Biographies
Ian Scarfe
Ian Scarfe enjoys a wide ranging career as a concert pianist, an organizer of large-scale musical happenings, and as an advocate for the arts. He is the founder and director of the Trinity Alps Chamber Music Festival, founded in 2011, and balances his dedicated regional work in Northern California with an international career. He holds degrees in musical performance from Willamette University and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, and has done years of postgraduate work at both institutions.
As a performer he is equally comfortable as a soloist, recital partner, or in the mix of small or large ensembles. He consistently appears in more than 100 concerts per year, which take him across the United States and Europe. He collaborates regularly with a cast of dozens of professional string players, woodwind players, singers, and orchestras. He is a founding member of several ensembles, including Nonsemble Six, the Vinifera Trio, and the Zurich Beethoven Trio.
Though he enjoys fantastic musical technique and command at the piano, he is perhaps better known for his thoughtful, humorous, and charismatic stage presence. His presentation from the stage ranges from sharing the history of the music being performed, giving specific listening guides about great masterpieces of music, and inviting his audience "behind the scenes" with anecdotes and snapshots of how professional musicians manage the challenges of the works being performed.
He has also supported colleagues in the creation of other organizations, including the Hogtown Chamber Music Festival in Gainesville, Florida, Festival Viana in Portugal, and Festival Rolland in Bourgogne, France. He has served as faculty and guest artist at the Fairbanks Summer Arts Festival in Alaska, the Astoria Music Festival in Oregon, and the Telluride Chamber Music Festival in Colorado.
He has enjoyed teaching residencies as guest faculty, lecturer, and performer at Stanford, UCSC, UCSF, Willamette, Monmouth, Western Illinois, UMass Amherst, and the SF Conservatory of Music. He makes regular appearances at Bay Area adult education programs and retirement communities. He has been the host for concerts at orchestra halls, jazz clubs, and private homes, and has been the narrator for several children's concerts, including “Peter and the Wolf'', “Babar the Elephant'', and Rudyard Kipling's “Just So Stories”.
A major part of Scarfe's career has revolved around his commitment to bringing music and the arts to rural communities across North State California, mainly through his work with the Trinity Alps Chamber Music Festival. Founded in 2011 this festival originated as a program to offer musical residencies to professional musicians in the scenic Trinity Alps region of California. Scarfe quickly developed this into one of the most prolific presenters of concerts, masterclasses, and educational programs in the state, boasting over 500 such events in dozens of rural North-State communities, with an international roster of over 80 professional musicians. They have performed music, storytelling, and educational programs for over 5,000 students across the region. All of their concerts have been ticket-free, with a suggested-donation-admission ensuring that everyone in the communities are welcome.
As a performer he is equally comfortable as a soloist, recital partner, or in the mix of small or large ensembles. He consistently appears in more than 100 concerts per year, which take him across the United States and Europe. He collaborates regularly with a cast of dozens of professional string players, woodwind players, singers, and orchestras. He is a founding member of several ensembles, including Nonsemble Six, the Vinifera Trio, and the Zurich Beethoven Trio.
Though he enjoys fantastic musical technique and command at the piano, he is perhaps better known for his thoughtful, humorous, and charismatic stage presence. His presentation from the stage ranges from sharing the history of the music being performed, giving specific listening guides about great masterpieces of music, and inviting his audience "behind the scenes" with anecdotes and snapshots of how professional musicians manage the challenges of the works being performed.
He has also supported colleagues in the creation of other organizations, including the Hogtown Chamber Music Festival in Gainesville, Florida, Festival Viana in Portugal, and Festival Rolland in Bourgogne, France. He has served as faculty and guest artist at the Fairbanks Summer Arts Festival in Alaska, the Astoria Music Festival in Oregon, and the Telluride Chamber Music Festival in Colorado.
He has enjoyed teaching residencies as guest faculty, lecturer, and performer at Stanford, UCSC, UCSF, Willamette, Monmouth, Western Illinois, UMass Amherst, and the SF Conservatory of Music. He makes regular appearances at Bay Area adult education programs and retirement communities. He has been the host for concerts at orchestra halls, jazz clubs, and private homes, and has been the narrator for several children's concerts, including “Peter and the Wolf'', “Babar the Elephant'', and Rudyard Kipling's “Just So Stories”.
A major part of Scarfe's career has revolved around his commitment to bringing music and the arts to rural communities across North State California, mainly through his work with the Trinity Alps Chamber Music Festival. Founded in 2011 this festival originated as a program to offer musical residencies to professional musicians in the scenic Trinity Alps region of California. Scarfe quickly developed this into one of the most prolific presenters of concerts, masterclasses, and educational programs in the state, boasting over 500 such events in dozens of rural North-State communities, with an international roster of over 80 professional musicians. They have performed music, storytelling, and educational programs for over 5,000 students across the region. All of their concerts have been ticket-free, with a suggested-donation-admission ensuring that everyone in the communities are welcome.
Ellen McGehee
Violinist Ellen McGehee, a co-founder of the Trinity Alps Chamber Music Festival, is an adventurer, a farmer-homesteader, and an experienced and devoted chamber musician and patron of the arts. When not working as an orchestral and chamber musician, she might be found long-distance sailing, working on her homestead, on wilderness ranger patrol, or studying and practicing prescribed fire in Northern California.
