Steve Forrester

Emotion filled the auditorium of the Liberty Theatre last Saturday evening as the Russian cellist Sergey Antonov approached the microphone.

“We stand with Ukraine,” were his first words. Applause filled the room. Antonov and his principal musicians are American citizens, but they remain linked to Russia and Ukraine through family and friendships.

This is the festival season. The Crab, Seafood & Wine Festival recently reappeared as an in-person event. Soon will be the Astoria Scandinavian Midsummer Festival. Then will come the Astoria Regatta.

The Third Dimension Festival is an entirely new iteration of the Astoria Music Festival, which ran for a decade. That festival was many things. It produced fully staged operas, orchestral and choral works as well as chamber music and silent films. The new festival is about the most intimate form of performance – chamber music, which features duets, trios and larger groups of stringed instruments.

The music festival is the youngest of our region’s celebrations. It is unique in other ways. Since its inception, the festival has drawn a bevy of young musicians who were seen around town with their violin, cello and horn cases. It also attracted Metropolitan Opera stars Ruth Ann Swenson and Angela Meade. The festival’s founders included a Portland State University graduate, Katherine Matschiner. Other founders were the Portland State voice teacher Ruth Dobson and conductor Keith Clark, who stayed with the festival to the end.

Like other live entertainment in the past few years, this new iteration of the music festival faces mortal challenges. Jennifer Crockett, the Liberty Theatre’s executive director, notes that because of COVID, “Audiences are not feeling confident.” Also, the festival’s sales brochure hit customers just after Russian forces invaded Ukraine.

The musicianship of the Third Dimension Festival is the equivalent of what you will find in any big city music venue. The cellist Antonov, with whom Astorians have a long history, was a medalist in one of Russia’s major competitions. His main colleagues are pianist Ilya Kazantsev and violinist Misha Keylin. Another familiar face will be Portland pianist Cary Lewis.

Every arts organization in America has been rocked by COVID, and many have felt the spillover of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s unprovoked attack on Ukraine. Two Russians — operatic diva Anna Netrebko and conductor Valery Gergiev — saw their American careers vanish overnight. Neither Netrebko or Gergiev would denounce Putin or his war.

By contrast, Antonov and his Russian American colleagues have spoken out plainly in opposition to the war.

Crockett has become the queen of theatrical resilience — shepherding the Liberty through two years fraught with financial duress. “The pandemic has taught us to be not too cozy with a decision, because you often have to step away from planned performances,” she said. “You have to move ahead nonemotionally and find new avenues.”

The other star attraction of the music festival is the Liberty and its marvelous resonance. String players and singers particularly love the hall’s acoustics. For the relatively small audience, opening night did not disappoint. It was an all-Brahms program. The startling new addition was the deep, rich voice of mezzo-soprano Renee Rapier from Philadelphia.

More performances will follow over the next two weeks. Give it a try. You will not be disappointed.