Irene Roldàn from Spain, one of Europe’s prominent young harpsichordists and winner of the prestigious Bach Prize and an additional special award at the 2022 International Bach Competition in Leipzig, Germany, will perform “Johann Sebastian Bach” with baroque flutist Jeffrey Cohan on Friday, June 28 at 7:00 PM at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Lourdes in Spokane, presented by the Salish Sea Early Music Festival which offers early chamber music performed on period instruments, in collaboration with the Cathedral of Our Lady of Lourdes.

The program will include the artists’ transcription for flute and harpsichord of the Sonata in C Minor for violin and obbligato (or fully written-out) harpsichord, works for solo harpsichord, and sonatas both for obbligato harpsichord and flute, and for flute and continuo (a bass line with numbers denoting harmonies from which Irene will improvise).

The concert takes place on Friday, June 28 at 7:00 PM at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Lourdes at 1115 W Riverside Avenue in Spokane. Admission is by suggested donation (a free will offering) of $20 to $30. Those 18 & under are free. For more information please see www.salishseafestival.org/spokane. or call (509) 358-4290.

An additional performance of this program will be presented in Colville on Thursday, June 27 at 7:00 PM at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church at 320 N. Maple Street in Colville. Please see www.salishseafestival.org/colville. or call (509) 684-6223 for more information.

About the artists:
Award-winning harpsichordist Irene Roldán was born in southern Spain in 1997. Described by the press as one of the most prominent Spanish harpsichordists on the international scene (ABC Sevilla), Irene currently lives and works in Basel, Switzerland. She gained international recognition in 2021, when she won first prize, never previously awarded in this competition, as well as the audience prize at the III. International Harpsichord Competition «Città di Milano». In the same year, her ensemble Flor Galante secured the first prize at the IV. International Bach Competition in Berlin. One year later, Irene was honored with the prestigious Bach Prize and an additional special award at the XXXIII. International Bach Competition held in Leipzig, Germany.
Irene cultivated a profound passion for the harpsichord when she was 7 years old and has studied in Spain, the Netherlands and Switzerland with Jacques Ogg, Menno van Delft, Andrea Marcon and Jörg-Andreas Bötticher. 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.
Irene has performed in solo recital for festivals across Europe, such as Seville Early Music Festival (FEMÁS), Urbino Musica Antica, Val di Zoldo International Early Music Festival, Mars en Baroque, Amici della Musica di Padova, Roma Festival Barocco, Fundación Juan March, Académie d’Orgue de Fribourg (Les Canisius), FEMUBA, and others. She has had the honor of performing as soloist with several orchestras and under the direction of Maurice Steger, Jacques Ogg, Alfredo Bernardini and Eduardo López Banzo. Her own ensemble, Flor Galante, focuses on reviving unexplored eighteenth-century music from the Galant period. Her debut album, “Scarlatti & Beyond” which was recorded in June 2023 with the the support of Fondazione Cariverona.

JEFFREY COHAN, who according to the New York Times can “play several superstar flutists one might name under the table”, and is “The Flute Master” according to the Boston Globe, has performed throughout Europe, the United States, Australia, New Zealand, and for the USIA Arts America Program in the South Pacific, South America, Turkey and Portugal. First Prize winner of the Olga Koussevitzky Young Artist Competition in New York and recipient of grants from the Martha Baird Rockefeller Fund for Music and the French Government, he has received international acclaim as a modern flutist and as one of the foremost specialists on transverse flutes from the renaissance through the early 19th century. He is the only musician to have been awarded both the highest prize in the Concours Musica Antiqua in Bruges, Belgium, which he won together with lutenist Stephen Stubbs, and the Erwin Bodky Award in Boston - two of the most prestigious prizes for performers on period instruments. He is artistic director of the Salish Sea Early Music Festival and resides in Colville.

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The Salish Sea Early Music Festival presents early chamber music on period instruments around Salish Sea and in Eastern Washington, and is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization. The Salish Sea Early Music Festival is proud to be an affiliate organization of Early Music America, which develops, strengthens, and celebrates early music and historically informed performance in North America.