OCMS Festival Release

Countdown to Chamberfest 08!

(Early Bird passes available until June 30)

Ottawa (June 27, 2008) – The 15th edition of the world's largest Chamber Music Festival will open in 4 weeks time. For 16 days, from July 25 - August 9, chamber music will dominate Ottawa's cultural landscape with over 130 scheduled events and concerts, featuring some of the best musicians in the world. From morning chats with musicologist Harry Halbreich and Meet the Artist opportunities to Premium concerts and Late Night at the Legion jam sessions, there is something for everyone. So, don't forget to get your Early Bird pass by June 30 for extra savings!

"We've attempted to broaden the limits of chamber music collaboration as well as embrace the spirit of celebration. We believe chamber music is an art form of the future and it's been a thrill planning performances that include collaborations with multimedia, dance and choral components." - Roman Borys, Co-Artistic Director, Chamberfest

Programming Changes
Chamberfest regrets to announce that the internationally-renowned violinist Augustin Dumay has withdrawn from the Festival due to personal reasons. Dumay was scheduled to appear with acclaimed pianist, Louis Lortie on July 30 in a program of duets. Instead, Lortie will perform with protˆ©gˆ©s from the Imola Piano Institute in Italy. Philippe Ivanov, Orazio Sciortino, Jean-Philippe Sylvestre, Alessandro Taverna and Yingjia Xue will present dazzling works for one-piano, four-hands.

International pianist, Rian De Waal, has also withdrawn for personal reasons. De Waal was scheduled to perform Virtuosic Piano Transcriptions on July 29. This concert has been cancelled.

Premium Concerts:

July 25: Opening Gala: Tango Notturno with Isabel Bayrakdarian

July 26: Brass Bounty - Ottawa Festival Brass

July 28: Keller Quartet

July 30: Louis Lortie and Imola Pianists – Virtuosic Duets

August 2: St. Lawrence String Quartet and Friends Celebrate the 75th Anniversary of the Banff Centre

August 3: Louis Lortie and Mathieu Roy's Death in Venice

August 7: Quartetto Gelato

August 8: Daniel Taylor and the Theatre of Early Music and Coleman Lemieux & Compagnie – Path to Paradise

August 9: Closing Gala: Chamberfest's 15th Anniversary Choral Extravaganza

Concerts FREE with Festival Pass

In addition to discounted tickets for the nine Premium concerts, with the purchase of a Festival Pass, holders can attend a phenomenal array of events including:

July 28: Messiaen @ 100 – Colour - For the End of Time The first of three concerts celebrating the centenary of Olivier Messiaen's birth, this concert will feature the Gryphon Trio and clarinettist James Campbell's celebrated rendition of Messiaen's monumental Quatuor pour la fin des temps that simulates the synesthetic experience through light projections. (Dominion-Chalmers, 8 pm)

August 4-6: Nexus "utterly spellbinding" – Montreal "picturesque - extraordinary" - Financial Times "mesmerizing, superbly musical" – Washington

Canada's own Nexus - one of the top percussion ensembles in the world - will delight concert-goers with a dazzling array of rhythms and sounds.

August 4: Nexus performs at Late Night at the Legion animating the silent movie Teddy at the Throttle (Royal Canadian Legion, 330 Kent St., 10:30 pm)

August 5: In concert (Museum of Civilization, 8 pm)

August 6: Young People's concert (Museum of Civilization, 1 pm)

July 27 & 29: Shauna Rolston "widely regarded as one of Canada's most exciting young artists" – Strad Magazine

Cellist Shauna Rolston will perform classical and romantic favourites including Rachmaninov's ˆâlˆ©giaque Trio, Op. 9. with Alexander Tselyakov and Erika Raum.

July 27: Meet the Artist (Perez Building, University of Ottawa, 1 pm)

July 27: In concert with Alexander Tselyakov (St. Andrew's, 8 pm)

July 29: In concert with pianist Heather Schmidt (St. Andrew's, 8 pm)

August 4: R. Murray Schafer @ 75 A celebration of R. Murray Schafer's 75th birthday. The concert will feature several artists performing works by the composer, including a world premiere of a duo for violin and piano that was co-commissioned by the OCMS, and will be performed by Duo Concertante. The event will also feature a performance of Schafer's Isfahan – where three brass quintets will use the entire performance space to perform this work. (Dominion-Chalmers, 8 pm) The evening begins with Schafer taking the first 30 concert goers on a "music walk" before the concert - a once-in-a-lifetime experience for these lucky festival patrons. (Dominion-Chalmers, 7 pm)

August 5: Wallis Giunta "The satin purity of her voice served the music to perfection." Richard Todd, Ottawa Citizen

Hugely popular at last year's Festival, Giunta returns to perform selections from Ravel's Shˆ©hˆ©rezade and the Chants D'Auvergne by Joseph Canteloube. (St. John the Evangelist, noon)

Ticket Information Passes and tickets for Premium Concerts are available at the Chamberfest office, CD Warehouse, Books on Beechwood, The Leading Note, Collected Works and Ticketmaster. (See www.chamberfest.com for locations and phone numbers.)

Passes are $95 for adults and $45 for students. Until June 30th, they are available at an Early Bird rate of $85 for adults and $35 for students.

Premium concert tickets are $40 per person. Reserved seating is available for the Premium concerts for $55 per person. The purchase of a Festival pass will give patrons a 25% pass holder discount off the premium ticket price. Patrons can save up to $90 off the cost of premium tickets; in effect, offsetting the purchase price of the pass.