Since its beginning in 1974, making beautiful music together has been at the core of Centrum.
"It's all about participating," explained Suzy Thompson, former Artistic Director of the Fiddle Tunes Festival, one of Centrum’s flagship events. "It's all about playing music, singing with music, music as a social experience, and that's the thing that makes people want to incorporate music, or any other kind of art, into their daily life, and that's really what we're trying to do here.”
It started with fiddle tunes, chamber music, and jazz, all taking place inside a giant circus tent on the Fort Worden State Park campus, a former army base.
Today, Centrum's musical reach has grown to include Brazilian choro, acoustic blues, voice, strings, and even a ukulele festival.
And not just concerts. Workshops and back porch jam sessions make all the music come to life.
Del Rey is a Seattle musician with decades of teaching experience at Centrum.
"Centrum is a way for artists all over the world — and all over the country — to get together with people from the Northwest and show them what their music is about,” Rey said. "It opened up my musical world. I've taken that music out from Centrum to other places all over the world, and part of that education that I got through teaching and being part of Centrum enabled me to bring that music other places. So it's just a great program.
Seattle musician Ben Hunter was a scholarship student at Centrum, then he taught there, and now, he's the artistic director of the Northwest Folklife Festival.
"I believe that music — folk music in particular —will save the world,” Hunter said. "These folk stories, this ability to tell a story, to pass down a story is a reflection of the human condition. So when we're supporting something like Centrum, or dare I say, Northwest Folklife, what we're doing is making a commitment to preserve the thing that makes us most human."
John Clayton, musician and artistic director of Jazz Port Townsend asks: “Think about a world without Centrum, if Centrum weren't here, we wouldn't have this home to allow our wildest artistic dreams to come alive. It wouldn't be there. And then what do you do?"
Whether you come to listen, learn, or both, Centrum is a musical experience you won't find anywhere else.
To support scholarships for students to attend Centrum, make a donation at centrum.org/donate.
Sponsored by Centrum.
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