A Project of the Anacortes Arts Foundation
2025-2026 Concert Series
Anacortes Early Music (AEM) concerts take place at the Croatian Cultural Center, 801 5th Street in Anacortes and begin promptly at 7:00 PM. Doors open at 6:30 PM. Concerts are $30 per person, cash or check at the door, with students under 18 years of age admitted free.
Concert Details for the 2025-2026 season
The Lady Levy’s Library: String Quartets Behind Closed Doors
Friday, January 23, 2026
Come hear how one woman changed western classical music. Sara Levy, a student of WF Bach, had a vast music collection and an ear for talent. She hosted a prominent 19th century salon and was a music patron in Berlin, leaving a legacy connecting JS Bach, CPE Bach and beyond to Mendelssohn – her grand-nephew. This program will feature Anna Okada and Brandon Vance, violins; Lindsey Strand-Polyak, viola; and Page Smith, cello.
Spurious: Music you know – composers you might not!
Friday, February 27, 2026
Does it have to be by Bach to be brilliant? What if it turned out your favorite sonata was actually written by his son, or even…his student? An evening of Baroque music full of surprises! Featuring Lindsey Strand-Polyak and Christine Beckman, violins; Adaiha MacAdam-Somer, cello; and Jillon Stoppels Dupree, harpsichord.
Evening Escape
Friday, April 24, 2026
No one captured the sonic beauty of evening quite like Luigi Boccherini in his Musica notturna delle strade di Madrid (“Night Music of the Streets of Madrid”). Set to the rhythmic background of crickets and rustling leaves, this string quintet evokes the distant sounds of revelry and church bells wafting through the gentle breeze. Our musical evening will conclude with Schubert’s indomitable String Quintet in C Major. Musicians performing are Rachell Ellen Wong and Sarah Pizzichemi, violins; Andrew Gonzalez, viola; and Jessica Korotkin and Nathan Whittaker, celli.
** POSTPONED from original October 17, 2025 date**
Duo Amadeus
May date to be announced
UPDATE: Oct 14, 2025: Due to a serious health issue in one of the artist’s families, this October 17 performance is unavoidably cancelled. We hope to reschedule this concert in May.
Join Tamara Friedman, fortepiano, and Lindsey Strand-Polyak, violin, in an intimate evening winter concert of classical duos. Performing sonatas by Mozart, Beethoven, and Schubert. The instruments to be used are a violin from 1776 by Richard Duke Sr. of London, and a 1980 replica of a Nannette Streicher fortepiano from 1805 Vienna made by Kenneth Bakerman of Kirkland, WA. Experience the warmth of an autumn evening concert to brighten the coming shorter days and darker nights!
PAST CONCERTS – 2025/2026 Season (to be updated as the season progresses…)
Sun Salutation
Friday, September 26, 2025
Louis XIV proclaimed himself the “Sun King,” as his sheer existence (in his mind!) radiated all good things “French.” Music was a defining element of his court, with nothing more quintessentially French than the viola da gamba. Caroline Nicolas, viola da gamba, and Kevin Payne, lute and theorbo, are joined by soprano Linda Tsatsanis to salute the Sun King through the music of Marais, Forqueray, and Sainte-Colombe.
Quantz It Up!
Friday, November 21, 2025
This program takes its namesake from Johann Joachim Quantz’ treatise “On Playing the Flute,” referred to in some circles as “the Baroque Bible.” Quantz was quite the virtuoso flutist and oboist of his day and held the prestigious post as court musician and teacher of Frederick the Great of Prussia. In addition to providing valuable technical advice to fledgling flutists, Mr. Quantz spares no words sharing his opinions on what makes music good as opposed to mediocre, and the qualities that one must possess if one chooses to become a proper musician. Returning AEM favorites Vicki Boeckman, recorder; Jeffrey Cohan, baroque flute; Anna Marsh, baroque bassoon; Jillon Stoppels Dupree, harpsichord, will entertain you with an evening of delightful music from the high German Baroque. Amusing quotes and anecdotes from Quantz’ treatise will intersperse sonatas, duets and trio sonatas by J.S. Bach, G.P. Telemann, and of course J.J. Quantz himself — all delivered with “proper” baroque flair and flamboyance.
About AEM
The Anacortes Early Music Concert Series is a project of the Anacortes Arts Foundation and has brought historically informed performances featuring world-renowned musicians and rising stars to Anacortes for almost two decades. Historically informed performance (period performance) is an approach in Western music which adheres to the knowledge, as it is currently known, of the instruments and performance practice of the period in which the music was conceived. Access to examples of earlier musical instruments and historical treatises are the basis on which period performance is formed. Instruments corresponding to the period of the music being performed are used, as well as techniques and aesthetics of the period.
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Anacortes Early Music Concert Series
Barbara P. King, Chairperson
Barbara King is a retired professional church organist, harpsichordist, and pianist. Ms. King was a longtime leader in the American Guild of Organists, the Western Early KeyBoard Association, and music teacher organizations in Ohio and California. Prior to moving to Anacortes she was harpsichordist with the Southern California Harmonia Baroque.
To Support the Anacortes Early Music Concert Series
Concert admissions at the door cannot cover the costs of the high level programming presented by Anacortes Early Music. Donations make it possible. Please mail your donation, made out to the Anacortes Arts Foundation, to 801 Fifth St, Anacortes WA 98221. Note in the memo line that the donation is for the Anacortes Early Music series. Thank you for your much appreciated support!
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Anacortes Early Music is a Project of the Anacortes Arts Foundation, a 501(c)3 nonprofit.
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