String Theory

By Christina Harper

Special to The Enterprise

The lilting sound of the harp is a beautiful one, soft and serene, joyous and warm, and thanks to Cascade Symphony, local audiences can enjoy the sound times three when Seattle area harpists: Patricia Wooster, Heidi Dunlap, and Patti Warden perform at Monday, Jan. 9 in Mountlake Terrace.

The concert is Cascade Symphony and Music Director Michael Miropolsky’s third in their Great Masters season

Harpists Wooster, Dunlap and Warden will play a composition for three harps called Knights of the Red Branch, for harps and orchestra by Kevin Kaska.

All three harpists are in great demand throughout the Seattle area, and all have performed with the Cascade Symphony, now in its 44th season, in past years.

Wooster teaches harp at the University of Puget Sound and at Pacific Lutheran University.  She has degrees in music and education and studied harp with Lynne Palmer in Seattle.

The Cascade Symphony performance of Kaska’s Knights of the Red Branch will be a Northwest premiere.

Kaska is one of the country’s leading young musical talents. His orchestral work has been performed by more than 50 symphony orchestras worldwide including John Williams and Keith Lockhart with the Boston Pops Orchestra, Saint Louis Symphony, and London Symphony Orchestra.

The program also includes three other works: Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6 (Pastorale) completed in the early 1800’s and one of nine symphonies written by the composer, Capriccio Espagnole by Russian composer Rimsky-Korsakov who was known as one of The Five or Mighty Handful of 19th Century Russian Composers, and Italian composer Rossini’s Overture to the opera Il Signor Bruschino.

The concert will take place at 7:30 pm in the Mountlake Terrace Performing Arts Center located at 21801 44th Ave W., Mountlake Terrace. Seating is limited so audiences are advised to arrive early. Tickets will be available at the door until all seats are filled.

Tickets are $18 for adults and $13 for seniors and students.

Call 425- 425-5921 to purchase tickets or for more information.  Tickets for the concerts can also be purchased on-line from the Cascade Symphony web site at www.cascadesymphony.org.