The Port Townsend Arts Commission approved a total of $1,350 to a pair of programs aiming to bring culture to the area.

Bob Francis spoke on behalf of 4PT Production, a brand-new organization in its first foray of hosting concerts within Port Townsend by bringing composer Wayne Horvitz for a one-off “Chamber Music in the Sanctuary” concert. Through his time in Seattle in the 1990s, Francis was a fan of the Seattle Chamber Players, with Horvitz writing several pieces for the group.

“I listened to his music and loved it,” Francis said. “Over the years, I've visited his performances with various ensembles he's organized or played in. I feel that he's what we call a 'border crosser' … between small chamber music and improvised jazz … as if it never existed at all.”

 Francis said he wanted to bring Horvitz back to the area after a couple years of absence when he performed with a septet to poems of Richard Hugo, a renowned Pacific Northwest poet, saying he would like to present something listeners wouldn't have the opportunity to hear otherwise.

“To hear someone at this level, and in fact premiering several pieces of music, was an opportunity that we couldn't pass up,” Francis said.

The application to the Arts Commission stated, “In a nutshell, the concert displays the full range of Mr. Horvitz's creative abilities: composer, pianist and electronic musician. This is a very prestigious and rare event in our community. It affords us the opportunity to experience cutting-edge contemporary art music at its highest level.”

“Chamber Music in the Sanctuary: Wayne Horvitz” is slated for Oct. 26. at the Quimper Unitarian Church.

Initially asking for $550, the request was decreased to $400 by recommendation of the board. Member Dominica Lord-Wood expressed her full support, but it was Nhattaleah Morris who lodged the sole objection. She felt, as a new organization, it would be more appropriate to get better established and return to ask for funding. With Morris the only member objecting, the board granted the assisting funds to help with the concert's hall rental fees and piano tuning.

The second of the proposals came from Mandala Center for Change's Poetic Justice Theatre Ensemble Teen Initiative, as co-director Zhaleh Almaee and ensemble member Eileen Herling presented the proposal to the board.

“We really want to make this the best possible experience for them as it possibly can be, and we want to be able to pour our energies into doing this instead of wondering and worrying if we can make ends meet,” Herling said.

The money would go toward rent for the space, performance supplies and advertising costs. Quimper Grange will play host to the program, giving a discounted rental rate for the season, which runs for eight months, once per week.

The Poetic Justice Theatre Ensemble mentors youth with interactive theater techniques including Theatre of the Oppressed and Playback Theatre, and it kicks off Oct. 12. Organizers don't limit participants to a certain number, but will accommodate as many youths as it can. Board Chairman Owen Roe pointed out the type of theater, saying that it is more than just performance.

Herling echoed this sentiment, adding that it is focused around social justice issues, presenting an issue without an answer and allowing the audience to work out solutions on their own. Almaee said these models used during the program are rooted in the philosophy that everyone should be seen and heard, and that storytelling can spark a commonality with the need to have spaces to collectively problem-solve those issues, without “the stakes of actually solving them.”

The group asked for $1,200, but was granted $900. The board reasoned that since the program runs throughout the year, the funding would help until the end of 2018. They also encouraged the representatives to return at the beginning of 2019 to ask for additional funding, as there are more funds to go around once the new year comes around.