Tonight’s performance has been made possible by the generosity of Margo and Tom Scribner.

Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue. These are the prerequisites for a successful marriage, or at least wedding. And as we’ve learned before, there is perhaps no more perfect sonic marriage than that of the saxophone quartet.

Tonight, the something old is also the something borrowed, music originally written for string instruments by Edvard Grieg. As it happens, Grieg was born three years prior to the invention of the saxophone.

Something new? A huge portion of instrumental music composed in the 20th century was written for the saxophone. And that continues into our present time. There’s a reason. Saxophonists are both cool, and have voracious appetites for new music. Simply put, composers want to hear their works played and saxophonists are down. A work by composer, Karalyn Schubring, written in 2023 will do the trick nicely.

What about blue? Is there an instrument more associated with jazz than the sax? Jazz is all about the language of blue notes. Tonight, the blue notes are scented with pimentón, a smokey Spanish spice, in music by Pedro Iturralde.

Cerus Quartet are the 2024 WWCMF Emerging Artist Fellowship Quartet. They will appear throughout the Valley during their residency, performing for more than 1000 youngsters while presenting bilingually in English and Spanish.

All works will be announced from the stage.

Artists: Cerus Quartet: Roberto Campa, soprano saxophone; Brian Kachur, baritone saxophone; Philip Kleutgens, tenor saxophone; Laura Ramsay, alto saxophone

Tonight’s performance has been made possible by the generosity of Anne Haley and Jim Shepherd.

Instrumentalists — who are all jealous of singers, by the way— tend to tease singers about their counting abilities. Well, instrumentalists, you didn’t count on soprano, Jennifer Goltz-Taylor. The PhD in Music Theory should make you a little nervous. And then you learn she’s a multi-instrumentalist, at ease with an accordion, ukulele or seated at the piano. And then you hear hear voice. Was that a Schubert art song? Followed by cabaret? Followed by the crunchiest of atonal modernism? Eerie sprechstimme? Klezmer? French grand opera? Yes to all of the above.

There’s not much to tease, here. So best to embrace it and save your jokes for the viola. Tonight, Jennifer brings a recital of her favorite songs from the 20th century with pianist Ronaldo Rolim, featuring music of Rachmaninov, Barber, Poulenc, Debussy, Respighi, and more.

All works will announced from the stage.

Artists: Jennifer Goltz-Taylor, soprano; Ronaldo Rolim, piano

Tonight’s performance has been made possible by the generosity of Ron Van Yserloo, in honor of Barb, who loved playing the clarinet.

Kevin is not wrong in his musings about WWCMF and Brahms. So, it is only fitting that he brings us the first Festival performance of a Brahms clarinet sonata movement. What else might he have in mind for tonight’s Portrait recital? I went ahead and took a look through my extensive scrapbook of Kevin’s various musings to get a better idea.

“…a military march in reference to my military service.”

Sounds good. What’s next?

“…a reference to [the film] ‘Maestro.”

I’m intrigued. And?

“…a beautiful new piece, [then] one with a nice frilly fun ending.”

At WWCMF, we love nice fun frilly endings. Kevin makes his return to WWCMF after a season’s absence filled with solo sea voyages and much more. This evening’s performance provides a window into one of WWCMF’s most beloved performers.

All works will be announced from the stage.

Artists: Kevin Schempf, clarinet; Xiaohui Yang, piano

Tonight’s performance is made possible by the generosity of Kris and Tim Barry.

At first, you think you’re in for a wonderful recital by an extremely talented violinist. (Don’t worry. You are!) Then the question is posed to said violinist, in this case MingHuan Xu, “Have you ever been part of a sting operation?” And things shift a bit. What lurks beneath MingHuan’s polished exterior? Pure intrigue. She’s tough on crime by night, a virtuoso violinist by day.

Sounds more like a movie than a Portrait recital, right? And that’s fitting. Joined by pianist Winston Choi, MingHuan has a program of music featured on the big screen by composers John Corigliano, Dmitri Shostakovich, Carlos Gardel and more.

All works will be announced from the stage.

Artists: MingHuan Xu, violin; Winston Choi, piano