Walla Walla and its Music
By Aziz Sahbazovic
Class of 2024, Music Vocal Performance and German Studies double major
Walla Walla has been my home for the past three years, and apart from having a large population of college students, it also houses many award-winning wineries, and what can be a better companion to wine than classical music. Apart from the Walla Walla Symphony and student groups and ensembles at Whitman College and Walla Walla University, Walla Walla has its own music festival – the Walla Walla Chamber Music Festival. This festival happens twice a year, a weekend in January for the Winter Festival and once again for the duration of the month of June for the Summer Festival.
The festival was founded in 2007 by violist and violinist Timothy Christie, who serves on the faculty of 
the School of Music at the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Washington, and was a member of the Pacific Northwest Ballet Orchestra in Seattle for 15 years. The goal of the festival is to achieve excellence in music-making and treat the Walla Walla community with interesting performances of classical music in chamber ensembles. Nowadays it features around 40 performances per season, spread around town in different venues that includes the Powerhouse Theater and many wineries that pair great wine with great music.
How much this means for the arts community and the music lovers, speaks to the fact that this festival is supported by many private and corporate sponsors, who keep donating their time and resources to keep the festival alive and growing, and of course the volunteers who keep the shows going.
But throughout my internship, I have learned that a big and meaningful part of this festival are the non-ticketed free community events, that allow any members of the community, especially children, to experience the world of music that they otherwise would have very little exposure to. I loved being part of these performances and going around different elementary schools and seeing children who are bursting with curiosity and amazement, and I hope that some of them will feel inspired to be the next generation of music makers.
This festival also added to my Whitman experience as a music major, seeing different opportunities to join the industry, but more importantly, feel inspired to make music for people who appreciate it, and inspire others to do the same and more! This journey was packed with different performances, rehearsals and engagements with the public, but each day presented a new challenge and many rewards.
I hope to take the skills and experiences that taught me something about how music gets done and how art and entertainment companies operate in the United States, and go spread the music making in my own community in some capacity as either a performer or a visionary who will inspire and bring the art together for everyone to enjoy. Now that I spent a considerable amount of time in rehearsal and talking to artists who have been coming to this festival since the very beginning, I gained hope and inspiration to continue making music and think of ways to make it accessible to anyone who is interested in listening.
The experience at this festival showed me how music can be created as purely an art form, but also as an entertainment and something that allows people to reflect and think about the world around them through thought-provoking programming that this festival achieves. I feel very proud to have been a part of such an amazing and valuable part of Walla Walla, and I am proud of the festival for introducing music to people, not just the most famous works, but also works by underrepresented composers and communities, supporting artists from all over the United States – both professional and emerging artists that keep coming back each year to Walla Walla and leave only with words of praise and appreciation.