Port Townsend Symphony Orchestra – Free Concert

The Port Townsend Symphony Orchestra launches their season with a free concert on Sunday, October 25, at 2 p.m., in the Chimacum High School Auditorium. Music Director candidate Matthew Salvaggio will conduct the performance.

This season four finalists are competing for the position of Music Director by leading a concert. Each finalist collaborates in shaping the concert program, offering audiences insight into their artistic vision.

For this concert, Matthew Salvaggio pairs the Mendelssohn concerto with Jandali's Phoenix in Exile, and Beethoven's Symphony No. 5. Salvaggio is founder and conductor of the Cleveland Repertory Orchestra and Music Director of the Bellevue Youth Symphony, overseeing 11 ensembles. He has also conducted the Lake Washington and Euclid Symphony Orchestras, and taught conducting at Mercyhurst University, Hiram College and Lake, and Community College.

Featured soloist Pamela Liu will perform Mendelssohn's beloved Violin Concerto in E Minor. Pamela Liu has performed with the Evergreen Symphony in Taipei, Taiwan, and currently serves as Concertmaster of the Cascade Symphony. She is also a coach with the Bellevue Youth Orchestra, Seattle Youth Symphony, and Music Northwest.

Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto redefined the concerto form, opening with the solo violin and connecting its three movements without pause. Jandali's Phoenix in Exile is a lyrical tone poem that follows the mythical phoenix on a journey from exile and longing for renewal and hope. Jandali's music has been commissioned by organizations including the Royal Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony, and Baltimore Symphony.

An open dress rehearsal will be held Friday, October 23, at 7 p.m., in the Chimacum Auditorium located at 91 W. Valley Rd, Chimacum, WA. For more information, visit ptsymphony.org.