Vashon Chamber Music Festival debuts
Vashon Allied Arts’ newest venture — the first annual Vashon Chamber Music Festival — will hit Island stages this weekend, featuring a roster of stars from the international chamber music and orchestral circuit. Concerts will take place at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, May 21 and 22, at the Blue Heron, and 4 p.m. Sunday, May 23, at Vashon Methodist Church. A one-hour family concert is scheduled for 11 a.m. Saturday, May 22, at the Blue Heron. In addition to being spearheaded by acclaimed Island cellists Rowena Hammill and Doug Davis, the festival will boast appearances by the Grammy-nominated bassoonist, Martin Kuuskmann. Clarinetist Patricia Kostek, who serves as artistic director of Chamber Music San Juans, will also perform. Violinist Stephen Bryant, a violinist in the Seattle Symphony, is also in the ensemble. Another violinist in the program, Sue Jane Bryant, has peformed with Seattle Symphony, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Vancouver Symphony and Beau Metro Quartet.
Additional players for the weekend include violinists Karin Choo and Ron Patterson, violist Roxanna Patterson and pianist Allan Dameron.
For more information about the concert and a complete schedule, visit www.vashonalliedarts.org. Tickets for all concerts, including the Saturday morning family concert, are on sale at Blue Heron, Books by the Way, Heron’s Nest and at www.brownpapertickets.com.
A family show comes to Café Luna
Islander Kim Thal will celebrate 10 years of Swing Set Music and Movement classes for children with an evening of free family fun starting at 6:30 p.m. Friday, May 21, at Café Luna. Thal and Ms. Froggy, a hand puppet, will offer a special Swing Set Music class complete with tongue twisters, sing-alongs and a cake walk. She’ll be joined by guitarist Rick Vanselow and percussionist Sam Veatch on several more songs. The evening will wind up with an hour of music by the Shy Sundays, a band that includes Thal, Shane Jewell, Emily Pruiksma, Sally Adam and Rob Peterson. Thal recommends that very small children attend the early part of the concert, starting at 6:30 p.m.
Portage Fill concert will benefit kids
The 20-member Island big band, Portage Fill, will play at 8 p.m. Friday, May 21, at Red Bicycle Bistro. The concert is a fundraiser for McMurray Middle School students who are planning a trip to Washington, D.C., as part of the school’s annual Exploratory Week for eighth graders.
Portage Fill has been a part of Island life for almost 40 years. The show on Friday is for all ages until 11 p.m., and admission is by donation.
A Vashon band takes the stage at the Bike
5:01 will take the stage at Red Bicycle Bistro for an evening of country rock and roll at 8 p.m. Saturday, May 22. There’s no cover change for the show, and it will be open to all ages until 11 p.m. 5:01 is an Island ensemble that includes Mark Wells, Doug Ringer, Geordan Mitchen, Luke McQuillin and Jack Barbash. The band plays original tunes, as well as covers of song by Neil Young, Railroad Earth, Marshall Tucker and others.
An old-timey band plays on Saturday
The Howdy Boys, a Seattle band, will pick and sing at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, May 22, in a free concert at Café Luna.
The band mixes classic bluegrass and traditional country material, with instrumentation including fiddle, bass, banjo and guitar. Band leader Doug Bright is also an accordion and mandolin player.
Eric Horsting, who books music for Café Luna, promised a concert with “blistering barnstormers and breakdowns with bouncy blues and ballads for dancing.”
Free Range folk choir has a concert
The Vashon Free Range Folk Choir will have a free concert at 7 p.m. Saturday, May 22, at the Methodist Church.
The choir is directed by Islander Shane Jewell, who chooses songs that inspire community connection.
The concert will include the premiere of a new song, “Vashon Island,” written by Jewell and his brother-in-law Tom Pruiksma, and also feature songs from Bulgaria, Northwest Georgia and South Africa.
The choir will begin its new season in September, and Islanders can join without auditions. Jewell teaches the songs line-by-line in call and response, so there’s no need to read sheet music.
Teenaged percussionists will strut their stuff
A concert by Vashon High School’s Percussion Ensemble will take place at 7 p.m. Tuesday, May 25, at the Vashon High School theater. Ensemble members include Petey Byrne, Kellan Faker-Boyle, Stephen Cooper, Dylan Greene, Andy Hennessey, Peyton Levin, Emory Mediema-Boyajian, Tanner Montague, Helen Pendergast, Nathaniel Petram, Sam Veatch and Alex Wall. The group’s set list will range from “Sabre Dance,” by Aram Khachaturian, to “Oye Como Va,” by jazz percussionist and composer Tito Puente. Dylan Greene and Emory Miedema-Boyajian, who are multiple percussion state title holders, will perform an excerpt from “Nagoya Marimbas” by Steve Reich. Tickets, $5 for adults and $3 for students, are available at Books by the Way and Vashon Bookshop. All proceeds will benefit VHS and McMurray Middle School music programs.
