The Olympic Music Festival, based in Port Townsend, Washington, is a classical music event founded by Alan Iglitzin featuring world-renowned musicians. For 32 seasons, concerts were held in a barn nestled on 55 acres of farmland in Quilcene, Washington. The 2016 season will be presented at the Wheeler Theater at Fort Worden in partnership with the Centrum Foundation. The Olympic Music Festival was voted "Best Classical Music Festival" by readers of The Seattle Weekly. In 2014, Iglitzin named pianist and longtime festival artist Julio Elizalde as the second artistic director in the festival's history.
History
The music festival was founded in 1984 by Alan Iglitzin, who originally intended his farm to be a summer performance venue for the Philadelphia String Quartet, of which Alan Iglitzin was the founding violist. When people heard that the Philadelphia String Quartet was going to be practicing at a barn near Quilcene, people began to inquire as to whether there would be an opportunity to hearthe Quartet there and Iglitzin began to consider creating a festival. Preliminary names for the festival included "Beethoven in the Barn" and "The Iglitzin Trio," but ultimately Iglitzin settled on the "Olympic Music Festival" referencing the peninsula on which it takes place. When the quartet members concluded their 32-year career seven years after the festival’s inception, artists from across the country were sought out to continue the legacy. Today, the festival has become a home away from home to many outstanding performers. A returning pianist since 2008, Julio Elizalde joined the administration in 2011, with Iglitzin noting that Elizalde has been especially pivotal in accelerating the festival’s caliber. According to Iglitzin, "With the advent of Julio Elizalde and his access to great artists from the East Coast, the pipeline has widened, deepened and gotten ever more effective." Last year, Iglitzin designated Elizalde as co-artistic director. In 2013, the festival celebrated its 30th anniversary, with the director pleased that the festival has attained a level of excellence that not only surpasses the standards of its interim years, but also honors the eminence of its original performers, the Philadelphia String Quartet. Elizalde mentioned that the 30th season of chamber music concerts features returning and new musicians in a program that promises exciting new works while emphasizing masterpieces from the repertoire. The festival opened on June 29, 2013, with a selection of songs for baritone and piano, and closes on Sept. 1 with works by Bach, Beethoven and Brahms. The season is highlighted with performances by acclaimed musicians such as violinists Ray Chen, Korine Fujiwara and Stefan Milenkovich, and pianist and clarinetist Teddy Abrams.
Alan Iglitzin
Alan Iglitzin, the founder of the festival, studied with legendary violist William Primrose. He graduated from Long Island University and did graduate work at Hunter College and the University of Minnesota. In 1953, Alan joined the Minneapolis Symphony and was assistant solo violist there for six years. He also was founding principal violist of the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra. During that time, he was also principal violist of the Philadelphia Chamber Orchestra. Alan was a founding member of the Philadelphia String Quartet. The Quartet left the Philadelphia Orchestra in 1966 to accept a unique position as Quartet-in-Residence at the University of Washington. In addition to touring internationally and recording with the Quartet, Alan was Director of Chamber Music at the Allegheny Music Festival, and for many years was a featured artist at the Aspen Music Festival and School, where he performed with Yo-Yo Ma, Itzhak Perlman, and Pinchas Zukerman. After founding the Olympic Music Festival, Alan was honored with the Washington State Governor's award in 1972 and 1998, the only recipient to ever receive the award twice.
