The Ladies Musical Club of Seattle (LMC), the oldest musical organization in Seattle, continues celebrating its 125th Quasquicentennial Season as LMC member-musicians, trained in piano, voice, strings and instruments, present six free, classical music concerts in December at Seattle Art Museum, Frye Art Museum, Seattle Central Public Library, University House Wallingford, West Seattle Library and South Lake Union’s Mirabella.
December program highlights include a program of works by W.A. Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven, including Beethoven’s song cycle, An die ferne Geliebte (To the distant beloved), at the Seattle Art Museum on December 3, at 12:00 p.m. Also on the program are works performed by LMC member Adriana Hulscher, a violinist with the Pacific Northwest Ballet orchestra.  Classical Music for the Holidays is on tap for Saturday, December 12 at 2:00 p.m. at the Frye Art Museum, featuring works by J.S. Bach, Franz Shubert and selections from Tchaikovsky’s popular Nutcracker Ballet Suite in a four-hand duet by LMC members Johanna Mastenbrook and Valentina Rodov. On Sunday, December 13, at 3:00 p.m. at the West Seattle Library, LMC Opera will present staged and costumed scenes from Carl Maria von Weber’s Der Freischütz, considered the first important German Romantic opera. Bernard Shapiro, cello, will be a guest artist with LMC members on Monday, December 14, at 7:30 p.m. at University House Wallingford, performing works by Telemann and Handel.

Closing the month, LMC members will celebrate the 185th anniversary of Emily Dickinson’s birth. On Sunday, December 20 at 3:00 p.m. at Mirabella in South Lake Union, member-musicians will present "LMC Salutes Emily Dickinson!" — a recital of songs that sets Dickinson’s poetry to music by various composers, as well as solo piano compositions by her contemporaries.
See below for a chronological listing of December 2015 LMC concert dates, venues, addresses, artists and programs, along with a sampling of performing-members’ biographies.

About LMC Free Public Concert Series
From October through May, LMC member-musicians and guests present over 50 free classical music programs at a variety of venues throughout the Seattle metro area, including Seattle Art Museum, Frye Art Museum, Seattle Central Public Library, University House Wallingford, West Seattle Library, Mirabella, Bellevue’s Crossroads Community Center and two newly added venues – Stage 7 Pianos in Kirkland and the Music Center of the Northwest in North Seattle. These intimate, one-hour professional music programs are free, open to the public and appropriate for all ages. No advance tickets are required. On the day of the performance at the Frye Museum, attendees are asked to obtain a free ticket at the front desk to monitor auditorium seating.
 
About Ladies Musical Club of Seattle
Ladies Musical Club of Seattle was founded in March, 1891 by a group of 24 women musicians. Its original mission was to foster an appreciation of classical music in the cultural life of a city that was just starting to find its identity. For more than a century, LMC presented a stellar International Artist Series whose make up is literally a Who’s Who list of classical music artist luminaries such as: Sergei Rachmaninoff, Fritz Kreisler, Jascha Heifetz, Marian Anderson, Artur Schnabel, Pablo Casals, Kirsten Flagstad, Artur Rubinstein, Geraldine Farrar, Nathan Milstein, Vladimir Horowitz, Marilyn Horne, Alicia de Larrocha, Lynn Harrell, Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, Joshua Bell, Emanuel Ax, Vladimir Feltsman, Beaux Arts Trio as well as the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the New York Symphony Orchestra, the London Chamber Orchestra, the Robert Joffrey Theatre Ballet, and many, many more. See the entire list.  MOHAI houses LMC’s historical archives. In the 1990’s when artist fees significantly increased and larger Seattle cultural organizations also began presenting major classical artists, LMC decided to concentrate its efforts solely on educational endeavors that support classical music. LMC’s mission, to foster classical music in the community through education, performance and award, continues in the 21st century through its free public concert series; in Seattle Public Schools through its Music in Schools programs; and, by assisting emerging, young classical music artists living in six western states through an annual cash-award competition and statewide outreach tour.

For more information about Ladies Musical Club of Seattle, public concert performance schedule and donation options, visit www.lmcseattle.org and “like” Ladies Musical Club of Seattle on Facebook.