Bellingham Chamber Music Society

Program Overview:  The Bellingham Chamber Music Society was formed in 2013. The Society's goal is to present world-class chamber music and performers to Bellingham audiences, to promote understanding and appreciation of classical music and to enhance the beauty of Bellingham through music.  The Society offers diverse programming, to include the standard repertoire of the great string and woodwind literature, as well as the wonderful works featuring piano, as well as harp and voice. Works by well-known and soon-to-be-well-known composers, such as Beethoven, Debussy, Brahms, Piston, Arnold, Bach, Schubert, Mozart, and Reicha, to name few, will be performed.

Bios: Violinist and Violist Leslie Faye Johnson received much of her performance training at the Juilliard School, completing both her Bachelor's and Master's degrees; her Doctorate is from the University of Washington. Leslie's dissertation on the Shostakovich Viola Sonata was published by Barenreiter, and is often used in scholarly research. Leslie’s CD recording of the complete unaccompanied Suites for Viola by JS Bach was released in July 2013. Leslie performed as Principal Violist/Solo Violist of the Pacific Northwest Ballet Orchestra in Seattle, and as a guest artist on many prominent Northwest chamber music series, including the Olympic Music Festival, Chamber Music San Juans and the Second City Chamber Music Series.  She is also a champion of contemporary music and has premiered many new solo and chamber works.  In addition to teaching privately, Leslie has taught at Eastern Washington University, where she was Assistant Professor of Violin/Viola and a member of the Spokane String Quartet.

Originally from Rhode Island, bassoonist Pat Nelson has made a home in the Pacific Northwest and performs with the Whatcom Symphony, Skagit Opera, Starry Nights Chamber Ensemble, Impromptu, and Zephyr Winds.  In 2001, she became the bassoonist with the Westwood Wind Quintet and appears with the quartet on the Crystal Records label in their latest release of the complete quintets of Anton Reicha.  She has been a guest artist and instructor at Musicfest in Wales, the Utah State Music Camp, Summer Sounds in Washington, the Wright State University Double Reed Day and at California State at Long Beach.  She is a founding member of the Sapphire Wind trio that is based in Ohio and is currently working on a cd of contemporary works for flute, clarinet and bassoon. Pat received a Bachelor of Music from the University of North Carolina, a Masters of Music from Northwestern University and post-graduate studies at the University of Arizona.