Ottawa Chamber Music Festival
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The Ottawa International Chamber Music Festival has been operating each summer since 1994. In that year Julian Armour started a small festival that was to become the largest chamber music festival in the world. The initial season had 22 concerts at various churches in Ottawa (Canada). Each year the number of concerts increased and by 2001 there were over 100 concerts in the two weeks of the festival. The CBC Radio frequently broadcasts concerts nationally during the festival, making the effective audience very large. The festival is now organized and run by the Ottawa Chamber Music Society.
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[edit] Artists
The festival now attracts many of the world's major musicians and groups. Among those who have been or will be in the festival are the Beaux Arts Trio, the Tokyo String Quartet, the Emerson String Quartet, the Canadian Brass, Martin Beaver, Penderecki Quartet, Paul Stewart, Martin Chalifour, Monica Whicher, Julie Nesrallah, Quartango, Neil Grip, Richard Raymond, St. Lawrence Quartet, Mayumi Seiler, Keller Quartet, and Adaskin String Trio]. Other artists include Marc-André Hamelin, Paul Merkelo, Patrick Wedd, Guy Fouque, Musica Camerata, Stéphane Lemelin, Timothy Vernon, Jennifer Swartz, Matthew White, and Gino Quilico.
[edit] Music
Although the concerts are primarily for classical music, the scope has been enlarged to include music by pop and jazz composers and also music from non-european countries. The concerts of a typical day would have several different types of music. For example on July 27 2005, the following were available.
- 10:00 a.m. Coffee Concert - Yuval Gotlibovitch and Daniel Bolshoy
- Noon location 1 : Chamber Music for Strings
- Noon location 2 : Bartók: Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion
- Noon location 3 : Para Arpa
- 2:00 p.m. Michael Tröster
- 5:00 p.m. Chamber Music of Hindemith
- 8:00 p.m. location 1 : PDQ Bach (concert requires additional fee)
- 8:00 p.m. location 2 : Piano Trios
- 8:00 p.m. location 3 : Rachmaninoff for Two Pianos
- 8:00 p.m. location 4 : The Evergreen Club
- 8:00 p.m. location 5 : Dance of the Blessed Spirits
- 11:00 p.m. A Little Night Cabaret
[edit] Festival cost
The festival is very popular because of its quality, but also because it is very affordable. Season passes, costing about $80 CAD, allow the holder to attend most of the concerts although about a dozen of the most popular require an additional fee, so that if the holder attends just one concert a day, it reduces the entrance fee to $4 per concert. Some concerts are at noon, with others at times in the afternoon. The major concerts start at 8 p.m. which allow most employed people the opportunity to attend.
[edit] Reference
The Ottawa Chamber Music Society has the following URL http://www.chamberfest.com/
