Leigh Hearon has been delighted to see her and her husband’s former venue succeed, under the stewardship of the De Koch family, as the Quilcene Lantern.

She also appreciates that the De Koch family is continuing to provide a home for the “Concerts in the Barn” summer series of chamber music.

This year, Concerts in the Barn is even offering a pre-season gala fundraiser concert on Saturday, March 29, in the newly renovated milking shed next to the iconic barn.

“This concert is a fundraiser, so, unlike our summer series, we’re charging ticket prices,” said Hearon, who remains the volunteer director of Concerts in the Barn. “This is to ensure we can pay our musicians what they’re worth, and let the public in without charge [for the regular season]. This has been our mission since our inception, and we intend to keep our promise to the community.”

“From the beginning, we wanted to make the milking shed a year-around venue,” said Laurie De Koch, whose family purchased the venue for Concerts in the Barn in 2023, and renamed the farm the Quilcene Lantern.  “We hope that Concerts in the Barn patrons and other groups will find it a nice, cozy place to hear music throughout the year.”

To accomplish that goal, the De Koch family raised the ceiling, insulated the interior, and installed both a heater and a large wood stove. The stove was previously housed in the farmhouse adjacent to the barn.

Rhe De Koch family for turning the former milking shed into “an impressive venue in its own right,” said Hearon, especially by continuing the Concerts in the Barn series.

“Our fundraiser aims to pay the fees to feed, house and transport our musicians,” Hearon said. “If we make more money than we need for that simple budget, then we’ll see about offering longer concert seasons, with more artists playing great music.”

Hearon said such surplus revenues could fund additional weeks per season because neither she nor her fellow volunteers will accept payment for their labors.

“I just want to do this for the rest of my life,” Hearon said.

The farm opens its doors at noon for the March 29 pre-season fundraiser concert to start at 1 p.m. with the returning Fulton Street Chamber Players, whose members include Dawn Posey and Brittany Boulding on violins, Katie Liu and Rachel Swerdlow on violas, and Walter Gray on cello. They are contributing their professional fees for the concert to help raise money for the summer season to follow.

After the concert, patrons will have the opportunity to talk to the musicians and learn more about the summer season ahead.

“Walter and Rachel are dear friends, and however many members they’ve had at the time, the Fulton Street Chamber Players have always been staunch supporters of our Concerts in the Barn,” said Hearon. A number of the players are also members of the Seattle Symphony, she added, “so as soon as they finish performing for us, they’ll have to get back on the ferry and into their former clothes for their next concert that same day.”

Hearon gushed over the March 29 fundraiser concert’s two “blockbuster” viola quintets: Mozart’s Viola Quintet in G minor, K. 516, and Dvorak’s Viola Quintet in E-flat major, Op. 97, written while Dvorak was in Iowa on a holiday with his family.

“The theme is said to have been inspired by the music of the nearby Kickapoo tribe.” Hearon hopes music-lovers will check out the decidedly different fare offered at the Quilcene Lantern. “It’s so funny, because here we are, hosting chamber music with our Concerts in the Barn, while the Quilcene Lantern has made itself a haven for heavy metal. Either way, it’s terrific to see these musical venues put to such great use.”

What to know

Tickets to the event are $100 per person, which includes complimentary champagne and finger food served in the milking shed, which seats about 180 people on folding chairs.

Patrons can reserve their tickets through TicketStripe online, just as they reserve free seating during the regular season. No one will be allowed on the farm property except those invited by prior arrangement or with reserved seating.