About the Whidbey Island Music Festival

 

Our Story

Founded in 2006 by Tekla Cunningham, Whidbey Island Music Festival is a vibrant and vital organization that serves the Whidbey Island Community with great performances of baroque and classical chamber music. WIMF presents concerts in relaxed and intimate venues on beautiful Whidbey Island, with repertoire from Monteverdi to Florence Price. We bring music of the past four centuries to life with vivid and moving performances on period instruments.

 

Our Mission

Our mission is to gather people together at venues on Whidbey Island; inspire with performances that move and uplift the spirits; and connect musicians and audiences in authentic community.

 We proudly partner with

Featured Artists

WIMF is proud to present leading artists in the field of Early Music. Artists from past seasons include:

  • Miyo Aoki, recorders

  • Anthony Allen, baroque flute

  • Tess Altiveros, soprano

  • Michael Albert, baroque violin

  • Christine Wilkinson Beckman, baroque violin

  • Pascale Beaudin, soprano

  • Tom Berghan, banjo

  • Joanna Blendulf, baroque cello

  • Vicki Boeckman, recorder

  • Bryan Boehnke, recorder

  • Meg Brennand, baroque cello

  • Jean Bernard Cerin, baritone

  • Vijay Chalasani, classical violin

  • Tekla Cunningham, baroque violin

  • Stef Cresswell, baroque viola

  • Marc Destrubé, baroque violin

  • Rita Dove, poet

  • Jillon Stoppels Dupree, harpsichord

  • Maxine Eilander, baroque harp

  • Greg Ewer, violin and viola

  • Ryan Farris, baroque cello and viola da gamba

  • Susan Feldman, baroque violin

  • Zachary Finkelstein, tenor

  • Amanda Forsythe, soprano

  • Curtis Foster, baroque oboe

  • Cynthia Miller Freivogel, baroque violin

  • Elaine Funaro, harpsichord

  • Katherine Heater, harpsichord

  • Ian Howell, countertenor

  • Monica Huggett, baroque violin

  • Lee Inman, viola da gamba

  • Corey Jamason, harpsichord

  • Phoebe Jevtovic Alexander

  • Michael Jarvis, organ

  • Michele Kennedy, soprano

  • Kris Kwapis, baroque trumpet

  • Katherine Kyme, baroque violin

  • Todd Larsen, bass

  • Adam Lamotte, baroque violin and viola

  • Patricia Laurence, baroque violin

  • Henry Lebedinsky, keyboards

  • Michael LeFevre, guitar

  • John Lenti, baroque guitar and theorbo

  • Rocio Lopez Sanchez, baroque cello

  • Bruno Lourensetto, baroque trumpet

  • Paul Luchkow, viola

  • Nathalie Mackie, violone

  • Anna Mansbridge, baroque dance

  • Anthony Martin, baroque viola

  • Ingrid Matthews, baroque violin

  • Peter Maund, percussion

  • Reginald Mobley, countertenor

  • David Morris, viola da gamba

  • Debra Nagy, baroque oboe

  • Caroline Nicolas, baroque cello

  • Buell Neidlinger, cello

  • Moriah Niels, bass

  • Caroline Nicolas, baroque cello

  • Jonathan Oddie, harpsichord

  • David Ohanessian, recorder

  • Sherezade Panthaki, soprano

  • Michael Partington, guitar

  • Farley Pearce, viola da gamba and violine

  • Corentin Pokorny, baroque violin

  • Romeric Porkorny, baroque viola

  • Elisabeth Reed, viola da gamba and baroque cello

  • Danielle Reutter-Harrah, soprano

  • Tess Roberts, viola da gamba

  • Phoebe Rosquist, soprano

  • Clara Rottsolk, soprano

  • Byron Schenkman, harpsichord

  • Seattle Historical Arts for Kids

  • Janet See, baroque flute

  • William Skeen, baroque cello and viola da gamba

  • Avi Stein, harpsichord

  • Charles Robert Stephens, baritone

  • Stephen Stubbs, lute and baroque guitar

  • Rachel Swerdlow, baroque viola

  • Margriet Tindemans, viola and viola da gamba

  • Tanya Tomkins, cello

  • Linda Tsatsanis, soprano

  • Brandon Vance, baroque violin

  • Yulia Van Doren, soprano

  • Catherine Webster, soprano

  • Laurie Wells, viola

  • Sheila Weidendorf, piano

  • Alan Wheaton, tenor

  • Nathan Whittaker, classical cello

  • Eric Zivian, pianoforte

  • Beiliang Zhu, cello

  • Daniel Zuluaga, baroque guitar

Violinist and Whidbey Island Music Festival founder Tekla Cunningham

Photo by Teresa Tam

 

Meet the Founder, Tekla Cunningham

violin and director

Praised as "a consummate musician whose flowing solos and musical gestures are a joy to watch", and whose performances have been described as "ravishingly beautiful" and "stellar" and lauded for "long, amber-tinted lines and pertly articulated phrases", violinist Tekla Cunningham enjoys a multi-faceted career as a chamber musician, concertmaster, soloist and educator devoted to music of the baroque, classical and romantic eras. She is co-artistic director and concertmaster of Pacific MusicWorks, and is an artist-in-residence at the University of Washington. She founded and directs the Whidbey Island Music Festival, now entering its eighteenth season, producing and presenting vibrant period-instrument performances of music from Monteverdi to Beethoven and beyond and plays regularly as concertmaster and principal player with the American Bach Soloists in California.