Music on the Strait founders, guest pianist to perform at Field Hall – Peninsula Daily News

Published 1:30 am Wednesday, April 1, 2026
By Diane Urbani de la Paz For Peninsula Daily News
James Garlick, left, and Richard O’Neill will join pianist August Baik for a spring Music on the Strait concert on Saturday at Field Hall. (Sattva Photo)
PORT ANGELES — In an instant, the text message got violist Richard O’Neill’s attention.
His friend Jeremy Denk, the MacArthur “genius” award-winning pianist, declared he’d just been dazzled by a young musician — another pianist.
August Baik, 20, was at the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, Calif., studying with Denk. It was his playing of Ravel’s “Miroirs” that sent Denk to his phone.
Baik is “phenomenal, a unique voice,” Denk wrote — and this is a man who does not hand out compliments lightly, O’Neill said.
“August is from Seattle. You should have him play at your festival,” Denk added.
He was referring to Music on the Strait, aka MOTS, in Port Angeles, which O’Neill co-founded with violinist James Garlick. The two, both of whom are from Clallam County, went to the Juilliard School in New York City and then to concert stages around the world.
Music on the Strait began as just one weekend of performances in 2018. It has since grown to two full summer weekends plus events in wintertime and spring, including concerts at Field Arts & Events Hall.
Along the way, O’Neill added to his lengthy list of honors a Grammy award for Best Classical Instrumental Solo for his recording of Theofanidis’ Concerto for Viola and Chamber Orchestra.
On Saturday, Garlick, O’Neill and Baik will give a concert of music they love. The Field Hall stage is the setting for an evening of Rachmaninov’s Sonata in G minor, Martinů’s Three Madrigals for Violin and Viola, John Adams’ “Road Movies” and, naturally, Ravel’s “Miroirs.”
The three will take the stage at 7 p.m. at Field Hall, 201 W. Front St. Tickets are available at musiconthestrait.org. A limited number of pay-what-you-can tickets were released Monday.
In keeping with Music on the Strait’s support of young local musicians, a free performance by the Port Angeles High School chamber orchestra will take place in the upstairs Sunset Lounge at 6:15 p.m.
Baik and O’Neill are performing on stage together for only the second time. The first was their March 5 recital at the Union Club in New York City — “an unforgettable experience in more ways than one,” Baik said in an email afterward.
“The pedals of the piano fell off during the Rachmaninov sonata! We were shocked but after coming to terms with the fact that we couldn’t fix it, we did our best to finish the concert without the pedals. This is the exciting part of live performance, being thrust into unpredictable, unexpected situations,” he added.
This was the first time his piano’s pedals disconnected, Baik said, and hopefully the last.
In Saturday’s concert, Baik will offer his distinctive playing of “Miroirs,” a piece Garlick calls “devilishly difficult.”
Ravel’s work for solo piano has five parts, each with an evocative title: “Une Barque sur l’Ocean” and “Valley of the Bells,” for example.
“Beyond the scenic titles, Ravel dedicated each of the five pieces to a corresponding friend,” Baik noted. So the pieces are reflections of his friends’ personalities, hence the title ‘“Miroirs.”
Friendship will infuse the rest of the evening as well. Garlick and O’Neill are kindred spirits and first played music together as boys riding the M.V. Coho ferry to lessons in Victoria, B.C.
The two have been wanting to do more violin and viola duos in Music on the Strait concerts, so they chose the Martinů piece.
“The Three Madrigals is really inventive and spirited and fun,” Garlick said. “There’s something about the two of us, standing next to each other, with the back and forth between the violin and viola,” he added.
“Being able to play with Richard is one of the great privileges of my life.”
O’Neill, for his part, said he admires both Garlick and Baik for their agility — which he compared to that of Olympic athletes. These musicians make it look like their excellence just comes naturally, O’Neill said. They’re so fluid up there on stage.
Yet he knows from experience that athletes and artists may have talent, but they also have tens of thousands of hours of practice underneath it all.
Garlick and O’Neill also are preparing for Music on the Strait’s summer concerts, Aug. 22-30 at both Field Hall and Maier Hall at Peninsula College. The Takács Quartet, featuring O’Neill, as well as pianist Denk and violinist Kristin Lee are among the featured performers.
“The whole festival has been a beautiful experiment,” Garlick said.
He added that making MOTS events accessible to people of all ages will always be important.
Garlick remembers how he felt as a teenager, learning to play the masterworks in the Port Angeles High School chamber orchestra. Most of all, he remembers how excited he was about a life in music.
“I still feel that way, to be honest,” he said.
________
Diane Urbani de la Paz is a freelance writer and photographer who lives in Port Townsend.

source