Sitka Music Festival

The Sitka Summer Music Festival was founded in 1972 by violinist Paul Rosenthal, a then aspiring artist just completing instruction at the University of Southern California with master violinist Jascha Heifetz. Mr. Rosenthal, a native New Yorker, began playing violin at three. He studied with Dorothy DeLay at The Juilliard School, Ivan Galamian and Josef Gingold prior to coaching with Heifetz.

Rosenthal found Sitka to be perfect for a chamber music festival when he visited the community on tour with the Arctic Chamber Orchestra. He immediately contacted several colleagues from the legendary Piatigorsky/Heifetz Master Classes and invited them to come to Sitka for the first Sitka Summer Music Festival in June 1972. At that time, a handful of people from around Alaska contributed just enough money to buy the musicians one-way tickets to Sitka, and just enough people attended the concerts to raise the money for their return flights. The musicians performed without fee that year in Sitka and have volunteered their talent every year since. To save on expenses, Rosenthal formed an early partnership with Sheldon Jackson College which allowed the artists and their families to live on campus, frequently in Stevenson Hall. Since 1972, over 150 professional classical musicians have performed with the Festival.

In 2011, Paul Rosenthal retired from the Festival. In his four decades as Artistic Director, Paul helped to nurture deep roots across the state: an enthusiastic audience, authentic friendships, and dedicated contributors. Paul carefully chose cellist Zuill Bailey as his successor to continue his tradition of consistently bringing the highest caliber of classical music to Alaska.

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