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EXTRAORDINARY MUSIC JOURNEY: The Gryphon Trio, artistic directors of the 2009 Ottawa International Chamber Music Festival, performing at the festival launch on May 20. From left to right are violinist Annalee Patipatanakoon, pianist Jamie Parker, cellist Roman Borys. (Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times)
The renowned Ottawa International Chamber Music Festival celebrates its 16th edition this year, featuring 250 star musicians performing two weeks of superb programming from July 25 to August 8.
The world’s largest chamber music festival, Ottawa’s Chamberfest ’09 launched at the French Embassy in the nation’s capital on May 20, hosted by François Delattre, Ambassador of France to Canada, and Glenn Hodgins, executive director of the Ottawa Chamber Music Society, the festival presenter.
Over 90 indoor and outdoor concerts and events are scheduled, much expanded from the festival’s initial 22 concerts in 1994.
In the program book, Mr. Hodgins notes that the festival’s “greatness is best defined by the remarkable chemistry that exists between audience and performer.”
Beyond this chemistry, what makes the festival special and keeps musicians and concertgoers returning is the connections among the volunteers, sponsors, staff, board of directors, and the many others who work together to make the event a reality, he said.
More than 300 volunteers are helping to make this year’s festival a success. And to get a good seat, people typically stand in line for hours outside the venues which include heritage sites and historic churches.
[caption id=”attachment_86327″ align=”alignleft” width=”320″ caption=”CHAMBERFEST LAUNCH: Ottawa Chamber Music Society
