Community Clicks
Image provided by Kathleen Wayne Soprano Kathleen Wayne donated her watercolor painting of a goldfinch for promotional posters for the upcoming Concert for the Birds benefit for the Dungeness River Audubon Center. Wayne will perform along with her husband, Dan, and local pianist/composer Linda Dowdell on July 9.
Two singers from Alaska and a local pianist will take to the stage once again to raise funds for the Dungeness River Audubon Center.
This is the second time the trio has performed together locally.
Last year, Dan and Kathleen Wayne took time out from their vacation in Sequim to perform a Concert for the Birds with pianist/composer Linda Dowdell to a sold-out crowd.
When the Waynes were willing to perform in Sequim again, River Center officials enthusiastically began organizing the benefit for 2011.
“The program, with selections from opera, jazz and Broadway, has something for everyone,” Dowdell said.
The 2011 Concert for the Birds will be presented at the Dungeness Schoolhouse, 2781 Towne Road, at 7 p.m. Saturday, July 9.
All proceeds will support educational programs of the Dungeness River Audubon Center.
Tickets are available in Sequim at the River Center, 2151 W. Hendrickson Road, and Pacific Mist Books, 121 W. Washington St.; in Port Angeles at Odyssey Books & Gifts, 114 W. Front St.; and at the door on the evening of the concert.
Admission is $20 per person.
“Music lovers who attended the first Concert for the Birds are really looking forward to Dan, Kathleen and Linda’s return engagement,” said Julie Jackson, Dungeness River Audubon Center board member and concert organizer.
Wild Birds Unlimited in Gardiner provided a door prize and the drawing will be held during the concert’s intermission.
This year’s performance will include works by Anton Dvorak, Giuseppe Verdi, Gian Carlo Menotti, Duke Ellington, Cole Porter, Hoagy Carmichael and others, including Dowdell.
“I’m thrilled that once again Dan and Kathleen chose to include my music,” Dowdell said.
Franz Shubert’s “Die Erlkonig” (The Elf King) is sure to be one of the highlights.
“Kathleen and I were excited to find that we are both already familiar with this challenging work,” Dowdell said.
The piece inspired Kathleen to create watercolor illustrations of Goethe’s poem, which will appear in the concert program.
The Waynes and their two daughters began visiting Sequim when Dan’s parents moved to the Dungeness Valley eight years ago.
After discovering a kindred spirit in Dowdell, the Waynes agreed it would be fun to perform together, Jackson said.
A shared affection for the River Center prompted the Concert for the Birds 2010 collaboration.
The trio reprised that program last November in concerts in Juneau and Sitka, Alaska.
Kathleen, a soprano, has performed as a principal singer with Juneau Lyric Opera, the Juneau Symphony, Fairbanks Opera, Juneau Bach Society and Juneau Opera to Go.
She won an “honorable mention” at regional auditions for the Metropolitan Opera, and has performed lead roles in many fully-staged opera productions.
Kathleen teaches voice at the University of Alaska, gardens, studies birds and enjoys spending time on the beach with her gigantic Husky/Bernese dog.
She painted the goldfinch,which is also being used to promote the concert, and is writing and illustrating a children’s book.
Dan, a tenor, has been active in music and theatre most of his life. The Waynes met on the opera stage.
He has produced concerts, plays and operas and is stage directing a Juneau Lyric Opera production of Puccini’s “La Boheme” that opens in November.
Dowdell, a composer/arranger, has roots in jazz and classical music.
She toured the world as musical director of both Mikhail Baryshnikov’s White Oak Dance Project and the Mark Morris Dance Group.
Dowdell co-wrote the revue “Here’s to the Ladies: the Women of Tin Pan Alley,” which had an extended run last October at Key City Public Theatre in Port Townsend.
She teaches jazz piano at the Olympic Music School in Sequim, performs at local jazz venues and in August will be seen as musical director of “Bark! the Musical” at Key City Public Theater.
