Orcas Island Chamber Music Festival announces leadership change transition

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Orcas Island Chamber Music Festival (OICMF) in Washington has announced that violinist and violist Aloysia Friedman has decided to conclude her tenure as artistic director following the festival’s 30th anniversary season in 2027.

Friedman founded the festival in 1998 and led it as artistic director for nearly three decades. The OICMF board has appointed Miró Quartet cellist Joshua Gindele as artistic director designate for the 30th anniversary season in 2027, and he will assume the role of artistic director in the 2028.

’Founding this festival in 1998 allowed me to build on the musical legacy of my parents while creating something uniquely my own, and guiding it for nearly three decades has been one of the great joys of my life,’ said Friedmann, referring to her parents, violinst Martin Friedmann and oboist Laila Storch.

’In music, a transition is the passage that links two sections of a work, a musical bridge, and that is how I think of this moment. I am not stepping away from Orcas Island or from the stage; I am entrusting the artistic vision of the festival to Joshua Gindele, whom our audiences have known and loved since the Miró Quartet first appeared here in 2008.

’I look forward to celebrating our 30th anniversary in 2027 and to remaining part of this community for many years to come.’

Friedmann will remain connected to the festival as an ambassador and will continue to pursue an active performing, chamber music, and recording career. She serves as associate concertmaster of Houston’s ROCO (formerly named the River Oaks Chamber Orchestra), is a founding member of San Diego’s Mainly Mozart Festival, and performs frequently with the Houston and San Diego symphonies.

Gindele was named the festival’s associate artistic director in 2026. On his appointment, he said: ’To have spent so many years on the festival stage, surrounded by the warmth of this island community and the colleagues who have become lifelong friends, makes this moment feel less like a transition and more like a deepening.

’Aloysia has shaped this festival with thirty years of vision, generosity, and artistry, and I am honoured beyond words to be her steward. I can think of no greater privilege than growing old in the service of this place and the people who love it, and I step into this role of artistic director not as someone arriving, but as someone who already feels entirely at home.’