By Oregon Coast TODAY<\/strong><\/p>\n It can\u2019t always be smooth sailing.<\/p>\n For Mei-Ting Sun, artistic director of the Siletz Bay Music Festival, one of the monster challenges of gathering 58 top musicians from around the world and assembling them in a small Oregon town for an 11-concert, 10-day series recently came roaring to life \u2014 just weeks before the festival\u2019s Thursday, Aug. 14 start date.<\/p>\n \u201cWe had to pivot, and because it was so late, it was difficult to find a replacement,\u201d said Sun, speaking from his home in England, where he serves as Professor of Piano at London\u2019s Royal Academy of Music. \u201cWe had to find a way to perform the music we had planned.\u201d<\/p>\n Fortunately for Sun and for the festival, the comradery and collegial familiarity among the core of musicians who have returned year after year for 13 seasons provided a measure of flexibility. Although they are scattered across the United States and Europe, the level of trust and confidence those musicians have in each other\u2019s artistry allowed Sun to make substitutions and keep the program intact.<\/p>\n The chemistry of Siletz Bay Music Festival musicians, especially in the chamber music series that comprises more than half of the festival\u2019s concert offerings, is an essential ingredient in an event that brings musicians together from far and wide and allows little time for rehearsal. The quality of the festival\u2019s music is greatly enhanced by the experience that many of the musicians have had playing with each other, and Sun said he relies upon that chemistry and shared experience in programming music that would otherwise be out of reach in a festival setting.<\/p>\n Since assuming leadership of the festival following the death of his mentor, the much-revered festival founder, Yaki Bergman, Sun is quietly bringing his own stamp to the event while preserving Bergman\u2019s original vision.<\/p>\n \u201cThe vision that Yaki had and which I continue to maintain is to present a combination of older and younger musicians,\u201d he said, \u201cand to program adventurous music alongside the familiar favorites, music that isn\u2019t played very much outside of conservatories and that audiences don\u2019t usually get to hear.\u201d<\/p>\n In adding new players to the mix, both Sun and his predecessor have taken great pains to recruit new musicians who are a good fit with the core group of veterans. This year, the chamber music ensemble will include newcomers Georgi \u201cJojo\u201d Dimitrov, a Bulgarian guitarist, and Portland-based horn player Daniel Partridge.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m always on the lookout for good musicians,\u201d said Sun, noting that the two new artists will be bringing a new musical dimension to the festival\u2019s range and capacities. Sun pointed to two pieces that will be performed at the Aug. 20 \u201cSweet and Spicy\u201d concert that could not have been performed without the addition of Dimitrov and Partridge.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Dohnanyi sextet, which is very infrequently performed outside of a conservatory environment, presents great difficulties,\u201d he said. \u201cYou need a horn and you need a clarinet, which we happen to have this year. And then there\u2019s the Hummel \u2018Potpourri,\u2019 which was written to include a guitar and, as it happens, we also have a guitar this year. Adding the new musicians has helped us find music that\u2019s rarely heard but is truly great.\u201d<\/p>\n Guitarist Dimitrov will also be performing with the orchestra later in the festival as the soloist on Joaquin Rodrigo\u2019s iconic \u201cConcierto de Aranjuez.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHaving such great chemistry among our musicians allows us to present risky programs\u201d Sun said. \u201cAnd that\u2019s been one of the things that has made this festival so special: the rewards for programming risky music are huge.\u201d<\/p>\n Sun made his festival debut in 2014 and has appeared at each of the 10 festivals that have followed. His artistry on piano has made him a favorite among festival audiences. In addition to acting as artistic director, he\u2019ll be performing at five of the festival\u2019s chamber concerts, including at the opening night recital, and will be heard as a soloist with the orchestra on the closing night performance of Gershwin\u2019s \u201cRhapsody in Blue.\u201d<\/p>\n The chamber music portion of the festival runs from Thursday, Aug. 14, though Wednesday, Aug. 20 and will include three concerts at Lincoln City Cultural Center, two at the Congregational Church of Lincoln City, including one free event on Tuesday, Aug. 19, and a concert at Newport\u2019s Pacific Maritime Heritage Center on Saturday, Aug. 16.<\/p>\n The festival also features a jazz concert on Thursday, Aug. 21, at Chinook Winds Casino Resort, a free performance of the family classic \u201cPeter and the Wolf\u201d at Regatta Park Bandshell on Saturday, Aug. 23, a fund-raising benefit concert on Friday, Aug. 22, and two orchestral concerts, also at Chinook Winds, on Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 23-24.<\/p>\n For more information and to purchase tickets for Siletz Bay Music Festival, go to www.SiletzBayMusic.org or call 541-264.5828.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/lincolnchronicle.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Screen-Shot-2023-02-01-at-11.56.25-AM-300x139.png\")
One of the musicians, scheduled to perform in both the chamber and the orchestral sections of the festival, was forced to withdraw due to an unavoidable scheduling conflict, leaving a substantial gap in the carefully prepared program. A quick scrambling of personnel was required.<\/p>\nNew director leaving his mark<\/h2>\n