 1999 he has been the Associate Principal Cellist of the San Francisco Symphony He has appeared as soloist with the Symphony numerous times, including performances of Leonard Bernstein's "Meditation", Haydn Sinfonia Concertante and Tan Dun's Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon Cello Concerto. Mr. Wyrick made his solo debut at age 12 with the Hudson Valley Philharmonic. Since then he has performed as soloist with the Aspen Chamber Orchestra, the Queens Philharmonic, the American Chamber Orchestra, the Oklahoma Chamber Orchestra, the Kozponti Sinfonicus in Budapest, Hungary, and the Silicon Valley Orchestra.
Alisa Wyrick is a native New Yorker and violinist with the New York City Opera Orchestra. She regularly performs with the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra and has an active free-lance career in and around New York City. After attending Oberlin Conservatory and Oberlin College, graduating with degrees in Music and Sociology, she was Concertmaster of the South Bend Symphony in Indiana. Alisa has performed in many countries including Japan, Italy, Switzerland and Costa Rica with festival orchestras, in chamber music ensembles, and as a soloist.
Born into a family of musicians, Amalie Wyrick-Flax began studying violin at the age of three, moving on to the piano at age five, before settling on the clarinet at age eight. When she was eleven, she made her professional debut performing in a backstage Banda with the American Symphony Orchestra at the Bard Music Festival. Amalie has participated in summer music festivals including the Garden State, Greenwood, and Eastern Music Festivals. She performed as a guest artist as a part of the Bard Music Festival in Wagner's Siegfried Idyll, and Strauss' Sonatina in F, "From an Invalid's Workshop."