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Gallery Concerts

Twenty-One Years of Excellence

      Seattle has long been one of the foremost “early music” cities in North America.  For the last twenty-one years, Gallery Concerts has been one of its leading presenters of Baroque, Classical, and Romantic music preformed with period instruments in intimate, acoustically rich venues.  Its concerts have featured Northwest musicians and guest artists from around the world giving new life to famillar works, discovering little-known masterpieces, and exploring historically informed performance practices. 

      Founded in 1989 by harpsichordist Jillon Stoppels Dupree, Gallery Concerts took its name from its first venues—art galleries in Seattle’s Pioneer Square,  where audiences enjoyed the counterpoint of provocative modern art and lively historic chamber music.  The first season saw three concerts, two Baroque and one Classical, held in the Davidson Galleries on Occidental Street.  In this welcoming atmosphere was born the first of Gallery Concerts’ ensembles, The Classical Consort, and since then Gallery Concerts has fostered the creation of other ensembles, including Ensemble Electra and the Op. 20 String Quartet, both of which will be heard again this season.  

      In 1991 fortepianist and music historian George Bozarth joined Jillon as Co-Artistic Director, and in 2007 he became sole Artistic Director when Jillon assumed the role of Founding Director.  Over the years much artistic guidance has been provided by fortepianist Tamara Friedman.  In past seasons we have mounted three festivals, “The Governor’s Chickering” in November 2007, “A Most Unusual Brahms Festival” in November 2008, celebrating Johannes Brahms’s 175th birthday, and a Bach Festival to  commemorate the 325th anniversary of the birth of Johann Sebastian Bach in March 2010. This season Gallery Concerts will take part in the city-wide American Handel Festival.

       Gallery Concerts has been responsible for bringing many internationally acclaimed guest artists to Seattle, to perform with our resident Northwest musicians.  Our audiences have enjoyed the impressive musical talents of such performers as violinists Elizabeth Blumenstock, Stanley Ritchie, Richard Gwilt, and Jaap Schröder, viola da gambist David Douglass, recorder player Marion Verbruggen, sopranos Julianne Baird and Ellen Hargis, baritone Max van Egmond, and the ensembles Il Gardellino, Medieval Strings, and Music’s Re-creation.

       In its early years Gallery Concerts functioned as a musicians’ cooperative, with all funds immediately distributed to its performers.  But as it became clear, from full houses, enthusiastic audiences, and dedicated performers, that Gallery Concerts was “here to stay,” the series was reorganized as a non-profit corporation, initially as the first organization of the Early Music Guild’s “Professional Affiliate” program and then with a Board of Directors of its own.  Over the years, the inspiring leadership of Board presidents Stewart Landefeld, John Edwards, David Boulware, Jim Miles, and David Shutt, and the dedication of its numerous volunteer board members have created an enduring arts organization that has weathered difficult economic times.

      Since leaving the galleries of Pioneer Square, Gallery Concerts has performed in a variety of locations, including the Security Pacific Bank Galleries, the Mount Baker Community Center, the Central Lutheran Church on Capitol Hill, Town Hall, and St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in Laurelhurst.  In recent years the intimate Queen Anne Christian Church has become a favorite venue of musicians and audiences alike, and it is the site of all of our concerts this year.

      Gallery Concerts has established mutually supportive relationships with Classic KING FM 98.1 and the Queen Anne/Magnolia News, and has been pleased to have the regular support of the Mayor’s Office of Arts and Cultural Affairs (Seattle Arts Commission), 4Culture (King County), and the Washington State Arts Commission, as well as periodic grants from the Nesholm Family Foundation, the advertising support of a large number of businesses, especially on Queen Anne Hill, and the donations of a large number of generous individuals who enjoy our concerts and support our mission.

The Guest Artists of Gallery Concerts

1989–2011

Ensembles

Il Gardellino (Rob Diggins, Jolianne von Einem, Peter van Heyghen,
and Marcel Ponseele)

Medieval Strings (Karen Clark, John Fleagle, and Shira Kamen)

Music’s Re-creation (Louise Carslake, Carla Moore, John Dornenberg,
and Jillon Stoppels Dupree)

Sopranos

Julianne Baird, Ellen Hargis, Ann Monoyios, and Catherine Webster

Mezzo-Soprano

 Judith Malafronte

Baritones

Max van Egmond and James Weaver

 Recorder Players

Judith Linsenberg, Marion Verbruggen, and Cléa Galhano

Clarinetist

Neil Rynston

Violinists

Elizabeth Blumenstock, Marc Destrubé, Linda Melsted, Carla Moore,
Stanley Ritchie, Richard Gwilt, and Jaap Schröder

Viola da Gambists

John Dornenburg and David Douglass

Harpsichordists

Don Angle, Jillon Stoppels Dupree and Elaine Thornburgh

The Northwest Musicians of Gallery Concerts

1989–2011

Ensembles

Brahms Girls, The Chickering Quartet, The Classical Consort, Ensemble Electra,
The Gallery Baroque Players, Neuma, Seattle Early Dance,
The Tomasini String Quartet, and The Opus 20 String Quartet

Actress

Marjorie Nelson 

Dancers

Anna Mansbridge and Seattle Early Dance

Sopranos

Amy Bills, Ya-Li Lee Cheng, Amanda Jane Kelley, Raluca Marinescu, Sarah Markovits, Sally Mitchell, Carmen Pelton, Marion Seibert,
Linda Strandberg, Anne Tedards, Linda Tsatsanis, Karen Elisabeth Urlie, Valerie Yockey, and Nancy Zylstra

Mezzo-Sopranos

Deirdre Forman, Kathy Hanson-Mack, Michelle Rice, Sarra Sharif, and Stacey Sunde

Flutists

Hal Ott, Kim Pineda, Janet See, and Courtney Westcott

Recorder Players

Vicki Boeckman, Sand Dalton, David Ohannesian, and Kim Pineda

Oboist

Sand Dalton 

Clarinetist

William McColl

Violinists

Cecilia Archuleta, Dorethea Cook, Tekla Cunningham, Mary Manning,
Ingrid Matthews, Sandra Schwarz, and Kim Zabelle

Violists

Wesley Dyring, Mary Manning, Lisa Moody, Ruth Sereque, and Laurel Wells

Viola da Gambists

Joshua Lee and Margriet Tindemans

Cellists 

Meg Brennand, Sarah Freiberg, Claire Garabedian, Elisabeth Reed, Timothy Scott,
Page Smith, Mar Vanscheeuwijck, and Nathan Whittaker 

Contrabassist

Curtis Daly

Percussionist

Peggy Monroe

Lutenist

John Lenti

Harpsichordists

Jillon Stoppels Dupree and Byron Schenkman

Pianists

Rie Ando, George Barth, George Bozarth, Shuann Chai, Tamara Friedman,
Françoise Papillon, and Byron Schenkman