The Marrowstone Music Festival is an orchestral training program that takes place in the Pacific Northwest. The program is targeted at high school and college students, around 200 of which play in the program annually. The festival features orchestral and chamber music, which is performed both by students and faculty members at various concerts during the two-week-long festival.

History

The Marrowstone Music Festival was established by the Music and Art Foundation, which also founded the Seattle Youth Symphony Orchestras. The festival was first held at Camp Sealth on

Vashon Island Vashon () is a census-designated place (CDP) in King County, Washington, United States. It covers an island alternately called Vashon Island or Vashon–Maury Island, the largest island in Puget Sound south of Admiralty Inlet. Before the constru ...

in 1943, and was called the Youth Symphony Orchestra of Seattle Music Camp. The festival has changed locations numerous times since its founding. It first moved to Benbow Lakes in 1945 for one summer, where it adopted the name Pacific Northwest Music Camp, then was held at Camp Waskowitz near North Bend from 1946 to 1948, and from 1950 to 1954. In 1949, the session was a day camp at Hunts Point. In 1955 and 1956, it was held at the Lazy F Ranch near

Ellensburg Ellensburg is a city in and the county seat of Kittitas County, Washington, United States. It is located just east of the Cascade Range near the junction of Interstate 90 and Interstate 82. The population was 18,666 at the 2020 census. and was ...

. In 1957, the camp session was held at Pacific Beach, Washington. From 1958 to 1989, the festival was held at

Fort Flagler Fort Flagler Historical State Park is a public recreation area that occupies the site of Fort Flagler, a former United States Army fort at the northern end of Marrowstone Island in Washington. The state park occupies south of the entrance to ...

on Marrowstone Island, from which it got its current name in 1976. In 1990, it moved to

Fort Worden State Park Fort Worden Historical State Park is located in Port Townsend, Washington, on originally known as Fort Worden, a United States Army Coast Artillery Corps base constructed to protect Puget Sound from invasion by sea. Fort Worden was named after ...

Port Townsend Port Townsend is a city on the Quimper Peninsula in Jefferson County, Washington, United States. The population was 10,148 at the 2020 United States Census. It is the county seat and only incorporated city of Jefferson County. In addition ...

. As of 2001, the event has been hosted at

Western Washington University Western Washington University (WWU or Western) is a public university in Bellingham, Washington, United States. The northernmost university in the contiguous United States, WWU was founded in 1893 as the state-funded New Whatcom Normal School, s ...

.R.M. Campbell, "Shames Leaving Marrowstone Music Festival in Fine Form," ''Seattle Post Intelligencer'', 27 July 2001, p. 15. There was no festival in 2020.

Programs

Orchestral music performance

The festival consists of two large symphony orchestras and a chamber orchestra in which all students participate. In addition participating students are given the option to participate in one or more other programs at their discretion.

Chamber music performance

Students may participate in chamber groups throughout the festival. Some of these are formed by the students, while others are organized by the festival. These chamber groups perform in two concerts, one of which takes place during each week of the camp.

Master classes

Students also have the opportunity to participate in master classes hosted by faculty. Master classes cover miscellaneous topics such as audition preparation, orchestral etiquette, practicing techniques, and instrumental techniques.

Piano

The festival includes a specific program designed for students whose primary instrument is piano. These students are instructed in solo and group performance by faculty members and are occasionally requested by festival groups as accompaniment or to fill a part required by the music.

Repertoire

The repertoire played by the orchestras are generally considered

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be #Relationship to other music traditions, distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical mu ...

orchestral music An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * String instruments, such as the violin, viola, cello, a ...

. Selections in the past have included but were not limited to, '' Classical Symphony'' by

Sergei Prokofiev Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev; alternative transliterations of his name include ''Sergey'' or ''Serge'', and ''Prokofief'', ''Prokofieff'', or ''Prokofyev''. , group=n ( – 5 March 1953) was a Russian composer, pianist, and conductor who l ...

, ''

Pines of Rome ''Pines of Rome'' (), P 141, is a tone poem in four movements for orchestra completed in 1924 by the Italian composer Ottorino Respighi. It is the second of his three tone poems about Rome, following '' Fontane di Roma'' (1916) and preceding '' ...

'' by

Ottorino Respighi Ottorino Respighi ( , , ; 9 July 187918 April 1936) was an Italian composer, violinist, teacher, and musicologist and one of the leading Italian composers of the early 20th century. List of compositions by Ottorino Respighi, His compositions ra ...

, ''

The Planets ''The Planets'', Op. 32, is a seven- movement orchestral suite by the English composer Gustav Holst, written between 1914 and 1917. In the last movement the orchestra is joined by a wordless female chorus. Each movement of the suite is name ...

