November 10: Shostakovich Quartet No. 8

Join us Tuesday, November 10, for Inner Revelations: A Performance and Conversation on Dmitri Shostakovich's deeply personal String Quartet No. 8, Opus 110, composed in 1960.

Violinist Maria Sampen and violist Timothy Christie are joined by cellist Kevin Krentz and violinist Linnea Johansen to discuss and perform this masterful string quartet by one of the 20th Century's greatest composers.

Often in disgrace under the Stalin regime for his "bourgeois decadence" and Western influence, Shostakovich's works are marked by strong emotion, wit and parody. This event, 7pm in Slavonian Hall, is not one to miss!

• Download concert flyer (PDF)

December Benefit: Wine and Tango

Tango! This year's Classical Tuesdays benefit concert features the Tangoheart Quartet. A lovely wine and empanadas reception will follow.

December 8th at 7pm, at the handsomely refurbished Connelly Law Offices, 2301 N. 30th St., in Old Town Tacoma.

Tickets are $25 each, available now at

• Bayview Optical (2217 N. 30th St.)
  
• The Spar (2121 N. 30th St.)

Check back for details on our November 10th concert at Slavonian Hall!

Tacoma Weekly says Tuesdays are for Old Town

Have you read your Tacoma Weekly? Classical Tuesdays leads the Tacoma Scene section with a nice piece on the October 13th opening of this year's concert series.

Tuesdays are for Old Town
Fifth season of Classical Tuesdays in Old Town welcomes world music, local talent, community pride

By Matt Nagle, Tacoma Weekly

We really appreciate that the Weekly gets what we're all about. The article touches on our fabulous performers:

Already known to audiences at the Northwest Folklife Festival in Seattle, Kamand Ensemble... studied with the great masters of traditional Persian music and state that they “dedicate every performance to increasing multicultural awareness and building relationships of respect and appreciation within the community.”

Our love of both the local and the exotic...

bringing together Tacoma musicians, mixed with a few surprises to keep things fresh each season.

And our community, which provides...

the important social aspect of the concert series that people seem to enjoy so much. Musicians mingle with the audience, audience members reunite and meet newcomers and everyone gets to enjoy a bit of informal Old Town hospitality.

See you on Tuesday!

Kamand performance a Critic's Pick

Next Tuesday's Persian music concert is a News Tribune Critic's Pick:

Classical Oldtown goes Persian

Classical Persian music from lute and percussion instruments kicks off the Classical Tuesdays in Old Town series of free concerts on Tuesday. 7 p.m. Oct. 13. Free. Old Slavonian Hall, 2306 N. 30th St., Tacoma. 253-752-2135, classicaltuesdays.blogspot.com

Posted By Rosemary Ponnekanti

Concert details are here.

Persian ensemble opens for us October 13th

Classical Persian music opens Classical Tuesdays' fifth season of free chamber music concerts in Old Town Tacoma!

The ensemble Kamand, with musicians Ahmad, Milad and Ali, will perform traditional music of Iran. The concert features the barbat and setar instruments, from the lute family, and the tonbak and daf percussion instruments. Join us to celebrate the diversity and beauty of our community's music.

Tuesday, Oct 13th, 7 pm, FREE.
Slavonian Hall, 2306 N. 30th St., Tacoma
Info: (253) 752-2135

Announcing our 2009-2010 Season!

October 13th kicks off our fifth season of Classical Tuesdays in Old Town! We'll feature four widely varied free concerts and our annual benefit concert:

October 13, 2009
Classical and traditional Persian music by the Kamand Ensemble.

November 10, 2009
We welcome back violinists Maria Sampen and Timothy Christie.

December 8, 2009
Our annual wine & music benefit concert at the Connelly Law Offices, featuring the music of Tango!

January 12, 2010
We celebrate Tacoma composers in works for small ensembles.

February 9, 2010
Masses of harps!

A big Thank You! to the Slavonian-American Benevolent Society for the use of their beautiful hall in Old Town.

Concerts start at 7pm the second Tuesday of the month. All but the benefit concert are at Slavonian Hall, 2306 N 30th St, in Old Town Tacoma. Info: 253-752-2135, http://classicaltuesdays.blogspot.com

Remember:

• Print this page!
  
• Print our season poster! (be sure to choose "Scale to page")
  
• Watch for the poster at local businesses!
  
• Check this space!
  
• Mark the concert dates now!
  
• Check the News Tribune Calendar!

We hope to see you soon.

New video of Wine & Song 2008: Opera in Old Town

As we plan our fifth season of Classical Tuesdays in Old Town, we'd like to share a video of last winter's benefit concert. In this clip you'll see and hear Charles Robert Stephens, Gino Lucchetti, and Tanya Stambuk in a lovely performance December 9th, 2008, at the beautiful Connelly Law Offices.



Many thanks to Jim Robbins for producing the video, and thanks once again to the many supporters of Classical Tuesdays. Check back soon for our season announcement and details of our October concert.

Stadium Brass on February 10th: Students & their teachers in concert

Tuesday, February 10th, will be the final concert of the Classical Tuesdays 2008-2009 season!

Tuesday's concert will showcase brass students and their teachers. Our featured students are the Stadium High School Brass Ensembles, including the Trombone Choir, Horn Choir, Tuba Duet, and Brass Quintet, all directed by David Mulkins.

• Download concert flyer (8½ x 11", PDF)

The Stadium Brass will be joined by the Brass Unlimited quartet, pictured at right. You may recall Brass Unlimited from our series in 2007 or even from our first season. Members David Mulkins, Karl Ronning, Keith Gorsuch, and Eric Stevens are all beloved music-educators in the Tacoma public schools.

On the program are composers such as Prokofiev, Sparke, and Copland - you'll hear marches, dances, fanfares & more. Please join us for our final concert of the season!

Tuesday, Feb 10th, 7 pm, FREE.
Slavonian Hall, 2306 N. 30th St., Tacoma
Info: (253) 752-2135

Weekly Volcano spews on tonight's concert

The Weekly Volcano spewed all over tonight's (January 13th) concert. In a good way, that is.

From today's Spew column:

Pollywogs, Pachelbel and Preludes. Such is the tongue-in-cheek title for a concert to be given tonight by the Just Sax Quartet — four Gig Harbor-based saxophonists whose classical repertoire is punctuated and syncopated by the inclusion of jazz and pop arrangements. Offering this alliterative program: Pam Ryker, artistic director for the series, “Classical Tuesdays,” at Slavonian Hall, in Tacoma.

Debussy's Children's Corner Suite contains the famous “Golliwog’s Cakewalk,” which appears on the program as “Pollywog’s Lake Talk.” Among other whimsies: a swinging “Sorcerer's Apprentice”; the always dependable Pachelbel's “Canon;” the equally dependable jazz powerhouse, Lennie Niehaus’ “Fugue”; and an upbeat encore piece, the very Joplinesque (Scott, not Janice) “Ragtime Suite.” That's merely part of their program. Leader Julie Allison plays soprano and alto; Stacia Rink, alto; Sheryl Clark, who transcribes much of the material, tenor; and Catherine Kostelecky-Roe, baritone. Just Sax was born in 1988 as “Three Chicks and a Chicklet.” (The latter didn’t gum things up — she was simply the shortest.) They’re all educators; one is a chemistry professor; they all play in the Tacoma Concert Band. How can you resist them … or the free admission?

[Slavonian Hall, 7 p.m., no cover, 2306 N. 30th St., Tacoma, 253.752.2135]

Thank, Volcano! And really, there's no need to resist.

The concert flyer is here.