Leader staff
The Salish Sea Early Music Festival concludes its 2025 season in Jefferson County by featuring Irene Roldàn from Spain, one of Europe’s prominent young prize-winning harpsichordists, as she performs Bach and Scarlatti with flutist Jeffrey Cohan.
The program will feature four solo harpsichord sonatas by Domenico Scarlatti, three sonatas for the harpsichord and flute by Johann Sebastian Bach, and a new transcription of Scarlatti’s sonatas for the flute and harpsichord.
Roldàn — winner of the Bach Prize at the XXXIII International Bach Competition in Leipzig, Germany — has performed at early music festivals in Italy, the Netherlands and Spain, but the Salish Sea Early Music Festival marks her first performances in the United States.
Cohan noted that Bach and Scarlatti were both born in 1685, but had wildly divergent styles.
Scarlatti’s 555 sonatas for the solo keyboard frequently incorporate elements of Spanish folk music and dance, while Bach wrote twice as many works, but rarely left central Germany, and was relatively unknown during his lifetime.
Roldàn’s participation in the Salish Sea Early Music Festival has been made possible with help from the Honorary Consulate of Spain in Seattle, and from the Programme for the Internationalisation of Spanish Culture of Acción Cultural Española, which seeks to promote Spanish culture through the inclusion of Spanish artists, and creators residing in Spain, in the programming of cultural events outside of Spain.
Roldán was born in southern Spain in 1997, and currently lives and works in Basel, Switzerland.
She gained international recognition in 2021, at the III International Harpsichord Competition, when she won first prize and the audience prize.
That same year, her ensemble Flor Galante won first prize at the IV International Bach Competition in Berlin.
Roldán began playing the harpsichord when she was 7 years old and has studied in Spain, the Netherlands and Switzerland.
She received a special award for her exceptional closing master’s performance at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis, where she is pursuing an additional specialized master’s degree in Basso Continuo and Maestro al cembalo.
What to know:
Roldán and Cohan will be playing Bach and Scarlatti at 2 p.m. on Sunday, July 13, at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, at 1020 Jefferson St. in Port Townsend.
Admission is by suggested donation, but all are welcome.
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