Concerts in the Barn is returning artists to the stage for its fifth season of chamber music concerts in its iconic barn in Quilcene, beginning Saturday, July 17, and continuing through Aug. 29.

This year, all concerts will take place in the barn, on the farm, in accordance with current Jefferson County and Washington state COVID-19 guidelines. Concerts start at 2 p.m. All guest artists who perform in the barn and all volunteers have been fully vaccinated.

All concerts are free to the public; however, to ensure COVID guidelines are maintained, all concertgoers must reserve their place in the barn or on the lawn in advance through Brown Paper Tickets. (At concertsinthebarn.org, select “Free Tickets Required” to access tickets.)

The 2021 Concerts in the Barn series kicks off July 17 in Quilcene. Photo by Brian Jennings Photography

The season begins with a festival favorite, the Carpe Diem String Quartet. Several members of the Quartet are familiar to audiences from performances in the barn over the past 20 years. Ben Lulich, principal clarinetist for the Seattle Symphony, will join the Quartet opening weekend to perform clarinet quintets by Mozart and Brahms.

The following weekend, the Carpe Diem String Quartet performs works by Shelley Washington, Brahms, Dvorák, and Shostakovich. Both Saturday and Sunday concerts feature Shostakovich’s Quartet No. 8, composed in 1960 and dedicated to “victims of fascism and the war.”

The Carpe Diem String Quartet is internationally known as a boundary-breaking ensemble that embraces both traditional and avant garde repertoire.

The Carpe Diem String Quartet kicks off the 2021 Concerts in the Barn series on July 17 and 18. Photo courtesy of Concerts in the Barn

On the weekend of July 31-Aug. 1, violinist Elisa Barston will collaborate with her sister, cellist Amy Barston, and pianist Jessica Choe as Trio Hava to perform works by Lily Boulanger, Beethoven, and Brahms. Both Barstons have performed many times in the bar. Elisa is principal

second violin for the Seattle Symphony, while cellist Amy Barston has performed as a soloist and chamber musician on stages all over the world.

The Barstons will be joined by Korean American pianist Choe, who has performed in the Chamber Music Series of the Seattle Symphony, as well as at Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center, Seiji Ozawa Hall at Tanglewood and Wolf Trap.

On Aug. 7, Charles Wetherbee, first violinist of the Carpe Diem String Quartet, returns to the farm to perform at the Quilcene barn’s first Gala Fundraising concert. Wetherbee has created his own program of violin repertoire, and will be accompanied by pianist Cameron Bennett, who has performed as piano soloist and collaborative chamber musician throughout the United States, Canada, Russia and the Far East.

A crowd enjoys a Concerts in the Barn performance. After a year away, the free series hosted in Quilcene is back in 2021, starting July 17. Photo courtesy of Concerts in the Barn

“We are thrilled to offer our patrons an entire afternoon with one of our most beloved guest artists,” festival founder Alan Iglitzin said.

On Sunday, Aug. 15, Music on the Strait and Concerts in the Barn are honored to present the Takács Quartet, now entering its 47th season. They will perform works by Haydn, Ravel, and Schubert (“Death in the Maiden’). In addition to performing in the Quilcene rustic barn this summer, the Quartet will perform four concerts in 2021-2022 at London’s Wigmore Hall as Associate Artists, as well as perform at venues that include the Paris Philharmonie, Berlin Konzerthaus and Teatro Della Pergola, Florence.

On Aug. 15, Music on the Strait and Concerts in the Barn present the Takács Quartet, now entering its 47th season. They will perform works by Haydn, Ravel, and Schubert (“Death in the Maiden’). Photo by Amanda Tipton Photography

On Aug. 22, Concerts is the Barn presents musicians from Music on the Strait, a Port-Angeles based chamber music festival co-founded by Richard O’Neill and James Garlick, who performs with the Minnesota Orchestra as well as other orchestras throughout the United States.

O’Neill and Garlick are joined by cellist Ani Aznavoorian, principal cellist of Camerata Pacifica, one of the premier chamber music organizations in Southern California, as well as Jeremy Denk, one of America’s foremost pianists, winner of a MacArthur “Genius” Fellowship, and the Avery Fisher Prize.

Music on the Strait will perform works by Jessie Montgomery and Hindemith as well as Brahms’ monumental piano quartet in G minor, Op. 25.

Concerts in the Barn will close the 2021 season with a weekend of concerts performed by the Fulton Street Chamber Players on Aug. 28 and 29. Members include cellist Walter Gray, a founding member of the Kronos Quartet, violinist Cordula Merks, concertmaster of the San Francisco Ballet Orchestra, violist Rachel Swerdlow, who performs with the Seattle Symphony Orchestra, and pianist George Lopez, Bowdoin College’s Robert Beckwith Artist-in-Residence.

