Just So Stories

All concerts are free and open to the public.
Dates and venues subject to change

Wednesday, September 16, 6:00pm
Old City Hall, Redding, CA

Saturday, September 19, 2:00pm
Trinity Alps Performing Arts Center, Weaverville, CA

Sunday, September 20, 2:00pm
Yreka Community Theater, Yreka, CA

            Celebrating its fifth season in 2015, the Trinity Alps Chamber Music Festival continues its dedication to its younger audiences with a special family friendly program centered around musical arrangements of Rudyard Kipling's “Just So Stories”

            Also featuring classical music by John Cage, Jacques Ibert, Ludwig van Beethoven, and more, this fun program will feature a new work commissioned for the occasion by the up-and-coming composer Danny Clay. Clay's music sets three of Rudyard Kipling's animal origin stories to music with narrator, similar to the classic favorite “Peter and the Wolf”. Festival director Ian Scarfe will perform at the piano and narrate, and will be joined by Gina Gulyas on flute, Matthew Boyles on clarinet, Ryan Loweth on guitar, Rachel Patrick on violin, and James Jaffe on cello.

            The three selected stories will be “How the Camel Got its Hump”, “How the Whale Got its Throat”, and “The Elephant's Child”, a tale of the young elephant whose insatiable curiosity gets the better of him in a confrontation with the crocodile of the great green greasy Limpopo river. Danny Clay's music is direct and elegant, giving each character in stories a different instrument. Memorable moments include the bass clarinet playing the grumpy Camel, who always says “Humph!”, the exotic flute solo of the Genie of the desert, the haunting guitar harmonics depicting the undersea world of the Whale, and the fiddle-playing dancing Mariner (a man of infinite sagacity!) who outwits the Whale. Kipling's stories are funny and imaginative, showcasing his legendary command of the English language 

            This tour will include performances at schools and public venues in Chico, Redding, across Trinity County, Yreka, and Dorris. The public is welcome to attend concerts on Wednesday the 16th at 6:00pm at the Old City Hall in Redding, on Saturday the 19th at 2:00pm at the Trinity Alps Chamber Music Festival in Weaverville, and on Sunday the 20th at 2:00pm at the Yreka Community Theater in Yreka.

            As has been the case with the Trinity Alps Chamber Music Festival, all concerts are free and open to the public! Suggested donations are encouraged, recommended $15 per person, $30 per family.