Cellist Zuill Bailey performs on the stage of the Mean Queen on May 31, 2023. (Photo by Meredith Redick.)

The Sitka Music Festival kicked off its 2023 season with an informal concert last Wednesday, May 31. Artistic Director Zuill Bailey, joined by members of Miami’s New World Symphony, played pieces ranging from Mozart to Frederick Tillis for an audience at a local pizza joint.

Illuminated by a green spotlight on the dimly-lit stage of the Mean Queen, cellist and festival artistic director Zuill Bailey told the story of his new bow to an audience of Sitkans eating pizza and wings.

“This bow was built, or the maker lived, during Beethoven’s lifetime,” Bailey said. “So it’s spectacularly made, and made by a man named the ‘Grand Adam’.”

With a flourish of his Beethoven-era bow, he launched into Bach’s first cello suite.

The Sitka Music Festival is celebrating its 52nd year. Originally founded by violinist Paul Rosenthal, the festival brings performers to the island for four weeks of chamber music performances, ranging from formal concerts to pieces played from the porch of Stevenson Hall on the former Sheldon-Jackson campus.  

After the cello suite, four musicians from Miami’s New World Symphony took the stage to perform a sampling of what audiences can expect from the rest of the festival. 


“It’s just kind of a tapas menu, musically speaking, of the things to come,” Bailey said in an interview with KCAW’s Brooke Schafer. “It’s to get people sonically ready for all the wonderful things that we will have over the weekends.” 

On the menu this time? In addition to Beethoven and Mozart, the quartet offered up pieces from Argentinian composer Astor Piazzola and American composer Frederick Tillis. Violinist Christina Choi introduced the Tillis piece, Spiritual Fantasy Number 12, which incorporates elements of folk, jazz, and gospel: 


“It’s rhythmically very driving,” Choi said. “It’s good practice for us counting to seven, which is harder than you might think. And it’s a groovy little thing, so we hope you enjoy it.”

The quartet, which also includes violinist Minglun Liu, violist Camila Berg, and cellist David Olson, will play together throughout the festival. The Wednesday night concert launched a line-up of performances that will go through the month of June in Sitka – in addition to weekly informal concerts, there are larger formal concerts each weekend. There’s also a classical brunch, a family concert, a cruise, and a crab feed on the docket. 

 You can find more information on upcoming Sitka Music Festival concerts and events at sitkamusicfestival.org