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. The population was 10, ...

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 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 at the entrance to Admiralty Inlet and ...

Marrowstone Island Marrowstone is a census-designated place (CDP) in Jefferson County, Washington, United States. The population was 844 at the 2010 census. All Marrowstone addresses are in Nordland, Washington, and the ZIP code for Marrowstone Island is 98358. ...

, from which it got its current name in 1976. In 1990, it moved to Fort Worden State Park in

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 to ...

. 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. The northernmost university in the contiguous United States, WWU was founded in 1893 as the state-funded New Whatcom Normal School, succeeding a pri ...

.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 or

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: * bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, ce ...

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

Classical Symphony The Symphony No. 1 in D major, Op. 25, also known as the "''Classical''", was Sergei Prokofiev's first numbered symphony. He began to compose it in 1916 and completed it on September 10, 1917. Steinberg, Michael. "The Symphony: a listeners guide". ...

'' by

Sergei Prokofiev Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev; alternative transliterations of his name include ''Sergey'' or ''Serge'', and ''Prokofief'', ''Prokofieff'', or ''Prokofyev''., group=n (27 April .S. 15 April1891 – 5 March 1953) was a Russian composer, ...

, ''

Pines of Rome ''Pines of Rome'' ( it, Pini di Roma, link=no), 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'' ...

'' by Ottorino Respighi, ''

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, and many other classical orchestral works.

Notable participants

Faculty

*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) was founded by Theodore Thomas in 1891. The ensemble makes its home at Orchestra Hall in Chicago and plays a summer season at the Ravinia Festival. The music director is Riccardo Muti, who began his tenu ...

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 research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks among the top thre ...

. *Roy Poper - associate professor of trumpet at the

Oberlin Conservatory of Music The Oberlin Conservatory of Music is a private music conservatory in Oberlin College in Oberlin, Ohio. It was founded in 1865 and is the second oldest conservatory and oldest continually operating conservatory in the United States. It is one of ...

. * 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 orchestr ...

. *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 Compa ...

. 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. It was established in 1921 by industrialist and philanthropist George Eastman. It offers Bachelor of Music ...

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

Pacific Northwest Ballet Pacific Northwest Ballet (PNB) is a ballet company based in Seattle, Washington, in the United States. 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 dan ...

, and the

Seattle Opera Seattle Opera is an opera company based in Seattle, Washington. It was founded in 1963 by Glynn Ross, who served as its first general director until 1983. The company's season runs from August through late May, comprising five or six operas of ...

. Faculty at the

University of Puget Sound The University of Puget Sound (UPS or Puget Sound) is a private university in Tacoma, Washington. The university draws approximately 2,600 students from 44 states and 16 countries. It offers 1,200 courses each year in more than 50 traditional an ...

Pacific Lutheran University Pacific Lutheran University (PLU) is a private Lutheran university in Parkland, Washington. It was founded by Norwegian Lutheran immigrants in 1890. PLU is sponsored by the 580 congregations of Region I of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Ame ...

, 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 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