Tickets on sale soon for Bellingham Festival of Music

A performance of the Mozart Requiem, the Mahler Fourth Symphony, and appearances by guest soloists Lynn Harrell, Cho-Liang Lin, Kuok-Wai Lio, Peter Serkin and the resident Calidore String Quartet will highlight the Bellingham Festival of Music’s 23rd season, July 1-17.

Maestro Michael Palmer will conduct the Festival Orchestra and Chorus in performances at Western Washington University’s Performing Arts Center. Members of the orchestra perform in the annual Chamber Music by the Bay concert July 10 at Bellingham Cruise Terminal.

In early December, the festival was one of 146 organizations to receive a National Endowment for the Arts grant for artistic excellence in music presentation. The $10,000 award will support the festival’s upcoming summer concert season.

“The mission of the Bellingham Festival of Music is to bring classical music of the highest quality to Whatcom County,” said Karen Berry, chair of the festival board of directors.

Jane Chu, chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts says “ supporting projects like the Bellingham Festival of Music offers more opportunities to engage in the arts every day.”

Season tickets for the full series and for the orchestral series go on sale mid-January. Individual concert tickets go on sale early February. Details: bellinghamfestival.org. Tickets will be available online and at the WWU box office, boxoffice@wwu.edu, http://tickets.wwu.edu, 360-650-6146.

Before then are concerts hosted by festival organizers: Pianist Cole Anderson at 7 p.m. Jan. 2 at First Congregational Church; vocal ensemble Roomful of Teeth at 7:30 p.m. Jan. 27 at WWU’s PAC; and violinist Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg and pianist Anne-Marie McDermott April 1 at WWU’s PAC.

Music Club auditions near

Gail Haines, awards chair for Bellingham Music Club, will soon hold auditions for high school students in Whatcom County. Auditions are 5 to 8 p.m. at Trinity Lutheran Church, 119 Texas St.

▪ Jan. 15: Vocal competition ; performance 10:30 a.m. Feb. 3.

▪ Jan. 22: Piano competition; performance 10:30 a.m. Feb. 3.

▪ Jan. 29: Instrumental competition; performance 10:30 a.m. March 3.

▪ Feb. 19: String competition; performance 10:30 a.m. March 3.

Details: bellinghammusicclub.org

This story was originally published December 30, 2015 at 10:00 AM.