Sunday, May 19, 2024 @ 3:00pm – 1:00pm (PDT)
Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church, Seattle, WA, United States
Get tickets

$35 ($30 ages 65 & over, $15 ages 17-25; ages 7-16 free)

It was a simple idea, four equal voices – but it developed into the extraordinary. Works for string quartet by Purcell, Bach, and Haydn, culminating in Beethoven's epic Op. 132.

Showcase Series performances are traditional concerts in a magnificent and inspiring space.

Preconcert talks occur 30 minutes (7pm & 2:30pm) prior to each concert.

About Maureen Murchie, violin

Maureen Murchie performs on modern and baroque violin and viola across the US as well as in China, Japan, and Europe. She is Concertmaster of the Bismarck-Mandan Symphony Orchestra and a member of the Handel and Haydn Society. Recent engagements include Trinity Baroque Orchestra at Trinity Wall Street, NOVUS NY, Helicon Foundation, American Classical Orchestra, El Mundo, Voices of Music, The Sebastians, Three Notch’d Road, New York Baroque Incorporated, Mark Morris Dance Company, Mercury Ensemble, Staunton Music Festival, Boulder Bach Festival, REBEL, Bethlehem Bach Festival, Harry Connick Jr.'s Holiday Pops show, and the Broadway productions of Tootsie, Farinelli and the King, and Parade. In December 2021 she was a featured soloist in Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante with the American Classical Orchestra at Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall. Her album "Gospel Hymns for Violin & Piano" with jazz pianist/arranger Paul Johnston is scheduled for release in September 2023.

Maureen grew up in Sendai, Japan and won first prize at the 1995 Bach Hall Classical Music Competition in Nakaniida, Japan. Her primary teachers include Bruce Berg, Kenneth Goldsmith, Peter Schaffer, Donald Schleicher, and Yumiko Shibuya. Maureen holds degrees from Baylor University (University Scholar, magna cum laude) and a doctorate from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where she wrote a dissertation on the history of the Sendai Philharmonic Orchestra.

Dr. Murchie has held teaching positions at Eastern Illinois University, McLennan Community College, University of Illinois, Elgin Symphony Youth Orchestra, Neuqua Valley High School, Illinois Summer Youth Music (ISYM), and InterSchool Orchestras of New York. From 2011-12 she served as Music Director at First Presbyterian Church in Urbana, Illinois.

Having attended Japanese schools through high school, Maureen speaks, reads, and writes Japanese at a native level. Her experience as a Japanese translator, interpreter, and editor spans a wide range of industries and includes companies such as Toyota, Nissan, Kobayashi Pharmaceuticals, House Foods, and Mizuho Bank.

https://www.maureenmurchie.com/

About Nathan Whittaker, cello

Nathan Whittaker, violoncello, enjoys a unique and diverse career as a concert soloist, chamber musician, recitalist, teacher, and historical cello specialist with concert stops ranging from New York to Seattle to Dubai. He is the Artistic Director of Gallery Concerts (Seattle), a concert series of chamber music on period instruments, and regularly performs with the Trinity Baroque Orchestra, Pacific Baroque Orchestra, New York Baroque Incorporated, ARTek, El Mundo, Fort Greene Chamber Music Society, The Sebastians, and the Pacific Northwest Ballet. Recent appearances include the Caramoor Music Festival, Arizona Early Music Festival, Vancouver Bach Festival, Pacific Baroque Festival, Helicon Society, Berkeley Early Music Festival, Ottawa ChamberFest, the Boston Early Music Festival, and as a guest lecturer at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Paris. He has served on the faculty of Cornish College of the Arts. He can be heard on recordings by ATMA Musique, Harmonia, and Centaur, as well as live broadcasts by NPR, CBC, and KING FM. Dr. Whittaker holds a Doctorate of Musical Arts from the University of Washington and Bachelors and Masters degrees from Indiana University. He performs on a cello of Mario Gadda from 1957, and a baroque cello of Johann Christian Ficker II from c. 1770.

https://www.nathanhwhittaker.com/