Winterlude 2027: A Candlelit Evening with Zuill Bailey & Robert Koenig

The Sitka Music Festival invites you to its fourth annual Winterlude, an enchanting evening illuminated by candlelight, where intimate classical music intertwines with community spirit and elevated small bites. Hosted at the historic Miner Music Center in Stevenson Hall, this beloved event opens its doors at 6:30 PM for a reception featuring artisanal bites and beverages, followed by a 7:00 PM performance. This year, Sitka Music Festival Artistic Director and Grammy-winning cellist Zuill Bailey is joined by Canadian pianist Robert Koenig, his longtime recital partner, for an intimate program featuring the music of Beethoven. Doors and reception: 6:30 PM | Performance: 7:00 PM Tickets on sale soon. Program Repertoire to be announced, featuring Ludwig van Beethoven’s sonatas for cello and piano in honor of the 200th anniversary of Beethoven’s death (1827–2027). Zuill Bailey, cello Robert Koenig, piano Zuill Bailey, widely considered one of the premiere cellists in the world, is a Grammy Award winning, internationally renowned soloist, recitalist, Artistic Director and teacher. His rare combination of celebrated artistry, technical wizardry and engaging personality has made him one of the most sought after and active cellists today. Mr. Bailey has been featured with symphony orchestras and music festivals worldwide. He won the Best Solo Performance Grammy Award in 2017, for his recording of Michael Daugherty’s “Tales of Hemingway,” with the Nashville Symphony led by Giancarlo Guerrero. His extensive discography includes his newest release – the world premier recording of Ellen Taaffe Zwilich’s Cello Concerto with the Santa Rosa Symphony. In 2021 he released his second recording of the Bach Cello Suites for PS Audio’s Octave Records label, recorded and mixed in stereo and multichannel sound. He appeared in a recurring role on the HBO series “Oz,” and has been heard on NPR’s “Morning Edition,” “Tiny Desk Concert,” “Performance Today,” “Saint Paul Sunday,” BBC’s “In Tune,” XM Radio’s “Live from Studio II,” Sirius Satellite Radio’s “Virtuoso Voices,” and his latest disc of Bach Suites was the disc of the week on Sirius’ Symphony Hall. Mr. Bailey received his Bachelor’s Degree from the Peabody Conservatory where he was named the 2014 Johns Hopkins University Distinguished Alumni, and received a Master’s Degree from the Juilliard School. He performs on the “rosette” 1693 Matteo Gofriller Cello formerly owned by Mischa Schneider of the Budapest String Quartet. He is the Artistic Director of El Paso Pro-Musica (Texas), the Sitka Summer Music Festival/Series and Cello Seminar, (Alaska), Juneau Jazz and Classics, (Alaska), the Northwest Bach Festival (Washington), Classical Inside Out Series- Mesa Arts Center (Arizona) and is Director of the Center for Arts Entrepreneurship and Professor of Cello at the University of Texas at El Paso.