Every summer, classical music nuts slaver over the spate of festivals in and around Seattle. Most people know about the granddaddy of 'em all, the Seattle Chamber Music Festival (July 1-30), which boasts very little new music but almost always delivers stellar performances of the meat-and-potatoes Men of Classical (Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms). Lots of surprises lurk for connoisseurs: Chopin, Gershwin, and odd (wo)men out like Amy Beach, Charles Ives, and that paragon of French Academia, Vincent D'Indy. The lesser-known Aronoff Chamber Music Series (June 30-July 5) also merits investigation, with bargain prices and a fine venue, the Bastyr University Chapel.
Other festivals not only cater to that fussy breed of music lover, the chamber music fanatic, but also tout themselves as tourist getaways. The Olympic Music Festival (weekends from June 22 to September 7) takes place in a rustic barn just outside of Quilcene. The barn's bucolic surroundings and weathered wood, so beloved by the Pottery Barn set, would make Martha Stewart swoon. Another getaway is the Icicle Creek Summer Festival (weekends June 30 to July 28), held in Leavenworth--which, depending on how much beer you drink, is either a tourist trap or a tidy, mullet-free vision of rural America. If you are loath to leave town and desire adventurous contemporary music, the UW Summer Arts Festival (July 16-20) features the Seattle Creative Orchestra in a tribute to John Cage, and the Dave Douglas Quintet, as well as the annual Digital Fusions concert, one of the few places in town to hear supra-stereo electroacoustic music. CHRISTOPHER DeLAURENTI
For festival locations, lineups, schedules, and prices:
Aronoff Chamber Music Series:
www.viola.com/aronoff
Icicle Creek Summer Festival:
www.icicle.org
Olympic Music Festival:
www.olympicmusicfestival.org
Seattle Chamber Music Festival:
www.scmf.org
UW Summer Arts Festival:
www.summerartsfest.org
