The Olympic Music Festival is an idea I wish I'd had or could afford to pull off. In 1984, a violinist named Alan Iglitzin bought an old farm property north of Quilcene, Washington and started hosting informal music concerts in the barn for his friends and fellow musicians. He quickly realized that others were also interested in hearing classical music in his barn, and The Olympic Music Festival was born. The barn is now filled with old church pews and hay-bail seats. In 1990 Alan received a call from a man named Sam that claimed to have been born in the barn in 1914. The two ended up meeting and it turned out that Sam's parents were Japanese and were forced into an internment camp during WWII. Because of this, they lost their farm. Alan had no idea the place had such a troubled past. The two ended up becoming good friends and Alan has been very outspoken about the history of the property. Julie and I heard a duo named Anderson and Roe play in this fascinating venue. They actually played together on the same piano. Anderson and Roe are both piano virtuosos who studied at Juilliard. Part of their mission is to make classic music cool again. Click here to hear them play a great version of Michael Jackson's Billie Jean.
No comments:
Post a Comment