'' by

Gustav Holst Gustav Theodore Holst (born Gustavus Theodore von Holst; 21 September 1874 – 25 May 1934) was an English composer, arranger and teacher. Best known for his orchestral suite ''The Planets'', he composed many other works across a range ...

, '' Carmen Suite'' by

Georges Bizet Georges Bizet (; 25 October 18383 June 1875) was a French composer of the Romantic music, Romantic era. Best known for his operas in a career cut short by his early death, Bizet achieved few successes before his final work, ''Carmen'', w ...

, and many other classical orchestral works.

Notable participants

Faculty

Source: *Juan Felipe Molano - Music Director of the Seattle Youth Symphony Orchestra. *Stephen Rogers Radcliffe - Former Music Director of the Seattle Youth Symphony Orchestra. *Ryan Dudenbostel - Director of Orchestral Studies at Western Washington University. *

Dale Clevenger Dale Clevenger (July 2, 1940 – January 5, 2022) was an American musician who was the Principal Horn of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra from 1966 until his retirement in June, 2013.

- former principal horn player of the

Chicago Symphony Orchestra The Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO) is an American symphony orchestra based in Chicago, Illinois. Founded by Theodore Thomas in 1891, the ensemble has been based in the Symphony Center since 1904 and plays a summer season at the Ravinia F ...

from 1966 to 2013. *Roger Cole - principal oboist of the

Vancouver Symphony Orchestra The Vancouver Symphony Orchestra (VSO) is a Canadian orchestra based in Vancouver, British Columbia. The VSO performs at the Orpheum, which has been the orchestra's permanent home since 1977. With an annual operating budget of $16 million, it is ...

from 1976 to present. Sessional lecturer at the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a Public university, public research university with campuses near University of British Columbia Vancouver, Vancouver and University of British Columbia Okanagan, Kelowna, in British Columbia, Canada ...

. *Roy Poper - associate professor of trumpet at the

Oberlin Conservatory of Music The Oberlin Conservatory of Music is a private music school, music conservatory of Oberlin College, a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Oberlin, Ohio. It was founded in 1865 and is the ...

. * Heidi Lehwalder - renowned as one of the world’s greatest harp prodigies. Multiple appearances with the

Seattle Symphony The Seattle Symphony is an American orchestra based in Seattle, Washington. Since 1998, the orchestra is resident at Benaroya Hall. The orchestra also serves as the accompanying orchestra for the Seattle Opera. History Beginnings The orchest ...

. *Kenneth Grant - principal clarinetist of the

Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra The Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO) is an American orchestra based in the city of Rochester, New York. Its primary concert venue is the Eastman Theatre at the Eastman School of Music. History George Eastman, founder of Eastman Kodak Compan ...

. Faculty at the

Eastman School of Music The Eastman School of Music is the music school of the University of Rochester, a private research university in Rochester, New York, United States. Established in 1921 by celebrated industrialist and philanthropist George Eastman, it was the ...

. *Francine Peterson - freelance bassoonist. Performs with the Seattle Symphony,

Pacific Northwest Ballet Pacific Northwest Ballet (PNB) is an American ballet company based in Seattle, Washington. It is said to have the highest per capita attendance in the United States, with 11,000 subscribers in 2004. The company consists of 49 dancers and hosts ...

, and the

Seattle Opera Seattle Opera is an American opera company based in Seattle, Washington. The company's season runs from August through late May, comprising five or six operas of eight to ten performances each, often featuring double casts in major roles to all ...

. Faculty at the

University of Puget Sound The University of Puget Sound is a private liberal arts college in Tacoma, Washington, United States. It was founded in 1888. The institution offers a variety of undergraduate degrees as well as five graduate programs in counseling, education, oc ...

Pacific Lutheran University Pacific Lutheran University (PLU) is a Private university, private Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Lutheran university in Parkland, Washington. It was founded by Norwegian Lutheran immigrants in 1890. PLU is sponsored by the 580 congreg ...

, and Western Washington University. *Joseph Rodriguez - second trombone of the

Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Cincinnati, Ohio. Its primary concert venue is Music Hall. In addition to its symphony concerts, the orchestra gives pops concerts as the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra. The Cinc ...

Media

The orchestral concerts each week of this festival are broadcast by Classical

KING-FM KING-FM (98.1 MHz; "Classical KING") is a non-commercial classical music radio station in Seattle, Washington. It is owned by Classic Radio, a nonprofit organization. The studios and offices are on Mercer St in Seattle. KING-FM holds periodi ...

shortly after the concerts.

References

{{reflist

External links

Official website
Classical music festivals in the United States Festivals in Washington (state) Music festivals established in 1942