Chamber Music Festival
June 12 & 13, 2025 | Walla Walla, WA
Pepper Bridge will be hosting two performances for the Walla Walla Chamber Music Festival. The goal of the Festival is to deepen the understanding and appreciation of classical chamber music while forging connections between musicians, audiences, venues and the greater community.
June 12 | Portrait of an Artist 2 - Xiaohui Yang, piano
WWCMF audiences have thrilled to high-flying performances of pianist Xiaohui Yang these past few seasons. In fact, in her debut season of 2022, she earned a coveted WWCMF MVP award for outstanding artistry, fortitude and positive attitude amid circumstances that would have wilted a lesser musician. I think she was in something like 10 consecutive hours of rehearsal on her first day, capped by a Portrait performance with cellist Meta Weiss. Her only break that day was when we brought her a sandwich from Graze (solid sandwich!), which she ate sitting at her piano bench between pieces.
In addition to her WWCMF MVP award, Xiaohui won the 2017 Naumburg International Piano Competition, and has been featured in performances throughout four continents, including in venues such as Carnegie Hall, Ozawa Hall, New Jersey Performing Arts Center, Tel Aviv Museum of Art and the Seoul Arts Center. And she has of course performed in the middle production room of Pepper Bridge Winery, site of that marathon first day a few years ago, and site of tonight’s performance.
All selections will be announced from the stage.
June 14 | Tasting Music 2 -
Mozart Piano Quartet in G minor, K. 478
Survey the entire catalog of Mozart’s music (side note: that ‘K’ you always see after the title of a piece by Mozart refers to the catalog) and you will find very few pieces designated in a minor key. Therefore, the music by Mozart framed in a minor key takes on special meaning by dint of its relative scarcity. And when it comes to minor keys, G minor makes a strong case for Mozart’s favorite. Think of the stormy beginning of his Symphony No. 25, which opens the film Amadeus. The first few measures of his Symphony No. 40 have disrupted concerts innumerable as a cellphone ringtone. And in his chamber output, the late String Quintet in G minor spins to epic proportions.
Here, Mozart begins with a forceful rhythmic unison one would be forgiven for attributing to Beethoven. Perhaps young Beethoven was listening. Yet, as forceful as the opening motif is, you know Mozart liked a good party. And the clouds rarely hang about Mozart very long.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
Piano Quartet in G minor, K. 478 (1785)
I. Allegro
II. Andante
III. Rondo
