ICCA sunsets 30-year festival, embraces year-round classical vision

LEAVENWORTH – “Change is never easy, but is sometimes needed,” explained Icicle Creek Center for the Arts (ICCA) Executive Director Phil Lacey as he discussed ICCA’s decision to sunset its Chamber Music Festival, after a 30-year run, in favor of more financially sustainable, year-round chamber music programing. 

Lacey, who began his tenure in 2022, was hired by a financially strapped ICCA facing an existential crisis, as it stated in its press release at the time, because not only is he “a well-known member of the regional arts community and a demonstrated proponent of artistic excellence and societal awareness,” but also “has a history of helping arts organizations attain long-term financial stability.” 

In an email letter to ICCA donors and local chamber music enthusiasts elucidating its rationale to end the annual, three-week festival, ICCA stated that “the financial support required to operate programs of this magnitude has far outpaced ticket sales and tuition . . . [and in the unanimous judgment of the ICCA Board and management] is no longer sustainable.” 

The letter continued: “As stewards of the organization, it is our collective responsibility to safeguard the future of Icicle Creek . . . which requires ongoing reevaluation of our approach to programming to ensure that we can deliver impactful programs to the students and audiences of North Central Washington.”

Lacey acknowledged that “we have heard from a small number of folks who have been involved with the Chamber Music Festival in the past voicing their disappointment or frustration with our decision. I hope that they will take some time to look into the financial reasons and vision behind it and then be excited and supportive of the other chamber and classical offerings we will present in the future.”  

The announcement of ICCA’s pivot from the summer Festival to year-round accessible, classical music and educational outreach, praised the Festival’s “esteemed artistic director,” Oksana Ejokina, and stated that it “hope[d] to welcome her . . . back to our campus regularly throughout the upcoming years . . . and will always be grateful for the passion and effort she brought to Icicle Creek.”

In addition to announcing the hosting of regular classical and chamber music performances, the announcement also stated that ICCA “[o]ver the next two years . . . will launch a training program for musicians of all ages, including camps and classes in the summer and lessons and performance opportunities throughout the school year.” 

It went on to declare that “this region is bursting with passionate musicians, and we are thrilled to continue Harriet’s (ICCA founder Harriet Bullitt) vision, fully activating the Icicle Creek campus year-round to cultivate a love for great music. Far from an ending, this decision . . . marks the beginning of a new chapter for chamber music and education at Icicle Creek.”

ICCA was founded in 1995 as the Icicle Creek Music Center and, according to a history outlined on its website, “hosted its first Chamber Music Festival [that same year] in the Chapel Theater, a renovated church on the property of the Sleeping Lady Mountain Resort, a mountain retreat and conference facility that Bullitt had been developing since 1991.”

In 2001, the development of an adjacent, dedicated campus for ICCA began with the construction of Canyon Wren Recital Hall and an archipelago of practice huts for soloists and ensembles throughout the wooded grounds. “In 2013, Bullitt undertook a new project, opening the $7 million Snowy Owl Theater, built in the shape of a barn but with amenities and technology suited to hosting world-class performances. With the theater came an expansion of the Center’s programs to include new styles of music, theater and, eventually, a film program. It also came with a new name as the organization was re-christened the Icicle Creek Center for the Arts to reflect its broader range of education and performance offerings.”

For information on upcoming programs at ICCA, including a holiday season, candlelit “chamber reduction” of Handel’s Messiah “featuring nationally renowned soloists and an exciting new arrangement for chamber orchestra,” and the Rastrelli Cello Quartet, a St. Petersburg-based ensemble, visit: https://icicle.org/icicle-events.

Caroline Menna is an intern for Ward Media and a senior (Class of 2025) at Cascade High School. She serves as Editor-in-Chief of the Cascade High School Publications Group.