Summer Chamber Music Festival at Gualala Arts

The Summer Chamber Music Festival returns to Gualala Arts Saturday and Sunday, July 9 & 10. Performances begin each day at 4:00 p.m. Tickets are $40 for each day’s performance, and are available at Gualala Arts, Dolphin Gallery, and online at EventBrite.com.

Cellist Peter Wyrick, family and friends bring the music of a variety of composers to delight chamber music lovers on the coast. Advance tickets are $40 and are available now!

Born in New York to a musical family, Peter Wyrick began studies at the Juilliard School at age eight and made his solo debut at age twelve. He has served as Associate Principal Cello of the San Francisco Symphony, and has been principal cello of the Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra and associate principal cello of the New York City Opera Orchestra. As a member of the Ridge String Quartet, he recorded the Dvořák piano quintets with pianist Rudolf Firkušný, an RCA recording that won France’s Diapason d’Or and a Grammy nomination.

Cellist Peter Wyrick will be joined by a superb group of musicians. Contributing to the festival weekend are Amy Hiraga, violin; Nancy Ellis, viola; Sarn Oliver, violin and Mayumi Wyrick, violin. Returning for Saturday’s performance is pianist Roy Bogas.

Amy Hiraga studied at the University of Cincinnati and the Juilliard School. She has been a member of the Orchestra of Saint Luke’s and the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. She worked as a freelance musician in New York and joined the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra in 1991, then rejoined the San Francisco Symphony when she and Mr. Wyrick returned to San Francisco in 1999.

New Jersey native Nancy Ellis joined the San Francisco Symphony’s viola section in 1975. She attended Oberlin College for two years before transferring to (and graduating from) Mills College. She has toured Europe with a quartet that backed rock singer Van Morrison, and she has attended the Marlboro Music Festival.

Violinist Sarn Oliver has performed as a soloist, recitalist and chamber musician throughout the United States and Europe. His performances can be heard on many recordings. Sarn Oliver is the former Principal Second Violin of the Sacramento Symphony and is currently a first violinist with the San Francisco Symphony.

Violinist Mayumi Hiraga Wyrick is currently a student of Nicholas Kitchen at the New England Conservatory of Music. She is a past winner of the Marin Music Chest scholarship award and won the instrumental award for the Robert Mondavi Young Artists Competition in 2007.

Pianist and longtime local favorite Roy Bogas is a pianist of international renown with a long and distinguished career. He debuted in performance with the San Francisco Symphony at age 14, made his conducting debut with Prometheus in 1976, became the accompanist for violinist Yehudi Menuhin at age 19, and established a solid reputation as a pianist, conductor and composer.

The program for Saturday includes Ludwig von Beethoven’s “Seven Variations for Piano and Cello” from Mozart’s “Magic Flute”, Leos Janacek’s “String Quartet No. 2 ‘Intimate Letters’”, and Johannes Brahms “Piano Quintet in f minor, Op. 34”.

On Sunday the program will include Eugène-Auguste Ysaÿe, “Sonate pour deux violons seuls”, Claude Debussy, “String Quartet Op. 40”, Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, “String quintet, Op. 87 in B-flat Major.”