The Fulton Street Chamber Players will perform works by Ken Benshoof, Robert Schumann, and Ernö Dohnányi.

Concerts in the Barn will close the 2021 season with a weekend of concerts performed by the Fulton Street Chamber Players on Aug. 28-29. Photo courtesy of Concerts in the Barn

For more about the series, email to concertsinthebarn@gmail.com or call 360-732-0732.

Concerts in the Barn, 2021 Season Program

• Saturday, July 17 — Carpe Diem String Quartet

Charles Wetherbee, violin

Marisa Ishikawa, violin

Korine Fujiwara, viola

Ariana Nelson, cello

Guest artist: Ben Lulich, clarinet

Reza Vali: Istfahan

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Clarinet Quintet in A major, K. 581

Felix Mendelssohn: Quartet No. 2 in A minor, Op. 13

“Ist es wahr?”

• Sunday, July 18 — Carpe Diem String Quartet

Charles Wetherbee, violin

Marisa Ishikawa, violin

Korine Fujiwara, viola

Ariana Nelson, cello

Guest artist: Ben Lulich, clarinet

Reza Vali: Istfahan

Johannes Brahms: Clarinet Quintet in B minor, Op. 115

Felix Mendelssohn: Quartet No. 2 in A minor, Op. 13

“Ist es wahr?”

• Saturday, July 24 — Carpe Diem String Quartet

Charles Wetherbee, violin

Marisa Ishikawa, violin

Korine Fujiwara, viola

Ariana Nelson, cello

Shelley Washington: Middleground

Dmitri Shostakovich: String Quartet No. 8 in C minor, Op. 110

Johannes Brahms: Quartet in C minor, Op. 51, No. 1

• Sunday, July 25 — Carpe Diem String Quartet

Charles Wetherbee, violin

Marisa Ishikawa, violin

Korine Fujiwara, viola

Ariana Nelson, cello

Shelley Washington: Middleground

Dmitri Shostakovich: String Quartet No. 8 in C minor, Op. 110

Antonín Dvorák: Quartet in E-flat major, Op. 51

• Saturday/Sunday, July 31-Aug. 1 — Trio Hava

Elisa Barston, violin

Amy Barston, cello

Jessica Choe, piano

Lily Boulanger: D’un Martin de Printemps

Beethoven: Trio in D major, Op. 70, No. 1 (“Ghost”)

Johannes Brahms: Trio in B major, Op. 8

• Saturday, Aug. 7 — An afternoon with violin virtuoso Charles Wetherbee

Charles Wetherbee, violin

Cameron Bennett, piano

(Program subject to change)

Beethoven: Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 5 (“Spring”)

Amy Beach: Romance

Edward Elgar: Salut d’Amour

Samuel Coleridge-Taylor: Romance

Arthur Foote: Violin Sonata Mvt 1

Edvard Grieg: Sonata Mvt 1 C minor

Fritz Kriesler: Liebesleid

Fritz Kriesler: Liebesfreud

Jules Massenet: Meditation from Thais

Clara Schumann: Three Romances

Pablo de Sarasate: Three Spanish Dances

• Sunday, Aug. 15 — Music on the Strait and Concerts in the Barn present the Takács Quartet

Edward Dusinberre, violin

Harumi Rhodes, violin

Richard O’Neill, viola

András Fejér, cello

(Program subject to change)

Josef Haydn: String Quartet in F minor, Op 20 No 5

Maurice Ravel: String Quartet in F major

Franz Schubert: String Quartet in D minor, D 810 (“Death and the

Maiden”)

• Sunday, Aug. 22 — Concerts in the Barn presents Music on the Strait

James Garlick, violin

Ani Aznavoorian, cello

Richard O’Neill, viola

Check out Music on the Strait during the 2021 Concerts in the Barn series on Aug. 21. Photo courtesy of Concerts in the Barn

Jeremy Denk, piano

(Program subject to change)

Jessie Montgomery: Duo for Violin and Cello

Paul Hindemith: Sonata for Viola and Piano, Op 11 No 4

Johannes Brahms: Piano Quartet in G minor, Op 25

• Saturday/Sunday, Aug. 28-29 — Fulton Street Chamber Players

Cordula Merks, violin

Rachel Swerdlow, viola

Walter Gray, cello

George Lopez, piano

Ken Benshoof: Tangents and Detours for cello and piano 2017

Robert Schumann: Piano Quartet in E-flat major, Op. 47

Ernö Dohnányi: Serenade in C major, Op. 10.