INSPIRED BY SHAKESPEARE + LATE NIGHT SESSION: GRETA MATASSA QUINTET

Shakespeare’s words have long shaped not only literature, but the broader landscape of human expression across the arts. This program explores how composers across time have drawn from his plays and poetry, using the themes of love, illusion, tragedy, and transform them into music. In partnership with Animal Fire Theater, an actor-driven, all-volunteer company based in Olympia, the evening bridges theater and music, allowing each form to illuminate and reshape the other.

This event includes complimentary access to the Late Night Session with the Greta Matassa Quintet at 10pm!

Program

Henry Purcell If Music Be the Food of Love arranged for Soprano and String Quartet (1692)

Brett Dean String Quartet No. 2 “And once I played Ophelia” (2014)

Felix Mendelssohn / Sergei Rachmaninoff “Scherzo” from A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1842, arr. 1933)

Felix Mendelssohn / Franz Liszt “Wedding March” from A Midsummer Night’s Dream (arr. Brown) (1842, arr. 2023)

William Shakespeare Selected Readings from Romeo and Juliet (1597)

Sergei Prokofiev Suite from Romeo and Juliet (arr. Lidia Baich / Matthias Fletzberger) (1935)

Ludwig van Beethoven Adagio affettuoso ed appassionato from String Quartet No. 1 in F major (1797-1800)

Artists

Tony Arnold, soprano • Michael Stephen Brown, piano • Kristin Lee, Susie Park, violin • Melissa Reardon, viola • Raman Ramakrishnan, cello • Animal Fire Theater, artistic partner

What to Expect

6:30pm | Lobby Opens

7:00pm | Pre-Concert Chat

7:30pm | Performance (two hours with intermission)

10:00pm | Late Night Session (you're invited!)

Complimentary snacks available. Drinks available for purchase.